Gender disparities in Italian medical academia have persisted or worsened since 2014, with a continued "leaky pipeline" of women not progressing to senior roles

A treasure trove of exceptionally preserved early animals from more than half a billion years ago has been discovered in the Grand Canyon, one of the natural world’s most iconic sites. The rich fossil discovery – the first such find in the Grand Canyon – includes tiny rock-scraping molluscs, filter-feeding crustaceans, spiky-toothed worms, and even fragments of the food they likely ate. By dissolving the rocks these animals were fossilised in and examining them under high-powered microscopes, researchers led by the University of Cambridge were able to get a highly detailed picture of a unique period in the evolution of life on Earth. The fossilised animals date ...

Why do so many people relapse after quitting cocaine? A new study from The Hebrew University reveals that a specific “anti-reward” brain circuit becomes hyperactive during withdrawal—driving discomfort and pushing users back toward the drug. Surprisingly, this circuit may also serve as a built-in protective mechanism, offering new hope for addiction treatment. Cocaine addiction has long been understood as a tug-of-war between reward and restraint. The rush of dopamine keeps users hooked, while withdrawal triggers anxiety, depression, and despair. But a new ...

Footprints of a multispecies herd of dinosaurs discovered in Canada demonstrate the social interaction between different dinosaur species 76 million years ago, according to findings in a new study published today [23 July] in the journal PLOS One. The new tracksite is the first discovery of its kind in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada. The Park is world-famous for its abundant fossils but dinosaur footprints were virtually unknown. The discovery, made during an international field course in July 2024, includes footprints from multiple dinosaur species walking alongside each other – providing the first ...

Adolescents who use either e-cigarettes or conventional tobacco products (CTP)—like cigarettes, cigars, hookah and pipes—are significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety than teens who don’t use tobacco products at all, according to a study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS Mental Health by Noor Abdulhay of West Virginia University, USA, and colleagues. Tobacco use and mental health challenges are known to have a complex, bidirectional relationship. Understanding the interplay between adolescent ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The fatality rate for H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in humans historically has been high, with more than half of people dying. Why, then, is the current H5N1 bird flu outbreak — which has caused massive die-offs in wild birds, farmed poultry and even wild mammals — causing mostly mild symptoms in the people it has infected? New research, led by scientists at Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh and published today (July 23) in the journal Science Translational Medicine, indicates that immunity to a seasonal influenza virus known as pandemic H1N1 that began circulating ...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a tool routinely used to diagnose and plan treatment for eye diseases, has now been modified to collect images of the inner ear. A proof-of-concept study led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that OCT imaging can measure fluid levels in the inner ear, which correlate with a patient’s degree of hearing loss. The findings were just published in Science Translational Medicine. “These findings are exciting because hearing loss can happen very suddenly, and we often don’t know ...

Neurovascular coupling (NVC) is the dynamic regulation of cerebral blood flow in response to neural activity. Specifically, when neurons become active, nearby blood vessels dilate to increase blood supply, thereby meeting the heightened energy demands associated with neural activity. NVC is essential for maintaining normal brain function and plays a critical role in non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs)—such as systems for controlling robotic arms or cursors. Unfortunately, conventional ...

In a major step toward securing global food supplies and advancing sustainable agriculture, a team of scientists has proposed an integrated framework that combines biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize crop breeding. Published in Nature on July 24, the review was co-corresponding authored by Prof. GAO Caixia from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. LI Guotian of Huazhong Agricultural University, with contributions from ...

PHILADELPHIA (July 23, 2025) – A new Penn Nursing initiative explores the impact of federally funded international bioethics training programs. The collaborative initiative, published in the Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, highlights both the significant achievements and ongoing challenges in building bioethics research capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The collaboration, led by Connie M. Ulrich, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Lillian S. Brunner Chair in Medical and Surgical Nursing in Penn Nursing’s Department of Biobehavioral ...

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a fraction of blood plasma; its concentration of platelets is of great value in regenerative medicine as they are essential in accelerating healing and repairing tissue. Until now, obtaining them has been based on centrifugation techniques which, in addition to being expensive, could activate the platelets prematurely and reduce their effectiveness. “We realised that our device not only separated the plasma, but also obtained very high-quality PRP, with functional and minimally activated platelets,” explained ...