A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine reveals a concerning decline in self-reported mental health among mothers in the United States between 2016 and 2023. Conducted by researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the study also found modest but measurable declines in self-reported physical health during the same period. This large-scale analysis examined data from 198,417 mothers who participated in the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), a nationally representative annual survey of households with children aged 0–17. Most participating mothers were over age 30, and over half had a privately ...

About The Study: This cohort study identified symptom patterns and derived research indices that were distinct between the 2 age groups (infants/toddlers [0-2 years] vs preschool-aged children [3-5 years]) and differed from those previously identified in older ages, demonstrating the need to characterize long COVID separately across age ranges.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rachel S. Gross, MD, MS, email rachel.gross@nyulangone.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.1066) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this study, conducted when surgical and pharmacological weight-loss interventions were nearly nonexistent, sustained midlife weight loss compared with persistent overweight was associated with a decreased risk of chronic diseases beyond type 2 diabetes and decreased all-cause mortality. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Timo E. Strandberg, MD, PhD, email timo.strandberg@helsinki.fi. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.11825) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...

About The Study: In this trial, patient-delivered lifestyle intervention (mentor interventionists plus peer support) yielded significantly better weight loss maintenance and cardiovascular risk outcomes compared with standard-of-care treatment delivered by professionals. Future research may examine the effectiveness of this novel treatment approach in community and clinical settings.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Tricia M. Leahey, PhD, email tricia.leahey@uconn.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.1345) Editor’s ...

An inexpensive, long-approved HIV drug can improve vision in patients with a blinding complication of diabetes more effectively and a much lower cost than many existing treatments, an initial clinical trial suggests. Further, the drug is taken orally, potentially offering patients an alternative to monthly injections directly into their eyes. The drug, lamivudine, could represent an important new option for millions of patients with diabetic macular edema (DME), a condition which causes fluid to build up in the retina of the eye. ...

Batteries are nearing their limits in terms of how much power they can store for a given weight. That’s a serious obstacle for energy innovation and the search for new ways to power airplanes, trains, and ships. Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have come up with a solution that could help electrify these transportation systems. Instead of a battery, the new concept is a kind of fuel cell — which is similar to a battery but can be quickly refueled rather than recharged. In this case, the fuel is liquid sodium metal, an inexpensive and widely available commodity. The other side of the cell is just ordinary air, which serves as ...

ALEXANDRIA, VA —The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) published the new Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG): Surgical Management of Chronic Rhinosinusitis today in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) affects 11.6% of adults and prompts 4.1 million annual ambulatory visits. "Chronic rhinosinusitis doesn't just affect the nose—it can influence a person's general life. Patients can struggle with poor sleep, ...

Scientists have unearthed surprising details about how our bodies handle insulin – the hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating blood sugar and developing diabetes. The discovery could lead to better treatment of type 2 diabetes and earlier diagnosis, potentially even before the disease develops. In a new paper in the scientific journal Cell, researchers from the University of Copenhagen found that all individuals have unique and varying degrees of insulin resistance at the molecular level. The discovery of this ‘molecular fingerprint’ for insulin sensitivity challenges the traditional binary classification ...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) significantly impacts the central nervous system, with limited effective treatments available. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a crucial role in neuronal growth, survival, and regeneration after SCI. MicroRNAs, particularly miR-124-3p, have been implicated in SCI pathophysiology. However, the relationship between miR-124-3p and BDNF in the context of SCI remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between miR-124-3p expression and BDNF levels in a rat model of spinal cord injury and to assess how the timing of injury affects this relationship. Methods This study included 72 male Wistar rats divided ...

Humans were making tools from whale bones as far back as 20,000 years ago, according to a study conducted by scientists from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the University of British Columbia. This discovery broadens our understanding of early human use of whale remains and offers valuable insight into the marine ecology of the time.  Whales, the largest animals on Earth, were an important ...

A recent study explores the potential of germinated flours as functional ingredients in breadmaking, highlighting both their nutritional benefits and their technological challenges. The growing demand for healthier foods has inspired the scientific community to reexamine traditional ingredients through a modern lens. One such example is germinated flours, which are emerging as a promising alternative for enhancing the nutritional profile of bread, one of the most widely consumed foods worldwide. At the Food Science and Technology Laboratory at ESPOL, researchers comprehensively reviewed the latest findings on the use of germinated ...

Taking a statin medication is an effective, safe, and low-cost way to lower cholesterol and reduce risk of cardiovascular events. Despite clinicians recommending that many patients with diabetes take statins, nearly one-fifth of them opt to delay treatment. In a new study, researchers from Mass General Brigham found that patients who started statin therapy right away reduced the rate of heart attack and stroke by one third compared to those who chose to delay taking the medication. The results, which can help guide decision-making conversations between clinicians and their patients, are published in the Journal of the ...

Key takeaway:   The new University of Houston Cancer Immunotherapy Biomarker Core facility will accelerate biomarker discovery, improve immunotherapy targeting and expand research capacity across Texas — enhancing the state's competitiveness in cancer research and ultimately improving patient outcomes.  HOUSTON, May 27 -- As part of a $93 million grant package, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, known for funding groundbreaking projects, has awarded the University of Houston $3 million to set up a Cancer Immunotherapy Biomarker Core. This state-of-the-art facility will offer researchers in Texas ...

A joint team of researchers led by scientists at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has reported the fastest quantum random number generator (QRNG) to date based on international benchmarks. The QRNG, which passed the required randomness tests of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, could produce random numbers at a rate nearly a thousand times faster than other QRNG.   “This is a significant leap for any industry that depends on strong data security,” said KAUST Professor Boon Ooi, who led the study, which is published in Optics Express. KAUST ...

CHICAGO, MAY 27, 2025 ― Christopher Flowers, M.D., division head of Cancer Medicine and chair of Lymphoma/Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, will be honored with the Jamie Von Roenn Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship Award at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in recognition of his leadership and commitment to mentoring young oncology professionals. The ASCO Special Awards are the organization’s highest honors and highlight ...

PULLMAN, Wash. -- When it comes to public attitudes toward using self-driving cars, understanding how the vehicles work is important—but so are less obvious characteristics like feelings of excitement or pleasure and a belief in technology’s social benefits. Those are key insights of a new study from researchers at Washington State University, who are examining attitudes toward self-driving cars as the technology creeps toward the commercial market—and as questions persist about whether people will readily adopt them. The study, published in the journal Transportation Research, ...

Students Pushing Innovation (SPIN) participant Mankeerat Singh Sidhu and National Center for Supercomputing Applications graduate student researcher Hetarth Chopra won first place in the 2025 Cozad New Venture Challenge for Tandemn, an innovative software solution designed to help democratize artificial intelligence computing resources. Tandemn links idle graphics processing units (GPUs) into unified, high-performance networks designed for AI computing. The goal is to lower costs and barriers to GPU access while providing owners with possible users for their underutilized resources. “While everyone talks about ‘democratizing ...

Can large language models (LLMs) reason by analogy? Some outputs suggest that they can, but it has been argued that these results reflect mimicry of the results of analogical reasoning in the models’ training data. To test this claim, LLM’s have been asked to solve counterfactual problems that are unlikely to be  similar to problems in training data sets. Here is an example: Let’s solve a puzzle problem involving the following fictional alphabet: [x y l k w b f z t n j r q a h v g m u o p d i c s e] Here is the ...

An experimental study suggests that people are less likely to behave in a trusting and cooperative manner when interacting with AI than when interacting with other humans.  Scientists use experimental games to probe how humans make social decisions requiring both rational and moral thinking. Fabian Dvorak and colleagues compared how humans act in classic two-player games when playing with another human to how humans act when playing with a large-language model acting on behalf of another human. Participants played the Ultimatum ...

Locusts have undersized babies—with their first lunch already in their guts—in dry conditions. Desert locusts have two distinct modes—solitary and gregarious—that are behaviorally and visibly different. The insects also live in the Sahara desert, an environment with frequent dry conditions. Koutaro Ould Maeno and colleagues explored how a lack of moisture and the presence of other locusts shift reproductive resource allocation in the insects. In lab experiments, the authors raised locusts in crowds and in isolation. Crowd-reared females produced fewer, larger eggs than females raised in ...

Epidemics of infectious disease often come in waves, but the causes of these waves aren’t clear, frustrating efforts to predict or mitigate them. Are waves of infection caused by transmission seasonality, viral mutations, implementation of public health interventions, or something else? Claus Kadelka and colleagues model how human behavior, in response to information about disease risk, can create waves. There is frequently a lag between infection prevalence and the information about that prevalence reaching the public. Once ...

Public healthcare emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can drastically disrupt healthcare systems with long-term repercussions. The effects of such healthcare crises are more pronounced in the aging population, who are particularly vulnerable to chronic infections and sudden disruptions in healthcare. The COVID-19 outbreak that emerged in December 2019 quickly spread worldwide, and several emergency measures were urgently implemented to curb its transmission. During the initial phase of the pandemic, stringent measures like social distancing, isolation, and mandatory wearing of masks were implemented. Unfortunately, ...

In a world first, Canadian scientists at the CRCHUM, the hospital research centre affiliated with Université de Montréal, have identified microRNA able to protect small blood vessels and support kidney function after severe injury. For the four million people diagnosed with chronic renal failure in Canada—and millions more abroad—this scientific advancement could have a major impact on early diagnosis and prevention of the disease. Previously, there was no known reliable biomarker for evaluating the health of these capillaries and for developing ...

DARIEN, IL – A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting quantifies the amount of sleep loss experienced by first-time mothers in the weeks after giving birth and is the first to identify the unique type of sleep disruption that persists throughout the first months of motherhood. Results show that the average daily sleep duration of new mothers was 4.4 hours during the first week after giving birth compared with a pre-pregnancy sleep duration of 7.8 hours. Their longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep also fell from 5.6 hours at pre-pregnancy to 2.2 hours in the first week after delivery. Nearly one-third of participants (31.7%) went more than 24 hours without sleep ...

Philadelphia, May 27, 2025 – Researchers have found that central body fat, especially around the abdomen, is more strongly linked to psoriasis risk than total body fat, particularly in women. This link between central fat and psoriasis remained consistent regardless of genetic predisposition, indicating that abdominal fat is an independent risk factor. The study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, published by Elsevier, provides insights that could help improve early risk prediction and guide personalized prevention strategies. Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that can have a significant impact on quality of life. Many individuals with psoriasis also ...