In a new study, scientists Stewart Edie of the Smithsonian, Shan Huang of the University of Birmingham and colleagues drastically expanded the list of bivalve species, such as clams, oysters, mussels, scallops and their relatives, that humans are known to harvest and identified the traits that make these species prime targets for harvesting. They also discovered that some of these same traits have also made this group of shellfish less prone to extinction in the past and may protect these shellfish in the future. The authors flagged certain ocean regions, such as the east Atlantic and northeast and southeast Pacific, as areas of special concern for management and conservation. The ...

In October 2022, Elon Musk purchased Twitter (recently renamed X), which had previously served as the leading social media platform for environmental discourse. Since then, reports a team of researchers in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution on August 15, there has been a mass exodus of environmental users on the platform—a phenomenon that could have serious implications for public communication surrounding topics like biodiversity, climate change, and natural disaster recovery. “Twitter has been the dominant social ...

Levels of grey matter in two parts of the brain may be linked to a desire to start smoking during adolescence and the strengthening of nicotine addiction, a new study has shown. A team of scientists, led by the universities of Cambridge and Warwick in the UK and Fudan University in China, analysed brain imaging and behavioural data of over 800 young people at the ages of 14, 19 and 23. They found that, on average, teenagers who started smoking by 14 years of age had markedly less grey matter in a section of the left frontal lobe linked to ...

About The Study: In this study, most U.S. infants who required intensive care for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infections were young, healthy, and born at term. These findings highlight the need for RSV preventive interventions targeting all infants to reduce the burden of severe RSV illness.  Authors: Natasha Halasa, M.D., M.P.H., of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and Angela P. Campbell, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, are the corresponding authors.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...

About The Study: In this study of high-use social media platforms, physicians from across the U.S. and representing a range of medical specialties were found to propagate COVID-19 misinformation about vaccines, treatments, and masks on large social media and other online platforms and that many had a wide reach based on number of followers. Authors: Sarah L. Goff, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For ...

Inside all living cells, loosely formed assemblies known as biomolecular condensates perform many critical functions. However, it is not well understood how proteins and other biomolecules come together to form these assemblies within cells. MIT biologists have now discovered that a single scaffolding protein is responsible for the formation of one of these condensates, which forms within a cell organelle called the nucleolus. Without this protein, known as TCOF1, this condensate cannot form. The findings could help to ...

The Lundquist Institute (TLI) at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announced today that TLI Principal Investigator, Michael Yeaman, PhD, has been awarded a grant totaling $11.5M from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Department of Health & Human Services.  Along with his role at TLI, Dr. Yeaman is Professor of Medicine at UCLA, and Chief, Division of Molecular Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.     This new NIH U19 Center program will decode patterns of the human immune system and microbial pathogens that result in infections that are not ...

Most infants admitted to the intensive care or high acuity unit for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections during fall 2022 were previously healthy and born at term, according to a new study reported in JAMA Network Open. The findings from this study support the use of preventative interventions in all infants to protect them from RSV, the leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and hospitalizations worldwide. RSV accounts for about 57,000-80,000 hospitalizations in children younger than 5 years with 1 in 5 RSV-positive hospitalized children being admitted ...

CLEVELAND–Life’s random rhythms surround us–from the hypnotic, synchronized blinking of fireflies…to the back-and-forth motion of a child’s swing… to slight variations in the otherwise steady lub-dub of the human heart.   But truly understanding those rhythms—called stochastic, or random, oscillations—has eluded scientists. While researchers and clinicians have some success in parsing brain waves and heartbeats, they’ve been unable to compare or catalogue an untold number of variations and sources.   Gaining such insight into the underlying ...

East Hanover, NJ. August 15, 2023. A team of New Jersey researchers reviewed the evidence for the impact of robotic exoskeleton devices on recovery of ambulation among individua5ls with acquired brain injury, laying out a systematic framework for the evaluation of such devices that is needed for rigorous research studies.  The open access article, "Lower extremity robotic exoskeleton devices for overground ambulation recovery in acquired brain injury – A review” (doi: 10.3389/fnbot.2023/1014616), was published ...

We have all felt the workings of the so called “brain-gut-axis”, how our intestines get affected, for example, by stress. But still, researchers don’t know a lot about the relation between our gut and our brain. Research has identified genetic correlations between patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder. By using new statistical methods, developed at NORMENT Centre, Post Doctor Markos Tesfaye at the University of Bergen and University of Oslo and his colleagues working under the leadership ...

(WASHINGTON, August 15, 2023) – Early improvements in cardiac and hematologic parameters may predict better survival outcomes for patients being treated for stage IIIb AL amyloidosis, a deadly disease with a median survival of 4-6 months caused by abnormal protein buildup, according to new research released today in Blood Advances. Amyloidosis occurs when normal proteins in the body misfold and form amyloid deposits in vital organs and tissues, which can lead to organ dysfunction, failure, and death. The prognosis for patients with advanced cardiac amyloidosis is extremely poor, ...

In a study published in the journal Genes & Diseases, researchers from Naval Medical University and Soochow University conducted an in-depth investigation into the genomic landscape of schistosomiasis-associated colorectal cancer (SA-CRC). By utilizing whole exome sequencing on tumor tissues and their non-tumor counterparts obtained from thirty SA-CRC patients diagnosed at Changzheng Hospital from 2014 to 2020, the team successfully identified 2476 nonsynonymous mutations spanning across 1978 genes. This intricate analysis revealed a lower median tumor mutation burden (TMB) in SA-CRC compared to sporadic colorectal cancer (S-CRC), ...

DALLAS, August 15, 2023 — Fifteen students from coast to coast are joining the American Heart Association, a global force for healthier lives for all, to champion their peers to live heart healthy. Representing a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, these youth selected as national volunteer Youth Heart Ambassadors for the association’s in-school programs, Kids Heart Challenge™ and American Heart Challenge™ will share how heart disease and stroke have impacted their lives while encouraging others to ...

(LOS ANGELES) – August 15, 2023 - A team of researchers from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) has been awarded a multimillion-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a superior, multi-pronged wound treatment for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). DFUs remain a significant complication resulting from dysregulated internal pathophysiological conditions in diabetic patients. The unresolved diabetic wounds affect patients’ quality of life and can result in amputations ...

Protein from two ounce-equivalents (oz-eq) of animal-based protein foods provides greater essential amino acids (EAA) bioavailability than an equal two oz-eq of plant-based protein foods, according to scientists at Purdue University.1 The protein quality of a food or meal (i.e., the EAA content of a meal) is a major factor in determining how the body can use amino acids for muscle and whole-body protein building.2-4 The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) puts an emphasis on consuming a variety of protein foods based on ounce-equivalent portions with similar nutritional ...

HOUSTON – (Aug. 15, 2023) – Rice University chemists have discovered that tiny gold “seed” particles, a key ingredient in one of the most common nanoparticle recipes, are one and the same as gold buckyballs, 32-atom spherical molecules that are cousins of the carbon buckyballs discovered at Rice in 1985. Carbon buckyballs are hollow 60-atom molecules that were co-discovered and named by the late Rice chemist Richard Smalley. He dubbed them “buckminsterfullerenes” because their atomic structure reminded him of architect Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes, and the “fullerene” family has grown to include dozens of hollow ...

HOUSTON – (Aug. 15, 2023) – Bioengineers can tailor the genomes of cells to create “cellular therapies” that fight disease, but they have found it difficult to design specialized activating proteins called transcription factors that can throw the switch on bioengineered genes without occasionally turning on some of the cell’s naturally occurring genes. In a study published online in Cell, bioengineers from Rice University, Boston University, Harvard Medical School, Dartmouth College and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute showed they could all but eliminate such “off-target” gene ...

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 15, 2023 — “Back-to-school” season means buying pens and paper, figuring out the new bus route, and … earaches. Doctors typically treat these infections with antibiotics, but children don’t always complete the full course, accelerating resistance to these medications. Today, researchers report developing a single-use nanoscale system that’s unlikely to generate resistance. Using a compound similar to bleach in test animals, they show it can kill off one type of bacterium that causes ear infections, and it could someday be easily applied as a gel. The researchers will present their results today at the fall meeting of the American Chemical ...

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 15, 2023 — Aloe barbadensis, commonly known as aloe vera, has been used for thousands of years to treat skin ailments, promote digestive health and heal wounds. But while aloe vera gel is in high demand, the peels are thrown away as agricultural waste. Today, scientists report that these peels, or rinds, can ward off bugs, acting as a natural insecticide. They have identified several bioactive compounds in extracts from the peels that deter insects from feasting on crops. The researchers will present their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Fall ...

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 15, 2023 — Young vegetables known as microgreens are reputed to be particularly good for health. Now, researchers are trying to find out if microgreens — which can easily be grown at home — are the superfood they’re claimed to be, and how they compare to mature veggies. Results to date show their nutritional profiles differ, as do their effects on gut bacteria. Yet, tests in mice suggest that both microgreen and mature vegetables can limit weight gain. The researchers will present their results today at the fall meeting ...

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 15, 2023 — To explore why prostate cancer disproportionately sickens and kills Black men, researchers are looking to another disorder, diabetes, which alters metabolism. They used this approach in a preliminary clinical trial and today report the identification of four metabolism-related biomarkers linked to an increased risk of metastatic prostate cancer in men of West African heritage. This discovery could lead to improved testing and treatments for these patients. The researchers will present their results at the fall ...

LOS ANGELES — Scientists at City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, have identified a cell metabolism process found in men with diabetes and metastatic prostate cancer that could one day lead to improved testing and treatments for Black men with these diseases. The research will be highlighted in the press program for the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2023, a hybrid meeting that ...

Mozzarella is far more than just a pizza topping. A unique Italian cheese, buffalo mozzarella from Campania has been recognized as a delicacy and protected under EU law for nearly 30 years. But what makes this mozzarella so special? The ingredients are simple: water buffalo milk, rennet, and natural whey starter, processed using fresh water and brine. But the natural whey starter contains microbes that are crucial to developing the mozzarella. Scientists from Italy used high-throughput 16S rRNA amplicon ...

A team of researchers led by a Virginia Commonwealth University professor found that teachers, regardless of race, perceived the most conflict with Black boys and the least conflict with white girls in their classrooms. Teachers also perceived their relationships with Black boys as increasing in conflict at higher rates than with white and female children across kindergarten through second grade, according to findings published this summer in the Journal of School Psychology. The study analyzed nationally representative survey data from 9,190 participants – teachers who evaluated relationships ...