By David L. Chandler WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- Antibiotic resistance is a significant and growing medical problem worldwide. Researchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and collaborators have found a novel genetic arrangement that may help a common bacterium in the human gut, Bacteroides fragilis, protect itself from tetracycline, a widely used antibiotic. While these findings will not lead directly to new ways of combating tetracycline-resistant bacteria, the researchers have discovered previously unseen genetic arrangements that confer antibiotic resistance. Such understanding might help in developing new ways to limit the spread of antibiotic resistance genes, through genetic ...

Smoking changes the way genes are expressed, which later contributes to the development of lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses. But the link between epigenetics (the study of mechanisms that impact gene expression) and smoking is not fully understood, especially in terms of differences across racial and ethnic groups. “We know that smoking affects people differently based on their race and ethnicity, but identifying epigenetic signatures of smoking would help us better predict risk for smoking-related diseases,” said Brian Huang, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of population ...

Dr. Pieter Gunnink from the Institute of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has been awarded a EUR 190,000 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship by the European Commission. The grant is an individual award for Gunnink's outstanding achievements in the field of spintronics and provides financial support for his research over a period of 24 months. Modern information processing relies heavily on the use of electrical current, the transport of which requires large amounts of energy. The field of ...

Associate Professor Ron Korstanje, Ph.D., has been named the Evnin Family Chair at The Jackson Laboratory. An expert in the genetics of kidney function and disease, Korstanje’s appointment marks a new chapter in his 20 years of service to JAX’s mission.   “Ron’s exceptional contributions to JAX have advanced research discoveries and nurtured generations of future scientists,” said President and CEO Lon Cardon, Ph.D., FMedSci. “His appointment as the Evnin Family ...

In a collaborative effort to improve the food industry, Dr. Mustafa Akbulut, professor of chemical engineering, and Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, professor of horticultural science, have developed a two-step coating solution for galvanized steel that is more hygienic and reduces the risk of corrosion. Galvanized steel containers and surfaces are used for harvested produce because of their durability, strength and lower cost compared to stainless steel. However, bacteria residing in storage containers can cause corrosion. The ...

DURHAM, N.C. – A perplexing problem for people with recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs) is persistent pain, even after antibiotics have successfully cleared the bacteria.   Now Duke Health researchers have identified the likely cause - an overgrowth of nerve cells in the bladder.   The finding, appearing March 1 in the journal Science Immunology, provides a potential new approach to managing symptoms of recurring UTIs that would more effectively target the problem and reduce unnecessary antibiotic usage.   “Urinary tract infections account for almost 25% of infections in women,” said senior author Soman Abraham, Ph.D., professor in the departments ...

T follicular helper cells (Tfh) are essential for strong antibody-mediated reactions of our immune system during infections and vaccinations. However, if they get out of control, this can cause diseases such as autoimmunity, allergies or cancer. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn investigated the underlying mechanisms of Tfh cell development in a mouse model and thus decoded their internal networking. They hope that this will lead to new strategies for the development of highly effective vaccines and new therapies to combat various diseases. The results have ...

More than half of smokers in England wrongly believe that vaping is more harmful or as harmful as smoking, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open and funded by Cancer Research UK, looked at survey responses from 28,393 smokers in England between 2014 and 2023. The research team found that public perceptions of e-cigarettes had worsened considerably over the past decade, with an overall increase in the perceived harm of e-cigarettes since 2021, coinciding with a sharp rise in vaping among young ...

WHAT: Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified antibodies targeting a hard-to-spot region of the influenza virus, shedding light on the relatively unexplored “dark side” of the neuraminidase (NA) protein head. The antibodies target a region of the NA protein that is common among many influenza viruses, including H3N2 subtype viruses, and could be a new target for countermeasures. The research, led by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Vaccine Research Center, part of NIH, was published today in Immunity. Influenza, or flu, sickens millions ...

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center announced 12 recipients of the 2024 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, which recognizes exceptional achievement in graduate studies in the biological sciences.  This year’s recipients come from U.S. and international research institutions with thesis topics that include brain signals related to learning and emotion, bacterial pathogens and health, AI algorithms in rare disease diagnosis and treatment, and immune cells involved in brain tumors.  “Weintraub awardees showcase how scientists are using advancements in technology to explore questions that have been out of reach,” said Jihong Bai, ...

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State University's Department of Computer Science and Engineering has launched a new open-access academic journal focused on advancements in artificial intelligence. The journal AI Letters aims to fill a gap in peer-reviewed publications covering AI research. Department Head Shahram Rahimi and Assistant Research Professor Noorbakhsh Amiri Golilarz, editors-in-chief of the journal, saw the need for a publication that could quickly share new ideas and insights in AI, a hot topic ...

Over the last four decades, warming climate and ocean temperatures have rapidly altered the Greenland Ice Sheet, creating concern for marine ecosystems and weather patterns worldwide. The environment has challenged scientists in their attempts to measure how water moves around and melts the ice sheet because equipment can be destroyed by icebergs floating near the glaciers. Collected using a novel approach, research from the University of Maine has unearthed new information to help scientists better understand circulation patterns of ocean water around glaciers. A group of pioneers in glacial research attached GPS devices to icebergs and used their mobility to understand fjord circulation, ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Putting off a burdensome task may seem like a universal trait, but new research suggests that people whose negative attitudes tend to dictate their behavior in a range of situations are more likely to delay tackling the task at hand. The psychological term to describe this mental process is called valence weighting bias, which describes people’s tendency to adapt in new circumstances by drawing more strongly from either their positive or negative attitudes – or, in the context of approaching an unpleasant task, whether negative or positive internal “signals” carry the most weight in guiding the final behavior.   “And ...

Suppose two speakers of the same language are playing a guessing game where each has the same color swatches, and Player 1 tries to get Player 2 to guess a hue by naming the color. If the second player consistently guesses correctly as often as possible, that indicates their language has an efficient color naming system. Past research has shown that efficient color vocabularies are constrained both by how people perceive colors and by how much they want or need to communicate about a given color. For example, Penn researchers found in a 2021 study that the need to communicate about reds and yellows is high across languages, while greens are more important in some languages. Now, ...

Score another one for artificial intelligence. In a recent study, 151 human participants were pitted against ChatGPT-4 in three tests designed to measure divergent thinking, which is considered to be an indicator of creative thought. Divergent thinking is characterized by the ability to generate a unique solution to a question that does not have one expected solution, such as “What is the best way to avoid talking about politics with my parents?” In the study, GPT-4 provided more original and elaborate answers than the human participants. The study, “The current state of artificial intelligence generative ...

Boston, MA – Results from a new nationwide cohort study show that, despite strong recommendations in favor of consuming omega-3 fatty acids for optimal pregnancy outcomes and offspring health, 25% of participants reported rarely, or never eating fish during pregnancy, with fewer taking omega-3 supplements. The study, “Demographic and health characteristics associated with fish and n-3 fatty acid supplement intake during pregnancy: results from pregnancy cohorts in the ECHO program” was led by investigators at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and published February 27 in Public Health Nutrition. The study is timely, ...

March 1, 2024, Port St. Lucie, Fla: Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered a key mechanism used by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also known as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), to induce cancer. The research points to effective new treatment options for KSHV-associated cancers, including Kaposi’s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and HHV8-associated multicentric Castleman disease.   “Our findings have significant implications: viruses cause between 10% to 20% of cancers worldwide, a number that is constantly increasing ...

Saint Louis University associate professor of health management and policy in the College for Public Health and Social Justice, SangNam Ahn, Ph.D., recently published a paper in Journal of Clinical Psychology that examines the relationship between childhood adversity, and psychiatric decline as well as adult adversity and psychiatric and cognitive decline. His team discovered that just one instance of adversity in childhood can increase cases of mental illness later in life, and adverse events in adults can lead to a greater chance of both mental ...

A £2.5m grant will enable a new network driving research into metamaterials, headed up by a researcher from the University of Warwick.   Metamaterials have phenomenal potential. They are artificial 3D structures comprised of at least two different materials. This combination and the structure give metamaterials properties beyond those of the materials used to make them. These properties may be electromagnetic, acoustic, magnetic, mechanical/structural, thermal, or chemical.   Metamaterials could transform our economy in a digital age, helping to address society’s challenges by contributing to manufacturing in areas of sustainability, health care, ...

Participants in the Framingham Heart Study who achieved higher levels of education tended to age more slowly and went on to live longer lives as compared to those who did not achieve upward educational mobility, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and The Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center. Upward educational mobility was significantly associated with a slower pace of aging and lower risk of death. The results are published online in JAMA Network Open. The Framingham Heart Study is an ongoing observational study first initiated in 1948 that currently spans three generations. The Columbia analysis is ...

About The Study: The results of this study highlight how rates of recurring and chronic food insecurity among families with older adults rose substantially over the past 20 years. Monitoring national trends in food insecurity among older adults has direct programmatic and policy implications.  Authors: Cindy W. Leung, Sc.D., M.P.H., of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.5463) Editor’s ...

About The Study: The findings of this study of 372 veterans suggest that the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyday function may occur via multiple pathways regardless of whether or not they had a documented infection with COVID-19. Future work with larger samples is needed to validate the estimated associations.  Authors: Theodore J. Iwashyna, M.D., Ph.D., of Ann Arbor VA in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.0869) Editor’s ...

Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) find that the cells that make up aldosterone-producing adenomas become more transcriptionally active and express higher levels of genes linked to hormone production over intratumoral differentiation.   Tokyo, Japan – There is strength in teamwork, and it turns out that this applies to tumors, too. Researchers from Japan have reported that different types of cells within a single benign tumor may work together to promote the tumor’s growth.   In a study published this ...

Older drivers who have worse spatial orientation ability experience greater difficulty when making turns across oncoming traffic, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).  Spatial orientation skills are the combination of skills that enable us to mentally determine our position, or the position of our vehicle and other vehicles, relative to the environment.  Lead author Sol Morrissey, a PhD researcher at UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “Driving safety is typically reduced in older adults due to changes that take place during ...

Crown ethers were discovered in 1967. They were then modified by adding a metal-containing unit creating metallacrown ethers. These metallacrown ethers have been the subject of intensive research. Depending on the molecular makeup of the metallacrown ethers and their resultant architecture, the properties and therefore the uses of the metallacrowns can change. They have many different uses currently, and ongoing studies continue to expand their application. Just a few of these include magnetic refrigeration, imaging agents—specifically as potential contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging—and single-molecular ...