A study led by David Sancho at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) in Madrid reveals how an increase in intestinal permeability allows the natural gut bacteria to cross the intestinal barrier and reach the bone marrow, where they induce epigenetic changes—modifications that alter gene activity without affecting DNA sequence—in the stem cells that give rise to immune cells. The epigenetic changes induced by the translocated gut bacteria generate “trained” immune cells primed to respond more efficiently to future infections. However, this same ability to amplify the immune response can also aggravate the inflammatory conditions such as ...

In the world of modern optics, frequency combs are invaluable tools. These devices act as rulers for measuring light, enabling breakthroughs in telecommunications, environmental monitoring, and even astrophysics. But building compact and efficient frequency combs has been a challenge—until now. Electro-optic frequency combs, introduced in 1993, showed promise in generating optical combs through cascaded phase modulation but progress slowed down because of their high power demands and limited bandwidth. This led to the field being dominated by femtosecond lasers and Kerr soliton microcombs, which, while effective, require complex tuning and ...

Seattle, WASH.—January 22, 2025—The human immune system is like an army of specialized soldiers (immune cells) each with a unique role to play in fighting disease. In a new study published in Nature, led by scientists at the Allen Institute, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, and UC San Diego, researchers reveal how cells known as tissue-resident memory CD8 T cells, play unique and specialized roles based on where they are located within the small intestine. Tissue-resident memory cells provide a local first ...

Thanks to a new technology called Moscot (“Multi-Omics Single-Cell Optimal Transport”), researchers can now observe millions of cells simultaneously as they develop into a new organ—for example, a pancreas. This groundbreaking method was developed by an international research team led by Helmholtz Munich and has been published in the renowned journal Nature. Until now, biologists had only a limited understanding of how cells develop in their natural environment—for instance, when they form an organ in the ...

January 22, 2025    New Study Finds Social Programs Could Reduce the Spread of HIV by 29%    Although HIV was used as a case study, the UMass Amherst researchers say their assessment tool has applications for other diseases    AMHERST, Mass. — Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have quantified the impacts of a constellation of social factors on the spread of HIV. Their study, published in Health Care Management Science, found that a hypothetical 100% effective intervention addressing barriers to HIV treatment and care from depression, homelessness, ...

New University of Virginia School of Medicine research revealing the fingerprints of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome within blood samples could open the door to simple tests to identify babies at risk. The findings also represent an important step forward in unraveling the causes of SIDS, an unexplained condition that is the No. 1 killer of babies between amonth and a year old.  The UVA researchers analyzed blood serum samples collected from infants who died ...

Ozone (O3) exposure may reduce the availability of oxygen in the body, resulting in arterial stiffening due to the body’s natural response to create more red blood cells and hemoglobin, according to a study published today in JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology. “Researchers found that even brief exposure to elevated ozone levels reduced blood oxygen saturation, triggered hypoxia-related biomarkers, and increased arterial stiffness, highlighting the novel connection between ozone exposure and arterial stiffness, demonstrated through comprehensive biomarker analysis in a high-altitude ...

The Chang Lab at Princeton Chemistry continues in its mission to elucidate the role of metal nutrients in human biology: last year, iron; this year, copper. The lab’s first paper of 2025 showcases its development of a revelatory sensing probe for the detection of copper in human cells and then wields it to uncover how copper may be regulating cell growth in lung cancer. Researchers also offer a possible treatment modality in which copper chelation shows promising results in certain lung cancers where cells have two related phenomena: a heightened transcription factor responding to oxidative stress and a diminished level of bioavailable copper. Their collaborative paper, A histochemical ...

Despite significant therapeutic advances, breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Treatment typically involves surgery and follow-up hormone therapy, but late effects of these treatments include osteoporosis, sexual dysfunction and blood clots. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have created a novel treatment that eliminated small breast tumors and significantly shrank large tumors in mice in a single dose, without problematic side effects. Most breast cancers are ...

PULLMAN, Wash. – When it comes to getting people to want to go places, the future is ever more lovely than the past, according to a new Washington State University-led study in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. Led by Ruiying Cai, an assistant professor in the Carson College of Business, the study found that forestalgia-focused destination ads—those that emphasize an idealized future—are more effective at enticing travelers to click the purchase button for a vacation than ads based on fond recollections. The research also revealed that forestalgia advertising is particularly effective for getting people to book near-term trips, as imagining ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Black immigrants moving into a neighborhood can help shift the overall racial and ethnic character of the area, a new study suggests.   A researcher from The Ohio State University found that when Black immigrants move into a majority native-Black neighborhood, there is an increase in the white population moving in while native Black residents move out.   “Blackness can’t be treated as a monolith within the United States today, where there is a growing Black immigrant population,” said Nima Dahir, author of the study and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State.   “There is a lot of complexity ...

When we touch something hot or cold, the temperature is consciously sensed. Previous studies have shown that the cortex, the outermost layer of the brain, is responsible for thermal sensations. However, how the cortex determines whether something is hot or cold is not well understood. Thermal sensitivity is often subjective and individualistic; what is a comfortable temperature for someone might be too hot or too cold for someone else. In a new study, Professor Kei Nagashima from the Body Temperature and Fluid Laboratory, Faculty of Human Sciences, ...

Green tea shines as a natural powerhouse of antioxidants, with catechins leading the charge among its polyphenols, which protect cells from oxidative stress. These powerful compounds neutralize harmful free radicals generated during cancer treatment. The anti-inflammatory properties of green tea can alleviate oral mucositis, a painful inflammation of the mouth lining often caused by chemotherapy and radiation. Building on these benefits, researchers at the Tokyo University of Science (TUS), Japan, have explored the potential of tea catechins in developing ...

Trace metals are crucial for the growth of all living organisms. Understanding the role of these trace metals on the metabolism is essential for maintaining a stable state of the organism. Additionally, human beings are also facing constant exposure to various harmful heavy metals due to various types of pollution. Collectively, these aspects have led to research and development in the field of analytical techniques that can help in identifying the level of these trace metals in our cells.   Inductively coupled ...

Large language models (LLMs) have transformed how many of us work, from supporting content creation and coding to improving search engines. However, the lack of transparency, reproducibility, and customisation of LLMs remains a challenge that restricts their widespread use in biomedical research.  For biomedical researchers, optimising LLMs for a specific research question can be daunting, because it requires programming skills and machine learning expertise. Such barriers have reduced the adoption of LLMs for many research tasks, including data extraction and analysis. A new publication in Nature Biotechnology introduces BioChatter to help overcome ...

The findings, published today in Scientific Reports, show, for the first time, how porous ground treatments can mitigate noise and optimise propellor performance. Lead author Dr Hasan Kamliya Jawahar from the University of Bristol’s aeroacoustic group managed by Professor Mahdi Azarpeyvand was able to demonstrate that porous ground treatments, can significantly reduce noise by up to 30 dB in low-mid frequencies and enhance thrust and power coefficients compared to solid ground surfaces. This suggests that treating roofs of building, ...

A newly established research hub in North East England will explore the extent and environmental impact of microfibre loss from textiles. Microfibre shedding from clothing during machine washing and drying is well known, with the tiny fibres causing harm to wildlife and the environment when they enter soil, air and waterways. Located on Northumbria University’s campus in the centre of Newcastle, the Fibre-fragmentation and Environment Research Hub (FibER Hub) is the result of a collaboration between the University and The Microfibre Consortium (TMC) and will extensively test a wide variety ...

Is there only one optimal configuration an organism can reach during evolution? Is there a single formula that describes the trajectory towards the optimum? And can we ‘derive’ it in a purely theoretical fashion? A team of researchers, including from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), has answers. Their mathematical model forecasts the ideal body plan of a fruit fly’s early embryo, suggesting that evolution might had many optimal options at its disposal. It is hypothesized that optimization is the secret sauce for many of nature’s fascinating ...

As their traditional dining options dwindle and natural areas give way to restaurants, homes and sidewalks, the coyotes of San Francisco are shifting what they eat. Scientists from the University of California, Davis, wanted to understand what San Francisco’s coyotes are eating, and how their diet is changed and shaped by the city’s landscape, which can vary from block to block. Their study, published in the journal Ecosphere, found that the number of restaurants and amount of pavement or “impervious surfaces” within the city heavily influenced what the coyotes ...

Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP1RA)—medications for type 2 diabetes and obesity that have recently been making headlines due to a rise in popularity as weight loss agents—have been linked with behavioral side effects. A large population-based analysis in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism assessed whether certain genetic variants might help explain these effects. GLP1RA mimic the GLP-1 hormone in the body that helps control insulin and blood glucose levels and promotes feelings of satiety. GLP-1 ...

Many companies are making substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI), which can enhance decision-making processes, foster innovation, increase productivity, and have other advantages. New research published in the Journal of Management Studies shows that company employees’ perceptions of how well AI performs (cognitive trust) and feelings towards AI (emotional trust) vary, and that these perceptions can affect AI performance and adoption in organizations. Interviews with employees of a medium-sized software development firm revealed four different ...

Sleepiness at the wheel is a significant contributing factor to motor vehicle accidents. A new analysis published in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery reveals that for people with sleep apnea, getting surgery for their condition may lessen their risk of such accidents compared with using a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device at night or receiving no treatment. In the analysis of data on 2,832,437 patients with obstructive sleep apnea, 3.4% of patients who underwent surgery were in a car accident at any point following their diagnosis, compared with 6.1% of those using a CPAP and 4.7% of those not receiving any treatment. Patients ...

New research in Contemporary Economic Policy indicates that rising minimum wages in a state are associated with reduced summer employment for college students, the time when students tend to work the most. The study, which involved data from a public university and quarterly work records from Washington State, found that college students’ employment and hours worked decrease as minimum wages rise in the summer quarter. Students experiencing the largest reductions are those with little or no work experience ...

Maternal stress hormone levels during early pregnancy can have a lasting effect on the stress system of the offspring. The results of a long-term study on wild Assamese macaques in Thailand indicate that maternal stress in the first half of pregnancy is particularly relevant. Elevated stress hormones later during pregnancy or after birth did not have the same effects. The long-term study conducted by the University of Göttingen and the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research provides important insights into the ...

When the going gets cold, even tough trees struggle with growing. Trees need a certain number of warm days in their growing seasons to grow properly; otherwise, the cell walls of new growth don’t lignify properly, creating ‘blue rings’ that appear when wood samples are dyed. Since trees and shrubs can live for hundreds of years, identifying these blue rings allows us to spot cold summers in the past. By looking at pine trees and juniper shrubs from northern Norway, scientists identified two extremely cold summers in 1902 and 1877, possibly caused by the eruptions of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique and ...