As a part of its life cycle, the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV) inserts a copy of its DNA into human immune cells. Some of these newly infected immune cells can then transition into a dormant, latent state for a long period of time, which is referred to as HIV latency. Although current therapies, such current antiretroviral therapy (ART), can successfully block the virus from replicating further, it cannot eradicate latent HIV. If treatment is ever discontinued, the virus can rebound from latency and reignite the progression of HIV infection to AIDS. Scientists from the HIV Cure Center at the UNC School of Medicine, University of California ...

Cancer cells are even smarter than scientists previously believed, according to new CU Boulder research. When these cells are confronted with potent new drugs called CDK2 inhibitors, which are designed to prevent cancer from proliferating, they can trigger a workaround to survive the assault in as little as one to two hours.  But the study, published June 8 in the journal “Cell,” comes with a silver lining.  It reveals how cancer cells complete this adaption and shows that simultaneously administering a second, already widely ...

Breast cancer is a complex disease, and its progression is difficult, yet important, to predict. While many elements may contribute to a breast cancer prognosis, University of Massachusetts Amherst biostatistician Chi Hyun Lee has zeroed in on one risk factor that has emerged for its potential to predict the disease’s progression. Lee will use a two-year, $154,791 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in an effort to develop statistical tools that will better predict breast cancer survival rates and survival time after breast cancer recurrence. While the project focuses on breast cancer research, the proposed statistical ...

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – When the global pandemic put the kibosh on in-person events, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility sought alternatives for ensuring its world-class science and unique equipment remained accessible. These efforts culminated in the Fall for Science Virtual Field Trip Event, which rolled out a virtual tour experience, new website, and unique supporting materials. Now, the event has been recognized by the Public Relations Society of America with three Anvil Awards. According ...

Cedars-Sinai investigators have identified several steps in a cellular process responsible for triggering one of the body’s important inflammatory responses. Their findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Immunology, open up possibilities for modulating the type of inflammation associated with several infections and inflammatory diseases. Specifically, the investigators have improved understanding of the steps that lead to the production of IL-1 beta, a potent inflammatory protein signal released during many inflammatory responses. “We now have a clearer understanding of the stepwise process that leads to the production of IL-1 beta,” said Andrea ...

There are various ways to image biological samples on a microscopic level, and each has its own pros and cons. For the first time, a team of researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, has combined aspects from two of the leading imaging techniques to craft a new method of imaging and analyzing biological samples. Its concept, known as RESORT, paves the way to observe living systems in unprecedented detail. For as long as humanity has been able to manipulate glass, we have used optical devices to peer at the microscopic world in ever increasing ...

In the cerebral cortex, neurogenesis – the formation of neural cells from stem cells – begins in the fetus from 5 weeks gestation and is almost complete by 28 weeks. It is a complex process with finely tuned mechanisms. “In humans, neurogenesis lasts particularly long compared with other species, explains Khadijeh Shabani, a post-doctoral researcher at Paris Brain Institute. Neural stem cells remain in a progenitor state for an extended period. Only later do they differentiate into glial cells, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes that will form the architecture of the brain and spinal cord.” Until ...

With almost 250 million cases a year, 621,000 of them fatal, malaria remains a major public health problem, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes and caused by a microbe of the genus Plasmodium. On its journey from mosquito to human, Plasmodium must adapt to the specificities of the many organs and cells it parasitizes. Microbes do not have sensory organs; instead, they have sensors made of proteins to detect molecules specific to the environments they colonize. While most living organisms share the same types of sensors, Plasmodium is an exception. Biologists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have identified a new type ...

The use of thyroid hormones other than the commonly prescribed hormone medicine levothyroxine to treat hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, is increasing, according to a study being presented Friday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “This is significant because the long-term health outcomes of these treatments are not as well known as levothyroxine,” said researcher Matthew Ettleson, M.D., of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Ill. The thyroid makes the hormones triiodothyronine ...

CHICAGO—The percent of metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), the leading global cause of liver disease, is increasing in U.S. adults, according to a study presented Friday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. Mexican Americans consistently had the highest percentage of MAFLD, especially in 2018, although the prevalence of increase was higher among Whites, the study found. MAFLD, previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is fast becoming the most common indication ...

Everyone has 24 hours per day. Across the global population of 8 billion people this adds up to approximately 190 billion human hours per day. How those hours are spent determines the impacts we have on our surroundings as well as how we experience life. To find out how people around the world use their time, a research team led by McGill University has gathered and analyzed information about both economic and non-economic activities in order to estimate, for the first time, what a day in the life of the world looks like. “At present, we are struggling to come to terms with global challenges, and that calls for fresh perspectives on how the world ...

The European Commission's stated aim is to improve access to innovative drugs at the national level throughout the EU. Firstly, according to the proposal for the reform of EU pharmaceutical legislation, there are still considerable differences in access between countries. Secondly, drug development has so far only been geared to a limited extent to the actual needs of patients. According to the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), the latter point is in line with the perspective of the ...

Findings highlight racial disparities in sudden unexpected infant death in the U.S.  Only 16% fathers followed all three AAP-recommended infant sleep practices Rates of breastfeeding initiation and breastfeeding at eight weeks were much higher among fathers who wanted their infant’s mother to breastfeed than those who did not or had no opinion CHICAGO --- Fathers can make a huge difference in whether an infant is breastfed and placed to sleep safely, according to a recent survey of new fathers led by scientists at Northwestern University and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.  The study included 250 fathers who ...

In an article published yesterday in the prestigious journal Science, leading researchers from the University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania look at how AI (large language models or LLMs in particular) could change the nature of their work. “What we wanted to explore in this article is how social science research practices can be adapted, even reinvented, to harness the power of AI,” said Igor Grossmann, professor of psychology at Waterloo.  Grossmann and colleagues note ...

‘Weed early and often’ is the key to a productive garden. Interestingly, certain species of ants are also avid gardeners, a practice they’ve refined over 50 million years. They too weed their underground fungus gardens, but how they know what to weed out has been a mystery. Now, a multidisciplinary team of scientists report in PNAS on June 15 how ants distinguish the good fungus from the bad. People rely on sight to identify weeds but ants grow fungus underground in the dark and must have other ways to sense undesirable garden denizens. A team led by Jonathan Klassen, Ph.D., at the ...

Biological treatment processes are critical for sewage purification, wherein microbial interactions are tightly associated with treatment performance. Previous studies have focused on assessing how environmental factors (such as salinity) affect the diversity and composition of the microbial community but ignore the connections among microorganisms. To fill this gap, an international team of researchers conducted an in-depth analysis of microbial interactions at elevated salinity in activated sludge systems. Biological ...

HOUSTON – (June 16, 2023) – Rice University chemist Anatoly Kolomeisky has won an award from the National Science Foundation to investigate how heterogeneity affects chemical and biological processes. The goal of his project is to develop analytical models that quantify the role of heterogeneity in various phenomena including catalytic reactions, antimicrobial peptides, early cancer development and lysis, a process describing cellular membrane breakdown. “We live in a world of heterogeneity,” ...

BOSTON – New research from Boston Medical Center found a significant correlation between biomarkers in the vitreous humor of the eye and pathologically confirmed cases of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in post-mortem brain and eye tissue. Published in IOS Press, this exploratory study indicates that biomarkers in the vitreous humor may serve as a proxy for neuropathological disease. The incidence of dementias like AD continues to rise. As of 2021, 6.2 million North Americans above 65 years of age are suffering from AD, and this number is projected to reach 13.2 million by 2060. Diagnosis of both AD and CTE is based on symptoms, clinical exam ...

The Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) has announced that Brigid Garelik, MD, MPH, has been appointed Chief Medical Officer, overseeing the Foundation’s research and clinical initiatives. In this role, Dr. Garelik will set direction for the Foundation’s innovative R&D programs, developing effective clinical and preclinical strategies in order to deliver treatments to patients. She will also direct the Foundation’s educational programs in support of NF healthcare professionals, growing the NF field, and R&D related patient engagement. She will report to the President of the Children’s Tumor Foundation, Annette Bakker, PhD. Dr. Garelik is an accomplished ...

A new SGD 77 million research initiative has been launched today at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to boost innovation and research on advanced solar cell technologies in Singapore. Over the next five years, the REC@NUS Corporate R&D Laboratory for Next Generation Photovoltaics (REC@NUS Corp Lab), which is jointly set up by the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at NUS and REC Solar (REC), will research, develop, and commercialise disruptive solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies based on perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. Supported ...

A chemical linked to a higher risk of leukemia and other blood cell cancers creeps into millions of homes whenever residents light their gas stoves. A new Stanford-led analysis finds that a single gas cooktop burner on high or a gas oven set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit can raise indoor levels of the carcinogen benzene above those in secondhand tobacco smoke. Benzene also drifts throughout a home and lingers for hours in home air, according to the paper published June 22 in Environmental Science & ...

Leaf arrangements in the earliest plants differ from most modern plants, overturning a long-held theory regarding the origins of a famous mathematical pattern found in nature, research shows. The findings indicate that the arrangement of leaves into distinctive spirals, that are common in nature today, were not common in the most ancient land plants that first populated the earth’s surface. Instead, the ancient plants were found to have another type of spiral. This negates a long held theory about the evolution of plant leaf spirals, indicating that they evolved ...

About The Study: The results of this study suggest that Black veterans have lower rates of lung cancer screening that are not fully explained by demographic and socioeconomic variables, underscoring the need for further qualitative studies on barriers to lung cancer screening as well as evidence-based interventions targeted to Black veterans.  Authors: Neelima Navuluri, M.D., M.P.H., of the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: ...

About The Study: The findings of this qualitative study suggest that institutional plans to protect frontline clinicians from the responsibility for allocating scarce resources may be unworkable, especially in a state of chronic crisis. Efforts are needed to directly integrate frontline clinicians into institutional emergency responses and support them in ways that reflect the complex and dynamic realities of health care resource limitation.  Authors: Catherine R. Butler, M.D., M.A., of the University of Washington in Seattle, ...

A new study by an international team from Africa, Asia and Europe has put forward three criteria for evaluating the success of migration as adaptation in the face of climate change: well-being, equity and sustainability. The study shows that while migration is increasingly recognised as an effective way to deal with climate risks, or a form of adaptation, it is far from a silver-bullet solution. For example, remittances – which include flows of money, ideas, skills and goods between migrants and their places of origin – are thought to be key to facilitating adaptation to climate change. But, drawing on evidence from every continent ...