Researchers say the discovery of very high genetic diversity in leopards found in the Highveld region of South Africa has increased the need for conservation efforts to protect leopards in the country. Declan Morris, a PhD candidate with the University of Adelaide’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, led the research project, which discovered that the two maternal lineages of leopards found in Africa overlap in the Highveld, leading to the high genetic diversity. One lineage can be found across most of the African continent, while the other is confined ...

Love it or hate it, Facebook Marketplace is the largest online resale site today with more than one billion monthly users. A new study conducted by UBC researchers sheds light on the intricate web of trust, privacy and safety factors shaping users’ experiences on this popular platform. Researchers interviewed 42 Facebook Marketplace buyers and sellers in the U.S. and Canada to uncover the factors associated with trading decisions. “Concerns for physical and financial safety, as well as well-being, were top ...

[New York, NY, May 13, 2024] — Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have made a significant discovery, identifying genetic connections between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Published in Genome Medicine (DOI 10.1186/s13073-024-01335-2) on May 13, their study highlights the potential for joint therapeutic strategies to target these two challenging disorders. The team, led by Meltem Ece Kars, MD, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine; Yuval Itan, PhD, Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic ...

Key takeaways A new study from UCLA and Duke University shows local journalism that produces detailed coverage about aging infrastructure increases voter support for additional infrastructure investment. Basic, undetailed reporting, like that from severely understaffed newsrooms or AI-generated stories, resulted in lower support for infrastructure spending. Voters demonstrated a willingness to hold local politicians accountable when provided with context in local reporting.  Reading strong local journalism is tied to greater support for funding dams, sewers ...

Diamond is the hardest material found in nature — diamond also has the highest thermal conductivity, allowing the most heat to flow through it rapidly. An international team of scientists discovered using supercomputer simulations that by flexing diamond, its thermal conductivity can be drastically tuned up or down. Scientists worldwide are interested in studying elastic strain engineering to discover the properties that materials exhibit when they are under large tensile or shear stresses. Findings like this could open ...

FRANKFURT. Hardly any other molecule has a more turbulent past than thalidomide. It was the central ingredient in a drug approved in many countries in the 1950s as a sedative and sleeping pill. However, it soon became apparent that pregnant women who had taken thalidomide often gave birth to children with severe deformities. For the past few decades, however, medicine has nevertheless pinned great hopes on it again. Studies have shown, among other things, that it inhibits the growth of blood vessels and is therefore potentially suitable for cutting off tumors from their nutrient supply. It then also proved very effective in the treatment of multiple myeloma, ...

UK survey examines consumer attitudes towards and willingness to consume insect-based foods. Only 13% of respondents said they would be willing to regularly consume insects, with younger respondents less willing to give insects a try, as were those with higher sensitivity to food disgust. *Please mention the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2024, Venice,12-15 May) if using this material* New research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Venice, Italy (12-15 May), finds that insect-based foods remain unappealing ...

New research being presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Venice, Italy (12-15 May) has found that many people who are living with obesity conceal their body in their WhatsApp profile pictures.  Profile pictures of pets, family members, landscapes, flowers and cartoon characters may indicate the individual has body dysmorphic disorder, says lead Dr Antonella Franceschelli, of Unicamillus International Medical University, Rome, Italy. Body dysmorphic disorder is a condition in which a person has a distorted image of their body. They feel dissatisfied with their physical appearance, may experience shame or anxiety about their body and, in the case ...

There is an urgent need to harness the potential of TikTok and other social media channels to provide scientific information about obesity to young people in engaging and accessible way, the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Venice, Italy (12-15 May) will hear. The popularity and broad reach of such platforms provides the opportunity to reach diverse audiences, including teenagers and young adults, explains lead researcher Dr Antonella Franceschelli, of Unicamillus International Medical University, Rome, Italy. The percentage of obese children and adolescents worldwide more than quadrupled among girls (from 1.7% to 6.9%) ...

By Jake Siegel Seattle, WA—May 13, 2024—With pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) diagnoses on the rise globally, a clinical trial in Seattle aims to transform treatment approaches through deep molecular profiling.   Recruitment has begun for the Seattle STRIDE study, a joint effort by Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the Allen Institute for Immunology. The trial aims to enroll 200 volunteers and follow them over three years. It will employ a range of genomic tools to analyze intact tissue samples from routine tests. ...

Impact Journals is proud to participate at the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) 46th Annual Meeting. BUFFALO, NY- May 13, 2024 – Impact Journals is proud to participate as an exhibitor at the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) 46th Annual Meeting, which convenes in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Westin Boston Seaport District from May 29–31, 2024. This year, the SSP Annual Meeting theme is “Inflection Point: Setting the Course for the Future of Scholarly Communication.” Visit booth #212 at the SSP 46th Annual Meeting 2024 to connect with members of the Impact Journals team. About ...

UTA has recently received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) designation from APLU, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities.UTA has recently received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) designation from APLU, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities.UTA has recently received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) designation from APLU, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities.UTA has recently received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) designation from APLU, the Association of Public and Land Grant ...

Texas Tech University’s Biological Threat Research Laboratory (BTRL) played a key role in detecting the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (H5N1) transmitted from a mammal (dairy cow) to a human. The case was made public in an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Steve Presley, the director of The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) and the BTRL, and Cynthia Reinoso Webb, the biological threat coordinator at TIEHH, were co-authors on the journal publication. The journal article explains that in March a farm worker who reported no contact with ...

Today, there are dozens of large language model (LLM) chatbots aimed at mental health care — addressing everything from loneliness among seniors to anxiety and depression in teens.  But the efficacy of these apps is unclear. Even more unclear is how well these apps work in supporting specific, marginalized groups like LGBTQ+ communities.  A team of researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Emory University, Vanderbilt University and the University of California Irvine, found that while large language models can offer fast, on-demand support, they frequently fail to grasp the specific challenges that many members ...

A deadly strain of cholera bacteria that emerged in Indonesia back in 1961 continues to spread widely to this day, claiming thousands of lives around the world every year, sickening millions — and, with its persistence, baffling scientists. Finally, in a study published today in Nature, researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have discovered how this dangerous strain has held out over decades. A longstanding mystery about the strain of Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) responsible for the seventh global cholera pandemic is how this lineage has managed ...

Rice University’s Peter Wolynes and his research team have unveiled a breakthrough in understanding how specific genetic sequences, known as pseudogenes, evolve. Their paper was published May 13 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal. Led by Wolynes, the D.R. Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science, professor of chemistry, biosciences and physics and astronomy and co-director of the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP), the team focused on deciphering the complex energy landscapes of de-evolved, putative protein sequences corresponding to pseudogenes. Pseudogenes are ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 13 May 2024     Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet      @Annalsofim     Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not ...

Chatbots share limited information, reinforce ideologies, and, as a result, can lead to more polarized thinking when it comes to controversial issues, according to new Johns Hopkins University–led research.  The study challenges perceptions that chatbots are impartial and provides insight into how using conversational search systems could widen the public divide on hot-button issues and leave people vulnerable to manipulation.  “Because people are reading a summary paragraph generated by AI, they think they’re getting unbiased, fact-based answers,” said lead author Ziang Xiao, an assistant professor of computer ...

SEATTLE — May 13, 2024 — Researchers at Fred Hutch Cancer Center have found in pre-clinical studies that an experimental gene therapy for genital and oral herpes removed 90% or more of the infection and suppressed how much virus can be released from an infected individual, which suggests that the therapy would also reduce the spread of the virus. “Herpes is very sneaky. It hides out among nerve cells and then reawakens and causes painful skin blisters,” said Keith Jerome, MD, PhD, professor ...

OTTAWA, Ontario, May 13, 2024 – Six out of seven sea turtle species are endangered, and humans are primarily responsible. Commercial fishing activities are the largest human-caused disturbance to sea turtles due to accidental capture. Fishers are typically unaware if a sea turtle is caught in their net until it’s completely pulled out of the water. However, releasing sea turtles without veterinary evaluations can be harmful. When accidentally caught, the turtles’ normal diving processes are interrupted, ...

A research team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) presented a detailed analysis of a tidal disruption event (TDE) with unique characteristics, providing new insights into the behavior of TDEs and their multiwavelength emissions. The study was published online in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. When a star ventures too close to a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy, it gets torn apart by the black hole's immense tidal forces, resulting ...

In a recent study published in Nature Physics, researchers from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with researchers of University of Science and Technology of China, have introduced the concept of the "Topological Kerr Effect" by using the low-temperature magnetic field microscopy system and the magnetic force microscopy imaging system supported by the steady-state high magnetic field experimental facility. The study holds great promise for advancing our understanding of topological magnetic ...

In a new study, led by Charles Underwood from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ) in Cologne, Germany, scientists established a system to generate clonal sex cells in tomato plants and used them to design the genomes of offspring. The fertilization of a clonal egg from one parent by a clonal sperm from another parent led to plants containing the complete genetic information of both parents. The study is now published in Nature Genetics. Hybrid seeds, combining two different parent lines with specific favorable traits, are popular in agriculture as they give rise to robust crops with enhanced productivity, and have been utilized by farmers ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Nature gave ticks, mosquitos and leaches a quick-acting way to keep blood from clotting while they extract their meal from a host.   Now the key to that method has been harnessed by a team of Duke researchers as a potential anti-clotting agent that could be used as an alternative to heparin during angioplasty, dialysis care, surgeries and other procedures.   Publishing in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers describe a synthetic molecule that mimics the effects of compounds in the saliva of blood-sucking critters. Importantly, the new molecule can also ...

Toronto, ON - A new national study found that transgender preteens, 12 and13 years old, reported 13 hours of daily recreational screen time, which was 4.5 hours more than their cisgender peers. Data were collected from 2019 to 2021, overlapping with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the study was published in Annals of Epidemiology. “Transgender adolescents are more likely to experience school-based bullying and exclusion from peer groups due to their gender identity, leading them to spend less time in traditional school activities and more time on screens,” says lead author, Jason Nagata, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. ...