Researchers have newly identified a universal, essential biomarker for the childhood cancer neuroblastoma – and a potential new target for treatment. Neuroblastoma accounts for 15% of all pediatric cancer deaths and is the most common source of childhood tumors outside of brain cancer. The disease develops in early nerve tissue, usually in and around the adrenal glands, and typically affects children under age five. High-risk cases have a five-year survival rate of just 50%. Led by UC San Francisco, researchers suspected the oncoprotein AF1q, which is known to play a role in leukemia and solid tumor progression, might be important in tumors of neural origin ...

Scientists at UC San Francisco may have discovered a new way to test for autism by measuring how children’s eyes move when they turn their heads.     They found that kids who carry a variant of a gene that is associated with severe autism are hypersensitive to this motion.     The gene, SCN2A, makes an ion channel that is found throughout the brain, including the region that coordinates movement, called the cerebellum. Ion channels allow electrical charges in and out of cells and are fundamental to how they function. Several variants ...

Why hydrogen causes steels to become brittle and crack is the great conundrum of engineers and researchers looking to develop large-scale transport and storage solutions for the hydrogen age – an era which Australia hopes to lead by 2030. They may now be one step closer to understanding how hydrogen affects steels, thanks to new University of Sydney research. The researchers found adding the chemical element molybdenum to steel reinforced with metal carbides markedly enhances its ability to ...

Concerted international efforts are urgently needed to meet the targets set out in the 2030 Global Alcohol Action Plan (GAAP) and avert “dire consequences” for low and middle income countries, where alcohol markets are expanding, warn health scientists in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.   A lack of progress on alcohol and health in the wake of the 2010 Global Strategy for Reducing the Harmful Use of Alcohol prompted the 75th World Health Assembly to initiate the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-30 and declare alcohol a public health priority, ...

The common inflammatory condition sinusitis is linked to a 40% heightened risk of a subsequent diagnosis of rheumatic disease, particularly in the 5 to 10 years preceding the start of symptoms, finds research published in the open access journal RMD Open.   The risks seem to be greatest for a blood clotting disorder (antiphospholipid syndrome) and a condition that affects the body’s production of fluids, such as spit and tears, known as Sjögren’s syndrome, the findings indicate. Sinusitis refers to inflammation of the lining of ...

Patients whose asthma is poorly controlled have eight times excess greenhouse gas emissions compared with those whose condition is well controlled—equivalent to that produced by 124,000 homes each year in the UK—indicates the first study of its kind, published online in the journal Thorax. Improving the care of asthma patients could achieve substantial carbon emissions savings, and help the NHS meet its net zero target, say the researchers. Healthcare is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and in 2020 the NHS set an ambitious target of reducing its carbon footprint by 80% over the next 15 years, with the aim of reaching net zero by 2045, ...

In the first study to use whole genome sequencing to examine tandem repeat expansions in heart conditions, scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have laid the groundwork for early detection of and future precision therapies for cardiomyopathy.  Cardiomyopathy is an inherited heart condition that impacts up to one in 500 individuals. The condition affects the structure and function of the heart and can ultimately lead to heart failure.  The SickKids-led study, published in eBioMedicine, part of The Lancet Discovery Science, indicates that tandem repeats – a form of genetic variation – are more often expanded ...

“This [Tic Tac-shaped object that] had just traveled 60 miles in…less than a minute, was far superior in performance to my brand-new F/A-18F and did not operate with any of the known aerodynamic principles that we expect for objects that fly in our atmosphere.”  In July of 2023, retired commander in the U.S. Navy David Fravor testified to the House Oversight Committee about a mysterious, Tic Tac-shaped object that he and three others observed over the Pacific Ocean in 2004. The congressional hearings riveted ...

Interventions such as mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), could be an effective treatment option for menopause-related mood symptoms, memory and concentration problems, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The research, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, is the most up-to-date study of its kind, providing a meta-analysis of 30 studies involving 3,501 women who were going through the menopause in 14 countries, including the UK, USA, Iran, Australia, and China. Lead author, Professor Aimee Spector (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences), said: “Women can spend a notable number of years in their ...

*Please mention the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024, Barcelona, 27-30 April) if using this material* A new research review to be given at a pre-congress day for this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024) will look at the many ways artificial intelligence can help prevent infectious disease outbreaks including ensuring staff wear personal protective equipment correctly and managing day-to-day hospital activities ...

*Please mention the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024, Barcelona, 27-30 April) if using this material* A new research review to be given at a pre-congress day for this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024) will highlight the potential artificial intelligence (AI) has to improve the speed and accuracy of investigations into infectious disease outbreaks in hospitals, and potentially provide real time information to stop or prevent them. The talk will be by Dr Jonas Marschall, Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School ...

Walleye are one of the most sought-after species in freshwater sportfishing, a delicacy on Midwestern menus and a critically important part of the culture of many Indigenous communities. They are also struggling to survive in the warming waters of the Midwestern United States and Canada. According to a new study published Feb. 26 in the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters, part of the problem is that walleye are creatures of habit, and the seasons — especially winter — are changing so fast that this iconic species of freshwater fish can’t keep up. The timing of walleye spawning ...

A UC Berkeley-led study revealed that disparities in the share of Black and Latino students admitted to America’s elite colleges and universities have endured and even widened over the last 40 years.  The study, "Shifting Tides: The Evolution of Racial Inequality in Higher Education from the 1980s through the 2010s,"(link is external) was published this month in Sage Journals and conducted by a team of researchers from UC Berkeley’s Social Sciences D-Lab, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, University of Arizona and Portland State University. It used four national survey datasets to examine college attendance trends across ...

A new study shows oxygenation levels in the placenta, formed during the last three months of fetal development, are an important predictor of cortical growth (development of the outermost layer of the brain or cerebral cortex) and is likely a predictor of childhood cognition and behaviour. “Many factors can disrupt healthy brain development in utero, and this study demonstrates the placenta is a crucial mediator between maternal health and fetal brain health,” said Emma Duerden, Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience & Learning Disorders ...

New research out of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and VCU Health Pauley Heart Center indicates that survivors of childhood cancer are at a significantly higher risk of death following a major cardiovascular event — including heart failure, heart attack or stroke — than the general public. The findings – published this week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology — could fuel advocacy for a paradigm shift in clinical heart health guidelines to address cardiovascular risk factors at an earlier age in childhood cancer survivors. “We found that the risk of death after a major cardiovascular event in a 50-year-old in the general population ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS – Pesticides and herbicides used in farming have been linked to Parkinson’s disease in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains region of the country, according to a preliminary study released today, February 27, 2024, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 76th Annual Meeting taking place April 13–18, 2024, in person in Denver and online. “We used geographic methods to examine the rates ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — UC Santa Barbara researchers and collaborators in Colombia, Brazil and Germany are progressing toward an understanding of mechanisms that underlie Alzheimer’s disease, in particular an early-onset, genetic form that has afflicted generations of an extended family in Colombia. They also shed some light on a woman from that family who managed to beat the odds. “What are the chances,” said UCSB neuroscientist Kenneth S. Kosik, a senior author of a paper that appears in the journal Neuron. “It’s unbelievable serendipity.” It all takes place in the ...

Cannabis products high in the nonintoxicating compound CBD can quell anxiety better than THC-dominant products— and without the potential side effects, new University of Colorado Boulder research suggests.  The study of 300 people, published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, is the first randomized trial to examine how legal, commercially available cannabis impacts anxiety symptoms. The study comes as one in five U.S. adults suffer from an anxiety disorder, making it the most common mental illness in the country, and prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications are on the rise.  “We ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Imagine if we could inhale scents that delay the onset of cancer, inflammation, or neurodegenerative disease. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, are poised to bring this futuristic technology closer to reality.  In lab experiments, a team led by Anandasankar Ray, a professor of molecular, cell and systems biology, exposed the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to diacetyl, a microbial volatile compound released by yeast, and found changes in gene expression in the fly’s antennae in just a few days. In separate experiments, ...

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has announced four faculty members from the Texas Tech University System as part of the 2024 class of Senior Members. Noureddine Abidi and Seshadri Ramkumar, both professors at Texas Tech University; Annelise Nguyen, associate dean for research at the School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo; and Hongjun (Henry) Liang, a professor from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), join 120 other emerging academic inventors in this year’s class. “These individuals are great representatives of the innovative spirit here at Texas Tech and are highly deserving of this recognition,” ...

Februay 27, 2024   UMass Amherst Researchers ID Enzyme Key to Training Cells to Fight Autoimmune Disorders Discovery of new signaling pathway in immune cells may lay the foundation for drug-free, side-effect-free treatments for patients with aplastic anemia and other autoimmune disorders   AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently released a first-of-its-kind study that focuses on the rare autoimmune disorder aplastic anemia to understand how a subset of cells might be trained to correct the overzealous immune response that can lead to fatal autoimmune disorders. The research, published in Frontiers in Immunology, ...

It has long been known that there is a complex interplay between genetic factors and environmental influences in shaping behavior. Recently it has been found that genes governing behavior in the brain operate within flexible and contextually responsive regulatory networks. However, conventional genome-wide association studies (GWAS) often overlook this complexity, particularly in humans where controlling environmental variables poses challenges. In a new perspective article publishing February 27th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology ...

Biodiversity appears to strongly suppress pathogens and pests in many plant and animal systems, but this “dilution effect” can vary strikingly in magnitude This study uses forest inventory data from over 25,000 plots to show that the prevalence of tree pests is jointly controlled by the diversity and phylogenetic composition of forests     ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology:   http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002473 Press-only preview: PENDING Contact: Andrew Gougherty, andrew.gougherty@usda.gov Image ...

Tuesday, February 27, 2024, CLEVELAND: Research by Cleveland Clinic and three other U.S. medical centers has found that bariatric surgery provides better long-term control of blood glucose levels in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes, compared with medical therapy.   Study participants who had bariatric surgery also experienced higher rates of complete diabetes remission up to 12 years after their surgical procedure.  The research was published in JAMA.  The Alliance of Randomized trials of Medicine vs Metabolic Surgery in Type 2 Diabetes (ARMMS-T2D) consortium analyzed long-term results of four randomized trials that were ...

A research study led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that certain combinations of foods consumed during pregnancy may be linked to a higher likelihood of developing preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening blood pressure condition that can have serious consequences for both mother and baby.  The study, which focuses on low-income Hispanic women in Los Angeles, suggests that different combinations of foods in a woman's diet during pregnancy have the potential to increase or reduce the likelihood of preeclampsia development, and that interventions in diet during pregnancy may help reduce the risk of preeclampsia. It is known that Hispanic women develop ...