Life may come in all shapes and sizes, but in nature the most extreme size ranges predominate, according to Rutgers researchers. A survey of body sizes of Earth organisms, published Wednesday, March 29, in the science journal PLoS ONE, shows that the planet’s biomass – the material that makes up all living organisms – is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum. “This conclusion – that life on earth comes packaged predominantly in the largest and smallest sizes – was a discovery that surprised us,” said Malin Pinsky, an associate professor ...

Study Title: Aberrant cell state plasticity mediated by developmental reprogramming precedes colorectal cancer initiation Publication: Science Advances: March 29, 2023, 2:00pm ET 10.1126/sciadv.adf0927 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute author: Pratyusha Bala, PhD, Jonathan P. Rennhack, PhD, Daulet Aitymbayev, MS, Matthew B. Yurgelun, MD, William C. Hahn, MD, PhD, Nilay S. Sethi, MD, PhD Summary: Normally the lining of the colon forms a series of steep hills and valleys. At the surface, where the hills peak, are functional colon cells that do the organ’s work of absorption and secretion. Deep in the valleys are stem cells that constantly ...

Traces of ancient empires that stretched across Africa remain in the DNA of people living on the continent, reveals a new genetics study led by UCL researchers. Published in Science Advances, the collaboration between UCL geneticists working alongside anthropologists, archaeologists, historians and linguists in Africa and beyond found evidence for when different peoples intermixed across the continent. Their findings indicate migration linked to vast empires such as the Kanem-Bornu and the kingdoms of Aksum and Makuria, ...

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – March 29, 2023) Improving the seasonal influenza vaccine and public health specialists’ ability to predict pandemic potential in new flu strains may be possible due to new findings from scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The key is the stability of a viral protein that gains entry into human cells. The findings were published today in Science Advances.   “We found that the protein flu viruses use to enter cells, hemagglutinin, needs to be relatively stable and resistant to acid in an effective H3N2 flu vaccine,” said senior and co-corresponding ...

The COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented challenges to public health worldwide. Tracking the dynamics of the coronavirus permits governments, organizations, and individuals to make projections in an effort to curb the spread of the pandemic. But while a large amount of data about COVID is collected and publicly available, the information can be unreliable and subject to bias. In a new study, researchers analyzed data from Cali, Colombia, to develop a model that provides a template for tracking data, predicting transmission, and informing health surveillance systems. The study was conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon ...

A National Eye Institute-led team has identified a compound already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that keeps light-sensitive photoreceptors alive in three models of Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA 10), an inherited retinal ciliopathy disease that often results in severe visual impairment or blindness in early childhood.  LCA 10 is caused by mutations of the cilia-centrosomal gene (CEP290). Such mutations account for 20% to 25% of all LCA – more than any other gene.   Using a mouse model of LCA10 and two types of lab-created tissues from stem ...

A team of researchers from Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine recently discovered a novel role of human-CIDEC gene in improving metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular health. The study, “Endothelial-Specific Expression of CIDEC Improves High-Fat Diet–Induced Vascular and Metabolic Dysfunction,” published in Diabetes focuses on vascular function and its association with metabolic diseases like insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. “This is a very impactful study, and we have moved in the right direction to find a way to reduce cardiovascular ...

Research by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, UK, along with colleagues at Universities of Oxford and Aberdeen, finds that trust in scientists has hugely increased overall since the COVID-19 pandemic, but that attitudes have also become more polarized. The study also found that people were more likely to take the COVID-19 vaccine if their trust in the science had increased. Whether it be climate change, vaccines or GM foods, trust in science and scientists has rarely been more important. ...

Thanks to the work of Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a new project led by Northern Arizona University, with various collaborators throughout the nation, will help the United States better protect the critical supply chain infrastructure and the supply chains that keeps the country and its economy running. Benjamin Ruddell, professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems and founder of the FEWSION project, is the NAU lead. Funded at $8 million for year one, the project aims to work with technology known as Fused Global Data Analytics and Visualization. The team’s leadership, ...

Cohesin is a ring-shaped protein that surrounds and moves around the DNA molecule, forming the loops. It is a crucial process for the cell. Understanding how cohesin works has been one of the challenges of molecular biology in recent decades. The work now published by Ana Losada's group at CNIO will serve to deepen our understanding of the disease known as Cornelia de Lange syndrome. At the end of the 1990s, Ana Losada, a researcher at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), then at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (New York, USA), discovered a protein in frogs of the Xenopus genus that is fundamental to ...

Being able to withstand hurricane-force winds is the key to a long life for many buildings on the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast of the U.S. Determining the right level of winds to design for is tricky business, but support from artificial intelligence may offer a simple solution. Equipped with 100 years of hurricane data and modern AI techniques, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have devised a new method of digitally simulating hurricanes. The results of a study published today in Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems demonstrate that the simulations can accurately ...

More than 30% of women who give birth by caesarean section suffer from long-term symptoms, such as abdominal pain, blood loss or fertility problems. These symptoms are caused by an abnormal uterine scar. This condition is defined now for the first time, thanks to an international study led by Amsterdam UMC, as Caesarean Scar Disorder (CSDi). This gives women recognition for these problems after a caesarean section. In addition, international studies on CSDi can now be better compared with each other, providing more insight into treatment options. The research is published today in JAMA Network Open.   In ...

People living on the ‘Swahili coast’ - the Indian Ocean coast of eastern Africa - have African and Asian ancestry according to new research on ancient DNA. Archaeologists believe that the results, based on finds from excavations, including those directed by  Professor Stephanie Wynne-Jones from the University of York and Professor Jeffrey Fleisher at Rice University, confirm that relationships between Asian merchants and African traders were formed between the years 900 and 1100 in ...

Brain development consists of a sequence of coordinated steps, which are mainly instructed by our genes. During these steps, the proper positioning and functionality of nerve cells in the brain (neurons) are critical—nonfunctional or incorrectly positioned neurons can lead to severe neuropathological consequences. Mutations in genes coordinating this program are often linked to neurodevelopmental disorders; however, environmental stressors such as nutrient scarcity or malnutrition can also influence the development of the brain. Still, very little is known about the importance of specific nutrients ...

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which ESO is a partner, astronomers have discovered a large reservoir of hot gas in the still-forming galaxy cluster around the Spiderweb galaxy — the most distant detection of such hot gas yet. Galaxy clusters are some of the largest objects known in the Universe and this result, published today in Nature, further reveals just how early these structures begin to form. Galaxy clusters, as the name suggests, host a large number of galaxies — sometimes even thousands. They also contain a vast “intracluster medium” (ICM) of ...

At a glance: Who were the people of the medieval Swahili civilization? Ancient DNA reveals African founders intermingled with migrants from southwest Asia around 1000 CE Findings complicate scientific views as well as colonial-era beliefs For the first time, analyses determine that some present-day Kenyans who identify as Swahili are genetically very different from medieval residents of the same region, while others have retained substantial medieval ancestry   While serfs toiled and knights jousted in Europe and samurai and shoguns rose to power in Japan, the ...

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Nuclear physicists may have finally pinpointed where in the proton a large fraction of its mass resides. A recent experiment carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has revealed the radius of the proton’s mass that is generated by the strong force as it glues together the proton’s building block quarks. The result was recently published in Nature. One of the biggest mysteries of the proton is the origin of its mass. It turns out that the proton’s measured mass doesn’t just come from its physical building blocks, its three so-called valence quarks. “If you add up the ...

About The Study: Researchers found in this study that among Medicare beneficiaries initiating opioid use disorder-related care during the COVID-19 pandemic, receipt of opioid use disorder-related telehealth services was associated with reduced risk for fatal drug overdose, as was receipt of medications for opioid use disorder from opioid treatment programs and receipt of buprenorphine in office-based settings. Authors: Christopher M. Jones, Pharm.D., Dr.P.H., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and ...

About The Study: This study of suicide decedents who had consumed alcohol prior to their death suggests that, as alcohol consumption increased, the probability of a firearm-involved suicide increased until a certain blood alcohol concentration, at which point the probability started to decrease. The findings suggest that interventions targeting heavy alcohol use may aid in efforts to reduce the suicide mortality rate, particularly suicides involving a firearm.  Authors: Shannon Lange, M.P.H., Ph.D., of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...

Overdose mortality among people age 65 and older quadrupled over 20 years, suggesting the need for greater mental health and substance use disorder policies addressed at curbing the trend, a new research paper finds. The deaths stemmed from both suicides and accidental overdoses, with nearly three-fourths of the unintended fatalities involving illicit drugs such as synthetic opioids like fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines.  Prescription opioids, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antiepileptics and sedatives were used in 67% of intentional overdoses.  “The dramatic rise in overdose fatalities among adults over 65 years of ...

The deep ocean circulation that forms around Antarctica could be headed for collapse, say scientists. Such decline of this ocean circulation will stagnate the bottom of the oceans and generate further impacts affecting climate and marine ecosystems for centuries to come. The results are detailed in a new study coordinated by Scientia Professor Matthew England, Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) at UNSW Sydney. The work, published today in Nature, includes lead author Dr. Qian Li—formerly from UNSW and now ...

IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON PRESS RELEASE Under STRICT EMBARGO until: Wednesday 29 March 2023 16:00 BST / 11:00 ET Peer-reviewed / Observational study / People Diminishing health benefits of living in cities for children and teens The advantages of living in cities for children and adolescents’ healthy growth and development are shrinking across much of the world, according to a new global analysis of trends in child and adolescent height and body mass index (BMI) led by Imperial College London and published in Nature. The research, by a global consortium of more than 1500 researchers and physicians, analysed height ...

MSK researchers identified a key role for the STING signaling pathway in preventing dormant metastatic cancer cells from progressing to active metastases. Treating laboratory mice with a STING activator helped eliminate lingering metastatic cells and stop the development of aggressive tumors. The study suggests further investigation of STING activation as a new approach to prevent cancer from recurring or spreading to other organs after successful treatment of a primary tumor. A team of scientists at the Sloan Kettering Institute have identified the STING cellular signaling pathway as a key player in keeping dormant cancer cells from progressing ...

You know when you’ve found the flow. You experience it when you are doing something that engages you so fully that time seems to fly by. Maybe it's a job, or something completely different, like chess or computer games or football or shovelling snow. But flow is not just an expression that people use. It has been a concept used by psychologists for almost 50 years, because finding the flow can be useful for people. “Finding the flow zone can be important when teachers have to adapt their instruction. If we find the flow, we’ve also found the right level for the students,” says Hermundur Sigmundsson, a professor in the Department of Psychology ...

Mental health disorders affect nearly one billion people worldwide and are a leading cause of suicide. In Switzerland, it is estimated that about 1.4 million people are affected by mental health issues and that approximately 1,000 people take their lives every year. Environmental factors such as air pollution or noise have been linked to adverse health effects such as cardiovascular diseases and general well-being. However, robust evidence on the effects of transportation noise on mental health disorders remains scarce. For the first time, ...