Research Highlights: The weight loss medication tirzepatide significantly lowered the systolic blood pressure of nearly 500 adults who had obesity and took the medication for 36 weeks, or about eight months, in a subset of an international clinical trial. Participants taking 5 mg of tirzepatide had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 7.4 mm Hg; participants taking 10 mg had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 10.6 mm Hg; and participants taking 15 mg had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 8.0 mm Hg. In this study, the blood-pressure lowering effects of tirzepatide were evident during both day and night ...

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 10AM (UK TIME) ON MONDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2024  Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have found that the molecule RvT4 enhances the body’s natural defences against atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.  Studies in mice undertaken by researchers from Queen Mary University of London’s William Harvey Research Institute and Centre for Inflammation and Therapeutic Innovation, and funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and Barts Charity, shows that increasing levels of the RvT4 molecule in the body improves the ability of the body’s own defence ...

Climate models are essential to predicting and addressing climate change, but can fail to adequately represent soil microbes, a critical player in ecosystem soil carbon sequestration that affects the global carbon cycle. A team of scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed a new model that incorporates genetic information from microbes. This new model enables the scientists to better understand how certain soil microbes efficiently store carbon supplied by plant ...

FINDINGS Scientists at City of Hope®, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, have discovered a new cellular mechanism that plays an important role in cancer cells’ ability to cause disease. The study was published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology today. A team led by Chun-Wei (David) Chen, Ph.D., an associate professor of systems biology at City of Hope, pinpointed two cell-surface proteins, integrin αV and β5, that partner to spur cancer cell growth. The researchers next identified a region of integrin αV called the β-propeller domain ...

For years, there has been a long-held belief that acute viral infections like Zika or COVID-19 are directly responsible for neurological damage, but researchers from McMaster University have now discovered that it’s the immune system’s response that is behind it. The research, published on Feb. 5, 2024 in Nature Communications, was led by Elizabeth Balint, a PhD student at McMaster, and Ali Ashkar, a professor with the Department of Medicine and the Canada Research Chair in Natural Immunity and NK Cell Function. “We were interested in trying to ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created a new superconductor with a chiral crystalline structure by mixing two materials, one with superconductivity but no chirality, another with chirality but no superconductivity. The new platinum-iridium-zirconium compound transitions to a bulk superconductor below 2.2 K and was observed to have chiral crystalline structure using X-ray diffraction. Their new solid solution approach promises to accelerate the discovery and understanding of ...

(Millbrook, NY) Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies is launching a new program to support high school and middle school educators in teaching global change and ecology. Starting in the summer of 2024, nine teachers will spend six weeks at Cary Institute conducting collaborative research in ecosystem science. Follow-up meetings throughout the school year will support the teachers as they develop and implement innovative curricula based on their research experiences. The program is funded by a three-year award from the National Science Foundation as part of its Research ...

U.S. Rep. Katie Porter and former Los Angeles Dodger Steve Garvey are deadlocked in the race for second place in the U.S. Senate primary in California, according to a new poll on California politics and policies from USC; California State University, Long Beach; and Cal Poly Pomona. U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat, leads all candidates with 25% of likely voters, according to the California Elections and Policy Poll. Porter, a Democrat, and Garvey, a Republican, each received support from 15%. Other candidates are in single digits, with Democratic U.S. Rep. ...

Pancreatic cancer is the No. 3 cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and only 12% of patients survive five years after being diagnosed. Severe pancreatic cancer is associated with metastasis, and it is this spread of secondary tumors that usually causes death, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms that drive metastasis. In a study published Dec. 18 in Advanced Science, researchers from the University of California, Davis showed that abnormal expression of the protein Engrailed-1 (EN1) ...

Food manufacturers often add preservatives to food products to keep them fresh. A primary purpose of these preservatives is to kill microbes that could break down and otherwise spoil the food. Common additives like sugar, salt, vinegar and alcohol have been used as preservatives for centuries, but modern-day food labels now reveal more unfamiliar ingredients such as sodium benzoate, calcium propionate, and potassium sorbate. Bacteria produce chemicals called bacteriocins to kill microbial competitors. These chemicals can serve as natural preservatives by killing potentially dangerous pathogens ...

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) proudly introduces the first and only single-port robot in the Mountain West for head and neck surgical oncology patients. This state-of-the-art technology is a groundbreaking step in the field of oncological surgery, allowing for greater precision and less invasive procedures. Under the visionary leadership of dedicated healthcare professionals, the institute is committed to revolutionizing treatments for cancer patients. “I am delighted that Huntsman Cancer Institute can now offer cancer patients in the Mountain West access to this innovative and life-changing technology,” says Sachin ...

Forty-three million Americans lack access to municipal water, and 1 in 10 people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. Rice University’s new WaTER Institute, launched today, aims to address this and other complex water-related challenges. “Clean water can save more lives than doctors,” said Pedro J. Alvarez , the institute’s director and the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The institute’s researchers will also predict and prevent diseases by monitoring wastewater; ...

(February 2, 2024) The National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC) has developed updated guidelines that outline the comprehensive services and resources epilepsy centers should provide to improve quality of care for people whose epilepsy is not well-controlled. An Executive Summary of the 2023 Guidelines for Specialized Epilepsy Centers: Report of the National Association of Epilepsy Centers Guideline Panel was published online on February 2, 2024, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The complete NAEC guidelines are published as an eAppendix on the journal’s website. Epilepsy is one of the most ...

With a $300,000 grant, the Welch Foundation is supporting University of Texas at Arlington research into why some types of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacteria that causes the lung disease tuberculosis (TB), do not respond to treatments. Since its founding in 1954, the Houston-based Welch Foundation has contributed to the advancement of chemistry through research grants, departmental programs, endowed chairs and other special projects in Texas. “As one of the nation’s largest private funding sources for chemical research, it is our job ...

Many people are familiar with facial recognition systems that unlock smartphones and game systems or allow access to our bank accounts online. But the current technology can require boxy projectors and lenses. Now, researchers report in ACS’ Nano Letters a sleeker 3D surface imaging system with flatter, simplified optics. In proof-of-concept demonstrations, the new system recognized the face of Michelangelo’s David just as well as an existing smartphone system. 3D surface imaging is a common tool used in smartphone facial recognition, as well as in computer vision and autonomous driving. These systems typically consist of a dot projector that contains multiple components: ...

Many complex systems, from microbial communities to mussel beds to drylands, display striking self-organized clusters. According to theoretical models, these groupings play an important role in how an ecosystem works and its ability to respond to environmental changes. A new paper in PNAS focused on the spatial patterns found in drylands offers important empirical evidence validating the models. Drylands make up 40 percent of the Earth’s landmass and are places where water is the limiting resource for life. They often display a characteristic ...

DURHAM, N.C. – As the HIV virus glides up outside a human cell to dock and possibly inject its deadly cargo of genetic code, there’s a spectacularly brief moment in which a tiny piece of its surface snaps open to begin the process of infection. Seeing that structure snap open and shut in mere millionths of a second is giving Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) investigators a new handle on the surface of the virus that could lead to broadly neutralizing antibodies for an AIDS vaccine. Their findings appear Feb. 2 in Science Advances. Being able to attach an antibody specifically to ...

Some hereditary genetic defects cause an exaggerated immune response that can be fatal. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, such defects can be corrected, thus normalizing the immune response, as researchers led by Klaus Rajewsky from the Max Delbrück Center now report in “Science Immunology.” Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) is a rare disease of the immune system that usually occurs in infants and young children under the age of 18 months. The condition is severe and has a high mortality rate. It is caused by various gene mutations that prevent cytotoxic T cells from functioning normally. These ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Cigarette smoke exposure is associated with the development and severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, which is the third leading cause of death worldwide. Cigarette smoke contains 2 to 3 micrograms of cadmium, a highly toxic metal and environmental pollutant, per cigarette. Burning tobacco releases cadmium oxide that can be adsorbed onto microparticles in smoke that travel deep into the lungs. Furthermore, the body is not able to remove cadmium, which accumulates in longtime smokers. In ...

First-of-its-kind research on cryptocurrency finds that the most regulated coins create the most efficient markets. That crypto regulation, often provided by cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, can also help protect investors by providing reliable, public information. “Both small and institutional investors should know, if they invest in coins without any regulation, they may suffer from price manipulation or a severe lack of insider information,” said Liangfei Qiu, a University of Florida professor of business and one of the authors of the new study. “Instead, they may want to invest in coins listed with platforms ...

The ancient astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was the first scientist to document the theory that the sun is the center of the universe in his book, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres). That first edition book, along with a delicate manuscript from astronomer Johannes de Sacrobosco, that is contrary to Copernicus’ groundbreaking theory, has now found a permanent home at Rochester Institute of Technology. The texts were donated to RIT’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection, one of the world’s premier libraries on graphic communication history and practices. The donor is Irene ...

The genetic material, in the form of DNA, contains the information that is crucial for the correct functioning of every human and animal cell. From this information repository, RNA, an intermediate between DNA and protein, the functional unit of the cell, is generated. During this process, the genetic information must be tailored for specific cell functions. Information that is not needed (introns) is cut out of the RNA and the important components for proteins (exons) are preserved. A team of researchers led by Professor Dr Mirka Uhlirova at the University of Cologne’s CECAD Cluster of ...

RICHLAND, Wash.—Doctors have nearly a dozen new targeted drugs to treat patients with acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, yet three of four patients still die within five years. Some patients succumb within just a month or two, despite the battery of drugs used to treat the aggressive blood disease, where blood cells don’t develop properly.   A new study draws on a field of science known as proteogenomics to try to improve the outlook. In a paper published Jan. 16 in Cell Reports Medicine, scientists report new ...

Oxidation can degrade the properties and functionality of metals. However, a research team co-led by scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) recently found that severely oxidized metallic glass nanotubes can attain an ultrahigh recoverable elastic strain, outperforming most conventional super-elastic metals. They also discovered the physical mechanisms underpinning this super-elasticity. Their discovery implies that oxidation in low-dimension metallic glass can result in unique properties for ...

One of the study authors, Professor Hans Frankort, Professor of Strategy at Bayes Business School, City, University of London, said: “Sports – particularly motorsports – can be a good proxy for several other industries as they are extremely competitive: if you don’t perform and progress you may be out. Workers in sectors such as consultancy and financial services face similar pressures.” The peer reviewed paper, which has been published on the website of the Academy of Management Journal, found that riders systematically adjusted their internal ...