Researchers with McMaster University have created the instruction manual that will help scientists across the globe find hard to detect B cells. Led by PhD student Alyssa Phelps and Department of Medicine Assistant Professor Josh Koenig, researchers wanted to chart a path to finding these cells as part of their work in understanding food allergies. Their work was published in the journal Nature Protocols on Jan. 19, 2024. B cells are a type of immune cell that makes antibodies. These cells help fight conditions like cancer and infections but can also cause autoimmune diseases and allergies. "One of the big problems with trying to study these B ...

HOUSTON – (Jan. 19, 2024) – Amanda Marciel describes her current research, supported by a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, as an effort to understand and make “really soft, stretchable stuff.” Expressed more formally, she works at the molecular level to design branch elastomers that return to their original shape after being stretched. “What I’m doing is creating synthetic networks that have a gel-like softness and are highly elastic for such applications as stretchable ...

Clinical stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven biotechnology company InSilico Medicine (“InSilico”), today announced that the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, an ACS Publications journal focusing on critical studies about molecular structure and biological activity, has published the company’s discovery of a novel PHD inhibitor for the treatment of anemia. The academic breakthrough is powered by Chemistry42, its proprietary generative chemistry platform consisting of more than 40 selected generative models.   As suggested in previous studies, the inhibition ...

Insilico Medicine(“Insilico”), a clinical stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, recently published an early research that it has identified MYT1 as a promising new therapeutic target for breast and gynecological cancer, and discovered a series of novel, potent, and highly selective inhibitors specifically targeting MYT1. These findings were supported by Insilico’s AI-driven generative biology and chemistry engine and published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry in Dec 2023.   Across ...

Professor Yoon-Kyoung Cho from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNIST has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), the most prestigious organization in the field of engineering in Korea. On January 4, the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK) announced the election of 50 new members, comprising 25 academic and 25 industrial figures, in recognition of their distinguished and ongoing achievements in original research. Membership in NAEK is considered one of the highest professional distinctions for engineers. Professor Cho’s name appeared ...

A groundbreaking study conducted by Professor Jiyoung Park and her research team in the Department of Biological Sciences at UNIST has identified FAM3C, a metabolism-regulating signaling molecule produced by cancer-associated adipocytes (CAAs), as a key regulator of breast cancer progression within the tumor microenvironment (TME). The findings, published in the prestigious academic journal Cancer Research, shed light on the potential for targeted therapies in the treatment of breast cancer. The study demonstrates that overexpression of FAM3C in cultured adipocytes significantly reduces cell death in both adipocytes and co-cultured breast cancer ...

There are approximately 425 million people worldwide with diabetes. Approximately 75 million of these inject themselves with insulin daily. Now they may soon have a new alternative to syringes or insulin pumps. Scientists have found a new way to supply the body with smart insulin. The new insulin can be eaten by taking a capsule or even better, within a piece chocolate. Inside these we find tiny nano-carriers to which the insulin is encapsulated. The particles are 1/10,000th the width of a human hair and so small that you cannot even see them under a normal microscope. “This ...

MIAMI, FL – January 19, 2024 – Researchers from Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida, today published a study in Trends in Cancer that analyzes the use of tissue-agnostic therapeutics in patients with primary brain tumors (PBTs). The publication describes the current and potential impact of tissue-agnostic therapies on the management of PBTs. As part of the publication, the researchers discuss data from clinical trials of tissue-agnostic targets for PBTs in the context of challenges in managing these tumors. They also describe additional tissue-agnostic ...

A McGill-led team of researchers have made an important discovery shedding light on the genetic basis of a rare skeletal disorder. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals that a defect in a specific gene (heterozygous variants in the matrix Gla protein, or MGP) may cause a disorder that affects the structure of connective tissues that supports the body. MGP is a special protein found in blood vessels and cartilage that helps prevent the hardening of these tissues in the body. If MGP is completely missing, it can lead to Keutel syndrome, a rare condition where tissues become calcified, causing issues in the skeleton and blood vessels. However, in this case, ...

Infantile epileptic spasms syndrome (IESS), often called infantile spasms, is the most common form of epilepsy seen during infancy. Prompt diagnosis and referral to a neurologist are essential. But research suggests infants are likely to experience delays in referral to a neurologist if their families are from historically marginalized racial/ethnic backgrounds. A new open-access training module for front-line providers from OPENPediatrics, an online learning community launched by Boston Children’s Hospital, aims to change that. The free, publicly accessible Infantile Spasms curriculum includes short lectures and videos illustrating ...

In studying social mobility in today’s industrialized nations, researchers typically rely on data from the World Economic Forum or, in the United States, the General Social Survey. But examining the same phenomena from past centuries is a more daunting task because relevant statistics are harder to come by.  However, a social science research team has now discovered a way to examine professional advancement in medieval China (618-907 CE) by drawing from the tomb epitaphs during the Tang Dynasty. These epitaphs contain the ancestral lineages, names, and office titles (e.g., Minister of Personnel, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Think of a time when you had two different but similar experiences in a short period. Maybe you attended two holiday parties in the same week or gave two presentations at work. Shortly afterward, you may find yourself confusing the two, but as time goes on that confusion recedes and you are better able to differentiate between these different experiences. New research published in Nature Neuroscience published on January 19, reveals that this process occurs on a cellular level, findings that are critical to ...

Recent advances in generative AI help to explain how memories enable us to learn about the world, re-live old experiences and construct totally new experiences for imagination and planning, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour and funded by Wellcome, uses an AI computational model – known as a generative neural network - to simulate how neural networks in the brain learn from and remember a series of events (each one represented by a simple scene). The ...

As people age, they gradually lose muscle strength in their arms and legs, making it difficult for them to participate in leisure activities such as hiking and traveling, and they often need to rely on assistive devices such as canes and wheelchairs for mobility. However, these assistive devices do not improve muscle strength, so wearable robots that can compensate for the lack of muscle strength with the help of robots are attracting attention as an innovative technology to improve the health and quality of life of the elderly. Dr. Lee Jongwon of the Intelligent Robotics Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology(KIST) ...

Researchers at the University of Bath have invented a new form of high-performance air purifier that promises zero harmful waste. Key to the purifier and how it works is FOAM3R filter technology, patented by the University, which is described as a highly adaptable disruptor technology for microbial, CO2 and volatile organic compound (VOC) odour removal. FOAM3R can be used to produce multi-functional foam structures for a wide range of applications, including aircraft cabins, in-car air filters, ship and boat cabins, residential heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, home air purifiers and respirator and breathing apparatus. The ...

Young people are increasingly planning to not have children Millennials with stronger environmental concerns are less likely to intend to have a child, but this isn’t the case for Gen Z Lower-income families spend more of their income on childcare than wealthier households Parents pay an average of £560 a month on childcare – with a quarter paying over £800 A comprehensive new survey reveals the changing face of UK families amid recent economic, social, and political turmoil. The methodology and initial findings from the UK Generations and Gender Survey are being presented today [Friday 19th January] ...

While several trials have shown that substantial weight loss using diet and lifestyle can reverse type 2 diabetes, new research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association of the Study of Diabetes [EASD]) is among the first to show the subsequent impact of remission on cardiovascular outcomes. The study is by Professor Edward Gregg, Head of the School of Population Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland, and colleagues. The new study shows that in patients that took part in the Look ...

18 January 2024: Researchers in the School of Population Health at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences have provided new evidence of the health benefits of weight loss efforts that lead to diabetes remission for type 2 diabetes patients.   For participants in the weight-loss trial who were able to achieve remission i.e. reduce the need for medications and reduce their HbA1c levels (a measure of blood sugar control), the research found there was a 40% lower rate of cardiovascular disease and 33% lower rate of chronic kidney disease in this group.  While previous trials have shown that substantial weight loss using diet and lifestyle can reverse type ...

HOUSTON – (Jan. 18, 2024) – Quantum technologies bring the promise of faster computing, enhanced drug development and new sensing applications. However, quantum behaviors are difficult to study experimentally since most systems can only sustain quantum effects for a short time. “The reason why quantum physics’ mysterious features tend to vanish so quickly is a process called decoherence,” said Kaden Hazzard, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and a corresponding author on a study published in Nature Physics. “It occurs when a quantum system ...

Life on Earth runs on a 24-hour cycle as the planet turns. Animals and plants have built-in circadian clocks that synchronize metabolism and behavior to this daily cycle. But one beetle is out of sync with the rest of nature. A new study, published Jan. 18 in Current Biology, looks at a beetle with a unique, 48-hour cycle. The large black chafer beetle, Holotrichia parallela, is an agricultural pest in Asia. Every other night, the female beetles emerge from the soil, climb up a host plant ...

A team at NYU Tandon School of Engineering will kick off the second phase of an ambitious research project that aims to transform navigation and accessibility for many of the 285 million people with blindness and low vision (pBLV) worldwide. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded the project a three-year $5 million grant last month. Led by John-Ross Rizzo – an associate professor in NYU Tandon’s Biomedical Engineering department, associate director of NYU WIRELESS, affiliated faculty at the NYU Tandon Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and associate professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU ...

      MEDIA INQUIRES   WRITTEN BY Laura Muntean   Paul Schattenberg laura.muntean@ag.tamu.edu   paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu 601-248-1891   210-859-5752 FOR ...

You may have heard about the gut microbiome and its influence on a person’s overall health and well-being. It turns out that the same may hold true for the semen microbiome.   According to researchers from the Department of Urology at UCLA, the semen microbiota might play a crucial role in influencing sperm parameters and enhancing male fertility. Considering recent studies highlighting the microbiome’s significance in overall human health, researchers investigated the semen microbiome to understand its potential impact on male infertility. Exploring the functions of these microorganisms in semen could potentially pave the way for developing treatments targeted ...

South Florida’s Nearshore Reefs Less Vulnerable to Ocean Acidification, Study Finds Results offer a glimmer of hope as climate change impacts coral reefs worldwide Researchers studying South Florida’s coral reefs found that the region’s nearshore reefs and more sheltered inshore areas are less vulnerable to ocean acidification than previously thought – a major climate-related threat to coral reefs as ocean waters absorb more atmospheric CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels. This new study, led by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, ...

HOUSTON, January 18, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $17.4 million funding for 19 early-stage research projects focused on expanding clean energy technologies at colleges and universities across America. These projects will establish visiting scholars’ programs, create new academic curricula related to geosciences, and provide interdisciplinary training in humanities-driven science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The list includes three projects from the University of Houston, a Carnegie-designated Tier One Research University. Two of these explore the feasibility and benefit of repurposing ...