Clouds, composed of tiny water droplets or ice crystals, play a vital role in regulating Earth’s climate by influencing the amount of solar radiation that reaches the surface. The cloud phase significantly impacts the surface energy balance as liquid water clouds reflect more radiation than ice clouds. Ice clouds typically form at temperatures below −38°C, but recent observations indicate their formation at higher temperatures in the Arctic. This phenomenon is facilitated by ice-nucleating particles (INPs), including mineral dust, organic aerosols and bioaerosols, which promote ice cloud formation above the usual freezing ...

Scientists have recently shown that both the quality and the amount of sleep we get may influence our risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.  Now, a study suggests that people who take significantly longer to start the dream phase of sleep, known as rapid eye movement (REM), may be experiencing an early symptom of the disease.   REM follows three phases of non-REM sleep, each deeper than the last. The four phases take 90 minutes or more to complete, depending on age, and a person may cycle through them four or five times in a typical night. Older people take longer to reach REM.  During REM sleep the brain processes memories, ...

Weight-Loss Surgery Lowers Risk of Developing Complications of Liver Disease in Patients with Cirrhosis and Obesity  SPECCIAL study suggests bariatric surgery favorably influences progression of cirrhosis    UNDER EMBARGO Monday, January 27, 2025, at 05:00 AM (US Eastern Time) CLEVELAND: A Cleveland Clinic study shows that patients with obesity and fatty liver-related cirrhosis who had bariatric (weight-loss) surgery significantly lowered their future risk of developing serious ...

Highlights: According to the American Heart Association’s 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. While medical advances have helped more people live longer with cardiovascular diseases, many of the risk factors which lead to these diseases, including high blood pressure and obesity, continue to grow at alarming rates. Cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease and stroke, claim more lives in the U.S. than all forms of cancer and accidental deaths – the #2 and #3 causes of death – combined. Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT / 5 a.m. ET Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 DALLAS, Jan. 27, 2025 — Heart ...

A large proportion of babies born very early need intensive care, which can be painful. But the healthcare system fails to provide pain relief to the full extent. This is shown by the largest survey to date of pain in neonatal care, now published in the journal Pain. Every day for 4.5 years, neonatal care staff have recorded the occurrence of pain, the causes of pain, and how pain is assessed and treated in premature babies in Sweden. The study covers 3,686 babies born between 22 and 31 weeks of gestation from 2020 to 2024. The total observation time was just over 185,000 days of care. Data were collected in the Swedish ...

A recent study indicates that children and young adults with cancer face an elevated risk of dying if they live in previously redlined neighborhoods—residential areas marked in the 1920s–1930s by lenders as undesirable for mortgage loans due to their racial demographics. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Historic redlining prevented Black households and other communities of color from accessing home mortgages for many years, leading to economic disadvantage and racial ...

Climate change is melting away glaciers around the world, but in the Andes Mountains, a wild relative of the llama is helping local ecosystems adapt to these changes by dropping big piles of dung. This finding, published Dec 30 in Scientific Reports, revealed that the activity of this animal could accelerate the time plants usually take to establish on new land by over a century, highlighting a surprising way organisms are adapting to climate change. “It’s interesting to see how a social behavior of these animals ...

More than one in three parents say their child has faced issues like tooth decay, cavities, stained teeth, gum concerns or tooth pain over the past two years, a national poll suggests. And these problems were linked to children’s oral care routine, more commonly experienced among those who skipped dental hygiene recommendations or followed them less often, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. “Maintaining oral health from a young age, including regular brushing ...

AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 27, 2025) – A new study led by researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has shed light on the burdens parental involvement laws impose on adolescents seeking abortion care, even in states like Colorado where abortion is protected. Researchers say these laws contribute to logistical barriers, heightened stress and delays in accessing care, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations. The study, published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health, analyzed the experiences of adolescents (ages 15-17) and young adults (18-22) who either sought or ...

Brown bears roam across much of the northern hemisphere from the mountains of Spain to the prairies of the US. These bears are formidable carnivores that can weigh up to 751 kg (1,656 lb) and have claws 15 cm (6 in) long. With long canine teeth and a bite force of 6,800,000 pascals (1,000 psi), these bruins can easily crush bones. All these powerful features make brown bears an imposing predator that can take down prey as large and dangerous as an adult bison. Yet, while these bears eat meat, much of their diet is plant-based because they are omnivores. Brown bears have very few dietary restrictions. They are certainly not gluten intolerant ...

How would you react if someone cut in line behind you? Some people will warn others to follow the rules, even if it does not affect them. This is known as altruistic punishment, the act of punishing others for selfish behavior without reciprocal benefit. Previous studies on altruistic punishment often placed participants in unnatural settings where they were compelled to observe the selfishness of others and decided whether to punish them. In reality, there are times when avoidance of such a situation takes precedence over confronting unfairness. In other words, a person could pretend they did ...

Can physical activity extend the lifespans of older adults? A review article published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.231336 summarizes the considerable evidence supporting the important role physical activity plays in preventing or reducing the effects of diseases and discusses how to prescribe effective exercise for older adults. Canada’s population is aging, with at least 1 in 5 people aged 65 years or older in 2025, and the number of people older than age 85 years is expected to triple in the next 20 years. However, for many people, ...

A major study of botanic gardens around the world has revealed their struggles with one fundamental aim: to safeguard the world’s most threatened plants from extinction. Researchers analysed a century’s worth of records - from 1921 to 2021 - from fifty botanic gardens and arboreta currently growing half a million plants, to see how the world’s living plant collections have changed over time.  The results suggest that the world’s living collections have collectively reached peak capacity, and that restrictions ...

Niigata, Japan - Rootless cones are small volcanic landforms ranging from several to several hundred meters in diameter, formed by continuous explosions resulting from the interaction between surface lava and water bodies like lakes and rivers (Figure 1). Unlike regular volcanoes originating from magma rising from deep underground, rootless cones form when lava covers a water-containing layer, triggering explosive reactions. Due to this process, they are also called pseudocraters. While Iceland hosts many rootless cones, they ...

Niigata, Japan – The distribution of plants has been shaped by geological and climatic changes over time through repeated migration, extinction, and adaptation to new environments. The genus Camellia, comprising over 100 species mainly in East Asia, is a representative warm-temperate tree of the Sino-Japanese Floristic Region. In Japan, four species of Camellia are found, with Camellia japonica and Camellia rusticana being the most well known. C. japonica has a broad distribution from Aomori Prefecture in the cool-temperate ...

Niigata, Japan – A group led by the Department of Neurosurgery, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University succeeded in the diagnosis of leptomeningeal disease in diffuse midline gliomas by detecting H3K27M-mutant droplets from circulating tumor DNA of cerebrospinal fluid taken from these patients. In two patients, leptomeningeal disease was diagnosed earlier than with traditional methods such as MRI and cerebrospinal fluid cytology. In one patient, long term survival after the diagnosis of leptomeningeal disease by early ...

Understanding the science behind meaty tastes and textures could be the key for more people switch to a planet-friendly plant diet, researchers suggest. Ole G. Mouritsen, a professor of gastrophysics, addresses the urgent need to make changes to culinary cultures where animal-based proteins play a central role. Replicating a little-known meaty flavour and a sensation of richness could encourage more plant-based eating, he explains. “To ensure that there is enough food for a growing world population, to lessen the burden on the environment, and to promote healthier, sustainable eating patterns, it ...

LOS ANGELES —January 26, 2024 — Young patients who have undergone the Ross procedure for aortic valve disease have shown excellent long-term survival, the majority without the need for additional surgery two decades later. These findings, presented today at the 61st annual meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), were the result of a 22-year study at the Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bengaluru, India. “The Ross operation can be performed safely with results comparable to mechanical valve replacement,” said the study’s lead author, cardiac surgeon ...

LOS ANGELES—January 26, 2025—As contemporary surgical practice continues to evolve, patients who undergo surgical lung volume reduction (LVRS) for advanced emphysema may survive longer and with fewer complications than they did in the past—and they may even fare better than those who opt for endobronchial valve (EBV) placement. At the 2025 Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Annual Meeting, researchers presented risk-adjusted findings that shed new light on treatments for severe emphysema. Despite having shorter hospital stays, lower hospital ...

LOS ANGELES—January 25, 2025—A late-breaking study presented today at the 2025 Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Annual Meeting reveals that mechanical aortic valve replacements (AVRs) provide significant long-term survival benefits for patients aged 60 and younger compared to bioprosthetic valves. The study, leveraging data from the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD), offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of prosthetic valve outcomes, encompassing over 100,000 patients. The study addressed a critical question ...

LOS ANGELES—January 25, 2025 New research presented at the 2025 Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Annual Meeting reveals that anatomic lung resections, such as lobectomy and segmentectomy, are associated with improved long-term survival compared to wedge resection for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study analyzed outcomes for more than 32,000 stage 1A NSCLC patients using data from the STS General Thoracic Surgery Database (STS GTSD) with long-term follow-up linked to the National Death Index and Centers ...

SAN FRANCISCO – Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) harboring BRAF V600E mutations benefitted from first-line treatment with the targeted therapies encorafenib and cetuximab plus a mFOLFOX6 chemotherapy regimen, according to results from the Phase III BREAKWATER trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.  The findings, presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers (ASCO GI) Annual Symposium and published in Nature Medicine, demonstrated a 60.9% overall response rate (ORR) with the three-drug combination ...

Boston – A data analysis from a randomized clinical trial for stage 3 colon cancer patients by investigators at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center found that patients with evidence of residual cancer in their blood after surgery to remove the cancer, may benefit from adding of celecoxib, to post surgery treatment. The analysis showed that patients with positive blood tests for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) had worse outcomes in general, but those who were treated with celecoxib, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, experienced significantly improved disease-free survival. “This is one of the first studies to show that ctDNA status has predictive utility in terms of selecting ...

The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology today announced the results of a data analysis from a randomized phase III clinical trial involving patients with stage III colon cancer, which found that adding the drug celecoxib to treatment after surgery might help those who still have traces of cancer in their blood. The analysis showed that patients with signs of cancer in their blood measured by Signatera™, a circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) test, tended to have worse outcomes. However, those who took celecoxib after surgery had a much better chance of staying cancer-free. These results are being presented in a late-breaking ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new dye that can strongly absorb second near-IR radiation and transform it to heat. Starting with a dye from the bile pigment family, they designed a unique ring structure which can bind rhodium and iridium. Measurements and modeling revealed strong second near-IR absorptions and exceptional photostability. Second near-IR waves easily penetrate human tissue; the new dye may be applied in deep tissue therapies and imaging.   The second near-IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum (1000-1700 nanometers) ...