A multidisciplinary study published in Nature has elucidated the structure of the machinery responsible for writing much of our “dark genome” — the 98 percent of our DNA that has largely unknown biological function. These results may spur entirely novel treatments for autoimmune diseases, cancer and neurodegeneration. An international team of scientists from Rutgers and more than a dozen other institutions, including both academia and industry, have published the first high-resolution images and structural details of avirus-like element known as LINE-1. They describe it as “an ancient genetic parasite” that is one of the most common parts of human DNA (video ...

About The Study: In this study of 6,247 patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, patients living in neighborhoods with lower neighborhood-level socioeconomic status had significantly higher odds of nonadherence to guideline-directed medical therapy. These findings highlight the importance of considering neighborhood-level disparities when developing approaches to improve medication adherence.  Authors: Amrita Mukhopadhyay, M.D., of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York, is the corresponding ...

About The Study: The natural history of sleep disturbances was associated with both resolved and incident emotional and behavioral difficulties in this study of 17,000 preschool-aged children. Routine screening and precise intervention for sleep disturbances may benefit the psychosocial well-being of this population.  Authors: Fan Jiang, M.D., Ph.D., and Guanghai Wang, Ph.D., of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, are the corresponding authors.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...

Immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy has become an important therapeutic treatment option in some patients with metastatic breast cancer. Which patients will benefit the most, however, remains unclear; current biomarkers such as PD-L1 that are used to predict response are mediocre at best. Vanderbilt researchers led a clinical trial combining atezolizumab, an immunotherapy, in combination with chemotherapy in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer to both evaluate the efficacy of the treatment combination and to understand biomarkers of response ...

Researchers from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and their collaborators have uncovered the coding principle underlying self-centered (egocentric) representation in spatial perception. The study was published in Neuron on Dec. 14.  Our understanding of the intricate spatial perception mechanisms in the human brain has recently advanced with the discovery that self-centered perception of external items is closely integrated with our world-centered understanding of the world, which is the brain's internal "GPS" system. Given ...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 3D images of the human tongue have revealed that the surface of our tongues are unique to each of us, new findings suggest. The results offer an unprecedented insight into the biological make-up of our tongue’s surface and how our sense of taste and touch differ from person to person. The research has huge potential for discovering individual food preferences, developing healthy food alternatives and early diagnosis of oral cancers in the future, experts say. The human tongue is a highly sophisticated and ...

Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) identify the T cells that, when activated, are pathogenic in a subset of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies Tokyo, Japan – Inflammation is an important part of the body’s defenses, eliminating threats and repairing damage. When the immune system is overactivated, though, it can turn from friend to foe. Now, researchers from Japan have identified the culprit responsible for one type of harmful inflammation that occurs in certain muscular disorders. In a study published last month in the Journal of Autoimmunity, ...

The Canadian mathematician Jacob Tsimerman has been awarded the International Ostrowski Prize in Higher Mathematics 2023. The Ostrowski Prize is worth 100,000 Swiss Francs and named after Alexander M. Ostrowski, a professor of mathematics who taught at the University of Basel. Jacob Tsimerman, a professor of mathematics at the University of Toronto (Canada), received the Ostrowski Prize 2023 in recognition of his work at the interface of transcendence theory, analytic number theory and arithmetic geometry, including recent breakthroughs on the André-Oort and Griffiths conjectures. Shimura varieties are algebraic varieties of great ...

Blue light from LED lamps and consumer electronics can mess with your sleep because it disrupts production of the natural sleep hormone melatonin. Tinted glasses or displays in night mode can mask, but don’t remove, a portion of the disruptive wavelengths. But now, researchers report in ACS Omega that they have designed more “human-centric” LEDs that could potentially enhance drowsiness or alertness on command. Humans have evolved over millennia to be active during the day and to rest at night; we’ve depended on the sun to regulate our sleep/wake cycle. But many people ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Approximately one in five older adults in the U.S. is transferred to a nursing home following a hospital stay. For many of these patients, an accessible medical record does not accompany them, often negatively affecting the care they receive at the nursing home. This poor information sharing is a significant problem contributing to the adverse events within 45 days of hospital discharge experienced by nearly 40 percent of nursing home residents. Regenstrief Institute research scientists Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, and Joshua Vest, PhD, ...

NEW YORK — The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is pleased to announce recipient of the 2023 Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty: Timothy Rhoads, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Established in 2020, the Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty is a one- to two-year award given to junior faculty (MDs and PhDs) to conduct aging-related Omics (GerOmics) research.  Omics is a rapidly evolving, multi-disciplinary, and emerging field that encompasses genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Each of these fields offers ...

[Boston, MA—December 13, 2023]                Members of the American Meteorological Society (AMS)—composed of weather, water, and climate professionals—have voted to elect David J. Stensrud to the position of President-Elect for 2024. He will be inducted to the post Sunday, 28 January, 2024, during the 104th AMS Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The AMS will also induct five new Councilors at the 2024 Annual Meeting. Cynthia Atherton, Gina Eosco, Andrew Humphrey, Ying-Hwa (Bill) Kuo, and Clifford Mass have been selected to serve three-year ...

“We often hear that obesity represents a high cost for both individuals and society because it increases the risk of health problems. All in all, however, the costs associated with being overweight are much higher,” says Christina Hansen Edwards, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Since the 1980s, Norwegians have become increasingly heavier. Over the past 40 years, the percentage of people with obesity, i.e. a body mass index (BMI) of over 30, has increased significantly. It is currently estimated that almost one in four Norwegians is obese, ...

About 100,000 years ago, the first modern humans migrated out of Africa in large numbers. They were eminent at adapting to new habitats, and they settled in virtually every kind of landscape - from deserts to jungles to the icy taiga in the far north.   Part of the success was human's ability to hunt large animals. With clever hunting techniques and specially built weapons, they perfected the art of killing even the most dangerous mammals.   But unfortunately, the great success of our ancestors came at the expense of the other large mammals.   It is well-known that numerous large species went extinct ...

WASHINGTON—Children who are physically inactive may have high cholesterol in early adulthood and subsequent heart health issues in their mid-forties, according to new research published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. High cholesterol during childhood has been associated with early signs of heart disease when individuals reach their mid-twenties and an increased risk of premature cardiovascular death in their mid-forties. Several clinical trials aimed at lowering cholesterol levels in the youth population have had minimal ...

Washington, D.C.—A new paper describes a study of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) transmission among cockroaches, with implications for AMR transmission in humans. The study was published in mSystems, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. AMR represents a serious threat to the health of humans and other animals. With fewer and fewer drugs being effective against some microbial pathogens, infections have become increasingly difficult to treat. Theoretical modeling has been used to explore the spread of AMR through the microbiome of the symbiotic, or nonpathogenic, gut of animals. The present study ...

Perfume, rubbing alcohol, a cholesterol medication and even biological processes all depend on a chemical process called the aldol reaction. The reaction primarily combines compounds to form carbon-carbon bonds, which are incredibly strong and provide a molecule with stability. Catalyst clusters made of aluminum and oxygen typically help accelerate this reaction, but clusters that also include rare earth elements could offer more desirable and synergistic properties, according to a team of researchers based in China. The team developed three such clusters, ...

New York, NY [December 14, 2023]—In a novel study, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai introduced LoGoFunc, an advanced computational tool that predicts pathogenic gain- and loss-of-function variants across the genome. Unlike current methods that predominantly focus on loss of function, LoGoFunc distinguishes among different types of harmful mutations, offering potentially valuable insights into diverse disease outcomes. The findings were described in the November 30 online issue of Genome Medicine ...

Pollution spewing from a booming global economy poses a number of different threats to human health. Researchers from Zhongyuan University of Technology proposed a new possible avenue to efficiently convert nitrate, a widespread water pollutant, back to valuable ammonia. In their recently published study, the team outlined a novel path to efficiently convert nitrate to ammonia using metal-added polyoxometalate as the catalyst under mild operating conditions. The study was published December 8 in Polyoxometalates. In the past few decades, a number of methods have been deployed ...

Strictly embargoed until 0900 ET Thursday 14 December 2023 Increased sedentary time in childhood can raise cholesterol levels by two thirds as an adult, leading to heart problems and even premature death - but a new study has found light physical activity may completely reverse the risks and is far more effective than moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The study was conducted in collaboration between the University of Exeter, University of Eastern Finland, and University of Bristol and published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Researchers used data from the University of Bristol study Children of the 90s (also known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents ...

Female patients with a history of suicidality experience an increased risk of suicidal ideation or suicidal planning in the days surrounding menstruation, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago.   In the first longitudinal study of how suicidal thoughts and related symptoms fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, UIC researchers identified when some female patients are at the highest risk, offering new guidance for clinicians about when to focus interventions with suicidal patients. “As clinicians, we feel responsible for keeping our patients safe from a suicide attempt, but we often don’t have much information about when we need ...

Electricity is an indispensable resource for our daily lives; it powers our homes, industries, and agriculture, among other things. Electricity is generated in power plants that are often located in remote areas due to safety and environmental concerns. The generated electricity is then transported to residential and industrial areas through transmission lines. However, these remote locations pose challenges in terms of harsh environments that can easily damage the transmission lines. Therefore, regular inspection and maintenance of these lines are ...

When diagnosed with a blood clot or atrial fibrillation, patients are often prescribed anticoagulants, or blood thinners, to prevent a future clot. In a study of the three most commonly prescribed blood thinners, the oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban, known by the brand name Xarelto, was associated with a significantly higher risk of bleeding complications than apixaban (brand name Eliquis) and warfarin for patients with blood clots or atrial fibrillation. The findings, reported at the 2023 American Society ...

DAVIS, CA, December 14, 2023 – A recent study published online in the journal, Nutrients[1], suggests daily tree nut consumption reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetSx) by improving waist circumference, lipid biomarkers, and/or insulin levels, without requiring calorie restriction, in young adults.   In a randomized, parallel arm, dietary intervention study design, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center enrolled 84 men and women, ages 22-36, most of whom were either overweight or obese (BMI 24.5 to 34.9 kg/m2) and had at least one MetSx risk factor ...

Those who binge drink and have a certain genetic makeup are six times more likely to develop alcohol-related cirrhosis, according to new research from UCL, the Royal Free Hospital, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first to assess how an individual’s pattern of drinking, their genetic profile (via a polygenic risk score) and whether or not they have type-2 diabetes affects their risk of developing alcohol-related cirrhosis (ARC). The observation that pattern of drinking is more important than volume, coupled with the increased risk when genetic makeup and type-2 diabetes are also present, ...