COLUMBUS, Ohio – A decline in religious participation among middle-aged, less educated white Americans may have played a role in the widely noted increases in “deaths of despair,” a new study finds.   Researchers found that states that had the largest declines in churchgoing from 1985 to 2000 also had larger increases in death by drug overdoses, suicide and alcoholic liver disease – what have been called deaths of despair.   While the increase in deaths of despair has often been ...

TAMEST (Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology) has announced Maralice Conacci-Sorrell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, as the recipient of the 2026 Mary Beth Maddox Award and Lectureship in cancer research. She was chosen for her pioneering research revealing how cancer cells harness nutrients to drive their growth and for creating targeted strategies to suppress otherwise untreatable cancers. The Mary Beth Maddox Award and Lectureship recognizes women scientists in Texas bringing new ideas and innovations to the fight against cancer. It was established in 2022 in honor of Mary Beth Maddox, former ...

Thousands of dengue forecasting models have been published, but few have been tested in real public-health settings. Now, researchers from the US and Australia are launching a field evaluation in Vietnam to see whether a new early-warning platform can support earlier interventions against a disease that WHO says puts nearly half the world’s population at risk.  Southern Cross University (Aus) is leading the second phase of this multi-year collaboration, working alongside the University of Queensland (Aus), Yale University (USA) and Vietnam’s National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. This ...

Single-phase power factor correction (PFC) circuits—a kind of front-end AC/DC converters—are ubiquitous in a variety of consumer electronic devices, including laptop adapters, LED driver power supplies, and portable chargers. They enhance the current quality drawn from the source, delivering stable DC voltage with high efficiency. However, current sensors in traditional boost PFC converters introduce issues such as noise susceptibility, signal delays, increased hardware complexity, and potential sensor failures that ...

In 2001, chemists K. Barry Sharpless, Hartmuth C. Kolb, and M. G. Finn introduced click chemistry, a concept in which organic molecules can be rapidly and reliably joined to form more complex structures. They recognized that many natural compounds are assembled through efficient carbon–heteroatom (C–X) bond formation, particularly with nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, and they sought to replicate this in the laboratory. Since its introduction, click chemistry has transformed the field and was later recognized with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. One of its most influential reactions is the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), ...

Altermagnets are a newly recognized class of antiferromagnets whose magnetic structure behaves very differently from what is found in conventional systems. In conventional antiferromagnets, the sublattices are linked by simple inversion or translation, resulting in spin-degenerate electronic bands. In altermagnets, however, they are connected by unconventional symmetries such as rotations or screw axes. This shift in symmetry breaks the spin degeneracy, allowing for spin-polarized electron currents even in the absence of net magnetization. This unique property makes altermagnets exciting candidates for spintronic technologies, a field of electronics that ...

The University of Texas at San Antonio has received a $7 million gift commitment from longtime philanthropic supporter and former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre and his wife Linda Whitacre to advance research, student success and athletics. The Whitacres have made a transformational $5 million commitment to honor the late William L. Henrich, MD, former president of UT Health San Antonio, whose visionary leadership and unwavering compassion shaped the university for more than a decade. The gift will advance the institution’s nationally recognized expertise in metabolic health — an area of research and clinical care that includes diabetes, ...

An experimental drug developed at Northwestern University has demonstrated further promise as an early intervention for Alzheimer’s disease. In a new study, Northwestern scientists identified a previously unknown highly toxic sub-species of amyloid beta oligomers — toxic clusters of peptides — that appear to drive several of the brain’s earliest changes, including neuronal dysfunction, inflammation and activation of immune cells. The experimental drug, a small-molecule compound called NU-9, decreased this toxic amyloid beta oligomersubtype and dramatically reduced the damage it causes in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. ...

Embargoed for release: Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, 5:30 AM ET Key points: Real estate investment trust (REIT)-acquired hospitals were associated with a greater risk of bankruptcy or closure than non-REIT-acquired hospitals. REIT-acquisition of hospitals was not associated with any significant changes in quality of care or outcome indicators. The study is the first national examination of the consequences of REIT acquisitions of hospitals. According to the researchers, its findings suggest the need for greater regulatory oversight over these acquisitions.  Boston, MA—Real estate investment ...

LOS ANGELES — Scientists at City of Hope®, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, have unraveled how citrin deficiency (CD), a rare genetic disorder that prevents the liver from converting food into energy efficiently, can trigger fat buildup in the liver — even in lean individuals. Their landmark study, published in Nature Metabolism, also reveals how the liver turns on a hormone that reduces cravings for sweets and alcohol. The findings could lead to new therapies for a variety of health conditions, including fatty liver disease ...

Your "roommate's" genes could be influencing the bacteria living in your gut, and vice versa, according to a study of rats published today in Nature Communications.  The research, carried out by studying more than four thousand animals, reveals that the composition of the rat gut microbiome is shaped not only by an individual’s own genes but also by the genes of the individuals they share a living space with.  The discovery reveals a new way genes and social life intertwine: through the exchange ...

Researchers have developed the first scientifically validated ‘personality test’ framework for popular AI chatbots, and have shown that chatbots not only mimic human personality traits, but their ‘personality’ can be reliably tested and precisely shaped – raising implications for AI safety and ethics. The research team, led by the University of Cambridge and Google DeepMind, developed a method to measure and influence the synthetic ‘personality’ of 18 different large ...

Global food systems driving twin crises of obesity and global heating  A major review in Frontiers in Science highlights how tackling unsustainable food systems—reflected by our changing food environment—is urgent for both health and climate.  The paper reviews evidence that both obesity and environmental harms result from a profit-led food system that encourages high intake and poor health. The authors say that our food ...

In a groundbreaking study, researchers have captured real-time "molecular movies" showing how an enzyme changes shape during catalysis. Using an advanced technique called mix-and-inject serial crystallography at Japan's SACLA X-ray free-electron laser facility, the team observed domain movements and structural changes in the enzyme, copper amine oxidase enzyme over millisecond timescales, revealing dynamics that are nearly impossible to observe by other methods. Enzymes are nature's catalysts, that speed up biochemical reactions ...

The gut microbiome — made up of trillions of microbes in the digestive tract — is vital for digestion and overall health. Diet and medication shape these microbial ecosystems, but the contribution of genetics has been more difficult to ascertain. Now, a new study of rats — a model organism for understanding the human gut — has found that the composition of the rat gut microbiome is shaped not only by a rat’s own genes but also by the genes of  those it lives with.  The discovery reveals a novel way in which genes and social interactions intertwine: through the exchange of commensal ...

When most of us think of DNA, we have a vague idea it’s made up of genes that give us our physical features, our behavioural quirks, and keep our cells and organs running. But only a tiny percentage of our DNA – around 2% – contains our 20,000-odd genes. The remaining 98% – long known as the non-coding genome, or so-called ‘junk’ DNA – includes many of the switches that control when and how strongly genes are expressed. Now researchers from UNSW Sydney have identified ...

A research team led by Félix Viana, co-director of the Sensory Transduction and Nociception laboratory at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has demonstrated that the body uses different molecular mechanisms to detect cold in the skin and in internal organs. These findings represent a significant advance in understanding thermal homeostasis and certain pathologies associated ...

With a Kobe University-developed procedure, induced pluripotent stem cells can now be frozen directly in their dishes without losing their viability or undifferentiated state after thawing. This marks a significant step for research automation, personalized medicine and drug discovery research. Induced pluripotent stem cells, also widely known as iPS cells, can be created from any tissue in the human body and possess the ability to transform into a wide range of tissues. As such, they are essential for regenerative medicine and drug discovery research. Kobe University biochemical ...

Background and Motivation Accurately pricing American-style options, which allow early exercise at any time before expiry, remains a significant challenge in quantitative finance. This task becomes even more complex under realistic market conditions where asset volatility is not constant but fluctuates randomly, as described by stochastic volatility models like Heston's. Traditional numerical methods, often mesh-based, can be computationally intensive and struggle with high-dimensional problems. With the exponential growth of derivatives trading and the critical need for effective risk management, evidenced by billions of contracts ...

Background and Motivation Systemic financial risk remains a critical challenge for modern economies, underscored by recurring crises such as the 2008 global financial meltdown, the 2015 Chinese stock market crash, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditional research has often examined sectors in isolation or focused on pairwise risk spillovers, overlooking the complex, multi-sector dependencies that can amplify systemic threats. This study addresses that gap by exploring higher-order interactions—where risks resonate ...

Background and Motivation As climate change intensifies globally, national policies aimed at mitigation and adaptation have become a significant, yet volatile, factor influencing financial markets. In China—the world's second-largest economy and a key player in global climate governance—the path toward carbon neutrality involves substantial policy adjustments, creating what researchers term Climate Policy Uncertainty (CPU). While CPU is recognised as an emerging source of financial risk, its specific impact on the systemic risk contributions of different economic sectors within ...

Background In the field of biomedicine and public health, continuous viral mutation and evolution may enable viruses to cross species barriers, infect non-natural hosts, and subsequently trigger human-to-human transmission or even global pandemics. Historically, multiple major outbreaks, such as COVID-19 and influenza pandemics, have been caused by zoonotic viruses. Therefore, in the face of potential threats from unknown viruses, developing intelligent models capable of rapidly assessing their adaptability and transmission risks at the genotypic level has become a forefront challenge in infectious disease prevention and control. Traditional experimental methods for ...

Antibiotic resistance genes are often portrayed as a modern medical problem driven by the overuse of antibiotics in hospitals and farms. A new comprehensive review published in Biocontaminant reveals a much deeper and more complex story. Antibiotic resistance is an ancient feature of microbial life, shaped by millions of years of evolution and strongly influenced by today’s human activities that connect natural environments, animals, and people. The study, led by researchers at Hohai University in China, examines where antibiotic resistance genes come from, why they ...

Nicotine is toxic to the heart and blood vessels, regardless of whether it is consumed via a vape, a pouch, a shisha or a cigarette, according to an expert consensus report published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Thursday). The report brings together the results of the entire literature in the field and is the first to consider the harms of all nicotine products, rather than smoking only. The report highlights a dramatic rise in the use of vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, particularly among adolescents and young adults, with evidence that three-quarters of young adult vapers have never smoked before. The authors ...

What if the factories building tomorrow’s aerospace components, medical devices, and clean energy systems could do so without fueling the climate crisis? That future is now within reach—thanks to groundbreaking research from Dr. Giulia Colombini at the Department of Engineering “Enzo Ferrari,” University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Laser powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M) has long been celebrated for its extraordinary precision and near-zero material waste. By selectively melting fine metal powder with a high-powered laser, it creates complex, high-performance ...