Macrophages, a type of white blood cell that can destroy invading pathogens, have an innate ability to infiltrate tumor cells, making them a potentially important tool in treatments that use transplanted cells to fight disease, known as cell therapy.  In the lab, macrophages show a lot of promise in treating cancer but so far, clinical trials have been a disappointment and biologists are trying to figure out why. But what if it’s not a biological problem? In a recent paper, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied ...

All aquatic species in the river mouths flowing into the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean are contaminated with microplastics, with molluscs being the most affected due to their ability to filter water. Rivers are one of the main sources of pollution by microplastics (5 to 0.0001 mm in size) and nanoplastics (smaller than 0.0001mm) in the oceans. Estuaries, as transition zones between rivers and the sea, are major hotspots for the accumulation of these particles, which are retained in sediments. They pose a threat to aquatic ecosystems given their ability to capture harmful chemicals from the surrounding environment, ...

MINNEAPOLIS – With the rise of new drugs that can target the amyloid-beta plaques in the brain that are an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease, new ways are needed to determine whether memory loss and thinking problems are due to Alzheimer’s disease or another neurodegenerative disorder. A new study published in the November 15, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, shows that shrinkage in the hippocampus area of the brain is associated with cognitive decline, even in people who don’t have amyloid plaques in the brain. The hippocampus plays a role in memory. “These results suggest ...

Researchers with the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) and PrECOG, LLC, will present six oral and three poster presentations at the 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting & Exposition, occurring in San Diego, California and virtually December 9-12, 2023. The presentations focus on treatments for acute leukemias and lymphomas.   Among the data are the promising results of the phase 2 PrE0405 trial, which evaluated bendamustine, rituximab, and venetoclax for the initial treatment of mantle cell lymphoma in older patients. Other ...

Embargoed: Not for Release Until 2:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time Wednesday, 15 November 2023 Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide. Each year more than 15 million people worldwide have strokes, and three-quarters of stroke survivors will experience impairment, weakness and paralysis in their arms and hands. Many stroke survivors rely on their stronger arm to complete daily tasks, from carrying groceries to combing their hair, even when the weaker arm has the potential to improve. Breaking this habit, known as “arm nonuse” or “learned nonuse,” can improve strength and prevent injury. But, determining how much ...

The discovery of 27 avian footprints on the southern Australia coast — dating back to the Early Cretaceous when Australia was still connected to Antarctica — opens another window onto early avian evolution and possible migratory behavior. PLOS ONE published the discovery of some of the oldest, positively identified bird tracks in the Southern Hemisphere, dated to between 120 million and 128 million years ago. “Most of the bird tracks and body fossils dating as far back as the Early Cretaceous are from the Northern Hemisphere, particularly from Asia,” says Anthony Martin, first ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 15, 2023) — One University of Kentucky researcher is working to develop new techniques for radiation treatment to improve survival rates of patients with a specific type of cancer. Caigang Zhu, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. He is also a member of the Molecular and Cellular Oncology Research Program at the UK Markey Cancer Center. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released its new Plant Hardiness Zone Map, the national standard by which gardeners can determine which plants are most likely to survive the coldest winter temperatures at a certain location. The USDA describes the latest map, jointly developed by Oregon State University’s PRISM Climate Group and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, as the most accurate and detailed it has ever released. PRISM, part of the OSU College of Engineering, stands for Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model. The previous version of the plant hardiness map, also based ...

Neuroscientists at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Catholic University, Rome, and the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS have genetically modified a molecule, the protein LIMK1, which is normally active in the brain, with a key role in memory. They added a "molecular switch" that is activated by administering a drug, rapamycin, known for its several anti-aging effects on the brain. This is the result of a study published in the journal Science Advances, which involves the Catholic ...

New near-complete skeleton of a bird-like dinosaur is found in a position which suggests it slept like modern birds ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293801 Article Title: A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur (Theropoda, Alvarezsauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Baruungoyot Formation of Mongolia provides insights for bird-like sleeping behavior in non-avian dinosaurs Author Countries: Japan, Mongolia Funding: Funding for this project was granted by Research Fellowships from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS 21J12938) (to KK) and Ami Koshimizu (Endless Glory Office Restart Co., Ltd.) (to KK). The funders had ...

New dates provide detailed insights into the timing of events in the ancient city of Gezer, according to a study published November 15, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Lyndelle Webster of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and colleagues. Gezer is an ancient southern Levantine city, well known from Egyptian, Assyrian, and Biblical texts and associated with stories of power struggles and significant historical figures. It is also a rich archaeological site with abundant Bronze Age and Iron Age remains and with great potential for research into the daily lives of its denizens. Recent excavations at the site have uncovered a continuous stratigraphic ...

A third of users on a popular breast cancer support forum describe using peer-recommended or self-discovered techniques to improve sexual functioning, according to a study published November 15, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Christiana von Hippel from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA, and colleagues. Over 75 percent of breast cancer survivors describe experiencing some degree of sexual dysfunction. Commonly prescribed interventions such as vaginal lubricants or numbing creams are only moderately ...

Early birds had made it to southern polar environments by 120 million years ago, according to a study published November 15, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Anthony Martin of Emory University, USA and colleagues. Cretaceous bird fossils are abundant and diverse in northern continents, but extremely rare in southern continents, regions that were once part of the landmass of Gondwana. This presents a challenge for paleontologists trying to understand the distribution of early birds. In this study, Martin and colleagues report ...

Study Title: Targeting DNA methylation and B7-H3 in RB1-deficient and neuroendocrine prostate cancer Publication: Science Translational Medicine [10.1126/scitranslmed.adf6732] Dana-Farber Cancer Institute author: Himisha Beltran, MD Summary: Epigenetic changes can cause prostate cancer to resist treatment by switching genes on or off. One epigenetic mechanism tags genes with DNA methylation marks. This process is mediated by molecules called DNA methyltransferases. These tags can alter gene expression in ways that promote tumors to grow and transition ...

A new study estimates most corporations are not reporting the full scope of their carbon footprint with many claiming to be ‘green’ despite a lack of reporting on Scope 3 key categories. Though CO2 reporting is currently voluntary for most firms, corporations are under pressure from investors, regulators, politicians, non-profit organisations and other stakeholders to disclose and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The standard for greenhouse gas accounting, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, is used worldwide to measure a company’s total carbon footprint with three levels of reporting. The first measures the GHG emissions directly produced by a company ...

PHILADELPHIA— A new biologic “patch” that is activated by a person’s natural motion could be the key to fixing herniated discs in people’s backs, according to researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the CMC VA Medical Center (CMCVAMC). Combining years of work from many different projects, the “tension-activated repair patches” (TARPs) provide controlled release of an anti-inflammatory molecule called anakinra from microcapsules over time, which helped ...

A new study from Concordia’s Applied Linguistics Lab suggests that most people are usually overly harsh on themselves when speaking in a second language. Writing in the journal Languages, PhD student Rachael Lindberg and her co-authors build on the previous understanding of individuals’ metaperception—a person’s idea of how they are perceived by others. The idea that people frequently underestimate how likeable they are, known as the Liking Gap, ...

BOSTON – A national study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) demonstrates that neighborhood exposure to environmental hazards is significantly associated with poor cardiovascular health across the United States. The study, presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and simultaneously published in JAMA Cardiology, found that greater cumulative environmental burden (e.g., air pollution, nearby hazardous/toxic sites, poor built environment) was linked ...

To form a cancer, cells need to accumulate oncogenic mutations that confer tumor-initiating properties. However, recent evidence has shown that oncogenic mutations occur at a surprisingly high frequency in normal tissues, suggesting that mutations alone are not sufficient to drive cancer formation and that other mechanisms should promote or restrain oncogene-expressing cells from progressing into invasive tumors. In a study published in Nature, researchers led by Prof. Cédric Blanpain, MD/PhD, investigator of the WEL Research Institute, Director of the Stem Cells and Cancer Laboratory and Professor at the Université ...

BOSTON – In a study published in Nature Communications, investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) shed new light on key cellular processes involved in the progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Affecting around 10 million people worldwide, Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the progressive loss of the group of brain cells responsible for producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a critical role in regulating movement and coordination. As these neurons degenerate and dopamine levels decrease, individuals with Parkinson's disease experience a wide range of symptoms, including ...

PORTLAND, Oregon – Weight influences how and when bodies burn energy, new research indicates. An Oregon Health & Science University study published in the journal Obesity found people who have a healthy weight use more energy during the day, when most people are active and eat, while those who have obesity spend more energy during the night, when most people sleep. The study also found that during the day, those with obesity have higher levels of the hormone insulin — a sign that the body is working harder to use glucose, an energy-packed sugar.  “It was surprising to learn how dramatically the timing of when our bodies burn energy differed in ...

Early women parliamentary candidates found it harder to make unique appeals to represent the ‘woman’s point of view’ over time because of increasing national control over campaigning, a new study shows. The increasing trend for men to present themselves as diligent workers for their constituents’ welfare and keen supporters for social reform also meant they challenged the idea that only female politicians could represent their sex properly in parliament, researchers have found. The first women parliamentary candidates built on the suffrage campaigners’ argument that there was a distinctive woman’s point of ...

Doctors often prescribe radiation along with surgery to treat a brain tumor called meningioma that originates in the protective membranes surrounding the brain. But side effects from radiation can be serious, including memory loss and cognitive decline, so it’s important to know which patients really need it. Now, researchers at UC San Francisco and Northwestern Medicine, in collaboration with 10 other medical centers, have found a highly accurate way to predict the best treatment for patients based ...

Production of chemical fertilizers accounts for about 1.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. MIT chemists hope to help reduce that carbon footprint by replacing some chemical fertilizer with a more sustainable source — bacteria. Bacteria that can convert nitrogen gas to ammonia could not only provide nutrients that plants need, but also help regenerate soil and protect plants from pests. However, these bacteria are sensitive to heat and humidity, so it’s difficult to scale up their manufacture and ship them to farms. To overcome that obstacle, ...

After a long day at work, you open the door to the place you call home. A chorus of furry happiness rushes toward you, the sound of unconditional canine love. With your return, your dog's world is whole. Virginia Tech and Arizona State University researchers are working to help more shelter dogs experience this kind of love, safety, and happiness in an adoptive home. The research team in Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences found that implementing shorter-term fostering programs ...