Cancer cells seldom start off stealthy. Quite to the contrary, they announce their presence to the immune system by planting chemical red flags right on their membranes. Once alerted, the body’s defenses can swoop in, destroying rogue cells before they can do much damage. Lying at the heart of this early warning system are lipids, fatty compounds previously seen by cancer biologists primarily as a fuel source for burgeoning tumors. But now, a new study in Nature demonstrates that one particular lipid type is actually ...

The spacecraft bus that will deliver NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to its orbit and enable it to function once there is now complete after years of construction, installation, and testing. Now that the spacecraft is assembled, engineers will begin working to integrate the observatory’s other major components, including the science instruments and the telescope itself. “They call it a spacecraft bus for a reason — it gets the telescope to where it needs to be ...

A $5.3 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences will support advanced cancer research in Oklahoma. The Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant is designed to build research capacity and help early-career researchers establish independently funded laboratories. This is the third and final phase of the COBRE grant, which was first awarded in 2012, followed by phase two in 2017. The grant has supported and paralleled the growth of OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, Oklahoma’s ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For many decades, the coca plant – the main ingredient in cocaine – has been grown almost exclusively in South America. But a new study shows that nearly half of northern Central America appears to be highly suitable for cultivating this lucrative cash crop.   Findings showed that 47% of Honduras, Guatemala and Belize have the right climate and soil for commercial coca growing. Most of southern Central America was not suitable.   It’s not a hypothetical concern. Researchers began ...

SAN ANTONIO — September 17, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is collaborating with The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to explore and develop a novel platform or chemical process for synthesizing antibiotic compounds with a $125,000 grant. The project, one of two winning proposals this cycle, is supported by the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program designed to foster collaboration between SwRI and UTSA. “SwRI and UTSA will work together to combat the growing threat antimicrobial resistance poses to global health by developing a proof-of-concept platform to potentially create a whole ...

From 2001 to 2021, roughly 9200 Norwegian soldiers served in Afghanistan. The vast majority of them have managed well in the years that have followed. According to a new survey conducted by the Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services, however, a significant number of the veterans struggle with mental health issues. “All Norwegian veterans who served in Afghanistan were invited to participate in a large health survey in 2020,” says Associate Professor Andreas Espetvedt Nordstrand at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology ...

In a paper published in Physical Review Letters this week, physicists from Amsterdam and Copenhagen argue that close observations of merging black hole pairs may unveil information about potential new particles. The research combines several new discoveries made by UvA scientists over the past six years. Gravitational waves that are emitted by the merger of two black holes carry detailed information about the shape and evolution of the orbits of the components. A new study by physicists Giovanni Maria Tomaselli and Gianfranco Bertone from ...

Staphylococcus aureus, mostly known from its antibiotic-resistant variant Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is among the leading causes of both community- and hospital-acquired infections. According to the most recent data, MRSA killed around 120,000 people in 2022 globally and far more are killed by antibiotic-susceptible strains of S. aureus. So far however, all attempts at developing a protective vaccine for S. aureus have been unsuccessful. Research from Amsterdam UMC, in collaboration with UMC Utrecht, Leiden University, and the University of California, San Diego, have discovered an important immune component that offers protection against infection, ...

A new study led by UCLA Health found that a person’s sex and their unique experiences of childhood trauma can have specific consequences for their biological health and risk of developing 20 major diseases later in life. Although a large body of research has shown that childhood adversity can have long-lasting impacts on a person’s biology and health, there has been little research looking into how different types of stressors affect specific biological functions and health risks. The new findings, published in the journal ...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2024 – Vincent van Gogh’s painting “The Starry Night” depicts a swirling blue sky with yellow moon and stars. The sky is an explosion of colors and shapes, each star encapsulated in ripples of yellow, gleaming with light like reflections on water.  Van Gogh’s brushstrokes create an illusion of sky movement so convincing it led atmospheric scientists to wonder how closely it aligns with the physics of real skies. While the atmospheric motion in the painting cannot be measured, the brushstrokes can. In an article published this week in Physics ...

About The Study: In this cohort study of older survivors of nonmetastatic cancer, those who had overweight or obesity at the time of their first cancer diagnosis were at higher risk of developing a second cancer, especially an obesity-related second cancer. Given the high prevalence of overweight and obesity among cancer survivors, it is important to promote survivorship care guidelines recommending weight management and increase awareness of second cancers among physicians and cancer survivors. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Clara Bodelon, Ph.D., M.S., email clara.bodelon@cancer.org To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...

About The Study: This cohort study shows that the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement program outcomes differed by race and ethnicity for patients covered outside traditional Medicare, with home discharge rates increasing more for Hispanic compared with non-Hispanic white patients. These findings suggest the importance of considering differential outcomes of Medicare payment policies for racial and ethnic minority patient populations beyond the initially targeted groups. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Narae Kim, Ph.D., ...

LA JOLLA, CA—At this moment, the world has few tools to combat deadly filoviruses, such as Ebola and Marburg viruses. The only approved vaccine and antibody treatments protect against just one filovirus species. Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) are working to guide the development of new antivirals by leading some clever enemy reconnaissance. These researchers use high-resolution imaging techniques to examine a virus's molecular structure—and uncover where a virus is vulnerable to new therapies. In a new Cell study, scientists in LJI's Center for Vaccine Innovation share the first ...

New Haven, Conn. — The newer, 3D form of breast screening, known as digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), is more effective at detecting breast cancer than traditional 2D digital mammography (DM). That’s the conclusion of an analysis of 13 years’ worth of screening data conducted by Yale Cancer Center researchers. The data also suggests that 3D mammograms could reduce the incidence of advanced cancer diagnoses. “Most of the time, women will do better with 3D mammograms since their ...

Many leading entrepreneurs have questioned the value of investing in an MBA if you want to run a successful start-up. But a recent survey conducted with members of the INSEAD community shows that going to business school can help ensure that any entrepreneurial scheme has a better chance of achieving greater impact and long-term success.  According to the INSEAD Alumni Entrepreneurship Report 2024, 73 percent of the INSEAD students and graduates surveyed embarked on entrepreneurial activities following their time at the global business school. More than ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – According to a new 10-year study, screening for breast cancer with digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) increases cancer detection rates and significantly reduces the rate of advanced cancers compared to conventional 2D digital mammography. The findings were published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Mammography is considered the gold standard in breast cancer screening for the general population. However, conventional 2D mammography, in which a low-dose X-ray system produces pictures of the inside of the breast from two angles, fails to detect approximately 20% of breast cancers. It is ...

Invitation for Members of the Press How can climate adaptation succeed in the long run? On the basis of nine case studies from around the world, the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook 2024 identifies the conditions for successfully and sustainably adapting to the impacts of climate change. A study recently released by the University of Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence for climate research (CLICCS) demonstrates the urgent need for developing new adaptation strategies while also reducing climate-harmful emissions – and offers corresponding practical recommendations. As in past installments, the experts assessed ten key social processes that are relevant for deep ...

WASHINGTON—Consuming moderate amounts of coffee and caffeine regularly may offer a protective effect against developing multiple cardiometabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, according to new research published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Researchers found that regular coffee or caffeine intake, especially at moderate levels, was associated with a lower risk of new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CM), which refers to the coexistence of at least two cardiometabolic diseases. The prevalence of individuals with multiple ...

New York, NY (September 17, 2024) –  A new four-year, $3.26 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), establishes the first Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) site in the New York metropolitan area. Patients of all ages with difficult-to-diagnose diseases can apply to have their cases studied intensively by the new Mount Sinai Center for Undiagnosed Diseases using state-of-the-art genomic approaches as soon as the beginning of 2025. These funds expand the work of the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, previously ...

New York, NY. September 17. The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Career Development and Postdoctoral Awards to Promote Diversity in Lupus Research. Launched in 2021, the Diversity in Lupus Research (DLR) Awards aim to foster the development and productivity of exceptional early-career and postdoctoral scientists from underrepresented minority groups in science. Lupus is a debilitating autoimmune disease that disproportionately affects Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and Asian/Pacific Islander people. The LRA inaugurated the DLR Awards three years ...

Survey reveals that infectious disease experts see the need to address gaps in surveillance programs to identify emerging pathogens, public health funding and testing infrastructure capabilities They point to viral pathogens and mosquito-borne pathogens as likely to spark outbreaks as humans, animals and viruses overlap; and new viruses are as concerning as changes to existing viruses Experts believe robust tracking of changing insect range, animal habitats and their migrations and extreme weather events are important to understanding infectious diseases and changing risk patterns ABBOTT PARK, Ill., ...

In a new study, MIT physicists propose that if most of the dark matter in the universe is made up of microscopic primordial black holes — an idea first proposed in the 1970s — then these gravitational dwarfs should zoom through our solar system at least once per decade. A flyby like this, the researchers predict, would introduce a wobble into Mars’ orbit, to a degree that today’s technology could actually detect.  Such a detection could lend support to the idea that primordial black holes are a primary source of dark matter throughout the universe.  “Given decades of precision ...

Images A key step toward reusing CO2 to make sustainable fuels is chaining carbon atoms together, and an artificial photosynthesis system developed at the University of Michigan can bind two of them into hydrocarbons with field-leading performance.   The system produces ethylene with efficiency, yield and longevity well above other artificial photosynthesis systems. Ethylene is a hydrocarbon typically used in plastics, so one direct application of the system would be to harvest carbon dioxide that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere for making plastics.   "The performance, or the activity and stability, is about five to six times better than what is typically reported ...

Doctors and pharmacists treating people with blood thinners can reduce the rate of inappropriate dosing — as well as blood clots and strokes that can result from it — using an electronic patient management system, a study suggests. The online dashboard, developed by the United States Veterans Health Administration in 2016, was designed to highlight and optimize the treatment of patients with direct oral anticoagulants, or DOACs, the most commonly prescribed blood thinners.  Researchers led by Michigan Medicine used the tool to assess over 120,000 cases in which patients with atrial fibrillation or venous thromboembolism, blood clots in the veins, were treated with ...

UPTON, N.Y. — The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences have recognized chemical engineer Juan Jimenez as a Finalist in the 2024 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. Jimenez’s catalysis science research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory opens doors for turning climate change-driving gases into industrially useful materials. The yearly honor is awarded to distinguished early career researchers at institutions in ...