LOS ANGELES — Steam eliminates wrinkles and germs, but can it destroy cancer cells too?   Keck Medicine of USC is participating in a national, multisite clinical trial examining if a water vapor system that uses small, targeted amounts of steam to kill cancer cells is a safe and effective treatment for prostate cancer.  Researchers hope that steam may offer patients a less invasive way of controlling or curing cancer than currently exists.   “The most common therapies for prostate cancer often cause life-altering side effects, and we are investigating if this new treatment may not only treat the cancer, ...

Bologna, Italy, 7 January 2025 – On January 7, 2025, the European Commission established the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), furthering its mission to become the world’s largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy. The creation of the CTAO ERIC will enable the Observatory's construction to advance rapidly and provide a framework for distributing its data worldwide, significantly accelerating its progress toward scientific discovery. “The ERIC will streamline the construction and operation ...

A new guide aimed at helping aspiring science journalists in Albania to cover scientific topics has been published. The guide has information about science journalism efforts in the country, and provides ideas for specific topics and how to approach them from a scientific and journalistic perspective. It also has links to relevant international sources for further study and advice. The guide was written by Altin Raxhimi, an experienced journalist from Albania who has reported for print, digital media and television on topics ranging from war to food ...

The Heat Resilience & Performance Centre (HRPC) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) has been officially designated as the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) Southeast Asia Hub, a recognition that underscores its leading role in advancing heat resilience. This designation highlights the Centre's expertise in addressing the growing challenges of heat-related health risks in the region. With this appointment, the Centre is poised to play a pivotal role in working with the region to shape strategies, research, and policies aimed at mitigating ...

Miami (January 7, 2025) – Childhood smoking before age 15 increases a person’s risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study. The study is published in the November 2024 issue of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. COPD is an inflammatory lung disease, comprising several conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and can be caused by genetics and irritants like smoke or pollution. The disease affects more than 30 million Americans and is the ...

HOUSTON and SALT LAKE CITY ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Myriad Genetics, Inc. today announced a five-year strategic alliance to accelerate the clinical evaluation and development of Myriad’s molecular residual disease (MRD) assay. This strategic alliance brings together the longstanding oncology diagnostic experience of Myriad Genetics and the clinical and translational research expertise of MD Anderson to create a portfolio of studies to evaluate the clinical validity and utility of Myriad’s Precise MRD. “We look forward to working ...

PULLMAN, Wash. –  A new way to identify salts in nuclear waste melters could help improve clean-up technology, including at the Hanford Site, one of the largest, most complex nuclear waste clean-up sites in the world. Reporting in the journal Measurement, Washington State University researchers used two detectors to find thin layers of sulfate, chloride and fluoride salts during vitrification, a nuclear waste storage process that involves converting the waste into glass. The formation of salts can be problematic for waste processing and storage. “We were able to demonstrate a technique ...

Psychological stress is known to exacerbate skin allergies, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Recent studies using a mouse model of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated cutaneous allergic inflammation (IgE-CAI) suggest that stress may disrupt immune functions, thereby worsening allergic symptoms by interfering with the body's inflammatory responses. IgE-CAI is characterized by swelling and infiltration of eosinophils, a type of immune cell involved in allergic inflammation, at the affected site.   In a recent study, a research group led by Associate Professor Soichiro Yoshikawa, Professor Kenji Takamori, and Professor Sachiko Miyake ...

The University of Plymouth and International Osteopathic Education (IOE) have formed a new partnership that will offer first-class training to aspiring osteopaths from across the world. The organisations – both renowned internationally for quality healthcare training – have developed a rigorous and comprehensive Master of Osteopathic Medicine (MOstM) programme. Those enrolling on the programme, which is being validated and awarded by the University of Plymouth, will engage in five years of flexible study. They will benefit from clinical teaching in the IOE educational clinic in Bordeaux, ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Great Salt Lake has lost more than 15 billion cubic yards of water over the past three decades, is getting shallower at the rate of 4 inches a year, and an analysis of its water budget suggests reducing irrigation is necessary for saving it. The study published today in Environmental Challenges shows that 62% of the river water bound for the lake is diverted for human uses, with agricultural activities responsible for nearly three-quarters of that percentage. “The research highlights the alarming role of water consumption for feeding livestock in driving the lake’s rapid depletion,” said co-author ...

A new study published today in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research: Energy shows why new safeguards adopted by the U.S. Treasury Department are necessary to avoid substantial climate impacts and wasted taxpayer resources from a generous hydrogen production tax credit.  The new study illustrates how, absent safeguards, hydrogen producers could potentially claim the highest level of tax credits ($3 per kilogram) for producing "gray" hydrogen from fossil natural gas, by blending in small amounts of biomethane or waste methane. ...

A revolutionary new biological pest control method that targets the lifespan of female insects could significantly reduce the threat of insect pests such as disease-carrying mosquitoes by offering faster and more effective results than current methods. Described today in Nature Communications, the technique developed by researchers in Applied BioSciences and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology at Macquarie University is a new approach called the Toxic Male Technique (TMT). It works by genetically engineering male insects to produce insect-specific venom ...

Sex differences in brain structure are present from birth, research from the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge has shown. While male brains tended to be greater in volume than female brains, when adjusted for total brain volume, female infants on average had significantly more grey matter, while male infants on average had significantly more white matter in their brains. Grey matter is made up of neuron cell bodies and dendrites and is responsible for processing and interpreting information, ...

LOS ANGELES, California, USA, 7 January 2025 - In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, Dr. Carrie E. Bearden, Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Psychology at UCLA, shares transformative insights into the neurobiology of psychosis risk in young people. Her work represents a significant advance in understanding how genetic factors and brain development interact to influence mental health outcomes in adolescents. Growing up in Hawaii, Dr. Bearden's early fascination with mysteries and marine biology evolved into a passionate pursuit of neuroscience's greatest ...

7 January 2025, Leuven – Specific brain cells known as layer 5 pyramidal neurons play a vital role in how our brains process information. Research by the team of Prof. Joris de Wit (VIB-KU Leuven) and colleagues highlights the differences between two types of these brain cells —intratelencephalic (IT) neurons and pyramidal tract (PT) neurons—and how these differences may affect their vulnerability to conditions like autism and schizophrenia. Profiling synapses Among the neural circuits that let our brain process information, brain cells known as layer 5 pyramidal neurons integrate information from various sources ...

Osaka, Japan – Numerous memory types for computing devices have emerged in recent years, aiming to overcome the limitations imposed by traditional random access memory (RAM). Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) is one such memory type which offers several advantages over conventional RAM, including its non-volatility, high speed, increased storage capacity and enhanced endurance. Although remarkable improvements have been made to MRAM devices, reducing energy consumption during data writing remains a critical challenge. A study recently published in Advanced Science by researchers from Osaka University proposes a new technology for MRAM ...

In the ongoing battle against climate change, reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions remains a critical challenge. A recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Energy presents a significant breakthrough in CO2 capture technology through the development of a novel biochar material. This research, conducted by a team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, introduces a core-membrane microstructured amine-modified mesoporous biochar, offering a promising solution for efficient CO2 capture.   The increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere ...

Learning visual speech representations from talking face videos is an important problem for several speech-related tasks, such as lip reading, talking face generation, audio-visual speech separation, and so on. The key difficulty lies in tackling speech-irrelevant factors presented in the videos, such as lighting, resolution, viewpoints, head motion, and so on. To solve the problems, a research team led by Shuang YANG publishes their new research on 15 December 2024 in Frontiers of Computer Science co-published by Higher Education ...

Researchers at the University of Electro-Communications have developed a groundbreaking framework for improving system security by analyzing business process logs. This framework focuses on ensuring that role-based access control (RBAC) rules-critical to managing who can access specific system resources-are correctly implemented. Noncompliance with these rules, whether due to error or malicious activity, can result in unauthorized access and pose significant risks to organizations.   RBAC is a widely used access control model that relies on predefined roles assigned to users. However, as business processes become more complex, ensuring ...

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a severe health threat, being a predominant subtype of esophageal cancer and contributing significantly to cancer-related mortality globally. Despite advancements in combination therapies, patient prognosis remains poor, highlighting an urgent need for novel treatment strategies. In this context, a study explores the potential of dronedarone, an FDA-approved drug, in inhibiting ESCC proliferation through the CDK4/CDK6-RB1 axis, both in vitro and in vivo. The research reveals that dronedarone, ...

Micro/nanorobots hold exciting prospects for executing different tasks in complex microenvironments due to their small size, high flexibility, controllability, and environmental adaptability. However, traditional rigid micro/nanorobots are still difficult to perform different biomedical tasks in complex and unstructured narrow microenvironments due to their limited flexibility and insufficient deformability. To address this problem, in a new paper published in PhotoniX, a team of scientists led by Professor Hongbao Xin from Institute of Nanophotonics, Jinan University, China, has developed a new soft microalga robot (saBOT). They innovatively used microalga, ...

Uncovering the relationship between structure (connectivity) and function (neuronal activity) is a fundamental question across many areas of biology. However, investigating this directly in animal brains is challenging because of the immense complexity of their neural connections and the invasive surgeries that are typically needed. Lab-grown neurons with artificially-controlled connections have the possibility of becoming a useful alternative to animal testing, particularly as we learn how to accurately characterize their behaviour. A research team at Tohoku University used microfluidic devices to reveal how directional connections shape the complex dynamics ...

Canine hookworms are becoming increasingly resistant to drugs across Australia, according to new research. Scientists at The University of Queensland and The University of Sydney have identified widespread resistance to benzimidazole-based dewormers which are commonly used to treat gastrointestinal parasites in dogs. Dr Swaid Abdullah from UQ’s School of Veterinary Science said almost 70 per cent of the hookworm samples studied showed genetic mutations that can cause drug resistance. “This is a big problem, as hookworm infections ...

A team of researchers led by UC Santa Cruz recently released a sophisticated new map that reveals, for the first time, the unique “geologic fingerprints” for most of the African continent.  The map will help archaeologists, conservation scientists, and forensics experts match artifacts and plant, animal, and human remains found at locations around the world back to their most likely region of origin within Africa, offering new insights on issues ranging from the history of the transatlantic slave trade to modern wildlife trafficking and human migration patterns.  The research team’s ...

People who care for both their children and older family members – also known as ‘sandwich carers’ – suffer from deterioration in both their mental and physical health over time, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The research, published in Public Health, analysed data from around 2,000 sandwich carers and 2,000 non-sandwich carers from the UK Household Longitudinal Study between 2009 and 2020. Sandwich carers juggle the responsibilities of caring for ageing parents or older relatives while raising dependent children ...