Breastfeeding has long been used as a method to help keep newborns healthy and protected against a variety of diseases. But certain sugars naturally found in breastmilk could also help prevent infections before a baby arrives. Researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have found that these sugars can stop a common prenatal infection in human tissues and pregnant mice. This could someday help avoid preterm births or complications without the need for additional antibiotics. One of the most common bacteria that can affect pregnancies is Group B streptococcus (GBS). If left untreated, ...

By some estimates, the human nose can detect up to a trillion different smells with its hundreds of scent receptors. But even just catching a quick whiff of certain chemicals known as nerve agents can be lethal, even in tiny amounts. Researchers now reporting in ACS Sensors have developed a sensitive and selective nerve gas sensor using these human scent receptors. It reliably detected a substitute for deadly sarin gas in simulated tests. Nerve gases are often very potent, requiring highly sensitive sensors to detect them ...

Everywhere scientists look for microplastics, they’ve found them — food, water, air and some parts of the human body. But examinations of our innermost organs that aren’t directly exposed to the environment are still limited. Now, in a pilot study of people who underwent heart surgery, researchers in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology report that they have found microplastics in many heart tissues. They also report evidence suggesting that microplastics were unexpectedly introduced during the procedures. Microplastics ...

Conditions are ripe for an accelerated transition to electric vehicle (EV) use in the United States. The Biden-Harris administration has set a target that 50 percent of newly purchased cars in 2030 be electric. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides significant tax incentives for purchasing electric vehicles and for companies that produce them. And that is good news for environmental justice (EJ), says Lisa Benjamin, author of a paper called “EVs as EJ?” forthcoming in Harvard Environment Law Review. Benjamin, associate professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School, details all of the positive impacts of EVs ...

Alzheimer’s disease, one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, leads to progressive loss of memory and autonomy. It is characterised by the accumulation of neurotoxic proteins in the brain, namely amyloid plaques and tau tangles. Due to the silent development of pathology over decades, very early diagnosis is of utmost importance to be able to take action as early as possible in the disease process. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) has demonstrated ...

A new DNA study has nuanced the picture of how different groups intermingled during the European Stone Age, but also how certain groups of people were actually isolated. The study was carried out by researchers at Uppsala University working with an international team of researchers, who produced new genetic data from 56 Central and Eastern European individuals from the Stone Age. The results have been published in the journal Communications Biology. “Conducting studies like this one requires a broad interdisciplinary discussion. In this study, this discussion has been exceptionally fruitful,” says Tiina Mattila, population geneticist at Uppsala ...

Odorants are widely used in natural gas for leak detection, however, few studies have examined their potential effects on public health. A new peer-reviewed publication in Current Environmental Health Reports, suggests that some commonly-used natural gas odorants may induce a range of adverse health symptoms at very low concentrations, ranging from headaches to respiratory inflammation and skin rashes.  “Our sense of smell is the first line of defense in detecting gas leaks, but few studies have examined how odorants in gas may adversely affect our health or well-being,” said the review’s lead author, PSE Healthy Energy Senior Scientist Drew Michanowicz. “The ...

Research Highlights: Between 1990 and 2019, the total annual number of premature CVD deaths and years of disability attributable to particulate matter air pollution rose by 31% worldwide. The increase in deaths was unevenly distributed by sex, with a 43% increase in deaths among men compared to a 28.2% increase among women. During the nearly 30 years of data reviewed, deaths and disability attributed to outdoor particulate matter pollution rose, while deaths associated with indoor use of solid fuels declined. Regions ...

Dam constructions have flooded over 1.13 million acres of tribal land in the US contributing to the historic and ongoing struggle against land dispossession for Indigenous peoples in the United States. New research, published in Environmental Research Letters, has identified that a region of tribal land larger than the state of Rhode Island has been submerged by dams in the US. The findings raise concerns about the destruction of ecosystems, cultural heritage, and livelihoods.  The new study shows that dams have significantly contributed to land loss of Native people, a factor that ...

An analysis published in Cancer Medicine reveals the trends of self-initiated deaths—including assisted suicide (AS) and conventional suicide (CS)—in Switzerland over a 20-year period, focusing on people who suffered from cancer. Although supporters of assisted dying state that access to AS should lead to a reduction in violent CS, the study’s findings do not confirm this assumption. The situations and motivations for cancer-associated CS seem to be clearly different from those for cancer-related AS. In Switzerland, assisting in a suicide is not punishable as long as it does not serve selfish motives. ...

New research published in The FASEB Journal indicates that increasing the expression of a particular gene may help to prevent bone loss associated with postmenopausal osteoporosis. For the study, investigators examined which genes are involved in turning precursor cells called bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into cells that play a crucial role in bone formation. The screen identified a gene that encodes high mobility group AT-hook 1 (Hmga1), a protein that controls the expression of a variety of other genes. In experiments conducted in rats, expression of Hmga1 increased during bone formation but decreased when rats’ ovaries were removed ...

In research published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, investigators developed and validated a tool called PRESTO that identifies patients with psoriasis who face an elevated risk for developing psoriatic arthritis and may therefore benefit from preventive therapies. Among 635 patients with psoriasis followed in the University of Toronto psoriasis cohort, 51 and 71 developed psoriatic arthritis during 1-year and 5-year follow-up periods, respectively. The risk of developing psoriatic arthritis within 1 year was higher in patients with younger age; male sex; family history of psoriasis; back stiffness; nail pitting (dents, ...

Through next-generation sequencing, investigators have identified a mutation in the TMCO3 gene in two sisters with short stature. The research, which is published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, also revealed that the TMCO3 protein is expressed by chondrocytes, cells responsible for bone growth, and that it regulates expression of two other proteins known to control bone growth (parathyroid hormone-related protein and Indian hedgehog). TMCO3 appears to transport protons in exchange for potassium across a protein packaging organelle within cells. The scientists confirmed that the mutation in TMCO3 was responsible for the sisters’ ...

An analysis of the hierarchy of tipping points suggests that during the last 66 million years two events set the scene for further climate tipping and for the evolution of the climate system in particular. If the anthropogenic climate change of today leads to complete deglaciation, the evolution of Earth's climate will be influenced on a geological time scale, the authors suggest. The work by Denis-Didier Rousseau, Université Montpellier, France, Witold Bagniewski, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France, and Valerio Lucarini, University of Reading, UK is published in Scientific Reports and is part of the European TiPES project on tipping points ...

PHILADELPHIA – The transfer of a neurotransmitter from one type of skin cell to another (melanocytes to keratinocytes) altered electrical activity and promoted melanoma initiation in preclinical models, according to results published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer that develops in melanin-containing skin cells known as melanocytes. An intrinsic feature of melanocytes is their ability to secrete melanin-containing vesicles to surrounding skin ...

Coinciding with the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, an ICTA-UAB study calls for indigenous peoples' in-depth knowledge of climate change to be considered. Indigenous Peoples and local communities around the world have a rich and extensive general knowledge of climate change impacts and possible ways to adapt. This knowledge should be recognised by both science and climate policy. This is the main conclusion of an international study led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) which has spent five years analysing and providing detailed data on how Indigenous Peoples and local communities ...

Philadelphia, August 9, 2023 – The first gene mapping study on human scalp hair whorls not only shows that hair whorl direction has a genetic basis, but also that it is affected by multiple genes. Four associated genetic variants that are likely to influence hair whorl direction are identified, as reported in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, published by Elsevier. A hair whorl is a patch of hair growing in a circular pattern around a point specified by hair follicle orientations. As an easily observed human trait, scalp hair whorl pattern is typically defined by the whorl number (single ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (August 9, 2023)—Despite the fact that nearly 90 million women in the United States are projected to be postmenopausal by 2060, menopause remains low on the priority list of many residency programs. A new survey reveals the lack of a standardized menopause curriculum and limited access to menopause educational resources for residents. Results of the survey are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.   Because women today are living longer, it is not surprising that there are a record number of postmenopausal women. And, that number is only expected ...

A booster vaccine using implant technology for koalas is being developed by QUT researchers in the fight against the deadly Chlamydia disease. The new technology is designed to avoid problems for wild koalas and wildlife handlers having to recapture or hold the animals for 30 days, to receive a second immunisation. Koala chlamydia is a bacterial infection and is one of the leading causes of death for Australian koalas. QUT researchers have been successfully testing a two-shot vaccine on an isolated wild koala colony ...

The universe is humming with gravitational radiation — a very low-frequency rumble that rhythmically stretches and compresses spacetime and the matter embedded in it. That is the conclusion of several groups of researchers from around the world who simultaneously published a slew of journal articles in June describing more than 15 years of observations of millisecond pulsars within our corner of the Milky Way galaxy. At least one group — the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) collaboration — has found compelling ...

University of Arizona Cancer Center researchers were awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to deliver an intensive, multidisciplinary cancer prevention and control research training program for undergraduate and graduate students. According to multiple principal investigators Jennifer Bea, PhD, and Cynthia Thomson, PhD, RD, the goal of the 10-week, full-time summer program is to motivate students to pursue a career in cancer prevention science. “I am very concerned about the number of skilled scientists and clinicians retiring,” said Dr. Bea, co-leader of the UArizona Cancer ...

The number of steps you should walk every day to start seeing benefits to your health is lower than previously thought, according to the largest analysis to investigate this.   The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology [1] today (Wednesday), found that walking at least 3967 steps a day started to reduce the risk of dying from any cause, and 2337 steps a day reduced the risk of dying from diseases of the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease).   However, the new analysis of 226,889 people from 17 different studies around the world has shown that the more you walk, the greater the health benefits. ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Scientific findings don’t always translate neatly into actions, especially in conservation and resource management. The disconnect can leave academics and practitioners disheartened and a bit frustrated. “We want conservation science to be informing real-world needs,” said Darcy Bradley, a senior ocean scientist at The Nature Conservancy and a former director of UC Santa Barbara’s Environmental Markets Lab. “Most managers and practitioners also want to incorporate science into their work,” ...

A $4 million award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health, will allow researchers in the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health to identify key factors for the successful implementation of workplace sleep coaching to improve sleep health in Arizona firefighters. Almost half of career firefighters report short sleep and poor sleep quality, and about 37% of firefighters screen positive for sleep disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia or ...

Concentrations of potentially harmful chemical compounds in dust collected from air filtration systems on the International Space Station (ISS) exceed those found in floor dust from many American homes, a new study reveals. In the first study of its kind, scientists analysed a sample of dust from air filters within the ISS and found levels of organic contaminants which were higher than the median values found in US and Western European homes. Publishing their results today in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, researchers from the University of Birmingham, UK, as ...