We know less about the rainforest canopy, where most of the world’s species live than we do about the surface of Mars or the bottom of the ocean. However, that is about to change thanks to GEDI—a NASA space laser that has provided a detailed structure of the world’s rainforests for the first time ever.  “Tropical forests are mainly unstratified especially in Amazonia and regions with lower fertility or higher temperatures” reads the title of the recently published paper in Environmental Research Ecology ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- When patients undergo general anesthesia, their brain activity often slows down as they sink into unconsciousness. Higher doses of anesthetic drugs can induce an even deeper state of unconsciousness known as burst suppression, which is associated with cognitive impairments after the patient wakes up. A new study from MIT, in which the researchers analyzed the EEG patterns of patients under anesthesia, has revealed brain wave signatures that could help anesthesiologists determine when patients are transitioning into that deeper state of unconsciousness. This ...

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines can clearly view non-bony parts of the body — soft tissue such as the brain, muscles and ligaments — as well as detect tumors, making it possible to diagnose many diseases and other conditions. However, the powerful magnets in conventional MRI machines make them expensive and bulky, confining them mainly to hospitals and other large facilities.  As an alternative solution, companies are developing new portable versions that have lower-strength magnetic fields. These new models can potentially expand the ways in which MRI is used. For instance, low-field MRI systems could be deployed in ambulances ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—As a human embryo grows, a set of molecules directs cells as they multiply and take on specific identities and spatial positions within the embryo. In one crucial step known as gastrulation, these signaling molecules guide a single layer of embryonic stem cells to form three layers of distinct cell types that will later become different parts of the body. Now, researchers in the iPS Cell Research Center at Gladstone Institutes have shown that tight junctions between cells may play a critical role in gastrulation in human embryos. “This study has ...

1. COVID-19 case studies offer insights into what it will take to combat misleading medical information online Health care leaders ‘take a shot’ at addressing viral medical rumors and disinformation Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-1218     URL goes live when the embargo lifts  A team of medical and public health leaders from the American Board of Internal Medicine, ABIM Foundation, and several respected institutions say COVID-19 case studies, among other ...

HOUSTON – (July 17, 2023) – Rice University engineers have created containers that can keep volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from accumulating on the surfaces of stored nanomaterials. The portable and inexpensive storage technology addresses a ubiquitous problem in nanomanufacturing and materials science laboratories and is described in a paper published this week in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters. “VOCs are in the air that surrounds us every day,” said study corresponding author Daniel Preston, an assistant professor in Rice’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “They ...

INDIANAPOLIS—An estimated 16 million people in the United States have alcohol use disorders (AUDs), according to the National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Now, Indiana University researchers have made a substantial discovery in the role genes play in the development of AUDs, finding that alteration of a group of genes known to influence neuronal plasticity and pain perceptions, rather than single gene defect, is linked to AUDs. “We know inherited genes are a major contributor to this disease, because ...

New research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and the Sloan Kettering Institute — a hub for basic science and translational research within MSK — identified a way to reduce toxicity in CAR T cell therapy; discovered a division of labor in DNA repair that suggests a possible therapeutic strategy for certain cancers; developed a new method to enable imaging of two PET tracers simultaneously; found biomarkers that could help predict outcomes in HER2-positive metastatic esophagogastric cancer; and made progress toward improving options ...

A surgical team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently performed the first robotic liver transplant in the U.S. The successful transplant, accomplished in May at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, extends to liver transplants the advantages of minimally invasive robotic surgery: a smaller incision resulting in less pain and faster recoveries, plus the precision needed to perform one of the most challenging abdominal procedures. The patient, a man in his 60s who needed a transplant because of liver cancer and cirrhosis ...

It’s no secret that men outnumber women in the halls of Congress and in other political arenas, but new research from Rice University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign also found that significantly more men than women study the legislative process in the U.S. and abroad. This has troubling implications for the inner workings of the discipline and the overall study of topics that impact women’s political involvement, according to Leslie Schwindt-Bayer, the Thomas Cooke and Mary Elizabeth Edwards Chair in Government and Democracy ...

LOS ANGELES — In an effort to improve treatment outcomes and quality of life for older adults with cancer, researchers from City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, and colleagues across the country today released updated guidelines by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) outlining the need to assess and manage vulnerabilities in patients aged 65 and older prior to prescribing chemotherapy, targeted therapy and/or immunotherapy. The updated recommendations, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, urges the clinical use of a validated geriatric assessment (GA) — defined as an evaluation ...

The five-year survival of all children with acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL) has continued to increase to 94%. This is evident from a study of 800 Dutch children. Within the study, modified treatment protocols for four subgroups were examined. The modifications were found to have positive effects on survival and quality of life. For example, the risk of disease recurrence became as much as three times smaller for children with an aggressive form of leukemia. Says Prof. Dr. Rob Pieters: ‘The five-year ...

Breakthrough research has found that Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections are more likely transmitted from asymptomatic throat carriage than skin-to-skin contact in communities with high rates of infection. This major discovery has far-reaching implications for public health approaches, vaccine development and future research as it challenges previous understanding of how the bacterium is spread. GAS (Streptococcus pyogenes), commonly found on the skin and in the throat, can cause infections ranging from sore throats and impetigo (skin infections) to deadly bloodstream infections. In places like remote First Nations communities where the pathogen is ...

New research led by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai has illuminated genetic differences among children with a rare neurodevelopmental condition and could point the way toward a precision medicine approach to caring for these children. The study is the first of its kind to directly assess differences between individuals with mutations in the CHAMP1 gene and those with deletions of the gene. The analysis was published in Human Genetics on July 17. CHAMP1 disorder is a genetic, neurodevelopmental condition associated with intellectual disability, medical comorbidities (e.g., seizures, gastrointestinal problems), and dysmorphic ...

Chicago — An innovative anesthesiologist-led infection prevention program helped reduce the number of surgical site infections (SSIs) in colorectal patients by 50%, the number of days in the hospital by 46%, and led to significant cost savings over a two-year period, according to research presented at the virtual American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Anesthesia Quality and Patient Safety Meeting. “With the skyrocketing cost of medical care for patients and health care institutions, one area physicians can focus on is reducing SSIs,” ...

Imagine shrinking light down to the size of a tiny water molecule, unlocking a world of quantum possibilities. This has been a long-held dream in the realms of light science and technology. Recent advancements have brought us closer to achieving this incredible feat, as researchers from Zhejiang University have made groundbreaking progress in confining light to subnanometer scales. Traditionally, there have been two approaches to localize light beyond its typical diffraction limit: dielectric confinement and plasmonic confinement. However, challenges such as precision fabrication and optical loss have hindered the confinement of optical fields to sub-10 nanometer (nm) or even ...

Law enforcement agencies nationwide regularly sell items that are seized in criminal investigations or are unclaimed from lost-and-found inventories. Many of these items—vehicles, jewelry, watches and electronic devices like cellphones—end up at online auction houses. People looking for a bargain can bid on cellphones in bulk, snatching up dozens at rock bottom prices for parts or other uses. This ultimately provides revenue for the police agencies, making for a good deal for everyone involved. Or is it? A recent study by University of Maryland security experts found that many of the phones sold ...

A team of researchers from the University of Maryland School of Maryland’s (UMSOM) Institute of Human Virology (IHV), a Center of Excellence of the Global Virus Network (GVN), published new findings that emphasize the crucial role of the urinary and genital tract microbiota in adverse pregnancy outcomes and genomic instability that originate in the womb during fetal development. The study, published on July 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), established a new link between genomic instability and a protein from Mycoplasma fermentans, a kind of bacterium that commonly ...

For approximately 3,000 years, generations of green sea turtles have returned to the same seagrass meadows to eat. This was discovered by Willemien de Kock, a historical ecologist at the University of Groningen, by combining modern data with archaeological findings. Sea turtles migrate between specific breeding places and eating places throughout their lives–this much was known. But the fact that this stretches over many generations highlights the importance of protecting seagrass meadows along the coasts of North Africa. The results were published in PNAS on July 17. When young green ...

University of Pittsburgh researchers have shown for the first time how Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), which causes an aggressive skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, initiates DNA replication in host cells. Published today in the journal PNAS, the study sheds light on the fundamental question of how viruses override their host cells’ carefully regulated DNA replicating system to make hundreds of new copies of themselves. “Understanding how MCV replicates gives us really important clues about ...

Benjamin Franklin may be best known as the creator of bifocals and the lightning rod, but a group of University of Notre Dame researchers suggest he should also be known for his innovative ways of making (literal) money. During his career, Franklin printed nearly 2,500,000 money notes for the American Colonies using what the researchers have identified as highly original techniques, as reported in a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research team, led by Khachatur ...

Research Highlights: An analysis of more than two million adults in the U.S. found that present day heart failure risk was higher among Black adults who lived in zip codes historically impacted by redlining compared to Black adults living in non-redlined areas. Redlining did not have the same impact on heart failure risk among white adults living in historically redlined zip codes. Among Black adults living in historically redlined communities, approximately half of the excess risk of heart failure appeared to be explained by higher levels of socioeconomic distress. Embargoed until 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET Monday, July 17, ...

Black patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have a significantly higher burden of disease than white patients with the same device, according to a new study from University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) cardiology researchers. Analyzing data from clinical trials conducted over a 20-year period by the Clinical Cardiovascular Research Center (CCRC) at URMC, investigators concluded that not only did Black patients with ICDs tend to be significantly younger than white patients, but they also had a higher ...

SAN ANTONIO — July 17, 2023 —A team led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has found that NASA’s Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter frequently encounters giant swirling waves at the boundary between the solar wind and Jupiter’s magnetosphere. The waves are an important process for transferring energy and mass from the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun, to planetary space environments. Jake Montgomery, a doctoral student in the joint space physics program ...

The cells of the immune system circulate mainly in the blood and migrate into the body's tissues after an inflammation. Some types of immune cells, however, are permanently located in the tissues, where they come together to form three-dimensional networks. How do these networks form and how are they maintained? For the long-lived macrophages (phagocytes), the answer is already known: They settle in so-called niches. These are environments of connective tissue cells that supply the macrophages with nutrients and keep them ...