SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 12, 2023) — In a paper published today in Nature, researchers from the California Academy of Sciences, University of São Paulo, University of Oxford, University of Exeter, and other collaborators reveal the extent of plastic pollution on coral reefs, finding that debris increases with depth, largely stems from fishing activities, and is correlated with proximity to marine protected areas.  Through underwater visual surveys spanning more than two dozen locations across the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic ...

The function of mast cells, which are part of the immune system, is still a mystery. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now shown in mice: mast cells function as a sensor that signals the animals to avoid antigens, including harmful allergens, and thereby protect themselves from health-threatening inflammatory reactions. The findings were published in the journal Nature. Mast cells are found primarily in tissues that separate the outside and inside worlds of the body, such ...

In a new study, published today (12 July) in Nature, researchers have produced the most detailed and comprehensive human Heart Cell Atlas to date, including the specialised tissue of the cardiac conduction system - where the heartbeat originates. The multi-centre team is led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, and has also presented a new drug-repurposing computational tool called Drug2cell, which can provide insights into the effects of drugs on heart rate. This study is part of the international Human Cell Atlas* ...

The number of young people in the United States visiting hospital emergency departments for mental health crises increased sharply during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study led by researchers from the Department of Health Care Policy in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School. The findings are published Jul 12 in JAMA Psychiatry. These results come amidst growing national concern about a crisis in youth mental health and provide important new details about how young people with mental health problems such as self-harm ...

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Around 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. But that is not the only water source where plastic represents a significant intrusion. “We found microplastics in every lake we sampled,” said Ted Harris, associate research professor for the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research at the University of Kansas. “Some of these lakes you think of as clear, beautiful vacation spots. But we discovered such places to be perfect examples of the link between plastics and humans.” Harris ...

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University say they’ve found a way to make thin films of an exciting new nickel oxide superconductor that are free of extended defects. Not only does this improve the material’s ability to conduct electricity with no loss, they said, but it also allows them to discover its true nature and properties, both in and out of the superconducting state, for the first time. Their first look at a superconducting nickel oxide, or nickelate, that does ...

In a pre-clinical, proof-of-concept study from Johns Hopkins Medicine, researchers found that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea compound with powerful antioxidant properties, could be promising for both treating and preventing uterine fibroids. Results of the study, first posted online May 25 in Scientific Reports, add to growing evidence that EGCG may reduce fibroid cell growth. The study was specifically designed to identify the biochemical mechanisms responsible for EGCG action in fibroid cells. The investigators emphasize that their study involves human fibroid cells grown in the laboratory and treated with EGCG extract to explore the possibility of oral EGCG supplementation ...

Providing access to housing, debt, and benefit advice within food banks could help lift people out of poverty - according to a University of East Anglia study. Researchers worked with Norwich Foodbank centres, part of the Trussell Trust, on a pilot project that saw representatives from Citizens Advice and Shelter posted within the service. The ‘Making a Difference’ initiative meant that people forced to use a food bank were also able to access advice on a range of issues - from housing and debt to benefits. It is now hoped that this scheme will be rolled out to foodbanks nationally. Lead researcher Dr Sarah Hanson, from UEA’s School of ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Health care providers and their patients could know with greater confidence whether pancreatic cysts are benign or potentially malignant, and if surgery is required to remove them, by using a new diagnostic test currently in development. Amplified Sciences, a clinical-stage life sciences diagnostic company that licenses Purdue University innovations, has received a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, grant of approximately $400,000 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop the test. The company focuses on accurately detecting and categorically assessing the risks of debilitating ...

NovNat Tech Ltd, a visionary new company based in the Unit 9 incubator at the Birmingham Research Park, has secured funding from Innovate UK to develop a novel technology that can generate water out of air.  NovNat Tech is offering solutions to one of the most critical problems of today and the future, the global water scarcity crisis, and is developing a first of its kind ‘atmospheric water harvester’ to help address the global water shortage.  The harvest uses a proprietary material that has already been ...

From our cosmic backyard in the solar system to distant galaxies near the dawn of time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered on its promise of revealing the universe like never before in its first year of science operations. To celebrate the completion of a successful first year, NASA has released Webb’s image of a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. “In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmos, peering ...

NEW YORK, NY, July 12. The Lupus Research Alliance is pleased to announce the 2023 recipients of the Career Development and Postdoctoral Awards to Promote Diversity in Lupus Research. The Diversity in Lupus Research Awards aim to foster the development of outstanding, underrepresented minority scientists and establish a diverse community of researchers and clinicians in the field of lupus. Lupus is a debilitating autoimmune disorder, and the prevalence, severity of symptoms, and mortality are higher among people of color. Yet a recent report by the National Science Foundation showed that while “Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, ...

In 1983, scientists discovered hexasomes – a unique molecular structure that helps cells package their DNA. Now, a study conducted by the Eustermann group at EMBL Heidelberg has shed light on how DNA packaging into hexasomes can affect the function of enzymes involved in gene regulation. DNA: a lot to unpack DNA is a very long, thin thread containing our genetic instructions. Being much longer than the tiny space inside our cells, it needs a clever packaging system. That’s where nucleosomes come into play – tiny spool-like structures that help compact our genetic information. Multiple nucleosomes are then linked ...

This year’s “Hartwig Piepenbrock-DZNE Prize”, endowed with 60,000 euros, goes to the British neuroscientist Alison Goate, DPhil. The award recognizes her outstanding contributions to research into Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia. Professor Goate researches and teaches at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, an international leader in biomedical education, research, and patient care located in New York City. The prize is presented jointly by the Piepenbrock Group and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). The award ...

Synthetic polymer materials, such as plastics and rubbers, have become ubiquitous in our daily lives. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that they are safe, durable, and sustainable. This is especially true for synthetic latex films, which are widely used in packaging, biomedicine, and electronics. But what exactly are synthetic latex films? Simply put, they are a type of nanoparticle-based films that are produced by drying out a mixture of polymer nanoparticles and water. As the solvent evaporates, the nanoparticles become more packed until finally the interactions between polymer chains at the boundaries of nanoparticles create a coherent film. Unfortunately, the latex films ...

Over the past decade, organic luminescent materials have been recognized by academia and industry alike as promising components for light, flexible and versatile optoelectronic devices such as OLED displays. However, it is a challenge to find suitably efficient materials. To address this challenge, a joint research team has developed a novel approach combining a machine learning model with quantum-classical computational molecular design to accelerate the discovery of efficient OLED emitters. This research was published May 17 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal. The ...

INDIANAPOLIS – A new study of caregivers of LGBT older adults living with Alzheimer’s disease provides rare insight into the intersection of caregiving and the LGBT experience.  Researchers from Regenstrief Institute and the medical schools of Indiana University and University of Colorado report that many common caregiver experiences -- such as feelings of social isolation and of being overwhelmed -- are similar for caregivers, whether an individual with Alzheimer’s disease is LGBT or not. However, because LGBT older adults often do not have adult children who can serve as caregivers or may be estranged ...

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death among American men, and it’s resistant to one of the most powerful chemotherapy medications — cisplatin. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed the first therapy of its kind that disrupts prostate cancer cells’ metabolism and releases cisplatin into the weakened cells, causing them to die. In mouse models, an orally administered version shrunk tumors substantially. Cisplatin attacks testicular, breast, bladder, lung and ovarian cancer cells, damages their DNA and effectively destroys tumors. However, it’s not effective against prostate cancer ...

Leprosy has existed since at least Biblical times, yet scientists still don’t know exactly how Mycobacterium leprae causes the disease’s symptoms. Though antibiotics can treat the illness, researchers are concerned about the increase in drug-resistant strains. Now, a team reporting in ACS Central Science has begun to understand the unique role certain immune receptors play in leprosy infections in mice, which could lead to new types of treatments for this disease and others in humans. Thousands of people are currently affected by leprosy — also known as Hansen’s disease — according to the World Health Organization. The disease can cause skin ...

A freight train carrying industrial chemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023, and to avoid explosions, authorities conducted a controlled release and burned the cars’ contents. Residents were worried about their health and the environment, so researchers have been assessing the local air quality with stationary and mobile sampling methods. Now, in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters, they report that some gases, including acrolein, reached levels that could be hazardous. After the derailment, disaster response teams ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (EMBARGOED UNTIL JULY 12, 2023, AT 8AM ET) – Researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have developed a first-of-its-kind, orally administered drug to disrupt prostate cancer cells’ metabolism and deliver the chemotherapy agent cisplatin directly into treatment-resistant prostate cancer cells. They validated their targets in human prostate cancer biopsies, tested the new approach in human cancer cells and a mouse model ...

Monika Wieland Shields, Director of the Orca Behavior Institute, has observed orcas in the Salish Sea, a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington, since 2000. She has recently published an article in the peer-reviewed Open Access journal PeerJ Life & Environment that provides crucial insights into the changing habitat usage of the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca), shedding light on historic trends and the current status of the population in the Salish Sea. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new $3.9 million grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will allow researchers with the Center for Tobacco Research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center to evaluate effects of e-cigarette flavors on the smoking behaviors of current adult smokers. The study, co-led by Theodore Wagener, PhD, director of Ohio State’s Center for Tobacco Research, and Tracy Smith, PhD, of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Hollings Cancer Center, will be the first ...

In a major Swedish study, researchers have discovered a link between the levels of certain bacteria living in the gut and coronary atherosclerotic plaques. Such atherosclerotic plaques, which are formed by the build-up of fatty and cholesterol deposits, constitute a major cause of heart attacks. The study was led by researchers at Uppsala and Lund University and the findings have now been published in the scientific journal Circulation. The new study was based on analyses of gut bacteria and cardiac imaging among 8,973 participants aged 50 to 65 from Uppsala and Malmö without previously known heart disease. They were all ...

Findings challenge the traditional view that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) emerges from pathogens that acquire new mutations Samples from ICU patients suggest that instead, highly diverse pathogen communities harbour pre-existing resistant genotypes The results suggest that interventions aimed at limiting the spread of bacteria between patients may provide a powerful approach to combat AMR. A research study led by the University of Oxford provides a transformational new insight into how antimicrobial resistance (AMR) emerges in patients with bacterial infections. The findings, published today in the journal ...