The process of converting DNA to proteins through an RNA is far from straightforward. Of the several types of RNA involved in the process of protein synthesis, a few may be edited mid-way. In mammals, RNA editing mostly involves converting adenosine (A) to inosine (I) through deamination, which can result in a wide range of effects. For example, A-to-I conversion can regulate gene expression in different ways and significantly alter the final synthesized protein. While RNA editing is an essential biological process, it is also a key underlying mechanism in some diseases, including cancer. Thus, scientists have created large-scale databases documenting RNA editing sites in various human ...

The community of microbial predators influences the composition of the bacterial community in wastewater. This explains seasonal variations in the microbial community that affect the efficiency of water treatment. This is the result of a study conducted by Nils Heck and PD Dr Kenneth Dumack from the University of Cologne’s Institute of Zoology. The study has been published under the title ‘Microeukaryotic predators shape the wastewater microbiome’ in the journal Water Research. In wastewater treatment plants, a precisely coordinated interaction of different microorganisms takes place in order to effectively ...

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered how the cells that let us hear can repair themselves after being damaged. That important insight could benefit efforts to develop new and better ways to treat and prevent hearing loss. “Hair cells” found in the inner ear, are important both for our ability to hear and our sense of balance. They are known as hair cells because the cells are covered in hair-like structures that serve as mechanical antennas for sound detection. When auditory hair cells are killed, as we learn in school, they are ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Information on the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes, known as social determinants of health, is often collected at medical appointments. But this information is frequently recorded as text within the clinical notes written by physicians, nurses, social workers, and therapists. Researchers from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health recently published one of the first studies in which natural language processing was applied to social determinants of health. The researchers developed three new natural language processing algorithms to successfully extract information from text data related to housing ...

ROCKVILLE, Md. – July 10, 2023 – The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), the premier global molecular diagnostic professional society, today published consensus recommendations to aid in the design and validation of clinical CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genotyping assays, promote standardization of testing across different laboratories, and improve patient care. The manuscript, “CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 Genotyping Recommendations: A Joint Consensus Recommendation of the AMP, Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC), College of American Pathologists (CAP), Dutch Pharmacogenetics Working Group (DPWG) of the Royal Dutch Pharmacists ...

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, July 10, 2023 – First Ladies from countries across Africa and experts from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health will meet the week of July 10, 2023 to discuss current trends, critical research, and sustainable, evidence-based approaches to promote population health and well-being. From July 10th to the 13th, First Ladies and their senior advisors will participate in an executive leadership program to advance critical health and development issues in their countries and regions, including communicable and chronic disease ...

Artificial intelligence has transformed how industries and organizations operate, putting data professionals in high demand. To meet this increasing need, Carnegie Mellon University recently launched an online Graduate Certificate in Computational Data Science Foundations program. "Everything we teach will translate into skills that enable mobilization of data for significant impact in your organization," said Carolyn Rosé, the faculty program director and a professor in both the Human-Computer ...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A boom in alcohol sales during the pandemic appears to have had dire consequences for some as hospital admissions for alcohol-related hepatitis, a life-threatening liver inflammation, increased dramatically, according to a study of national hospitalization data. Researchers found increasing cases of the alcohol-related liver illness from 2016 through 2020, but the rise was particularly pronounced the year COVID-19 arrived in the U.S. in 2020, which saw a 12.4% increase over 2019 levels. It was worse in younger patients, ages 18 to 44, a group that had a nearly 20% ...

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) in Japan have discovered a compound that uses a chemical reaction to store ammonia, potentially offering a safer and easier way to store this important chemical. This discovery, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on July 10, makes it possible not only to safely and conveniently store ammonia, but also the important hydrogen is carries. This finding should help lead the way to a decarbonized society with a practical hydrogen economy.   For society to make the switch from carbon-based to hydrogen-based energy, we need a safe way to store and transport hydrogen, which by itself ...

A lollipop might be a sweet reward for a kid who’s endured a trip to the doctor's office, but now, this candy could make diagnostic testing during a visit less invasive and more enjoyable. Researchers publishing in ACS’ Analytical Chemistry have shown, for the first time, that a lollipop-based saliva collection system can capture bacteria from adults and remain shelf-stable for up to a year. Study participants also preferred the candies over conventional collection systems. Throat swabs are commonly used to collect samples for the diagnosis of a wide variety of illnesses, including strep throat. A less-gag-inducing method is saliva sampling, in which technicians ...

Now that the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, scientists are looking at ways to surveil indoor environments in real time for viruses. By combining recent advances in aerosol sampling technology and an ultrasensitive biosensing technique, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have created a real-time monitor that can detect any of the SARS-CoV-2 virus variants in a room in about 5 minutes. The inexpensive, proof-of-concept device could be used in hospitals and health care facilities, schools and ...

Statement Highlights: The American Heart Association supports a value-based care and payment (VBP) system that is person-centered, equitable, coordinated and seeks to improve equity, patient and provider experience, and individual and population health while controlling costs. Defining and improving clinician understanding of value-based payment program design and best practices promotes informed decisions for participating and successfully engaging in these models. Embargoed until 4:00 a.m. CT/5:00 a.m. ET, Monday, July 10, 2023 DALLAS, July 10, 2023 — The American Heart Association, a global force for longer, healthier lives for all, ...

Indigenous Peoples in Canada have higher illness rates and lower life expectancies than non-Indigenous Canadians. A new study reveals that Indigenous men in the country who have prostate cancer are being diagnosed with more advanced and more aggressive tumors than their non-Indigenous counterparts. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. To identify disparities in prostate cancer screening, diagnoses, management, and outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous men in Canada, a team led by Adam Kinnaird, MD, PhD, of the University of Alberta, ...

Ülo Mander, Professor of Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology at the University of Tartu, received the Advanced Grant from the European Research Council to study the cycle of nitrous oxide (N2O), commonly known as the laughing gas, in fens and peatlands, its links to global climate change, and possible land-use practices that could help curb the production of this greenhouse gas in the future. Laughing gas is one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases produced by microbial life in the soils of agricultural areas and drained ...

Financial payments made by land developers to offset their impacts on threatened species may fall short, according to University of Queensland-led research. Professor Jonathan Rhodes from the School of the Environment focused on koala populations in the fast-developing South East Queensland region and a government scheme which allows developers to make financial payments to compensate for environmental consequences.  “Just like when you make a financial contribution to offset your carbon emissions when ...

Researchers have found that the plastic mulch used to support the growth of Californian strawberries sheds large quantities of plastic mulch fragments. These particles have been shown to negatively impact soil qualities, casting doubt on the long-term viability of their use. The findings from the survey are likely to apply world-wide to plastic use in agricultural production. Presenting their work at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Lyon, postdoctoral researcher Dr Ekta Tiwari (from Sistla group at California Polytechnic ...

The material a bird selects for its nest depends on the dimensions of its beak, according to researchers. Using data on nest materials for nearly 6,000 species of birds, a team based at the University of Bristol and the University of St Andrews utilised random forest models, a type of machine learning algorithm, to take data from bird beaks and try to predict what nest materials that species might use. They found a surprisingly strong correlation. Using only information on beak shape and size, they were able to correctly predict broad nest material use in 60% of species, rising to ...

Warmer springs are causing British bees to wake up earlier, a new study has found, threatening the pollination of crops such as apples and pears. The research – which is believed to be the largest of its kind in Great Britain – found that for every 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature caused by climate change, wild bees, such as bumblebees, emerge from their nests 6.5 days earlier on average. As spring starts earlier and bees emerge closer to the start of the year, they may lose sync with the plants on which ...

We all discard a huge amount of plastic and other man-made materials into the environment, and these are often picked up by birds. New research has shown that 176 bird species around the world are now known to include a wide range of anthropogenic materials in their nests. All over the world, birds are using our left-over or discarded materials. Seabirds in Australia incorporate fishing nets into their nests, ospreys in North America include baler twine, birds living in cities in South America add ...

Generating haploid plants for the purpose of obtaining pure doubled haploid (DH) lines is widely recognized as one of the most efficient breeding strategies in modern agriculture. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), an important fruit crop known for its nutritional value and flavor, has undergone long-term artificial selection resulting in genetic narrowing. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a haploid induction system to enhance traditional breeding methods and facilitate the development of valuable pure DH lines. In March 2023, the Plant Biotechnology Journal published an online paper titled "Production of double haploid watermelon via ...

Tokyo, Japan – A team led by researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University studied how microplastics in the environment accumulate heavy metals. As the microplastics spread, so do their toxic cargo. Focusing on polystyrene foam, they collected particles along a river running through Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. They found significant levels of heavy metals accumulated on the particles, reflecting local land use and industries, as well as surface features like holes and biofilms which help pollutants collect. The spread of plastic debris into the natural environment is an ecological disaster. As plastic waste makes ...

Extinct dwarf hippos that once roamed Madagascar lived in forests rather than open grasslands preferred by common hippos on mainland Africa, researchers at the University of Cincinnati discovered. The findings suggest grasslands that now cover much of the enormous island off the eastern coast of southern Africa were a relatively recent change facilitated by people rather than a natural habitat sustained in part by these famously large vegetarians. The study was published in the journal Plants, People, Planet. When Madagascar broke away from Africa’s mainland 150 million years ago, its plants and animals evolved in geographic isolation in the ...

Researchers have known that a lack of quality sleep can increase a person’s risk of diabetes. What has remained a mystery, however, is why. Now, new findings from a team of sleep scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are closer to an answer. The researchers have uncovered a potential mechanism in humans that explains how and why deep-sleep brain waves at night are able to regulate the body’s sensitivity to insulin, which in turn improves blood sugar control the next day.  “These synchronized brain waves act like a finger that flicks the ...

July 7, 2023 – Patients undergoing bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are at an increased risk of several types of complications, as compared with matched patients undergoing unilateral TKA, reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer. "Patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral TKA were at higher risk of experiencing postoperative complications such ...

ITHACA, N.Y. -- With artificial intelligence poised to assist in profound scientific discoveries that will change the world, Cornell is leading a new $11.3 million center focused on human-AI collaboration that uses mathematics as a common language. The Scientific Artificial Intelligence Center, or SciAI Center, is being launched with a grant from the Office of Naval Research and is led by Christopher J. Earls, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell Engineering. Co-investigators include Nikolaos Bouklas, assistant professor ...