LOGAN, Utah, June 20, 2023 — A detailed, high-resolution map of the rusty patched bumble bee’s genome has been released by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) scientists, offering new possible approaches for bringing the native pollinator back from the danger of extinction. Putting together the rusty patched bumble bee genome is part of the Beenome 100 project, a first-of-its-kind effort to create a library of high-quality, ...

  The face of a 16-year-old woman buried near Cambridge (UK) in the 7th century with an incredibly rare gold and garnet cross (the ‘Trumpington Cross’) has been reconstructed following analysis of her skull. The striking image is going on public display for the first time on 21st June, with new scientific evidence showing that she moved to England from Central Europe as a young girl, leading to an intriguing change in her diet.   The image and artefacts from the mysterious woman’s ...

Weak policies and political ideologies risk jeopardising plans to tackle health and climate change, says Cambridge expert Efforts to tackle major issues facing the UK, including the nation’s health and climate change, are being hampered because politicians often ignore the existing evidence when setting policies, according to Dame Theresa Marteau, a public health expert at the University of Cambridge. Writing in the journal Science and Public Policy, Professor Marteau argues that this ‘evidence-neglect’ is a result of incentive structures that encourage politicians to set ambitious policy goals while simultaneously disincentivising ...

1. Low-dose aspirin use associated with 20% increased anemia risk in older adults Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-0675 URL goes live when the embargo lifts An analysis of the ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) trial found that the use of low-dose aspirin was associated with a 20 percent increased incidence of anemia and decline in ferritin, or blood iron levels, in otherwise healthy older adults. These findings suggest that periodic monitoring of hemoglobin should be considered in older patients taking aspirin. The analysis is published in Annals ...

FU Qiaomei, a paleogeneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), received the UNESCO–AI Fozan International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) on June 19 in Paris, France, for her “seminal work on the history of early humans in Eurasia, based on genetic lineage studies, which provides new insights on the early human history of Eurasia and perspectives on the evolution of human health.” She was one of five young scientists from around the world to receive the prize, alongside researchers from Argentina, Cameroon, Egypt, and Serbia. The laureates were ...

Researchers have demonstrated how carbon dioxide can be captured from industrial processes – or even directly from the air – and transformed into clean, sustainable fuels using just the energy from the Sun. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, developed a solar-powered reactor that converts captured CO2 and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products. In tests, CO2 was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels, and plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry. Unlike earlier tests ...

A key challenge in neuroscience is to understand how the brain can adapt to a changing world, even with a relatively static anatomy. The way the brain’s areas are structurally and functionally related to each other – its connectivity – is a key component. In order to explain its dynamics and functions, we also need to add another piece to the puzzle: receptors. Now, a new mapping by Human Brain Project (HBP) researchers from the Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany) and Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf (Germany), in collaboration with scientists from the University of Bristol (UK), ...

In the age of dinosaurs, many marine reptiles had extremely long necks compared to reptiles today. While it was clearly a successful evolutionary strategy, paleontologists have long suspected that their long-necked bodies made them vulnerable to predators. Now, after almost 200 years of continued research, direct fossil evidence confirms this scenario for the first time in the most graphic way imaginable. Researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on June 19 studied the unusual necks of two Triassic ...

Receptor patterns define key organisational principles in the brain, scientists have discovered.  An international team of researchers, studying macaque brains, have mapped out neurotransmitter receptors, revealing a potential role in distinguishing internal thoughts and emotions from those generated by external influences. The comprehensive dataset has been made publicly available, serving as a bridge linking different scales of neuroscience - from the microscopic to the whole brain. Lead author Sean Froudist-Walsh, ...

People who owned black-and-white television sets until the 1980s didn’t know what they were missing until they got a color TV. A similar switch could happen in the world of genomics as researchers at the Berlin Institute of Medical Systems Biology of the Max Delbrück Center (MDC-BIMSB) have developed a technique called Genome Architecture Mapping (“GAM”) to peer into the genome and see it in glorious technicolor. GAM reveals information about the genome’s spatial architecture that is invisible to scientists using solely Hi-C, a workhorse tool developed in 2009 to study DNA interactions, reports a new study in Nature Methods by the Pombo lab. “With ...

Scientists have long struggled to find the best way to present crucial facts about future sea level rise, but are getting better at communicating more clearly, according to an international group of climate scientists, including a leading Rutgers expert. The consequences of improving communications are enormous, the scientists said, as civic leaders actively incorporate climate scientists’ risk assessments into major planning efforts to counter some of the effects of rising seas. Writing in Nature Climate Change, the scientists ...

Ann Arbor, June 19, 2023 – De facto decriminalization of drug possession may be a good first step in addressing the disproportionate impact of an overburdened United States criminal justice system on the Black community. According to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, this strategy was associated with significant and sustained reductions in low-level arrests. These arrests too often prevent drug users from obtaining needed treatments and services. The findings also suggest that while these policies may effectively reduce the overall arrest toll, striking disparities persist in how police are applying the directives across racial ...

Embargoed until 8am Eastern Time on Monday, June, 19, 2023 DALLAS, June 19, 2023 — Constant or chronic stress can affect overall well-being and may even impact heart health. Chronic stress can lead to increased blood pressure, heart rate and inflammation, which can contribute to developing chronic diseases.[1] The American Heart Association, the leading global voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke for all, today launches a new campaign to help the Hispanic/Latino community protect its overall well-being by addressing common stressors that ...

How do asset markets work? Which stocks behave similarly? Economists, physicists, and mathematicians work intensively to draw a picture but need to learn what is happening outside their discipline. A new paper now builds a bridge.   In a new study, researchers of the Complexity Science Hub highlight the connecting elements between traditional financial market research and econophysics. "We want to create an overview of the models that exist in financial economics and those that researchers in physics and mathematics have developed ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. –  Tummy aches are common among kids, with one in six parents in a new national poll saying their child experiences them at least once a month. But not all parents seek professional advice when belly pain becomes a regular occurrence and just one in three are sure they’d know when it might be a sign of a serious problem, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. “Tummy complaints are common among children. This type of pain may be a symptom for a range of health issues, but it can be difficult to know if it’s ...

Undergraduates at UK universities experienced prolonged and high levels of psychological distress and anxiety during the pandemic, according to a new study, tracking wellbeing over the course of 2020 to 2021.  They also reported significantly lower levels of wellbeing, happiness and life satisfaction compared to pre-pandemic levels.   Published in the British Journal of Educational Studies, the University of Bolton research highlights how the stringent lockdown measures – including ...

The power of transformative agreements (TAs) to drive the transition to open access (OA), especially in the Humanities and Social Sciences, is revealed in a new report published by Taylor & Francis. Accelerating open access in the UK explores in detail the first two years of Taylor & Francis’ OA partnership with the Jisc consortium and how it has boosted the global impact of research from UK institutions. Supporting Humanities and Social Sciences researchers to publish OA One of the report’s standout findings is the benefit of the TA for Humanities and Social Science ...

Houston, TX – New research by a team at Pennsylvania State University suggests that microbes in the human gut could be harnessed to block absorption of toxic metals like mercury and help the body absorb useful nutritional ones, like iron. The group presents their findings at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.    Methylmercury, a neurotoxin, is particularly worrisome, said Daniela Betancurt-Anzola, a graduate student at Penn State who led the new study. It ...

Houston, TX –  In a study by a research group at Baylor College of Medicine, oral administration of a commercially available probiotic bacterial strain was found to improve dry eye disease in an animal model. The findings were presented at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Dry eye, a common condition in which tears produced by the eye can’t keep the eye adequately lubricated, afflicts approximately 1 in 20 people in the United States. It can cause eye stinging and burning, inflammation, blurry vision and light sensitivity. Extreme cases can result in damage ...

While heavy drinkers can tolerate a certain amount of alcohol better than light or moderate drinkers, the concept of “holding your liquor” is more nuanced than commonly believed, according to new research from the University of Chicago. The researchers conducted the study with three groups of young adults in their 20s with different drinking patterns. They found that drinkers with alcohol use disorder (or AUD, traditionally known as alcoholism) displayed less impairment on fine motor and cognitive tasks than light or heavy social drinkers after consuming a standard intoxicating dose—equivalent ...

Social isolation may negatively impact bone health, suggests a study conducted in mice being presented Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “Social isolation is a potent form of psychosocial stress and is a growing public health concern, particularly among older adults,” said lead researcher Rebecca Mountain, Ph.D., of MaineHealth Institute for Research in Scarborough, Maine. “Even prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly increased the prevalence of isolation and loneliness, researchers have been concerned about a rising ‘epidemic ...

Receiving rapid access to testosterone therapy reduced feelings of gender dysphoria and led to a clinically significant reduction in depression as well as a 50% reduction in suicidality among transgender and gender diverse adults, according to research being presented Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “This is the world-first randomized clinical trial supporting the significant benefits of testosterone in reducing gender dysphoria, depression and suicidality in trans individuals desiring commencement of testosterone,” said Brendan Nolan, M.B.B.S., F.R.A.C.P., a Ph.D. candidate at ...

A three-year-long retrospective cohort study of a single Atlanta hospital’s patient population found transgender and gender-diverse teenagers rarely chose to discontinue gender-affirming hormone therapy, according to a study being presented Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. Among 82 transgender and gender-diverse adolescents treated at an academic pediatric endocrinology center from beginning of 2016 to end of 2018, only three chose to halt gender-affirming hormone therapy. None of them resumed identifying as their assigned sex at birth. One participant stopped hormonal therapy due to insurance ...

Hyperthyroidism treatment like radioactive iodine or surgery was associated with a decreased risk for death, according to research being presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago. “Hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid gland is common, affecting up to 3% of the population, and is associated with long-term adverse cardiac and metabolic consequences. The optimal treatment choice remains unclear,” said Kristien Boelaert, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of endocrinology from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Boelaert and colleagues identified 55,318 patients ...

Houston, TX – Candida auris, an emerging fungal pathogen resistant to many antimicrobial agents, continues to threaten U.S. public health. Researchers at bioMérieux Inc. conducted a retrospective analysis of blood cultures positive for C. auris and found an upsurge in detection of this pathogenic yeast between 2021 and 2023. The average detection rate of 0.014% before October 2022 (July 2020 to September 2022) rose to 0.057% after October 2022 (October 2022 to March 2023). They presented their findings at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. The researchers investigated changes in C. auris infection rates geographically and over ...