Prenatal exposure to chemicals called phthalates, which are used in hundreds of products, may lead to hormonal changes in females that could affect their future fertility, suggests a study in mice being presented Thursday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. The study found female mouse embryos exposed to phthalates during gestation had lower testosterone levels than those not exposed to the chemicals. Immediately after birth, female mice exposed to phthalates during gestation had lower levels of the hormone estradiol than those not exposed. “These changes in hormone levels ...

BOSTON – Because of the opioid crisis, physicians are less likely to administer opioids to help manage patients’ pain, even in the operating room. A recent analysis in JAMA Surgery that was conducted by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham, indicates that overly restricting use of opioids during surgery may be doing more harm than good. For the study, researchers analyzed information on 61,249 adults who had surgery at MGH from 2016–2020. Patients administered more of the ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – HaoSheng Sun, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, has been named to the inaugural class of Freeman Hrabowski scholars by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The 31 new scholars from 22 U.S. institutions are all outstanding early career faculty in science who have the potential to become leaders in their research fields, as well as advance diversity, equity and inclusion through their mentorship and understanding of the experiences of trainees from races and ethnicities that are underrepresented in U.S. ...

CHICAGO—Not having reliable access to food has a significant relationship with metabolic syndrome, a condition that increases risk for diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, in Latinx females of reproductive age, according to a study presented Friday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. “Because of the significant association identified between low food security and metabolic syndrome in reproductive-aged Latinx females, there is potential to reduce cardiovascular, metabolic and reproductive adverse outcomes through improved ...

CHICAGO—Body mass index (BMI) is not a complete measure of metabolic health, and a high proportion of U.S. adults with normal BMI still have obesity, according to research being presented Friday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. The latest research highlights the importance of including what percentage of the body is fat, muscle, bone, and water, and how much fat is in the abdomen vs. the thighs to fully understand drivers for cardio-metabolic disease. “We show that there are racial/ethnic differences in body ...

Breast cancer medications, called aromatase inhibitors, may lessen the effect of weight loss drugs, according to a new study being presented Friday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. The study found that weight loss medications are less effective in breast cancer survivors who are treated with aromatase inhibitors, compared with women without a history of breast cancer who are not taking aromatase inhibitors. Aromatase inhibitors are used to treat some types of breast cancer or to keep it from coming back. They may also be used to help prevent breast cancer in some women who are ...

Children and teenagers who use continuous glucose monitors (CGM) to manage diabetes often fail to use the appropriate alarm settings to alert to dangerously low or harmful high blood sugar levels, according to a study being presented Thursday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. This variability makes the monitors less useful in tracking glucose levels. Children with diabetes employ a large range of CGM alarm settings and cutoffs, many of which differ significantly from recommended values. ...

To enjoy the scent of morning coffee and freshly baked cookies or to perceive the warning smell of something burning, the brain needs two types of cells, neurons and astrocytes, to work closely with each other. Research has shown a great deal of the changes that occur in neurons during olfactory, or smell, perception, but what are the astrocyte responses and how they contribute to the sensory experience remains unclear. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions report in the journal Science the responses of astrocytes to olfactory stimulation, revealing ...

As the body ages, organ function progressively declines and the risk for a wide range of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, increases. Understanding how the body ages is an intense area of research as it will potentially illuminate ways to promote healthy aging. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco, Genentech, Inc. and collaborating institutions are breaking a path in that direction. They report in the journal Science, the first Aging Fly Cell Atlas (AFCA), ...

Controlling chemical reactions to generate new products is one of the biggest challenges in chemistry. Developments in this area impact industry, for example, by reducing the waste generated in the manufacture of construction materials or by improving the production of catalysts to accelerate chemical reactions. For this reason, in the field of polariton chemistry - which uses tools of chemistry and quantum optics - in the last ten years different laboratories around the world have developed experiments in optical cavities to manipulate the chemical reactivity of molecules at room temperature, ...

Light pollution is increasing around the globe, both in its intensity and geographic extent. Researchers are documenting its impact on ecosystems, human health, and culture, while warning that the wasted light has financial costs, environmental impacts, and is responsible for substantial greenhouse gas emissions. In a special issue of Science, five papers discuss the growing adverse impacts of light pollution, along with the regulatory and technological solutions that could help mitigate its effects. Artificial ...

Tzu-Chiao Lu, Maria Brbic and colleagues have completed the Aging Fly Cell Atlas, a single-nucleus transcriptome map of the Drosophila melanogaster fly as it ages. Aging is known to be a risk factor for many diseases across many animals including humans, but understanding how the process affects cell composition and different cell types is still mostly unknown, making the new atlas a valuable reference in further studies. Lu et al. used single-nucleus RNA sequencing to generate the Fly Cell Atlas that profiles ...

New high-precision argon isotope dating of the Ontong Java Plateau indicates that it is 10 million years younger than previously thought, according to Peter Davidson and colleagues. The Ontong Java Plateau is part of a massive underwater volcanic eruption – possibly the largest in Earth’s history – that took place in the Cretaceous Period in the equatorial western Pacific Ocean. This huge igneous emplacement has been proposed as the cause of Ocean Anoxic Event (OAE) 1a – a short period of severely reduced oxygen in the ocean - but the new dates for the eruption suggest it happened after OAE 1a. Some researchers ...

The so-called three-way catalytic converter in the exhaust system of a car consists of expensive materials and only works correctly when the exhaust gases have a temperature that is several hundred degrees Celsius. As a result, when you start your car, or when you drive a hybrid car in which the petrol engine and electric motor alternate between driving the powertrain, the gases leaving the exhaust still contain toxic carbon monoxide. In a new Science article, scientists led by Emiel Hensen now show that by modifying the carrier material of the catalyst, it is possible to almost completely convert toxic carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide gas even at room temperature. Noble ...

Numerous visual illusions are caused by limits in the way our eyes and visual neurones work – rather than more complex psychological processes, new research shows. Researchers examined illusions in which an object’s surroundings affect the way we see its colour or pattern. Scientists and philosophers have long debated whether these illusions are caused by neural processing in the eye and low-level visual centres in the brain, or involve higher-level mental processes such as context and prior knowledge. In the new study Dr Jolyon Troscianko, from the University of Exeter, co-developed a model that suggests simple limits to neural responses – not deeper ...

The rapid advance of artificial intelligence has generated a lot of buzz, with some predicting it will lead to an idyllic utopia and others warning it will bring the end of humanity. But speculation about where AI technology is going, while important, can also drown out important conversations about how we should be handling the AI technologies available today. One such technology is generative AI, which can create content including text, images, audio, and video. Popular generative AIs like the chatbot ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. [June 15, 2023] — Today, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)—an alliance of leading cancer centers—convened a policy summit to examine how geography impacts cancer outcomes. NCCN Chief Executive Officer, Robert W. Carlson, MD, opened the event with a focus on equity. “NCCN’s work is guided by the idea that where you live should not impact whether you live,” said Dr. Carlson. “NCCN Guidelines are one free resource to make sure everyone, everywhere, has access to cancer care based on the latest evidence ...

Paris is set to host the highly anticipated 25th International Conference of the Redox Medicine Society, where global leaders and experts from the field will converge to unveil groundbreaking advancements and shed light on the future of Redox Medicine. Taking place from June 21 to June 23, the conference will feature over 61 dynamic communications, including major presentations, short talks, and poster sessions, showcasing the latest research and discoveries in the field of redox reactions, oxidative stress, and their profound ...

PHILADELPHIA – Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have invented a new way to map specific DNA markings called 5-methylcytosine (5mC) which regulate gene expression and have key roles in health and disease. The innovative technique allows for scientists to profile DNA using very small samples and without damaging the sample which means it can potentially be used in liquid biopsies (testing for cancer markers in the bloodstream) and early cancer detection. Additionally, unlike ...

American Geophysical Union 15 June 2023 Release No. 23-25 For Immediate Release This press release is available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/weve-pumped-so-much-groundwater-that-weve-nudged-the-earths-spin AGU press contact: Rebecca Dzombak, news@agu.org (UTC-4 hours) Contact information for the researchers: Ki-Weon Seo, Seoul National University, seokiweon@snu.ac.kr (UTC+9 hours) WASHINGTON — By pumping water out of the ground and moving it elsewhere, humans have shifted such a large mass of water that the Earth tilted nearly 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) east between 1993 and 2010 alone, according to a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters, ...

Women living with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) experience greater body image concerns than individuals without the condition, according to research being presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. PCOS affects 7% to 10% of women and is the most common cause of infertility. It is also linked to metabolic health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular health conditions, and mental health conditions including depression and anxiety. “Although PCOS, depression and anxiety have a substantial correlation, ...

People with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a 47% increased risk for death at a younger age compared with those without the condition, according to research being presented on Sunday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. PCOS is a common cause of infertility in women, and it occurs in 7% to 10% of women of reproductive age. Women with PCOS may have higher than normal levels of testosterone and other reproductive hormones called androgens, irregular periods, and/or cysts on the ovaries. The condition raises the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. “The results highlight the need ...

Major fungal infections have become more common across the globe, and one unexpected phenomenon among the rise of fungi is life-threatening infections as a result of a complication of certain immunotherapies and small molecule kinase inhibitors.    A scientist at the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) has identified the specific mechanistic cause of one such phenomenon, which will likely save lives into the future, via a new publication.    The paper “C5a-licensed phagocytes drive sterilizing immunity during systemic fungal infection” appeared in the journal Cell ...

– By Dan Mullen Wildfires have become increasingly frequent due to climate change, with record occurrences in areas not historically prone to them. In California, wildfires and regional power shutoffs have cost billions and taken lives. For some 46 million Americans living next to forests – at what scientists call the “wildland-urban interface” (WUI) – the risks of wildfire can be especially acute. Microgrids can build resilience in vulnerable communities. By using small-scale, local energy sources and disconnecting from regional grids during emergencies, they can deliver essential services to keep homes and communities ...

In a paper published in Nature Photonics, the research team from the Center for Quantum Information and Communication – Ecole polytechnique de Bruxelles of Université libre de Bruxelles, has found an unexpected counter-example to common knowledge on photon bunching. One of the cornerstones of quantum physics is Niels Bohr's complementarity principle, roughly speaking the fact that objects may behave either like particles or like waves. These two mutually exclusive descriptions are well illustrated in the iconic double-slit experiment, ...