How do today’s indigenous communities of South America trace back to the history of human migration and contact in the continent? An international team has worked to reconstruct the legacy of Chile’s largest indigenous community, the Mapuche, in a quest to strengthen their representation in the history of the continent. It appears the Mapuche long lived in relative isolation but do bear some influences from other populations of the Central Andes and the far south of Chile. South America was the last continent ...

LA JOLLA, CALIF. – June 5, 2023 – Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys, collaborating with scientists from Eli Lilly and Company, have revealed the structure and function of a drug called LY3361237, which can reduce the harmful activity of the immune system to help treat autoimmune diseases. Their work laid the foundation for a new treatment that’s currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial for lupus, an autoimmune disease affecting multiple organs in the body. The study is published in Structure, a Cell Press journal. The ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a method involving artificial intelligence to visualize and track changes in the strength of synapses — the connection points through which nerve cells in the brain communicate — in live animals. The technique, described in Nature Methods, should lead, the scientists say, to a better understanding of how such connections in human brains change with learning, aging, injury and disease. “If you want to learn more about how an orchestra plays, you have to watch individual players over time, and this ...

Two new discoveries from the Dudley lab at UVA Cancer Center highlight the different roles of blood vessels in solid tumors  – and the findings could help prevent breast cancer from spreading and enhance the effectiveness of one of the most important new cancer treatments in many years. In one new scientific paper, researcher Andrew C. Dudley, PhD, and his team report that the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs called immune check blockade is enhanced when blood vessels are targeted in a specific way. (Immunotherapy enhances the power of the immune system to fight cancer and other diseases.) In another paper, published ...

Awash in a rowed sea of its brethren, a corn leaf relegated to the lowest rung of its stem spends much of a June afternoon doused in shade cast by the higher-ups. Then a gust begins pushing, pulling and twisting the waxy wings in concert, cracking a window to the fireball roiling 93 million miles away. It’s a prime, precious opportunity for photosynthesis to transform the sunlight into food. Unfortunately, the photosynthetic equivalent of a surge protector — one evolved to help plants mitigate damage driven by sudden spikes of high-intensity light — is slow to reset after so much time in the shade. The gust dissipates, the moment ...

Moving towards a more inclusive approach to medicine Release of pangenome representing wide diversity of individuals ushers in new understanding of human biology and disease The first human genome, which has served as the reference until now, was released approximately 20 years ago. It was a landmark accomplishment that had a huge impact on biomedical research and changed the way scientists study human biology. But it was based on just a few individuals and did not capture the full genetic diversity of the human population. An important step forward for both biology and biomedical research “Since ...

SAN ANTONIO — June 5, 2023 —Southwest Research Institute is expanding its flow meter research in collaboration with NYSEARCH, a nonprofit research and development organization for the gas industry, to address the impact of introducing hydrogen and natural gas blends into the residential and commercial energy mix. In the second phase of the program, SwRI will expand its research in measuring the energy content of blended gas to determine the accuracy of current flow meter technology for monitoring usage in homes. Natural gas is widely used to power appliances and heat ...

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London analysed 2.6 million posts on popular social media network Nextdoor and accurately predicted individuals’ income by solely examining the posts they’ve published. Striking differences in the content shared by people who live in wealthier versus poorer neighbourhoods has led researchers to believe that our general online posting activity, beyond Nextdoor, can reveal our socioeconomic status, making user profiling possible. Knowing users’ income could allow social media platforms to recommend income-based content, and advertisers and online shops can target people based on their ...

ABSTRACTS: 3121, 4504, LBA4619 CHICAGO ― Three clinical trials led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated positive results from the targeted therapy erdafitinib for patients with multiple tumor types harboring FGFR alterations. The data are being presented at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Erdafitinib is an oral medication that blocks the activity of FGFR signaling proteins, which are important for a variety of normal cellular processes. However, FGFR genetic alterations can drive the development of many ...

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major psychiatric condition that afflicts about 1% of people. Symptoms of BD include sudden onset of depressive mood with loss of interest which alternates with a manic state of hyperactivity. The suffering of the patients and societal cost of this disorder requires the use of continued therapeutic management. Current medications—although vital for patients with BD—are not perfect solutions, given their potential side-effects and treatment resistance. This necessitates ...

In the race to develop fusion energy, each unique approach requires its own specialized techniques to determine net energy gain, an equation balancing energy in and out that’s known by the letter Q. A new paper, published today in the journal Fusion Science and Technology, establishes the company’s method of measuring and calculating Q in Zap’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion plasmas. The publication will be an important part of Zap demonstrating energy gain on the way to building a commercial fusion ...

Children who struggle with attention and behavior problems tend to end up earning less money, finish fewer years of school and have poorer mental and physical health as adults, compared with children who don’t show early attention and behavior problems, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Children who struggle with attention are particularly likely to have lower levels of educational attainment as adults, while those who struggle with impulsivity are more likely to end up in trouble with the law, the research found. “Our study found broad support ...

Genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics are much more widespread in our environment than was previously realised. A new study, from Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, shows that bacteria in almost all environments carry resistance genes, with a risk of them spreading and aggravating the problem of bacterial infections that are untreatable with antibiotics. “We have identified new resistance genes in places where they have remained undetected until now. These genes can constitute an overlooked threat to human health,” says Erik Kristiansson, a professor in the Department ...

The latest data from the nationwide INSPIRE study assessing the long-term symptoms and outcomes of the COVID-19 virus in nearly 6000 participants identifies four clinically distinct symptom presentations (phenotypes),adding to the growing body evidence that Long COVID is not singular condition but rather a range of conditions that may evolve, and typically improve, over time. Lead author Michael Gottlieb, MD, says this better understanding of the clinically distinct manner that patients experience post-COVID -19 complications ...

People with higher risks of cardiovascular disease are significantly more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, and rotator cuff tendinitis, according to a new study involving researchers at the University of Utah and the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. The findings of the study, published June 2 in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, have implications for the prevention and treatment of these common musculoskeletal disorders, which affect ...

Artificial intelligence has entered our daily lives. First, it was ChatGPT. Now, it’s AI-generated pizza and beer commercials. While we can’t trust AI to be perfect, it turns out that sometimes we can’t trust ourselves with AI either. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Assistant Professor Peter Koo has found that scientists using popular computational tools to interpret AI predictions are picking up too much “noise,” or extra information, when analyzing DNA. And he’s found a way to fix this. Now, with just a couple new lines of code, scientists can get ...

In a new study of trastuzumab deruxtecan, a HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate, researchers observed encouraging responses and long-lasting clinical benefit in several tumor types. These data from an interim analysis of the Phase II DESTINY-PanTumor02 study, led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, were presented today at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.  The treatment achieved an objective response rate (ORR) of 61.3% with a median duration of response (DOR) of 22.1 months in patients with the highest levels of HER2 expression. Across ...

Research Highlights: A study of more than 100,000 women, ages 45 and older, taking oral estrogen hormone therapy for menopause, has found that estrogen ingested in pill form may be associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure compared to transdermal and vaginal estrogen. Oral estrogen was associated with a 14% higher risk of high blood pressure compared to transdermal estrogen creams and a 19% greater risk of high blood pressure compared to vaginal estrogen creams or suppositories. Non-oral estradiol (a specific form of estrogen) at the lowest dose and for the shortest period of time was associated with the lowest risk of developing high blood ...

Media Release   Embargoed by The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences until Monday, June 5 at 5 a.m. GMT (1 a.m. EDT)   Disadvantaged neighbourhoods and depression symptoms associated with premature aging   Hamilton, ON (June 5, 2023) - Feeling depressed and living in a deprived urban neighbourhood could be making you age faster, according to a new study led by researchers at McMaster University.   The findings, published June 5 in The Journals of Gerontology, Series ...

Marking a milestone in its role as a leading open access (OA) book publisher, Taylor & Francis has announced Technology and Sustainable Development: The Promise and Pitfalls of Techno-Solutionism as its 1,500th OA book. Reflecting the crucial role for open access in making relevant research available to readers outside of academia, Technology and Sustainable Development focuses on many of the practical challenges facing our governments and societies today. The potential of technology to both solve and exacerbate pressing global issues, including ...

More than three in five children (63 percent) enrolled in Medicaid do not receive mental health services within six months after a firearm injury, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. In the United States, 11,258 youth experienced nonfatal firearm injuries in 2020. Children who survive firearm injuries are at increased risk for adverse mental health outcomes, such as newly diagnosed trauma-related disorders, substance use and disruptive disorders. In addition to these disorders, the study found that ...

Night-time pollinators such as moths need protecting as effectively as bees, as new research found they could be less resilient to the pressures of urbanisation Moths account for a third of the pollinator visits to crops, flowers and trees in urban areas More moths were found to be carrying pollen than previously thought, and visiting more types of plant and fruit crops than previously identified Moth abundance has declined by 33 per cent in the last 50 years and this represents a threat to the plants and crops that rely on insects for pollination Night-time pollinators such as moths may visit just as many ...

Serious heart attacks are more likely to happen at the start of the working week than at any other time, according to new research presented today at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) conference in Manchester.   Doctors at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland analysed data of 10,528 patients across the island of Ireland (7,112 in the Republic of Ireland, 3,416 in Northern Ireland) admitted to hospital between 2013 and 2018 with the most serious type of heart attack. This is known as an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and occurs when a major coronary artery is completely blocked.   The researchers ...

Testing older potential organ donors for dangerous ‘zombie’ cells could help to increase the number of hearts available for transplant, according to research part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and presented at the British Cardiovascular Society conference in Manchester.  Currently, hearts from donors aged over 65 are not accepted for donation due to the likelihood of a poor clinical outcome. However, our hearts age at different rates and age isn’t necessarily the best indicator of heart health.   Researchers ...

Do whales increase the removal of carbon from the atmosphere?  Despite some hope that this would be the case, a new study led by Griffith University and a team of global researchers has found the amount of potential carbon capture by whales is too little to meaningfully alter the course of climate change.  Marine scientist Dr Olaf Meynecke and the team from the Griffith-led Whales and Climate Research Program including Professor Brendan Mackey and Dr Jasper De Bie, reviewed the primary ways in which baleen whales (such as humpback whales) removed atmospheric carbon ...