In a Policy Forum, Mark Eccleston-Turner and colleagues argue that upcoming negotiations surrounding the World Health Organization (WHO) international pandemic treaty need not be overly focused on formal compliance mechanisms and sanctions. Instead, Eccleston-Turner et al. suggest that any efforts to ensure compliance should be part of broader efforts to ensure effective and equitable implementation across all member states. Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) are preparing for ambitious ...

If we could rewind the tape of species evolution around the world and play it forward over hundreds of millions of years to the present day, we would see biodiversity clustering around regions of tectonic turmoil. Tectonically active regions such as the Himalayan and Andean mountains are especially rich in flora and fauna due to their shifting landscapes, which act to divide and diversify species over time.  But biodiversity can also flourish in some geologically quieter regions, where tectonics hasn’t shaken up the land for millennia. The Appalachian Mountains are a prime example: The range ...

New Haven, Conn. — The gradual erosion of layers of rock by rivers flowing through the Appalachian Mountains generates biodiversity of freshwater fish species, suggests a new Yale-led study that offers insight into the causes of species richness in the ancient mountain range. Researchers have previously associated high biodiversity in mountain ranges, including the Andes and Himalaya, with tectonic uplift — the shifting of plates in the Earth’s crust that forms mountains, plateaus, and other geologic structures — triggering environmental changes that create conditions ripe for species diversification. ...

Researchers at the University of Warsaw's Faculty of Physics have developed a new, highly efficient technique that makes quantum information transmission dozens of times faster. The results of the research, published in the prestigious journal Nature Photonics, may in the near future contribute to the development of superfast quantum Internet connections. Light is a key carrier of information. It enables high-speed data transmission around the world via fiber-optic telecommunication networks. This information-carrying capability can be extended to transmitting quantum information by encoding ...

Images  //  Video  Cage structures made with nanoparticles could be a route toward making organized nanostructures with mixed materials, and researchers at the University of Michigan have shown how to achieve this through computer simulations.   The finding could open new avenues for photonic materials that manipulate light in ways that natural crystals can't. It also showcased an unusual effect that the team is calling entropy compartmentalization.   "We are developing new ways to structure ...

Large study provides scientists with deeper insight into long COVID symptoms NIH-funded research effort identifies most common symptoms, potential subgroups, and initial symptom-based scoring system – with aim of improving future diagnostics and treatment Initial findings from a study of nearly 10,000 Americans, many of whom had COVID-19, have uncovered new details about long COVID, the post-infection set of conditions that can affect nearly every tissue and organ in the body. Clinical symptoms can vary and include fatigue, brain fog, and dizziness, and last for months or years after ...

May 25, 2023 – For patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), a combination of intravenous and periarticular corticosteroids does not improve pain control – but, may improve key indicators of functional recovery in the days after surgery, reports a trial in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer. Intravenous (IV) plus periarticular (PA) steroids "yielded more significant improvements in the rehabilitation parameters," ...

May 25, 2023 – A combination of emerging and alternative techniques – microneedling to induce collagen and cupping to increase tissue perfusion – may have a synergistic effect in producing skin rejuvenation, according to an experimental study in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "Cupping therapy can be added to microneedling therapy and used to increase certain desired effects on skin," comments lead author Burak Pasinlioğlu, MD, of Kecioren Research ...

Stem cells from the human stomach can be converted into cells that secrete insulin in response to rising blood sugar levels, offering a promising approach to treating diabetes, according to a preclinical study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. In the study, which appeared April 27 in Nature Cell Biology, the researchers showed that they could take stem cells obtained from human stomach tissue and reprogram them directly—with strikingly high efficiency—into cells that closely resemble pancreatic insulin-secreting cells known as beta cells. Transplants of small groups of these cells reversed disease signs in a mouse model of diabetes. “This ...

For the fourth year, Sage has awarded 10-Year Impact Awards to three research articles that have had a lasting influence over the past decade. The awards are given to the authors of three papers published in Sage Journals in 2012 that have received the most citations in the 10 years since than all other studies published in the same year.   The three winning papers are:  “The Nature and Organization of Individual Differences in Executive Functions: Four General Conclusions” by Akira Miyake and Naomi P. Friedman in Current Directions ...

Exploring diverse ancestry is a critical factor in furthering medical research.   A new study published in Nature Genetics from researchers in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, in partnership with the University of California San Francisco and Stanford University, is the largest of its kind that focuses on ancestry correlations with biomedical traits and the first study to examine the role of genetic variants across diverse ...

May 25, 2023 – For patients with massive weight loss after bariatric surgery, subsequent body contouring to remove excess skin is not itself associated with long-term weight loss, reports a study in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "In contrast to previous studies, we found that body contouring ...

Skin loses collagen and elastin and becomes progressively thinner with age leading to wrinkles, so reversing this age-related loss of skin density is the holy grail of anti-aging treatments. One compound capable of doing that is the naturally occurring peptide GHK-Cu (GHK from glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine bound to a copper ion), which affects 31.2% of the human genes by either activating or deactivating them (based on a criterion of a reduction or increment in gene activity of more than 50%), meaning that it works by ...

Attention editors:  Embargoed by the journal Nature Chemical Biology until Thursday, May 25 at 11 a.m. easter Hamilton, ON, May 25, 2023 – Scientists at McMaster University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used artificial intelligence to discover a new antibiotic which could be used to fight a deadly, drug-resistant pathogen that strikes vulnerable hospital patients. The process they used could also speed the discovery of other antibiotics to treat many other challenging ...

A study led by researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that targeting a metabolic process in people with a specific genetic mutation could help treat glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. The genetic alteration — a deletion in a gene called CDKN2A — is present in about 60% of people who have glioblastoma. The mutation causes changes in the way lipids are distributed in cancer cells, which in turn makes the cancer cells vulnerable to being destroyed. The ...

LA JOLLA, CA—A population of unconventional white blood cells has recently captured the attention of immunologists and clinicians alike. Unlike conventional T cells, which circulate throughout the body in our blood, mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are largely found in tissues where they provide immune protection against a broad range of diseases.  MAIT cells are highly abundant in humans. Although they make up only 2 percent of the lymphocytes in blood, MAIT cells account for 10 to 40 percent of lymphocytes in the liver, and they are common in tissues such as lungs. Still, much about MAIT cell biology and clinical function remains unknown. In ...

About The Study: The findings of this study using data for 3.6 million births suggest that the Maternal Vulnerability Index (MVI), a novel county-level index designed to quantify maternal vulnerability to adverse health outcomes, was associated with preterm birth even after adjustment for individual-level confounders. The MVI is a useful measure for county-level preterm birth risk that may have policy implications for counties working to lower preterm rates and improve perinatal outcomes.  Authors: Sara C. Handley, M.D., M.S.C.E., Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is the corresponding author.  To ...

About The Study: In this diagnostic study of 45 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 50 with typical development, a deep learning system trained on videos acquired using a joint attention–eliciting protocol for classifying ASD versus typical development and predicting ASD symptom severity showed high predictive performance. This new artificial intelligence–assisted approach based predictions on participants’ behavioral responses triggered by social cues. The findings suggest that this method may allow digital measurement of joint attention; however, follow-up studies are necessary for further validation.  Authors: Yu ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Using an artificial intelligence algorithm, researchers at MIT and McMaster University have identified a new antibiotic that can kill a type of bacteria that is responsible for many drug-resistant infections. If developed for use in patients, the drug could help to combat Acinetobacter baumannii, a species of bacteria that is often found in hospitals and can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, and other serious infections. The microbe is also a leading cause of infections in wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Acinetobacter can survive on hospital doorknobs and equipment ...

PORTLAND, Oregon -- New animal research is helping explain why at least five people have become HIV-free after receiving a stem cell transplant. The study’s insights may bring scientists closer to developing what they hope will become a widespread cure for the virus that causes AIDS, which has infected about 38 million people worldwide. Published in the journal Immunity, the Oregon Health & Science University-led study describes how two nonhuman primates were cured of the monkey form of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant. ...

Since the emergence of SARS in 2002, coronaviruses have been recognized as potential pandemic threats. This emergence highlights a need for evidence-based strategies to monitor bat coronaviruses. Daniel Becker, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Oklahoma, is collaborating with other scientists nationwide to determine directions for future research. Becker, an OU assistant professor of biology, was the senior author of a paper published in Nature Microbiology. The study’s lead author was Lily Cohen, a medical student at the Icahn ...

Long COVID, or Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), includes a wide range of symptoms that present or persist more than 30 days after COVID-19 infection. With over 650 million people globally having been infected with SARS-CoV-2, long COVID represents a significant public health concern that affects quality of life, earnings, and health care costs. To better understand the prevalence and severity of symptoms, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER-Adult), ...

About The Study: In this analysis of data from 9,764 participants in the RECOVER adult cohort, a prospective longitudinal cohort study, 37 symptoms across multiple pathophysiological domains were identified as present more often in SARS-CoV-2–infected participants at six months or more after infection compared with uninfected participants. A preliminary rule for identifying postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), also known as long COVID, was derived based on a composite symptom score. As a first step to providing a framework for other investigations, iterative refinement that further incorporates other clinical features is needed ...

Researchers from the Quadram Institute and University of East Anglia have identified what makes some strains of gut bacteria life-threatening in pre-term babies. The findings will help identify and track dangerous strains and protect vulnerable neonatal babies. A major threat to neonatal babies with extremely low birth weight is necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). Rare in full term babies, this microbial infection exploits vulnerabilities destroying gut tissue leading to severe complications. Two out of five cases are fatal. One bacterial species that causes especially sudden and severe disease is Clostridium perfringens. These ...

Surface electromyography (EMG) has been widely used to measure the electrical activity of muscles. However, the variability in EMG sensing signals due to biological differences of different users significantly degrades the performance and potential of EMG systems. Recently, researchers from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) developed a deep learning-based framework called EMGSense, which can achieve high sensing performance for new users using AI self-training techniques. This opens a new path for developing more advanced and accurate wearable EMG devices in areas like neurorehabilitation and virtual reality. This ...