Staphylococcus aureus. You may have had it in connection with a wound infection. In most cases, it will pass without treatment, while severe cases may require antibiotics, which kills the bacteria. This is the case for the majority of the population. In fact, many of us – though we feel perfectly fine – carry staphylococci in the nose, a good, moist environment in which the bacteria thrive. However, more and more staphylococci are becoming resistant to antibiotics (also known as multi resistant staphylococcus aureus or MRSA), and these infections can be difficult to treat. “Antibiotics resistance ...

It is extremely rare for a new plant species to be discovered in Japan, a nation where flora has been extensively studied and documented. Nevertheless, Professor SUETSUGU Kenji and his associates recently uncovered a stunning new species of orchid whose rosy pink petals bear a striking resemblance to glasswork (Fig. 1). Since it was initially spotted near Hachijo Island in Tokyo Prefecture, the new species has been given the name Spiranthes hachijoensis. Interestingly, it can be found in familiar environments such as lawns and parks, and even in private gardens and on balconies. This research suggests ...

Cyclic peptides often exhibit low membrane permeability which can be significantly improved via amide-to-ester substitutions—as demonstrated by researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech). The utilization of substitutions shown in this study can be used to develop cyclic peptides with high membrane permeability and oral bioavailability for clinical and therapeutic applications. Interest in cyclic peptides, a class of organic molecules, has reached a new high recently. Their ability as inhibitors has made them ...

Date: 17 March 2023   16 to 18 April in Barcelona, Spain and online   Discover what’s new and on the horizon in the prevention and treatment of heart rhythm disorders at EHRA 2023, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).   The annual congress of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a branch of the ESC, will be held 16 to 18 April at the Fira Gran Via, Hall 8, in Barcelona, Spain and online. Explore the scientific programme.   Novel research ...

Bacteria are literally everywhere – in oceans, in soils, in extreme environments like hot springs, and even alongside and inside other organisms including humans. They’re nearly invisible, yet they play a big role in almost every facet of life on Earth. Despite their abundance, surprisingly little is known about many microorganisms that have existed for billions of years. This includes an entire lineage of nano-sized bacteria dubbed Omnitrophota. These bacteria, first discovered based on short fragments of DNA just 25 years ago, are common in many environments around the world but have been poorly understood. Until now. An international ...

Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the deadliest form of malaria in humans, is a master evader, and has dodged all attempts at an effective and durable vaccine. Now, using a sophisticated method that characterizes how antibodies respond to all of the parasite’s roughly 5,400 proteins, researchers at Chan Zuckerberg Biohub–San Francisco (CZ Biohub SF) and UC San Francisco (UCSF) have created the first high-resolution map of the human immune response to P. falciparum, offering insight into what makes this parasite such a persistent pathogen.  In a study published in eLife ...

A new study published in the CABI journal Human-Animal Interactions reveals that your lovable pet dog or cat may lead to you having more restless nights than those graced with long periods of peaceful sleep. The research, led by Dr Lauren Wisnieski of Lincoln Memorial University, USA, focussed specifically on pet ownership in the USA and drew upon data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted in 2005-2006. Dr Wisnieski, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Research and Affiliation, found that ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – The American Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) has announced the IADR/AADOCR Journal of Dental Research (JDR) Cover of the Year, 2022 for the paper, “MUC1 and Polarity Markers INADL and SCRIB Identify Salivary Ductal Cells.” The winners were recognized during the Opening Ceremonies of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the AADOCR, held in conjunction with the 47th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research (CADR), that took place on March 15, 2023. In this study, authors D. Wu, P.J. Chapela, C.M.L. Barrows, D.A. Harrington, D.D. Carson, R.L. Witt, N.G. Mohyuddin, S. Pradhan-Bhatt, and ...

Alexandria, VA – The American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research has named Astha Singhal, Boston University, MA, and the team of Cameron Randall, University of Washington, Seattle, and Tamanna Tiwari, University of Colorado, Aurora the inaugural recipients of the AADOCR Delta Dental Institute Oral Health Equity Research Award. Established for this year with generous support from the Delta Dental Institute, the Oral Health Equity Research Award supports two research awards of $25,000 each in the areas of 1) advancing recommendations for greater oral health equity in populations that lack access to dental ...

Peer-reviewed / Observational study / People New study including 6,007 male football (soccer) players who played in the Swedish top division between 1924 to 2019 suggests they were 1.5 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease compared to population controls. Elite football players had increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, but their risk was not increased for motor neuron disease (including ALS), and their risk of Parkinson’s disease was lower compared to controls. Unlike outfield ...

It has long been known that viral infections can be more severe in males than females, but the question as to why has remained a mystery – until possibly now. The key may lie in an epigenetic regulator that boosts the activity of specialized anti-viral immune cells known as natural killer (NK) cells. In a study published March 16 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Immunology, a collaborative team of UCLA researchers have found that female mouse and human NK cells have an extra copy of an X chromosome-linked gene called UTX. UTX acts as an epigenetic regulator to boost NK cell ...

There is a mountain of evidence to show that stress is a leading cause of common and lethal diseases, including heart attacks, diabetes, asthma, cancer, osteoporosis, anxiety, depression, insomnia, memory loss and premature aging.  But how much of a role does ‘toxic’ leadership play in workplace stress, and what are the signs of a toxic leader?  Recent data has shown that three-fifths of the world’s employees say their job impacts their mental health more than anything else.  Backed up by 40 years of research, wellbeing expert Professor Simon L. Dolan PhD says that leaders ...

New research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) highlights some of the challenges that transgender and non-binary staff can face at work. The study also shows how their experiences can help us to see ways in which the working context might be changed to create a more inclusive environment that is receptive to more diverse gender identities. For example, through the provision of non-gendered changing and bathroom spaces, and processes that enable people to complete forms and choose pronouns in line with their identity. While there are various examples of good practice and initiatives to ...

The development of electronic skin with multiple senses is essential for various fields, including rehabilitation, healthcare, prosthetic limbs, and robotics. One of the key components of this technology is stretchable pressure sensors, which can detect various types of touch and pressure. Recently, a joint team of researchers from POSTECH and the University of Ulsan in Korea has recently made a significant breakthrough by successfully creating omnidirectionally stretchable pressure sensors inspired by crocodile skin.   The team behind the research was led by Professor Kilwon Cho, Dr. Giwon Lee, and Dr. Jonghyun Son from ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. (March 17, 2023) – About 17% of women with unexplained infertility also have gene variants known to cause disease, from common conditions like heart disease to rare problems like ALS, Medical College of Georgia researchers report. Theirs appears to be the first study to identify an increased prevalence of disease-causing genetic variants in females with unexplained infertility, the team, led by Lawrence C. Layman, MD, reports in the New England Journal of Medicine. They hypothesized that genetic disease creates a predisposition to infertility and subsequent medical ...

Young children who are taught by a teacher of the same ethnicity as themselves are developing better learning and problem-solving skills by the age of seven, new research suggests. The effect was most pronounced in Black and Latinx children, the findings – looking at more than 18,000 pupils across the US – showed. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Early Education and Development, the study revealed that if the ethnicity of children is shared with that of their teachers, the children are more likely to go on to develop better working memory. This is the ability to hold and process information in your ...

For every dollar spent, the state has seen a $231 return  In the late 1980s, when smoking was still allowed on some airline flights, California boosted its tax on cigarettes from 10 to 35 cents a pack, devoting 5 cents to programs to prevent smoking.   The newly created California Tobacco Control Program funded anti-tobacco media campaigns and community programs to try to improve public health, but some questioned whether the efforts were worth the cost.   Now comes an answer: For every dollar California spent on smoking control, health care costs fell by $231.   Over three decades ...

Hypertension remains poorly controlled worldwide and is becoming more common. Lifestyle changes and blood pressure-reducing drugs are the mainstays of therapy for hypertension, but despite widespread availability of these approaches, many patients with hypertension are not adequately treated. Those with uncontrolled hypertension are at increased risk of heart attack, heart failure, kidney disease and stroke. A recent study published in JAMA demonstrates the effectiveness of a procedure done under the skin, similar to placing a stent, ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (March 16, 2023) – Aman Chauhan, M.D., and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have embarked on a mission to make Sylvester a top-level research center for neuroendocrine tumors and to make Miami a first-choice destination for patients seeking treatment for these complex cancers. Chauhan, an internationally recognized neuroendocrine expert and the newly named leader of Sylvester’s Neuroendocrine Tumor Program, has devoted his career to neuroendocrine ...

In an editorial in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, two leading multiple sclerosis (MS) experts are advocating for genetic testing to identify MS patients who are at higher risk of developing a devastating side effect from their medications.  People with MS are faced with the excruciating decision of whether they should take medications that are effective in slowing the progression of the disease, but may also trigger this potentially fatal complication, a rare brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). The ...

More than a third of FDA-approved drugs work by targeting a G protein-coupled receptor, or GPCR. The human body has more than 800 types of GPCRs that provide cells with information about the external environment to calibrate responses. Drugs that either block or activate GPCRs are used to treat a wide range of diseases including hypertension, pain and inflammation. Most drugs bind to the outside of the receptor, but this can result in adverse side effects since receptors often resemble one another.  In a new study published in Nature, Sivaraj Sivaramakrishnan, a professor in the College of Biological ...

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A novel cancer therapeutic, combining antibody fragments with molecularly engineered nanoparticles, permanently eradicated gastric cancer in treated mice, a multi-institutional team of researchers found. The results of the “hit and run” drug delivery system, published in the March issue of Advanced Therapeutics, were the culmination of more than five years of collaboration between Cornell, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. “I’ve seen beautiful ...

Childhood volunteering encourages those from politically disengaged homes to go on and vote when they are older, a major new study shows. Community action leads to them becoming more interested in politics and to see voting as a duty, according to the research. However volunteering didn’t have the same impact for most children, so it shouldn’t be seen as the answer to falling voter numbers. The research was carried out by Dr Stuart Fox, now at the University of Exeter and conducted while he worked at Brunel University. He used the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Survey and structural equation modelling to examine ...

Lush plants, large trees and many different, beautiful and colorful exotic animals. This is probably how most people imagine the small island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.  But that may not be the case. As in several other places in the world, the island and its nature are at risk of mass extinction, and in just a decade or two the flourishing nature and the many diverse animals may have dwindled to very few. At least if the extinction of the many plants and animals on the island continues. They are part of a particularly sensitive ...

In virtually all persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and in up to half of all cases of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia, a protein called TDP-43 is lost from its normal location in the nucleus of the cell. In turn, this triggers the loss of stathmin-2, a protein crucial to regeneration of neurons and the maintenance of their connections to muscle fibers, essential to contraction and movement. Writing in the March 16, 2023 issue of Science, a team of scientists, led by senior study author Don Cleveland, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Neurosciences and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at University ...