Introduction Oxidative stress, caused by an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant defenses, plays a central role in the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, neurodegenerative conditions, cancer, and liver and kidney diseases, are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants serve as the body’s primary defense against ROS, maintaining redox homeostasis and preventing cellular damage. However, when ROS levels exceed the capacity of antioxidant defenses, oxidative stress ensues, contributing ...

New research shows that turtles are responding to climate change by nesting earlier. Researchers monitoring nesting green and loggerhead turtles in Cyprus have discovered they are returning to their regular nesting spots earlier each year to compensate for rising temperatures. In sea turtles, temperature determines the biological sex of offspring, with more females born when it is warmer, as well as fewer successful hatchings when it gets too hot. Turtles also have “natal philopatry”, which means they return to nest in the area where they themselves hatched. A research team from the University of Exeter and the Society for the Protection of ...

A new study from Western New England University (WNE) has revealed that long-term grape consumption significantly impacts muscle health, with notable benefits for both men and women. The research, published in the journal Foods, suggests that a diet including grapes can modify gene expression in muscle, potentially offering a new nutritional strategy for maintaining muscle mass and function.  Around 30 million tons of grapes are consumed every year, and their benefits extend beyond nutrition. Grapes have been shown to ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Chronic pain is complex and difficult to treat. Prescribing opioid pain medications has become controversial but may help some patients. With the goal of informing clinician practice, a new study explores the harms and benefits of continuing and of discontinuing the long-term prescription of opioid medicines to adults with chronic pain. The authors analyzed the opinions of 28 experts on the harms versus benefits of maintaining, tapering or terminating opioid pain medication prescriptions ...

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has announced the 2025 class of Senior Members, comprised of 162 emerging inventors from NAI’s Member Institutions. This year’s class of NAI Senior Members is the largest to date and hails from 64 NAI Member Institutions across the nation. Collectively, they are named inventors on over 1200 U.S. patents.  “To see this program grow year over year is a testament to the dedication our Member Institutions have to fostering innovation on their campuses and supporting their inventive staff ...

Narcissists feel ostracized more frequently than their less self-absorbed peers, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. This may stem not only from being shunned due to their personalities but from a tendency to misinterpret ambiguous social signals as exclusion.     “Feeling ostracized is a subjective experience based on the perception of social cues by the individual. Some may be intentionally ostracized, while others may merely believe they are being excluded when that’s not the case,” said lead author Christiane Büttner, PhD, of the University of Basel. “Our findings suggest that ...

The intestinal epithelium is a highly dynamic barrier that regulates digestion, absorption, immune responses, and communication between the gut microbiota and the nervous system. To maintain homeostasis, intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) must efficiently manage protein production and secretion, a process tightly controlled by the unfolded protein response (UPR). New research published in eGastroenterology demonstrates that disruptions in the UPR contribute to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), colorectal cancer, and other gut-related disorders. This highlights potential therapeutic strategies to restore ...

A little movement could help prevent dementia, even for frail older adults, suggests a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers found that engaging in as little as 35 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, compared to zero minutes per week, was associated with a 41% lower risk of developing dementia over an average four-year follow-up period. Even for frail older adults—those at elevated risk of adverse health outcomes—greater activity was associated with lower dementia risks.   The ...

Water-based adhesives face several challenges despite their environmental benefits. One major issue is that achieving high adhesion strength on various substrates, especially in wet or humid conditions, is difficult due to the inherent properties of water-based systems. Additionally, the volatility of water also leads to issues like bubble formation and uneven drying, affecting the adhesive's performance and appearance. Moreover, formulating water-based adhesives with both high solids content and low viscosity is technically demanding, ...

Philadelphia, February 20, 2025 – Researchers from the Mitochondrial Medicine Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have better characterized a spectrum of what were classically considered discrete mitochondrial DNA deletion disease syndromes. The findings offer new insights into genetic causes, potential symptoms, and disease progression, and may inform future clinical trial development. The findings were published today in the journal Genetics in Medicine. Mitochondrial disease refers to a group of disorders that affect the mitochondria, which are tiny compartments present in almost every cell of the body that ...

A longer paternity leave after the birth of a child can improve the co-parenting relationship between moms and dads in a key way, a new study finds.   Researchers found that mothers were less likely to discourage fathers’ involvement in parenting if the dads had taken more time off after their child was born.   “When fathers take longer leaves, mothers might take that as a sign that fathers are more interested in being an active parent and be less likely to try to prevent them from participating in child care,” said Reed Donithen, ...

DANVERS, Mass., February 20, 2025 – Johnson & Johnson MedTech, the global leader in heart recovery, is proud to celebrate the inaugural National Heart Recovery Awareness Day today, February 20. Recognized through a U.S. Congressional resolution, this designation will help increase awareness of heart health and how innovative medical technology helps patients return home to their families – with their native heart. There are events taking place across the country where patients are sharing their stories, including heart recovery reunions and sessions to educate healthcare providers, which underscore the impact that heart recovery has ...

An inhalable medicine with the potential to improve lung disease in people with cystic fibrosis, irrespective of their mutation type, is being tested in human trials in the UK and Europe.   Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by defects in the CFTR gene, which causes a buildup of thick sticky mucus in the lungs and digestive system. It causes lung infections and gradually affects the ability to breathe. The new lentiviral vector-based gene therapy works by inserting a functioning copy of the CFTR gene in the DNA of the epithelial cells in a patient’s airway.  At ...

Plasma arc cutting (PAC) is a thermal cutting technique widely used in manufacturing applications such as shipbuilding, aerospace, fabrication, nuclear plants decommissioning, construction industry, and the automotive industry. In this process, a jet of plasma or ionized gas is ejected at high speeds, which melts and subsequently removes unwanted parts of materials from electrically conductive workpieces such as metals. The plasma jet is typically produced in two steps: pressuring a gas through a small nozzle hole and generating an electric arc via power supply. Remarkably, the introduced arc ionizes ...

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a debilitating condition and a major cause of premature death worldwide. Chronic stress plays a significant role, but the underlying mechanism involving biochemical pathways by which stress leads to hypertension has not been well understood. Understanding these pathways could lead to the development of therapeutic agents to combat hypertension. Now, a new study from Juntendo University, Japan, led by Professor Hidefumi Waki, Dr. Keisuke Tomita, and Dr. Ko Yamanaka, published online in the journal Acta Physiologica on January 13, 2025, has shown that voluntary ...

A critically endangered species of shark could be forced to adapt to new habitats – or face extinction – as a result of changes in the ocean predicted to occur as a result of climate change, a new study has suggested. The whitefin swellshark (Cephaloscyllium albipinnum) is a species of catshark found in deeper waters just off Australia’s south and east coasts. Its precise population numbers are uncertain, but the species has been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Critically ...

The American Cancer Society (ACS) today released Cancer Statistics for African American and Black People, 2025. According to the report, the cancer mortality rate declined from 1991 to 2022 by 49% and 33% in Black men and women, respectively, in the United States. However, African American and Black people continue to have a disproportionately elevated cancer burden compared to other population groups. According to the study, the risk of cancer death for Black individuals is two-fold that of White individuals for myeloma, prostate, uterine corpus (endometrial), and stomach cancers, and 40%-50% higher for colorectal, ...

Statement Highlights: Although people with cardiovascular abnormalities have previously been considered ineligible for competitive sports participation, new evidence indicates that athletes of all ages who have certain heart abnormalities or diseases may often safely participate in competitive sports. A new joint scientific statement from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology emphasizes the need for shared decision-making between athletes and their clinicians, and provides guidance for health care professionals about how to assess risk when considering competitive sports participation for people with various cardiovascular conditions. More ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- RNA splicing is a cellular process that is critical for gene expression. After genes are copied from DNA into messenger RNA, portions of the RNA that don’t code for proteins, called introns, are cut out and the coding portions are spliced back together.  This process is controlled by a large protein-RNA complex called the spliceosome. MIT biologists have now discovered a new layer of regulation that helps to determine which sites on the messenger RNA molecule the spliceosome will target.  The research team discovered ...

Acid reducing medicines from the group of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are best-selling drugs that prevent and alleviate stomach problems. PPIs are activated in the acid-producing cells of the stomach, where they block acid production. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) made the surprising discovery that zinc-carrying proteins, which are found in all cells, can also activate PPIs – without the presence of gastric acid. The result could be a key to understanding the side effects of PPIs. Excessive gastric acid can cause not only heartburn, but also chronic complaints such as gastritis or even a stomach ...

A new paper updates an EMBL technology advance even further.  More details about the original technology can be found in our initial reporting here.  EMBL tech developers have made an important leap forward with a novel methodology that adds an important microscopy capability to life scientists’ toolbox. The advance represents a 1,000-fold improvement in speed and throughput in Brillouin microscopy and provides a way to view light-sensitive organisms more efficiently. “We were on a quest to speed up image acquisition,” said Carlo Bevilacqua, lead author on ...

Researchers including those from the University of Tokyo developed Deep Nanometry, an analytical technique combining advanced optical equipment with a noise removal algorithm based on unsupervised deep learning. Deep Nanometry can analyze nanoparticles in medical samples at high speed, making it possible to accurately detect even trace amounts of rare particles. This has proven its potential for detecting extracellular vesicles indicating early signs of colon cancer, and it is hoped that it can be applied to other medical and industrial fields. Did you know your ...

Toronto, ON - Preteens who spend more time on screens are more likely to develop manic symptoms years two-years later, according to a new study published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. The findings reveal that 10- to 11-year-olds who engage heavily with social media, video games, texting, and videos show a greater risk of symptoms such as inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, rapid speech, racing thoughts, and impulsivity — behaviors characteristic of manic episodes, a key feature of bipolar-spectrum disorders. “Adolescence is a particularly ...

Fukuoka, Japan—How are stars born, and has it always been this way? Stars form in regions of space known as stellar nurseries, where high concentrations of gas and dust coalesce to form a baby star. Also called molecular clouds, these regions of space can be massive, spanning hundreds of light-years and forming thousands of stars. And while we know much about the life cycle of a star thanks to advances in technology and observational tools, precise details remain obscure. For example, did stars form this way in the early universe? Publishing in The Astrophysical Journal, researchers from Kyushu University, in collaboration with Osaka Metropolitan ...

Blood pressure drug could be a safer alternative for treating ADHD symptoms, finds study    Repurposing amlodipine, a commonly used blood pressure medicine, could help manage attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, according to an international study involving the University of Surrey.    In a study published in Neuropsychopharmacology, researchers tested five potential drugs in rats bred to exhibit ADHD-like symptoms. Among them, only amlodipine, a common blood pressure medication, significantly reduced hyperactivity.    To ...