PULLMAN, Wash.—When a team of scientists led by a Washington State University researcher examined the way that more than 9,400 children grew from toddlers to pre-adolescents, two distinct trajectories emerged. For most children, their body-mass index developed along a typical path: a drop in BMI following their first year, followed by a gradual increase after age 6. Eleven percent of the children, however, showed a very different pattern. These children—whose mothers were more likely ...

The use of AI image generation models has not only gained popularity but raised concerns surrounding potential misuse when it comes to training data, including copyright-protected material. Text-to-image models have gained significant popularity due to their ability to generate diverse, realistic-looking images from just a short prompt. As these models are trained on vast datasets from various sources, there is growing concern that artists’ works, including photographs, paintings and other creative pieces, may be used in training without their consent. To protect their work from being exploited by emerging technologies, artists have turned ...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Compared with a Mediterranean diet, dietary acid load decreased significantly on a low-fat vegan diet and was associated with weight loss, according to a randomized cross-over trial conducted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and published in Frontiers in Nutrition.   “Eating acid-producing foods like meat, eggs, and dairy can increase the dietary acid load, or the amount of acids consumed, causing inflammation linked to weight gain,” says Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, director ...

In general, evolution is a long, slow process of tiny changes passed down over generations, resulting in new adaptations and even new species over thousands or millions of years. But when living things are faced with dramatic shifts in the world around them, they sometimes rapidly adapt to better survive. Scientists recently found an example of evolution in real time, tucked away in the collection drawers of the Field Museum in Chicago. By comparing the skulls of chipmunks and voles from the Chicagoland area collected ...

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have transformed display and lighting technology with their vivid colors, deep contrast, and energy efficiency. As demand grows for lighter, thinner, and more energy-saving devices—especially in wearables, foldables, and portable electronics—there's increasing interest in OLEDs that can operate at lower voltages without compromising performance. A new type of OLEDs, known as exciplex upconversion OLEDs (ExUC-OLEDs), has opened newer avenues for making the display and lighting technology more ...

Nanoparticles (NPs) are materials whose dimensions range from 1 to 1,000 nanometers (nm). Due to their nano-scale dimensions and tunable material properties, NPs have gained interest in the global scientific community in recent years. Applications of NPs in the field of human health include NP-based drug delivery systems and radioactive probe-linked NPs for medical diagnosis. While significant advancements have been achieved in the design and synthesis of NPs, studies investigating the interactions of NPs with important biological macromolecules like proteins remain limited.   To reveal ...

Oak Brook, IL – Volume 32 of SLAS Technology, includes one review, one tech brief, six original research articles, one protocol, one literature highlight and several Special Issue (SI) features. Review Review on biphasic blood drying method for rapid pathogen detection in bloodstream infections This review highlights the biphasic blood drying method—a novel approach combining blood drying with isothermal amplification to enable rapid, culture-free detection of bloodstream pathogens at ultra-low concentrations--offering a faster and ...

Oak Brook, IL – Volume 33 of SLAS Discovery features one review, three original research articles and one entry in the upcoming Special Issue on Biomolecular Condensates as Targets for Drug Discovery. Reviews Antimicrobial resistance: Linking molecular mechanisms to public health impact This review highlights how β-lactamases and efflux pumps, combined with mobile genetic elements, drive the rapid spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extremely drug-resistant (XDR) pathogens, posing a serious threat to global health and agriculture. Original Research Advancing the development of TRIP13 inhibitors: A high-throughput screening ...

Embargoed for release: Thursday, June 26, 2025, 6:00 AM ET Boston, MA—In the midst of a multi-state measles outbreak, a new poll by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation finds that most U.S. adults (79%) say parents should be required to have children vaccinated against preventable diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella to attend school. This includes a majority of adults across party lines—90% among Democrats and 68% among Republicans – as well as 66% of those who support the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement. It also includes 72% of all parents. ...

Artificial intelligence is considered to be computationally and energy-intensive – a challenge for the Internet of Things (IoT), where small, embedded sensors have to make do with limited computing power, little memory and small batteries. In the E-MINDS project, a research team from the COMET K1 centre Pro2Future, Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and the University of St. Gallen has found ways to run AI locally and efficiently on the smallest devices – without having to rely on external computing power. For example, it has been possible to run specialised AI models on an ultra-wideband localisation device ...

Patients with atrial fibrillation who have experienced a stroke would benefit greatly from earlier treatment than is currently recommended in current UK guidelines, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. The results of the CATALYST study, published in The Lancet, included data from four randomised trials with a total of 5,441 patients across the UK, Switzerland, Sweden and the United States, who had all experienced a recent stroke (between 2017-2024) due to a blocked artery and atrial ...

A new gene therapy delivery device could let hospital pharmacies make personalized nanomedicines to order. This democratized approach to precision medicine, as published in Frontiers in Science, could revolutionize how hospitals treat rare diseases, even in low-resource settings.  Rare diseases affect millions worldwide, yet the one-size-fits-all model of drug development leaves patients with few treatment options. Now a European research project called NANOSPRESSO aims to tip the balance in patients’ favor by boosting access to low-cost bespoke gene and RNA therapies.  The prototype NANOSPRESSO device combines two proven technologies—nucleic acid ...

LMU researchers have demonstrated a possible mechanism for metabolic processes without cell membranes in water-filled pores. Looking at life today, it is difficult to imagine how complex biological processes and structures could have developed from simple building blocks. All cellular processes and reactions appear to be closely interdependent and necessarily occur within a cell membrane. There is no known organism that deviates from this pattern. But how did it come about? How does a cell membrane form without metabolism? Or conversely, how does metabolism arise without a cell ...

An interdisciplinary team of experts in green chemistry, engineering and physics at Flinders University in Australia has developed a safer and more sustainable approach to extract and recover gold from ore and electronic waste. Explained in the leading journal Nature Sustainability, the gold-extraction technique promises to reduce levels of toxic waste from mining and shows that high purity gold can be recovered from recycling valuable components in printed circuit boards in discarded computers. The project team, led by Matthew Flinders Professor Justin Chalker, applied this integrated method for high-yield gold extraction ...

Optical biosensors use light waves as a probe to detect molecules, and are essential for precise medical diagnostics, personalized medicine, and environmental monitoring. Their performance is dramatically enhanced if they can focus light waves down to the nanometer scale – small enough to detect proteins or amino acids, for example – using nanophotonic structures that ‘squeeze’ light at the surface of a tiny chip. But the generation and detection of light for these nanophotonic biosensors requires ...

Scientists at the University of Oxford have unveiled a pioneering method for capturing the full structure of ultra-intense laser pulses in a single measurement. The breakthrough, published in close collaboration with Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, could revolutionise our ability to control light-matter interactions. This would have transformative applications in many areas, including research into new forms of physics and realising the extreme ...

Biological drugs have improved the lives of many people with severe asthma. However, a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that some immune cells with high inflammatory potential are not completely eradicated after treatment. Biological drugs (biologics) have become an important tool in the treatment of severe asthma. “They help most patients to keep their symptoms under control, but exactly how these drugs affect the immune system has so far remained unknown,” says Valentyna Yasinska, consultant ...

A new international study drawing on 73 million nights of data reveals that our sleep patterns are seriously shaped by the day of the week, the season, and where we live. Working with sleep data from more than 116,000 adults across the globe, Flinders University sleep experts used insights from an FDA-cleared under-mattress device to track sleep duration and timing over 3.5 years. Lead author, Dr Hannah Scott from FHMRI Sleep Health says the findings give a detailed look at how geography, seasons, and our day-to-day schedules quietly disrupt the way we sleep. “Sleep patterns aren’t just about habits – they’re deeply connected to the environment around ...

Niigata, Japan— In a remarkable advancement for soil science, researchers from Japan have developed a novel method for estimating microbial biomass using water-extractable organic matter (WEOM) from air-dried soils. This innovative approach not only simplifies the estimation process but also eliminates the need for toxic solvents typically used in traditional methods, such as chloroform fumigation extraction. A research was conducted by a dedicated team from Niigata University, Kyushu University, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, and Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences researchers. The study analyzed 50 soil samples from ten diverse profiles across various regions in Japan, including six ...

New commentary published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine warns that current risk-based regulatory approaches to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare fall short in protecting patients, potentially leading to over- and undertreatment as well as discrimination against patient groups. The authors found that while AI and machine learning systems can enhance clinical accuracy, concerns remain over their inherent inaccuracy, opacity, and potential for bias which are not adequately addressed by the current regulatory ...

Hot tubs and saunas can both soothe aching muscles and provide welcome warmth, but hot tubs might offer greater health benefits. That’s the takeaway from a new study done by researchers in the Bowerman Sports Science Center at the University of Oregon, which compared the physiological effects of soaking in a hot tub to sitting in a traditional dry heat sauna or a more modern far-infrared sauna. By raising core body temperatures, soaking in hot water can help lower blood pressure, stimulate the immune system and, over time, improve the body’s ...

Combining neck surgery with intensive speech therapy is associated with greater improvements in a person's ability to communicate after a stroke than intensive speech therapy alone, finds a clinical trial published by The BMJ today. The results show improvements immediately after surgery without any long-term severe adverse events or lasting discomfort, as well as reported improvements in quality of life and post-stoke depression over six months. Stroke is the most common cause of aphasia (problems with communication, including speaking, understanding others, reading and writing). More than 60% of patients are ...

Introducing performance related pay for UK general practices initially improved quality of care, but did not seem to provide lasting improvements beyond that expected by previous trends, finds a study published by The BMJ today. And initial gains in quality seemed to reverse when financial incentives were withdrawn, say the researchers. The UK Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) pay-for-performance programme was introduced across the NHS in 2004 to reward general practices for providing high quality care across a range of disease indicators ...

Focusing solely on achieving weight loss for people with a high body mass index (BMI) may do more harm than good, argue experts in The BMJ today. Dr Juan Franco and colleagues say, on average, people with high weight will not be able to sustain a clinically relevant weight loss with lifestyle interventions, while the potential harms of weight loss interventions, including the reinforcement of weight stigma, are still unclear. They stress that a healthy lifestyle has important benefits, but that weight alone might not give an adequate picture of someone’s health, and say doctors should provide high quality, evidence based care reflecting individual preferences ...

Serious quality defects were found in a significant number of cancer medications from sub-Saharan Africa, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame. For the study published in The Lancet Global Health, researchers collected different cancer medications from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi and evaluated whether each drug met regulatory standards. Researchers considered a variety of factors, including appearance, packaging, labeling and, most importantly, the assay value. The assay value is the quantity of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) found in each drug. To meet safety standards, most products should be within a ...