ITHACA, N.Y. -- A decline in estrogen during menopause causes changes in body fat distribution and associated cardiovascular and metabolic disease, but a new study identifies potential therapies that might one day reverse these unhealthy shifts.  The study, “Cxcr4 Regulates a Pool of Adipocyte Progenitors and Contributes to Adiposity in a Sex-Dependent Manner,” was published Aug. 5 in Nature Communications. The researchers discovered that a receptor called Cxcr4, when blocked in mice, reduced the tendency of fat stem cells to develop into white fat, also called white adipose tissue. This treatment could potentially be combined with low doses of estrogen therapy to cut ...

A team of scientists led by the University of Colorado Boulder has identified 30 new areas critical for conserving biodiversity in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. In a study published Aug. 15 in the journal Conservation Biology, the researchers warn that without greater protection to limit human activities in these areas, native wildlife could face significant population declines.  “Many animals are only found in the Southern Ocean, and they all play an important role in its ecosystem,” said Cassandra Brooks, the paper’s senior author and associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and a fellow of the ...

The review, led by Imperial College London’s Professor Hippolite Amadi, argues that Nigeria’s own discoveries and technological advancements of the past three decades have been “abandoned” by policymakers. The authors argue that too many Nigerian newborns, clinically defined as infants in the first 28 days of life, die of causes that could have been prevented had policymakers adopted recent in-country scientific breakthroughs.   Led by Professor Amadi of Imperial’s Department of Bioengineering, who received the Nigeria Prize ...

A study published in Eurosurveillance analysing 5.5 million cases of infectious diseases in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) over 10 years has found important differences in the relative proportion of notified male versus female cases for several diseases. The proportion of males ranged on average from 40-45% for pertussis and Shiga toxin-producing Escherischia coli (STEC) infections to 75-80% for HIV/AIDS. “Although this study was not able to fully explain the differences observed across countries and diseases, it offers some interesting leads,” said Julien Beauté, principal expert in general surveillance at the European ...

“In the present study we describe the development of an inhibitory nanobody directed against an extracellular epitope present in the native V-ATPase c subunit.” BUFFALO, NY- August 15, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on August 14, 2024, entitled, “A nanobody against the V-ATPase c subunit inhibits metastasis of 4T1-12B breast tumor cells to lung in mice.” The vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) is an ATP-dependent proton pump that functions to control the pH of intracellular compartments ...

Machine-generated text has been fooling humans for the last four years. Since the release of GPT-2 in 2019, large language model (LLM) tools have gotten progressively better at crafting stories, news articles, student essays and more, to the point that humans are often unable to recognize when they are reading text produced by an algorithm. While these LLMs are being used to save time and even boost creativity in ideating and writing, their power can lead to misuse and harmful outcomes, which are already ...

Europe's abandoned farmlands could find new life through rewilding, a movement to restore ravaged landscapes to their wilderness before human intervention. A quarter of the European continent, 117 million hectares, is primed with rewilding opportunities, researchers report August 15 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. They provide a roadmap for countries to meet the 2030 European Biodiversity Strategy's goals to protect 30% of land, with 10% of those areas strictly under conservation. The team ...

A study of over 15,000 youth with self-inflicted injury treated in Emergency Departments (EDs) found that around 25 percent were seen in the ED within 90 days before or 90 days after injury, pointing to an opportunity for ED-based interventions, such as suicide risk screening, safety planning, and linkage to services. Nearly half of ED visits after the self-inflicted injury encounter were for mental health issues. “Self-inflicted injury is an important predictor of suicide risk,” said Samaa Kemal, MD, MPH, emergency medicine physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie ...

About The Study: Uterus transplant was technically feasible and was associated with a high live birth rate following successful graft survival. Adverse events were common, with medical and surgical risks affecting recipients as well as donors. Congenital abnormalities and developmental delays have not occurred to date in the live-born children. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Liza Johannesson, MD, PhD, email Liza.Johannesson@bswhealth.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.11679) Editor’s ...

About The Study: Consistent with prior research on adverse childhood experience (ACE; defined as abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction before age 18) exposure and presence of a firearm in the household during childhood, this study found that cumulative ACE exposure was associated with higher odds of household firearm ownership in adulthood. The relationship may be due to a heightened sense of vulnerability to physical violence and greater perceived threats to personal safety associated with a traumatic childhood, which lead individuals to seek self-protection. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Alexander Testa, PhD, email alexander.testa@uth.tmc.edu. To ...

American women have the highest rate of maternal deaths among high-income countries, with outcomes worse for minoritized groups. In an effort to understand the maternal health of pregnant people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism and intellectual disability, researchers from Drexel University’s Policy and Analytics Center in the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute examined Medicaid data to identify perinatal and postpartum outcomes among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The study was recently published in JAMA Network Open. “While ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (EMBARGOED UNTIL AUG. 15, 2024 @ 11 A.M. EDT) – For years, mouthwash has been marketed as an essential hygiene item to prevent bad breath, even though it offers minimal if any health benefits. But what if a mouthwash-based test to detect biomarkers can help physicians predict disease recurrence in head and neck cancer patients? That futuristic scenario seems closer to reality after a new study by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, UC San Diego Health and collaborating cancer centers. Their findings, ...

The Department of Health Behavior & Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health will become the Department of Health Behavior & Health Equity, effective August 15, 2024. The new name reflects the department’s increasing focus on issues of health equity in research, teaching and service.  “Health equity is at the core of our mission and actions in public health,” said F. DuBois Bowman, dean of Michigan Public Health. “I am grateful to the many members of the Health Behavior & Health Equity community ...

WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a new two-photon fluorescence microscope that captures high-speed images of neural activity at cellular resolution. By imaging much faster and with less harm to brain tissue than traditional two-photon microscopy, the new approach could provide a clearer view of how neurons communicate in real time, leading to new insights into brain function and neurological diseases. “Our new microscope is ideally suited for studying the dynamics of neural networks in real time, which is crucial for understanding fundamental brain functions such as learning, memory and decision-making,” said research team leader ...

(WASHINGTON, August 15, 2024) – Over half of people with iron deficiency were found to still have low iron levels three years after diagnosis, and among patients whose condition was effectively treated within that timeframe, they faced longer-than-expected delays, pointing to substantial gaps in appropriate recognition and efficient treatment of the condition, according to a study published today in Blood Advances. Iron deficiency, or when the body’s iron stores are too low, is common, and may affect up to 40% of adolescents and young women. Iron is important in maintaining many body functions, including the production of ...

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a program that will support Native American communities to lead public health research to address overdose, substance use, and pain, including related factors such as mental health and wellness. Despite the inherent strengths in Tribal communities, and driven in part by social determinants of health, Native American communities face unique health disparities related to the opioid crisis. For instance, in recent years, overdose death rates have been highest among American Indian and Alaska Native people. Research prioritized by Native communities is essential ...

Weill Cornell Medicine has received a five-year, $12.4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, for an extensive program of basic and translational research on the biology of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common form of lymphoma. The investigator-initiated Program Project grant, led by Dr. Leandro Cerchietti, the Richard A. Stratton Associate Professor in Hematology and Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine, and Dr. Christopher Flowers, professor and chair of the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University ...

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded Yubing Sun, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a $1.9 million Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award to support the exploration of the fundamental principles behind the process that close gaps caused by injury or growth between cells. This research has the potential to push forward advances in our understanding of wound healing, cellular regeneration therapies and embryonic development.  The gaps ...

**EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, AUG. 15, AT 9 A.M. ET** In what they labeled a “surprising” finding, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers studying bacteria from freshwater lakes and soil say they have determined a protein’s essential role in maintaining the germ’s shape. Because the integrity of a bacterial cell’s “envelope” or enclosure is key to its survival, the finding could advance the search for new and better antibiotics. The research, described August 15 in the journal mBio, suggests that loss of a protein ...

A genetic analysis of Lyme disease bacteria may pave the way for improved diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the tick-borne ailment. By mapping the complete genetic makeup of 47 strains of Lyme disease-causing bacteria from around the world, the international team has created a powerful resource for identifying the specific bacterial strains that infect patients. Researchers said this could enable more accurate diagnostic tests and treatments tailored to the exact type or types of bacteria causing each patient’s illness. "This comprehensive, high-quality sequencing investigation of Lyme disease and related bacteria provides the foundation to propel the field forward,” ...

A team led by CUNY Graduate Center biologists has produced a genetic analysis of Lyme disease bacteria that may pave the way for improved diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the tick-borne ailment. Weigang Qiu, a professor of Biology at the CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College, and an international team including lead author Saymon Akther, a former CUNY Graduate Center Biology Ph.D. student, mapped the complete genetic makeup of 47 strains of Lyme disease-related bacteria from around the world, creating a powerful tool for identifying the bacterial strains that ...

CLEVELAND—More than 3,400 Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths are reported annually in the United States, making it the country’s biggest cause of death of infants from 1 month to 1 year old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most of these deaths are classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), a disorder with numerous, unexplained causes that have plagued researchers for decades. Now, with a new five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers from Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies ...

Noise exposure is a known occupational hazard in some jobs, particularly for hearing loss, physical and psychological stress, and reduced concentration. A new study presented at the ACC Asia 2024 conference found in adult power loom weavers, chronic noise exposure not only increased their blood pressure overall, but also each year of exposure increased their odds of having high blood pressure by 10%. “While the mechanism is still not well-explored, it is thought that the stress response by the body to chronic sound exposure causes hormonal imbalances that gradually leads to a permanent elevation of blood pressure,” said Golam Dastageer Prince, MBBS, MPH, medical officer ...

From coffee to tea, caffeinated beverages are an integral part of morning routines across the globe, but these popular drinks can be harmful when enjoyed in excess. According to a new study being presented at ACC Asia 2024 in Delhi, India, drinking over 400 mg of caffeine per day on most days of the week could increase the susceptibility of otherwise healthy individuals to cardiovascular disease. “Regular caffeine consumption could disturb the parasympathetic system, leading to elevated blood pressure ...

A first-of-its-kind study led by Lawson Health Research Institute is receiving $1.2 million in funding from the federal government, delivered through the Veteran Homelessness Program, to better understand homelessness amongst women in Canada who are military Veterans. “This is an important and yet often invisible problem,” says Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Lawson Assistant Scientific Director based at St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s Parkwood Institute and the study lead. “This is the first Canadian study to focus exclusively on women Veterans’ experience of homelessness. Gender matters, especially when we’re talking ...