Prejudice against fat people is endemic in our society and public health initiatives aimed at reducing obesity have only worsened the problem, according to a U.S. academic. In her new book Why It’s OK To Be Fat, Rekha Nath, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama, argues for a paradigm shift in how society approaches fatness. According to Nath, society must stop approaching fatness as a trait to rid the population of, and instead fatness should be approached through the lens of social equality, attending to the systematic ways that society penalizes fat people for their body size. Nath explains: “Being fat is seen as unattractive, as gross even. ...

Up on the “roof of the world”, one of the world’s largest ecosystem restoration projects is taking place. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) in western China is the world’s highest plateau and covers a land area roughly five times the size of France. Home to thousands of rare plants and wildlife and the source of water for more than 2.5 billion people, this vital ecosystem is under threat. The region’s grassland is degrading due to climate change and intense livestock grazing. Government ...

In a new study of politicians’ personalities, humour, charm and raw courage are listed among the most important character traits for successful leaders. Bill Jones, Honorary Professor of Political Studies at Liverpool Hope University, has combed through biographies and interviewed key political figures to understand the kind of people who enter politics, and strengths and frailties of those who occupy positions of power. Jones explains: “Why do aspiring politicians embark on such a perilous journey, involving hugely long hours, no real job security and, on occasions, high degrees ...

A pioneering study, presented today at the ESHRE 40th Annual Meeting in Amsterdam, has revealed that exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) prior to the retrieval of oocytes (eggs) during in vitro fertilisation (IVF) can reduce the odds of achieving a live birth by almost 40% [1]. The study analysed PM10 exposure in the two weeks leading up to oocyte collection, finding that the odds of a live birth decreased by 38% (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.43-0.89, p=0.010) when comparing the highest quartile of exposure (18.63 to 35.42 µg/m3) to the lowest quartile (7.08 to 12.92 µg/m3). Conducted ...

Gestational carriers, also known as surrogates, experience an elevated risk of severe maternal morbidity and adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to women who conceive naturally or through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), according to new research presented today at the ESHRE 40th Annual Meeting in Amsterdam [1]. The population-based study analysed 937,938 singleton births in Ontario, Canada between 2012 and 2021, comparing outcomes among unassisted conceptions, IVF conceptions and gestational carriers. The findings uncovered marked variations in outcomes across the different conception methods. Gestational carriers faced a severe maternal morbidity rate ...

New research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a first-in-class oral, non-hormonal drug in increasing embryo implantation, pregnancy and live birth rates among infertile women who are undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) [1]. The findings, presented today at the ESHRE 40th Annual Meeting in Amsterdam, represent a significant step toward the first therapeutic tool to increase embryo implantation and live birth rate success.    Worldwide, one ...

A breakthrough for biomedical research promises new insight into immunotherapy development and disease modeling. Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have created a humanized mouse model with a human immune system and a human-like gut microbiome that is capable of mounting specific antibody responses.   The scientists were led by Paolo Casali, MD, University of Texas Ashbel Smith Professor and Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine. Casali has five decades of biomedical research ...

At the upcoming SIAM Conference on Mathematics of Data Science (MDS24), a diverse mix of professionals from universities, industry, government, and research labs are set to join. The conference will showcase cutting-edge research that advances mathematical, statistical, and computational methods in the context of what we do with data and how to do it better. Presentations will range from foundational theory of data science to diverse applications. A particular focus this year is on the interaction of data science with the broader society in terms of privacy, interpretability, explainability, ...

Over 5,000 genetic variants that enable certain cancers to thrive have been identified by scientists, along with a potential therapeutic target to treat or even prevent these cancers from developing. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and their collaborators at The Institute of Cancer Research, London and the University of Cambridge assessed the health impact of all possible genetic changes in the ‘tumour protection’ gene, BAP1. They found around a fifth of these possible changes were pathogenic, significantly increasing the risk of developing ...

Texas Tech University’s Qingwang Yuan, an assistant professor in the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering, has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM). Yuan and Texas Tech will take the lead on a project titled, “Incubating Next Generation Clean Energy Scientists and Engineers Through Minority-Scholar Exchange and In-Situ Hydrogen Production Research.” The research will be funded as part of an investment of more than $17 million from the DOE into 19 early-stage ...

By Leah Shaffer Scientists are trying to understand how cannabis may affect long term neurodevelopment when people were exposed to it in the womb.  Previous work by WashU researchers Sarah Paul and David Baranger in the Behavioral Research and Imaging Neurogenetics (BRAIN) lab led by Ryan Bogdan found associations between prenatal cannabis exposure and potential mental health conditions in childhood and adolescence, but potential biological mechanisms that could possibly explain this association were unclear. In research published in ...

Calyo, Benedex Robotics and Cranfield University have joined forces to improve safety in self-driving vehicles. The new partnership, part of the DRIVEN BY SOUND project led by Calyo, will develop a functional safety sensing platform based on 3D ultrasound, capable of operating effectively in even the most challenging environmental conditions. The new technology allows autonomous vehicles to detect their surroundings in 3D in real time. It complements existing sensing and safety detection systems, providing an additional layer of ...

The project, supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and UK Tea & Infusions Association (UKTIA), aims to improve tea production standards and create data and resources that can benefit the whole industry. The project is co-led and managed by Dr Helen Saini, Head of R&D Sustainable Agriculture at LIPTON Teas and Infusions, and Andrew Thompson, Professor of Molecular Plant Science and Head of Soil, Agrifood and Biosciences at Cranfield University. Tea has the second lowest carbon footprint after tap water but about a quarter of its total greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to fertiliser use. In addition, climate change ...

Malta, July 5, 2024 - The program for the highly anticipated world conference on Targeting Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) has been released. The event, organized by the World Mitochondria Society and the International Society of Microbiota, is scheduled to take place on October 17-18, 2024, at the Corinthia Palace in Malta. Exploring Strategic Questions at Targeting EVs 2024 The Targeting EVs 2024 conference promises to explore the multifaceted roles of EVs, with a special focus on their interactions with mitochondria and microbiota. The scientific ...

Smoking may be among the most important lifestyle factors affecting how quickly our cognitive skills decline as we age, suggests a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Communications, analysed data from 32,000 adults aged 50 or over from 14 European countries who responded to surveys over 10 years. The researchers investigated how rates of cognitive decline might differ among cognitively-healthy older adults with different combinations of health-related behaviours, including smoking, ...

Limited impact of current movement restrictions highlights need for enhanced strategies, says study.  In a recent study published in the Journal of Dairy Science, researchers from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH), the University of Copenhagen, and SEGES have shown that despite stringent movement restrictions among Danish cattle farms Salmonella Dublin continues to propagate, indicating that current strategies are insufficient to curb the spread of the disease. "We analyzed 11 years of data, including detailed information about ...

A new study led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital reveals that military women and female family members face significantly higher risks of chronic pain  Active-duty servicewomen who served during periods of heightened combat deployments (2006-2013) face a significantly heightened risk of chronic pain compared to those serving at other times, according to a new study from researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. The study also found that female dependents of military personnel serving ...

About The Study: Glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) were associated with lower risks of specific types of obesity-associated cancers compared with insulins or metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes in this study. These findings provide preliminary evidence of the potential benefit of GLP-1RAs for cancer prevention in high-risk populations and support further preclinical and clinical studies for the prevention of certain obesity-associated cancers. Corresponding Authors: To contact the corresponding authors, email Nathan A. Berger, M.D. (nab@case.edu) and Rong Xu, Ph.D. (rxx@case.edu). To access the embargoed ...

About The Study: The findings of this cross-sectional study indicate that Medicare eligibility was not associated with consistently greater improvements in health insurance coverage and access to care among LGBTQI+ individuals compared with heterosexual and/or cisgender individuals. However, among sexual minority individuals, Medicare may be associated with closing gaps in self-reported health status, and among states with the highest disparities, it may improve health insurance coverage, access to care, and self-reported health status.  Corresponding Author: To contact ...

This study is led by Dr.Jian Yang and Dr. Kaili Zhong (State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Ningbo University). Their findings reveal a strategy that plants use to protect themselves from viral infection by regulating deacetylase function. In this work, the team found CWMV infection induced H3K9ac and H3K79ac in wheat. Histone deacetylase TaSRT2 is demonstrated to deacetylate H3K9ac and H3K79ac since the levels of H3K9ac and H3K79ac were significantly reduced in TaSRT2 transgenic lines L6 and L8 plants but increased in virus-induced TaSRT2-silenced ...

This study is led by Dr. Shuai Chen (Model Animal Research Center, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, China) and Dr. Hong-Yu Wang (Model Animal Research Center, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, China). Metabolic and immune pathways are highly regulated and interwoven by multiple mechanisms to govern metabolic health. Dysregulation of these pathways underlies the development of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D), which have become prevalent worldwide in recent years. Thus far, the molecular mechanisms ...

His journey from a technical officer at ICI Petrochemicals to becoming the Regius Professor of Chemistry at Cardiff University is marked by numerous achievements and accolades, including being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2009. The Ertl Lecture Award, a tribute to the legacy of Gerhard Ertl, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 2007, is an annual accolade that highlights the exceptional work of researchers in the field of catalysis. Sponsored by BASF and established in 2008 by the three Berlin universities (Humboldt University, Technical ...

Young, naïve starlings are looking for their wintering grounds independently of experienced conspecifics. Starlings are highly social birds throughout the year, but this does not mean that they copy the migration route from each other. By revisiting a classic ‘displacement’ experiment and by adding new data, a team of researchers at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) and the Swiss Ornithological Institute (Vogelwarte Sempach) have settled a long-lasting debate. Their findings are now published in the scientific journal Biology Letters. The question of how migratory birds locate their migration ...

Osteoporosis is a common disorder, especially in the elderly, characterized by bone loss and increased fracture risk. Treatments target abnormal osteoclast activity but face adherence issues. The disease disrupts the balance between bone resorption and formation. Key factors like Wnt signaling and mitochondrial health influence osteoblast differentiation. However, WIF1's role in regulating mitophagy and osteoblast differentiation remains unclear. This research investigated the role of WIF1 in controlling the osteogenic differentiation stage of the OB precursor cell line (MC3T3-E1 cells) and assessed ...

This study was led by Kezhong Chen (Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University People’s Hospital & Peking University People’s Hospital Thoracic Oncology Institute). In clinical practice, traditional tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging had difficulty achieving accuracy in prognosis stratification at the individual patient level. Researchers therefore proposed to introduce blood minimal residual disease (MRD) status and proposed a new tumor-node-metastasis-blood (TNMB) staging system to more accurately and individually define the postoperative status of lung cancer patients (Fig. 1). LB, well known for its noninvasiveness, easy accessibility, ...