Three-dimensional (3D) imaging of organs and tissues is vital as it can provide important structural information at the cellular level.  3D imaging enables the accurate visualization of tissues and also helps in the identification of pathological conditions. However, achieving successful 3D imaging necessitates specific prerequisites, including the preparation of 'cleared' tissue samples—biological specimens rendered transparent by removing light-scattering components like lipids to ...

In recent decades, single-use plastics have pervaded modern societies, causing a significant surge in plastic pollution that exacts a heavy toll on our environment. Addressing this issue requires prioritizing sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics wherever feasible. Disposable menstrual products are a notable contributor to plastic waste, with billions of sanitary napkins and tampons being discarded every year. Despite the availability of sustainable options like menstrual cups (MCs), consumer preference for single-use products ...

Who’s stronger? A solitary leopard or cackle of hyenas? And which is best at getting along with humans? University of Copenhagen researchers closely studied this in a large East African natural area surrounded by rural settlements. The study demonstrates that the presence of humans has a direct impact on the competitive relationship between the two large predator species: leopards (Panthera pardus) – the iconic spotted feline and the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) – a kleptoparasite and pack hunter known for its comical ...

The reality of the climate impact of long-distance passenger travel has been revealed in new research from the University of Leeds. Despite only accounting for less than 3% of all trips by UK residents, journeys of more than 50 miles (one way) are responsible for 70% of all passenger travel-related carbon emissions. The disparity is even greater when international travel is singled-out: international journeys are only 0.4% of total trips but are responsible for 55% of emissions. The new research, published today in the journal Nature Energy, also shows ...

Whole genome sequencing has improved clinical care of some children with cancer in England by informing individual patient care. New research from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the University of Cambridge, supports the efforts to provide genome sequencing to all children with cancer and shows how it can improve the management of care in real-time, providing more benefits than all current tests combined. The study, published today (2 July) in Nature Medicine, ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Drugs that selectively kill senescent cells may benefit otherwise healthy older women but are not a "one-size-fits-all" remedy, Mayo Clinic researchers have found. Specifically, these drugs may only benefit people with a high number of senescent cells, according to findings publishing July 2 in Nature Medicine. Senescent cells are malfunctioning cells in the body that lapse into a state of dormancy. These cells, also known as "zombie cells," can't divide but can drive chronic inflammation and tissue dysfunction linked to aging and chronic ...

New Lab Test to Detect Persistent HIV Strains in Africa May Aid Search for Cure A multinational team led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators developed a test that will help measure the persistence of HIV in people affected by viral strains found predominantly in Africa—a vital tool in the search for an HIV cure that will benefit patients around the world. The study, published in Nature Communications on July 2, helps fill a major gap in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) research. Most HIV studies have focused on strains circulating in Western countries, predominantly ...

Milan, July 2, 2024 - Combating future pandemics through data analysis of recombinant virus genomes. A study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communication presents the promising results of RecombinHunt, a new data-driven method developed by the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Milan, which can identify, with high accuracy and computational efficiency, recombinant SARS-CoV-2 genomes with one or two breakpoints. Recombination, that is, the composition of two or more viral genomes to form a new genome, is an efficient molecular mechanism ...

The sea worm Platynereis dumerilii is only a few centimetres long but has a remarkable ability: in just a few days, it can regenerate entire parts of its body after an injury or amputation. By focusing more specifically on the mechanisms at play in the regeneration of this worm’s tail, a research team led by a CNRS scientist1 has observed that gut cells play a role in the regeneration of the intestine as well as other tissues such as muscle and epidermis. Even more surprising, the team found that this ability of gut cells to regenerate other tissue varies according to their location: the closer they are to the posterior end of the ...

Genoa (Italy)/Grenoble (France) – 2nd July, 2024 - The correct functioning of cells relies heavily on the ability to finely control gene expression, a complex process by which the information contained in DNA is copied into RNA to eventually give rise to all the proteins and most of the regulatory molecules in the cell. If DNA can be imagined as a dense technical manual, gene expression is the method by which the cell extracts useful information from it. Researchers at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genoa and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in ...

Like most primates, humans are remarkably touchy-feely. Starved of touch, we release more of the stress hormone cortisol, which causes the immune system to be down-regulated and the heart rate and blood pressure to go up. On the other hand, touch causes the brain to be flooded by natural opioids, the ‘bonding hormone’ oxytocin, and the ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. It is generally assumed that our sense of touch worsens with age, just like our vision and sense of hearing. However, new results are good news for those who wished they could stave off age-related decline forever: they show for the first time that a deterioration ...

Tumors arising in the base of the skull are among the most difficult to remove in neurosurgery. The current treatment method is to perform surgical removal by what is known as the microscopic anterior transpetrosal approach (ATPA). Seeking to lessen the risk of damage and postoperative complications, as the skull base is densely packed with nerves, blood vessels, and other tissues, not to mention the brain stem, an Osaka Metropolitan University medical research team is taking a new approach. Led by Dr. Hiroki Morisako, a lecturer in ...

Transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse people face barriers to accessing surgery and to the health system in general, describe authors in two new research papers published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). In many areas of life, people who identify as transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse experience discrimination even where there are laws to protect transgender human rights. Health systems also pose barriers for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse people, who are more likely to delay obtaining ...

Extreme weather events such as hurricanes and storms have increased in both frequency and severity in recent years. With that has come heightened public interest, resulting in often dramatic footage being live-streamed on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Discord. Now, a new study conducted at the University of Plymouth has for the first time analysed what might be motivating people to watch these streams – in some instances for up to 12 hours at a time. The research centred around the live-streaming ...

A new study of coral reefs in Papua New Guinea shows ocean acidification simplifies coral structure, making crucial habitat less appealing to certain fish species. While much media attention has focused on heat stress-induced coral bleaching, this finding, by a University of Adelaide research team led by Professor Ivan Nagelkerken, adds nuance to concerns about how global warming affects coral reefs. Ocean acidification is caused by an increase in the level of carbon dioxide in oceanwater, leading to a reduction in pH. This makes calcium carbonate less available in the ocean, which corals use to build and repair their skeleton. Professor Nagelkerken and ...

Athletes and sporting teams have frequently used the Olympics and other sporting events to make political statements through boycotts and protests. Ahead of the Paris Olympics kicking off this month and amidst the current UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) European Football Championship (Euro 2024), researchers are asking – should sport be a platform for promoting social justice issues? The 2024 Paris Olympics, like the Euro 2024 soccer tournament, will be watched by billions of people and command media attention around the globe. ...

A research team of Professor Yoontae Lee and Jiho Park, a PhD candidate, from the Department of Life Sciences at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) recently discovered that a particular protein promotes the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), one of the world's most-cited multidisciplinary scientific journal.   B cells, components of the body's ...

A multi-institutional team that includes researchers from the University of Delaware, University of California San Diego and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), among others, published a paper in Science on Thursday, June 27, that provides new insight on how deep-sea “comb jellies” called ctenophores adapt and survive at extreme pressures. It turns out that part of the adaptation involves lipids, fatty chemical compounds found in the membrane of all living cells that perform essential functions, including storing energy, sending signals and controlling what passes through ...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tells staff leaving for industry jobs that, despite restrictions on post-employment lobbying, they are still permitted to influence the agency, reveals an investigation by The BMJ today. Internal emails, obtained under a freedom of information request, show how two FDA officials who worked on covid-19 vaccine approvals were proactively informed by FDA ethics staff about their ability to indirectly lobby the agency as they left for jobs with Moderna. The record shows that since 2000 every FDA commissioner, the agency’s highest position, has gone on to work ...

Genital herpes infections and their related complications lead to billions of dollars in health care expenditures and productivity losses globally, according to the first ever global estimates of the economic costs of these conditions. The paper, which publishes July 1st in the journal BMC Global and Public Health, calls for greater investment in prevention of herpes transmission, including concerted efforts to develop effective vaccines against this common virus. Corresponding author Nathorn Chaiyakunapruk, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmacotherapy, and Haeseon Lee, PharmD, research fellow in pharmacotherapy, both at the College of Pharmacy of University ...

Taxing certain antibiotics could help efforts to tackle the escalating threat of antibiotic resistance in humans, according to a new study by the University of East Anglia’s Centre for Competition Policy, Loughborough University and E.CA Economics. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant global risk, causing an estimated 700,000 deaths annually. A  key AMR report previously warned that if unchecked, it could endanger 10 million lives a year and result in $100 trillion in lost economic output ...

Organic material from Mars reveals the likely origin of life’s building blocks Two samples from Mars together deliver the "smoking gun" in a new study showing the origin of Martian organic material. The study presents solid evidence for a prediction made over a decade ago by University of Copenhagen researchers that could be key to understanding how organic molecules, the foundation of life, were first formed here on Earth. In a meteor crater on the red planet, a solitary robot is moving about. Right now it is probably collecting soil samples with a drill and a robotic arm, as it has quite ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new method of precisely targeting troublesome cells for death using light could unlock new understanding of and treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report. Inflammatory cell death, knows as necroptosis, is an important regulatory tool in the body’s arsenal against disease. However, in some diseases, the process can go haywire; for example, cancer cells are able to suppress inflammatory signals and thus escape death. “Usually treatments for cancer use pharmacological ...

Harish Manyam, MD, is on a mission to improve the lives of people with heart problems. His recent accomplishment of implanting Tennessee’s first atrial leadless pacemaker is a step toward that, marking a significant advancement in cardiac care and promising safer and more effective treatment for patients. The leadless pacemaker, in combination with a novel subcutaneous defibrillator, forms a groundbreaking system that addresses potentially dangerous problems associated with traditional pacemakers and defibrillators. “This is a great leap forward for the field,” said Dr. Manyam, interim chair of the Department of Medicine at the ...

Chicago (July 1, 2024) — Eating a high-quality diet in youth and middle age could help keep your brain functioning well in your senior years, according to new preliminary findings from a study that used data collected from over 3,000 people followed for nearly seven decades. The research adds to a growing body of evidence that a healthy diet could help ward off Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline. Whereas most previous research on the topic has focused on eating habits of people in their 60s and 70s, the new study is the first to track diet and ...