MINNEAPOLIS — Cervical artery dissection is a tear in an artery in the neck that provides blood flow to the brain. Such a tear can result in blood clots that cause stroke. A new study has found almost a five-fold increase in the number of U.S. hospitalizations for cervical artery dissection over a 15-year period. The study is published on April 2, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). A dissection in the artery wall is most often caused by trauma due to motor vehicle accidents but can also occur with smaller ...

For the first time researchers demonstrate in an animal how heavy alcohol use leads to long-term behavioral issues by damaging brain circuits critical for decision-making. Rats exposed to high amounts of alcohol exhibited poor decision-making during a complex task even after a monthslong withdrawal period. Key areas of their brains had undergone dramatic functional changes compared to healthy rats. The findings, published today in Science Advances, provide a new explanation of alcohol’s long-term effects on cognition. “We now have a new model for the unfortunate cognitive changes that humans with alcohol use disorder show,” said ...

Patients prescribed medicinal cannabis in Australia maintained improvements in overall health-related quality of life (HRQL), fatigue, and sleep disturbance across a one-year period, according to a study published April 2, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Margaret-Ann Tait from The University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues. Anxiety, depression, insomnia, and pain also improved over time for those with corresponding health conditions. Research into the therapeutic benefits of medicinal cannabis has increased since the discovery of the analgesic properties in cannabis plant compounds. In 2016, advocacy groups lobbied the Australian government to ...

In a small study of eight cats at early stages of pregnancy, researchers detected 19 different kinds of microplastic particles in fetuses from two cats and in the placentas of three cats. Ilaria Ferraboschi of the University of Parma, Italy, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on April 2, 2025. Humans and other animals worldwide are increasingly exposed to microplastics, which are small particles of plastic contaminants. Studies suggest that microplastics can have a variety of adverse health effects. For instance, research in rodents suggests that fetuses exposed to microplastics ...

Dozens of amphibians perished together on an ancient floodplain around 230 million years ago, according to a study published April 2, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Aaron M. Kufner of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S., and colleagues. Early in the Age of Dinosaurs, alligator-sized amphibians called metoposaurid temnospondyls were common in freshwater habitats. Several fossil sites contain large concentrations of temnospondyls buried together, but determining how these bonebeds formed is often difficult due to ...

Article URL: https://plos.io/4hxJYYP Article title: First unambiguous record of pneumaticity in the axial skeleton of alvarezsaurians (Theropoda: Coelurosauria) Author countries: Argentina, China Funding: We thank P. Chafrat from Museo Patagónico de Ciencias Naturales, General Roca, Río Negro Province, Argentina. The authors gratefully acknowledge "Fundacion Patagonica de Ciencias Naturales" and "Sanatorio Juan XXIII" for making the CT images possible. MP was supported by the Faculty of Science of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. We thank Hans-Dieter Sues, an anonymous reviewer, and the editorial team of PLOS ONE for their comments ...

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is also known as the pomace or vinegar fly. It can be found in large numbers in organic waste bins during the summer and in the fruit and vegetables section of grocery stores on hot days. It is attracted to the odor of pre-rotting fruit, where microorganisms, especially yeasts, have multiplied and invaded the fruit and switched their metabolism to alcoholic fermentation. This is why rotten fruit contains significant amounts of alcohol. Alcohol consumption requires a risk assessment There is no doubt that the consumption of large amounts of alcohol is harmful to human beings.. ...

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income.  #### Article URL: https://plos.io/3QXqJ07 Article Title: The catastrophic cost of TB care: Understanding costs incurred by individuals undergoing TB care in low-, middle-, and high-income settings – A systematic review   Author Countries: Canada, Eswatini, Germany, United States Funding: The authors received no specific funding for ...

Excessive screen time among adolescents negatively impacts multiple aspects of sleep, which in turn increases the risk of depressive symptoms — particularly among girls. That is the conclusion of a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health by Sebastian Hökby of Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and colleagues.   Recently, the Swedish Public Health Agency published recommendations that adolescents use no more than two-to-three hours of daily leisure screen time, partly to promote better sleep. ...

When we move, it’s harder for existing wearable devices to accurately track our heart activity. But University of Missouri researchers found that a starfish’s five-arm shape helps solve this problem.  Inspired by how a starfish flips itself over — shrinking one of its arms and using the others in a coordinated motion to right itself — Sicheng Chen and Zheng Yan in Mizzou’s College of Engineering and collaborators have created a starfish-shaped wearable device that tracks heart health in real time.  Because the starfish-inspired device has multiple points touching the skin near the heart, it stays more ...

Jurassic dinosaurs milled about ancient Scottish lagoons, leaving up to 131 footprints at a newly discovered stomping ground on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, according to a study published April 2, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Tone Blakesley of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and colleagues. In the rocks of the Isle of Skye, dinosaur footprints are abundant, providing insights into dinosaur distribution and behavior during an important time in their evolution. The footprints were left in the rippled sands of an ancient subtropical lagoon, dating back to the Middle Jurassic ...

Irvine, Calif., April 2, 2025 — Machine learning algorithms utilizing electronic health records can effectively predict two-year dementia risk among American Indian/Alaska Native adults aged 65 years and older, according to a University of California, Irvine-led study. The findings provide a valuable framework for other healthcare systems, particularly those serving resource-limited populations.   The computer modeling results also found several new predictors for dementia diagnosis that were identified consistently across different machine-learning models. Findings are published in the Lancet Regional Health – Americas. The National Institutes ...

The United States Cystic Fibrosis Foundation released the first guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF), in order to improve timely detection of CF in infants from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. The new guideline, based on systematic literature reviews and published in the International Journal of Neonatal Screening, reflects rigorous scientific investigation and perspectives from parents, CF specialists, public health representatives, primary care providers and genetic counselors. CF is a genetic disorder that causes problems with digestion and breathing. Currently, newborns in every state are screened for ...

World leaders should look to existing international law on the use of force to address the threat of space becoming ever more militarized, a new study shows. Space has the potential to be a source and place of armed conflict and regulating military activities in space is of pressing international concern. Tests of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons have fuelled fears of warfare in space. Resulting space debris from ASAT weapon threatens other satellites in orbit, many of which underpin the operation of human societies and the functioning of global economies. Conflict ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Mosquitoes have been transmitting the West Nile virus to humans in the United States for over 25 years, but we still don’t know precisely how the virus cycles through these pests and the other animals they bite. A federally funded project aims to help pin down the process by using mathematical models to analyze how factors like temperature, light pollution, and bird and mosquito abundance affect West Nile virus transmission. The ultimate goal is to advise health departments of the best time of year to kill the bugs. “I’m hopeful that what we will uncover in this grant will help us to better understand what’s driving West Nile virus transmission, ...

Genevieve Graaf spent years as a mental health social worker specializing in children and youth with complex behavioral health needs. Many had to travel to other states or hundreds of miles from family to access adequate medical care. Drawing on her experience, Dr. Graaf, an assistant professor of social work at The University of Texas at Arlington, has continuously sought ways to improve community-based support programs and ease the burden on families. She will build on that work with her latest research through UT Arlington’s Center ...

Pancreatic cancer is projected to become the second-deadliest cancer by 2030. By the time it’s diagnosed, it’s often difficult to treat. So, for both individual patients and the general population, fighting pancreatic cancer can feel like a race against time. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor and Cancer Center Director David Tuveson offers a telling analogy: “We all have moles on our skin. Most of your moles are fine. But some of your moles you have a dermatologist looking at to make sure it’s always fine. They ...

Bottom Line: Precancerous pancreatic lesions and some pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumors harboring KRAS mutations had higher-than-normal expression of the FGFR2 protein, and FGFR2 inactivation delayed KRAS-mutated PDAC development in mice. Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research Author: Claudia Tonelli, PhD, a research investigator in the laboratory of AACR Past President David A. Tuveson, MD, PhD, FAACR, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Background: PDAC is the most common ...

They say music is the universal language of humankind, but some stars in our galaxy exhibit their own rhythm, offering fresh clues into how they and our galaxy evolved over time.  According to an international team of researchers, including scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and UNSW Sydney, some stars exhibit fluctuations in their brightness over time, which are caused by continuous ‘starquakes’.  These fluctuations can be translated into frequencies, which can be used to determine a star’s age and other properties ...

Investigation how microorganisms communicate enhances our understanding of the complex ecological interactions that shape our environment – a major focus of the Cluster of Excellence “Balance of the Microverse”. A research team of the Cluster at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI) and the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena has studied the interaction between amoebae, bacteria, and plants. Researchers from the ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that both nurse overtime and nurse agency hours are associated with increased rates of pressure ulcers, a measure that is one of the most sensitive to nursing care. In future research, hospitals could use their own data to track safe thresholds. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Patricia Pittman, PhD, email ppittman@gwu.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.2875) Editor’s ...

About The Study: Spending on glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) increased from 2018 to 2023, with the largest growth rates from 2022 to 2023. Although spending for certain GLP-1 RAs increased substantially, spending declined for others. This study estimated that more than $71 billion was spent on GLP-1 RAs and more than $50 billion on a product based on either semaglutide or tirzepatide molecules. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Stavros Tsipas, MA, email stavros.tsipas@ama-assn.org. To ...

About The Study: In this cohort study with relatively low ambient ozone exposure, early-life ozone was associated with asthma and wheeze outcomes at age 4 to 6 and in mixture with other air pollutants but not at age 8 to 9. Regulating and reducing exposure to ambient ozone may help reduce the significant public health burden of asthma among U.S. children. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Logan C. Dearborn, MPH, email dearbl@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.4121) Editor’s ...

Researchers have made a new discovery that changes our understanding of Earth’s early geological history, challenging beliefs about how our continents formed and when plate tectonics began. A study published in Nature on 2 April reveals that Earth's first crust, formed about 4.5 billion years ago, probably had chemical features remarkably like today’s continental crust. This suggests the distinctive chemical signature of our continents was established at the very beginning of Earth’s history. Professor Emeritus Simon ...

A study recently published in Nature indicates that human activities have a negative effect on the biodiversity of wildlife hundreds of kilometres away. A research collaboration led by the University of Tartu assessed the health of ecosystems worldwide, considering both the number of plant species found and the dark diversity – the missing ecologically suitable species. For the study, over 200 researchers studied plants at nearly 5,500 sites in 119 regions worldwide, including all continents. At each site, they recorded all plant species on 100 m2 and identified the dark diversity – native species that could live there but were absent. ...