In recent years, Americans have gotten used to logging on to a patient portal through their smartphone or computer to have telehealth appointments with their doctors and health care teams, see their prescriptions and lab test results, send messages to their providers, and much more. But a new study suggests that the integration of this technology into many aspects of patient care may have created an unintended barrier to healthcare access for the more than 25 million patients with limited English proficiency. The study finds that the patient portal login page for many hospitals is not accessible ...

Infrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB and Humboldt University in Berlin. Nano-IR spectroscopy with s-SNOM at the IRIS beamline is now suitable for examining tiny biological samples in liquid medium in the nanometre range and generating infrared images of molecular vibrations with nanometre resolution. It is even possible to obtain 3D information. ...

As our hairs go gray and our muscles weaken with age, our immune system also changes. In particular, the stem cells that become blood or immune cells can develop mutations, potentially leading to cancers or other dysfunctions. Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have discovered an important cellular mechanism that drives this aging: the lack of a protein called platelet factor 4, whose levels decrease with age, they report in the journal Blood. What’s more, adding this protein to old blood cells reversed these signs of aging, which points to a promising therapeutic target for preventing ...

Palm oil isn’t inherently bad, and olive oil isn’t inherently good, conservation scientists say in an opinion paper publishing October 16 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Sustainability. They argue that the vegetable oil industry is haunted by narratives and myths about different types of oil crops, but the reality is much more nuanced. Almost all oils—including soybean, olive, coconut, and sesame oil—are associated with biodiversity and human rights issues in some contexts, depending on crop management and supply chains. The researchers call ...

With the advent of commercial spaceflight, an increasing number of people may be heading into space in the coming years.  Some will even get a chance to fly to the Moon or live on Mars.  One of the major health risks associated with spaceflight involves the immune system, which normally fights off viruses and cancer. It’s already established that spaceflight weakens immunity; current and past astronauts report clinical issues such as respiratory illnesses and skin rashes. These issues may become even more serious on longer-terms ...

Johns Hopkins researchers may have identified what could be a compelling clue in the ongoing hunt to prove the existence of dark matter.  A mysterious diffuse glow of gamma rays near the center of the Milky Way has stumped researchers for decades, as they’ve tried to discern whether the light comes from colliding particles of dark matter or quickly spinning neutron stars.  It turns out that both theories are equally likely, according to new research published today in the journal Physical ...

About The Study: This study identified 5.05% of individuals carrying pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants, suggesting a higher-than-expected prevalence of key cancer susceptibility genes in a large, unselected population. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Joshua Arbesman, MD, email Arbesmj@ccf.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.16372) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. #  ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study of U.S. medical students, Asian, Black, and Hispanic female medical students with disability (MSWD) were more likely to report general and race-based discrimination, whereas white and Asian female MSWD were more likely to report gender-based discrimination during medical school. These findings highlight the need to address intersecting forms of discrimination for medical students with disabilities.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Mytien Nguyen, MS, email mytien.nguyen@yale.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...

About The Study: This study found that pickleball-related eye injuries have increased at an alarming rate over the past 4 years as the sport continues to grow in popularity. Eye protection is not currently mandated for casual or professional play. Establishing standardized guidelines for eye protection is recommended to reduce the risk of ocular injuries among players.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jonathan C. Tsui, MD, email jonathan.tsui@va.gov. To access the embargoed study: Visit ...

Background and objectives A long-term high-fat diet (HFD) exerts lipotoxic effects on multiple organs, particularly the liver, leading to metabolic diseases. This study aimed to delineate the dynamic effects of HFD on lipid metabolism, elucidate the mechanisms underlying hepatic lipotoxicity, and investigate the protective effects of Ganoderma lucidum against lipotoxicity both in vitro and in vivo. Methods C57BL/6 mice were fed either a 45% or 60% HFD, followed by measurements of body composition, serum lipid profile, and liver pathology at four, eight, twelve, and sixteen weeks. Inflammatory responses, the unfolded ...

Chiral metal-organic frameworks (CMOFs) represent ideal platforms for circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Incorporating rare-earth ions into MOFs enhances their luminescence via the antenna effect. Chiral imidazolium carboxylic ligands serve as excellent chiral building blocks for CMOFs. These ligands not only sensitize lanthanide ion emission through the antenna effect but also transfer chirality to the framework through coordination, enabling CPL. Their cationic nature imparts a positive charge to the framework channels, facilitating the immobilization of anionic guests through host-guest interactions. This enables modulation ...

Plastic waste management is a critical global challenge, with less than 10% of annual plastic production being recycled. Traditional methods like incineration and landfilling pose environmental risks, prompting scientists to explore photocatalytic alternatives. A team led by Prof. Zhi-Ming Zhang has now developed a groundbreaking Ni-POM@CdS catalyst that addresses this issue by coupling plastic waste (polylactic acid, PLA) degradation with hydrogen (H2) production—a clean energy source.   The team published their research result in Polyoxometalates on July 28, 2025.   This study reveals why the Ni-POM@CdS ...

The urgent demand for sustainable energy solutions faces a critical bottleneck: proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in high-temperature fuel cells (HT-FCs) struggle with rapid conductivity loss under anhydrous conditions above 100°C. Commercial perfluorosulfonic acid membranes fail in low humidity, while phosphoric acid-doped alternatives suffer from acid leakage, limiting efficiency and durability in next-generation energy devices.   A research team led by Kun Chen from the South China University of Technology pioneered a comb-like crosslinked polymer-polyoxometalate (POM) nanocomposite, integrating polymer with superacidic ...

A team from the the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) has developed an innovative robotic platform, powered by artificial intelligence, that promises to revolutionize the design of sustainable chemical processes. The system, named Reac-Discovery, makes it possible to optimize in just a few days what previously could take months or even years of work in a traditional laboratory, thanks to its high level of integration and automation. Chemistry and sustainability are advancing hand in hand. Reducing environmental impact while maintaining industrial ...

When biomedical researchers need to test their latest ideas, they often turn to engineered human tissue that mimics the responses in our own bodies. It’s become an important intermediary step before human clinical trials. One limiting factor: The cells need blood circulation to survive, and achieving that can be difficult in three-dimensional cell structures. Without proper vascular systems — even primitive ones — engineered tissue faces restricted size and functionality, even developing necrotic regions of dead cells. New research from Binghamton University’s Thomas ...

New York, NY (October 16, 2025) — The Mount Sinai Health System welcomes Elizabeth Haines, DO, MSc, FACEP, as Chief Operating Officer of Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital and Senior Vice President of Pediatric Services for the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Haines joins Mount Sinai with a distinguished career dedicated to advancing patient safety, quality, and operational excellence in pediatric health care. In her new role, she is providing strategic leadership and operational oversight to strengthen Mount Sinai’s mission of delivering world-class patient and family-centered care. She is responsible for guiding children’s health ...

People who feel supported by family, friends and colleagues tend to have better mental health, perform more effectively at work and experience positive outcomes in other areas such as physical health, education and risk-taking behaviors, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “This study underscores the importance of considering the associations between multiple types and sources of perceived social support and multiple domains of human thriving,” said lead author GeckHong Yeo, PhD, of the National University of Singapore. “Our findings also suggest that adolescents, in particular, ...

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences have found a surprising connection between a fungus associated with alcohol use disorder and the brain’s dopamine reward pathway. Published October 16 in the journal mBio, the study describes, in mice, how an overgrowth of Candida albicans—a fungus that naturally resides in the human gut—increases levels of inflammatory molecules called PGE2 that can cross the blood-brain barrier and ...

Fukuoka, Japan—In the search for eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic herbicides, researchers from Kyushu University, Japan, have identified a potent, weed-inhibiting compound in the leaves of the Manchurian walnut tree (Juglans mandshurica Maxim.). The discovery of the compound, 2Z-decaprenol, and its unique mode of action on plants could lead to the development of more sustainable herbicides. The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from Juntendo University in Japan and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and was published ...

As cancer survivorship rises, many people living with or beyond cancer face lasting physical and emotional challenges – particularly anxiety and depression, which affect about 30% of this population. Emotional distress is often unspoken, leading to fear, despair, and diminished quality of life. Growing research highlights resilience – the ability to recover from adversity – is a key factor in helping individuals manage distress and improve well-being. This underscores the urgent need for health care providers to adopt a whole-person approach that supports not just the body, but also the emotional and psychological needs of people with cancer. As Breast Cancer Awareness ...

The pulp and paper industry consumes large amounts of energy. But despite stricter EU requirements for efficiency improvements, there has been no way to measure and compare energy consumption between different companies in a fair way. In collaboration with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, now present a solution that has great potential to be used throughout the EU. “Even if this would contribute to increasing efficiency by one or a few per cent only, this involves so much energy that it can make a huge difference,” says Kristina Nyström, PhD student at the Department ...

Deep neural networks (DNNs), which power modern artificial intelligence (AI) models, are machine learning systems that learn hidden patterns from various types of data, be it images, audio or text, to make predictions or classifications. DNNs have transformed many fields with their remarkable prediction accuracy. Training DNNs typically relies on back-propagation (BP). While it has become indispensable for the success of DNNs, BP has several limitations, such as slow convergence, overfitting, high computational requirements, ...

Tiny airborne particles known as aerosols, from biomass burning, urban pollution, and industrial emissions, can dramatically alter rainfall, cloud formation, and atmospheric stability. A new study led by Professor Kyong-Hwan Seo of Pusan National University, Korea, shows that aerosols profoundly reshape precipitation over the Maritime Continent, a region including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and surrounding seas, where millions rely on predictable rainfall for water, food, and flood protection. Published online in npj Climate and Atmospheric ...

Orthodontic treatment is most effective when timed to coincide with a child’s growth peak. Traditionally, clinicians estimate growth by examining X-ray images of the cervical vertebrae—the neck bones visible in routine dental radiographs. However, this process requires careful manual annotation of specific points on the bones, a task that is both time-consuming and prone to variation between observers. In a new article, researchers from Korea University Anam Hospital, KAIST, and the University of Ulsan introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) system designed to overcome these challenges. The paper was made available online on 29 July 2025 and published ...

With the rise of quantum computers, the security of our existing communication systems is at risk. Quantum computers will be able to break many of the encryption methods used in current communication systems. To counter this, scientists are developing quantum communication systems, which utilize quantum mechanics to offer stronger security. A crucial building block of these systems is a single-photon source: a device that generates only one light particle at a time. These photons, carrying quantum information, are then sent through optical fibers. For quantum communication systems to work, it is essential ...