A single mutation in bovine influenza H5N1 – a clade of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that has been increasingly detected among North American livestock herds – can cause the virus to switch affinity from animal-type receptors to human-type receptors, according to a new study. The findings highlight the crucial need for continuous surveillance of emerging H5N1 mutations, as even subtle genetic changes could increase the virus's capacity for human adaptation and transmission, potentially triggering a future influenza pandemic. In 2021, the highly pathogenic influenza H5N1 clade ...

Researchers have uncovered a previously unknown yet crucial role for thyrotropin-releasing hormone (Trh) in zebrafish hatching and reveal how this hormone activates a transient neuroendocrine circuit that controls when fish larvae are ready to leave the egg and swim free. For egg-born animals, hatching marks a pivotal shift, transitioning from the sheltered environment of an egg capsule to external conditions. This crucial event is not strictly hardwired into the embryo’s developmental program. Rather, hatching is a regulated ...

Climate change is driving global extinction risks, with 1.6% of species threatened at 1.3°C of warming and risks escalating to 29.7% at 5.4°C, according to a new meta-analysis encompassing more than 30 years of research. Climate change is reshaping ecosystems and biodiversity globally, altering species distributions, interactions, and population dynamics. While some species adapt or migrate to track shifting climates, others face population declines, shrinking ranges, and potential extinction. ...

Scientists, including those from Imperial College London, University of Oxford and CABI, have ‘turned up the heat’ on how repeated outbreaks of coffee wilt disease threatened arabica and robusta varieties of our favourite daily coffee brew. The scientists, who present their findings in the journal PLoS Biology, say the fungal pathogen Fusarium xylarioides continues to pose a significant threat to coffee production and incomes across sub-Saharan Africa. Their work supports earlier findings, based on DNA markers and crossing experiments which suggested that F. xylarioides is ...

New research has revealed that fish embryos actively control their hatching timing through a neurohormone, Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone (TRH), which triggers the release of enzymes that dissolve the egg wall. This groundbreaking discovery uncovers a previously unknown neural mechanism that governs a critical life-stage transition, showing that embryos are not passive but instead actively make life-or-death decisions. The finding has significant evolutionary implications, offering new insights into neurobiology, survival strategies, and environmental adaptation in vertebrates. Dr. ...

Northwestern University scientists have designed a new implantable device that can monitor fluctuating levels of proteins within the body in real time. Inspired by fruit shaking off the branches of a tree, the device comprises strands of DNA that stick to proteins, shake them off and then grab more proteins. This creative strategy enables the device to sample various proteins over time to measure changes in inflammatory markers. In proof-of-concept experiments, the sensors accurately and sensitively measured protein biomarkers of inflammation in diabetic rats. ...

LA JOLLA, CA—Avian influenza viruses typically require several mutations to adapt and spread among humans, but what happens when just one change can increase the risk of becoming a pandemic virus? A recent study led by scientists at Scripps Research reveals that a single mutation in the H5N1 “bird flu” virus that has recently infected dairy cows in the U.S. could enhance the virus’ ability to attach to human cells, potentially increasing the risk of passing from person to person. The findings—published in ...

A software tool developed by Queen Mary University of London’s Clinical Effectiveness Group (CEG) and used as part of a facilitated quality improvement programme has increased the number of children receiving their first MMR vaccination on time in North East London. The success of this programme highlights the potential of a learning health system and data-driven solutions to enhance public health and improve vaccination uptake across the UK.  An evaluation published in Vaccine revealed that the APL-Imms ...

Implantable Sensors Unlock Ability to Continuously Monitor Inflammation  The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago’s milestone achievement tracks protein levels in real time, enabling monitoring of inflammation at the cellular level   Proteins are the building blocks of life, and changes in protein levels can indicate improving health or impending illness, including signs of inflammation. While protein levels can be measured in periodic blood or urine tests, it has been an uphill challenge to figure out how to continuously monitor protein levels in the human body in real time. Now, a team of bioengineers at Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago, supported by the ...

HONG KONG (29 November 2024)—Similar social personalities strongly influence friendships in humans, yet we know relatively little about how animals choose their friends. But a new study by researchers at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) investigating a unique free-ranging feral population of water buffalo on Lantau Island in Hong Kong has discovered that close spatial proximity serves as an indicator of friendship based on the predictive patterns of certain personality traits. “Our research provides evidence that friendships among water buffalo can form among individuals with similar behaviours. These findings ...

UNC researchers awarded up to $10M to leverage data science to accelerate cancer diagnosis and optimize delivery of precision oncology CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina—A team of UNC-Chapel Hill researchers has been awarded up to $10 million in Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) funding to develop the Cancer Identification and Precision Oncology Center (CIPOC). The project is designed to improve cancer diagnosis and support personalized treatments by quickly aggregating and analyzing ...

Many individuals seeking asylum in the United States show increased stress and pain symptoms that are associated with indications of cardiovascular disease according to Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.   “We would not have expected the rates of these illnesses or conditions to be this high in such a young, otherwise healthy population,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Gunisha Kaur, associate professor of anesthesiology and an anesthesiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The study, published Dec. 5 in Nature Mental Health, analyzed medical evaluations from 453 U.S. asylum seekers for symptoms associated with psychological ...

Why do adults make new brain cells? A new study published in Cell Stem Cell provides the first cellular evidence that making new brain cells in adults supports verbal learning and memory, which enables people to have conversations and to remember what they hear. This discovery could point to new approaches to restore cognitive function.  The study, led by scientists from USC Stem Cell and the USC Neurorestoration Center at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, relied on brain tissue from patients with drug-resistant cases of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), which involves seizures as well as accelerated cognitive decline.  “Treating patients with epilepsy ...

Researchers have developed a new tool that will help scientists study how genes are expressed in our cells. The tool, called SigRM, is used to analyse data from single-cell epitranscriptomics, a method for studying RNA modifications in individual cells. This research could lead to important insights into health and disease. Recent advances in single-cell technology have enabled researchers to analyse thousands of individual cells at once, providing rich information about the expression and activity of genes and proteins, as well as chemical changes that affect gene expression. A major tool in these studies is single-cell epitranscriptomics, which studies RNA ...

Improvements in cancer prevention and screening have averted more deaths from five cancer types combined over the past 45 years than treatment advances, according to a modeling study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study, published Dec. 5, 2024, in JAMA Oncology, looked at deaths from breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer that were averted by the combination of prevention, screening, and treatment advances. The researchers focused on these five cancers because they are among the most common causes of cancer deaths and strategies ...

About The Study: In this model-based study using population-level cancer mortality data, an estimated 5.94 million cancer deaths were averted for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers combined from 1975 to 2020. Prevention and screening accounted for 8 of every 10 averted deaths, and the contribution varied by cancer site. Despite progress, efforts to reduce the U.S. cancer burden will require increased dissemination of effective interventions and new technologies and discoveries.  Corresponding ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, projected annual savings from weight loss among U.S. adults with obesity were substantial for both Medicare and employer-based insurance.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, email kthorpe@emory.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.49200) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions ...

About The Study: The results of this cohort study of U.S. children suggest that higher levels of satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index greenness and percentages of street-level green space components (flowers, plants, and fields) were associated with lower adiposity. The findings support the exploration of increasing residential green space levels and adding specific green space components as an urban planning and public health intervention strategy to combat the prevalence of childhood obesity in the U.S. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Li Yi, PhD, email li_yi@hsph.harvard.edu. To access the embargoed study: ...

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy resulted in significant reductions in depression among clinicians who provided front-line COVID-19 care in 2020 and 2021. These reductions were measurably greater than those experienced by the cohort of clinicians who received a placebo instead. Findings from this double-blind, randomized clinical trial are to be published in JAMA Network Open at 8 a.m. PST Thursday, Dec. 5.. “For doctors and nurses who feel burned out or disillusioned or disconnected from the patient care they want to provide, this study shows that psilocybin ...

Parents don't need to be blamed or shamed when providing sex education to their children, they need better support to help them safely parent their children in an increasingly complicated, digital world without compromising their values, say researchers from the University of Surrey.  In a new study, researchers from Surrey's School of Sociology found that self-identified feminist mothers across England unintendedly compromised their values about children's rights to comprehensive sex education due to societal pressures and fears of judgement.  While participants shared their ...

An emerging class of anticancer drugs called EZH2 inhibitors may greatly enhance the potency of some cancer immunotherapies, according to a preclinical study led by Weill Cornell Medicine lymphoma researchers. The inhibitors target the EZH2 enzyme, whose activity in tumor cells is now recognized as a significant factor in many cancers. The study, published Dec. 5 in Cancer Cell, found that EZH2 inhibition combined with T-cell based immunotherapy worked better at shrinking non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas ...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia —  As droughts fueled by human destruction of the environment are projected to affect 3 in 4 people by 2050, investing in sustainable land and water management is essential to reduce their costs, which already exceed $ 307 billion per year globally, according to a new report launched at the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) earlier today.  Drawing on a wealth of evidence and case studies from countries all around the world —like Chile, India, Jordan, Kenya, Spain, and Tunisia— the report makes the economic ...

(Toronto, December 4, 2024) JMIR Publications invites submissions to a new theme issue titled “Clinician Wellness and Burnout in Perioperative Medicine” in its premier open access journal JMIR Perioperative Medicine. The premier, peer-reviewed journal is indexed in PubMed and focuses on how technology and data science can improve care delivery and surgical patient outcomes. Recognizing the unique challenges faced by perioperative clinicians—including anesthesiologists (trainees and attendings), perioperative advanced practice providers (nurse practitioners ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A new risk score accurately predicts and categorizes the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, in women. The findings were published today in  Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death in U.S. women. The same can be said for women in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Pacific countries. However, since men are more likely to suffer from ...

Dr. Byungwook Hwang’s research team from the CCS Research Department at the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) has successfully developed a process that applies the circulating fluidized bed technology, commonly used in coal-fired power plant boilers, to recycle waste plastics and produce pyrolysis oil on a large scale. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in household plastic waste worldwide. In response, countries around the globe are focusing on recycling technologies, such as pyrolysis, for eco-friendly waste plastic management. Recently, the Korean government announced plans to expand the ...