By late in the pandemic more than 96% of individuals in the U.S. ages 16 and older had COVID-19 antibodies from infection or vaccination. However, immunity from the virus tends to wane over time. Uptake of the boosters has been quite low, meaning that over time the current high levels of protection will dissipate. During the COVID-19 pandemic, at-home antigen tests became widely accepted for detecting infection. In a new joint study by the George Washington University, the University of North Carolina, and others, researchers looked into the benefits of using at-home antibody tests to detect immunity and to make decisions about the need for a COVID-19 booster shot - something ...

Sweetpotato black rot is a devastating disease caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fimbriata. Since the late 1800s, black rot of sweetpotato has threatened to destroy as much as 30% of the sweetpotato crop in the United States. In 2015, all sweetpotato-producing states in the United States experienced one of the worst outbreaks recorded in history, with up to 60% losses reported. While fungicides can help manage the disease, they are not a sustainable solution, especially with volatile restrictions on fungicide residues among major export markets. An additional ...

Gray whales that spend their summers feeding in the shallow waters off the Pacific Northwest coast have undergone a significant decline in body length since around the year 2000, a new Oregon State University study found. The smaller size could have major consequences for the health and reproductive success of the affected whales, and also raises alarm bells about the state of the food web in which they coexist, researchers say. “This could be an early warning sign that the abundance of this population is starting to decline, or is not healthy,” said K.C. Bierlich, co-author on the study and an assistant professor at OSU’s ...

Shelter dogs awaiting adoption fare better with a canine companion than when they’re housed alone, according to new research from Virginia Tech. The study, led by Erica Feuerbacher, associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Animal Sciences, revealed that companiable dogs housed together showed fewer signs of stress and were adopted more quickly than dogs that were housed by themselves.  Nearly 4 million dogs enter shelters every year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The study’s findings offer one possible solution for animal shelters ...

Thousands of years ago, people in ancient Syria likely ate mostly grains, grapes, olives and a small amount of dairy and meat — similar to today’s “Mediterranean diet,” according to a study published June 12 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Benjamin T. Fuller from the University of Leuven, Belgium, Simone Riehl from the University of Tübingen, Germany, and colleagues. Tell Tweini, an archeological site located near the Syrian coastal city of Jableh, contains relics dating ...

The Greek island of Aegina was home to a Late Bronze Age purple dye workshop, according to a study published June 12, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Lydia Berger of Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria and colleagues. Colored dyes were a significant commodity in the Mediterranean region during the Late Bronze Age, and understanding the production of these dyes is valuable for interpretations of culture and trade at the time. In this study, Berger and colleagues describe the site of a purple dye workshop from the 16th century BC located at Aegina Kolonna in the Saronic Gulf. The presence of a dye workshop at this site is inferred from three main lines of ...

Housing compatible shelter dogs together could reduce stress and might help them find homes sooner ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301137 Article Title: Effects of single- or pair-housing on the welfare of shelter dogs: Behavioral and physiological indicators Author Countries: USA Funding: The current research was funded by a grant to ENF from the Waltham Foundation (grant number) www.waltham.com. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to ...

When the TV show Neighbours ended, surveyed fans experienced strong grief, loss, and sometimes a lack of closure - implying that strong "parasocial" relationships link TV viewers and favorite shows ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0302160 Article Title: When TV neighbours become good friends: Understanding Neighbours fans’ feelings of grief and loss at the end of the series Author Countries: Australia Funding: The author received no ...

Some honeybees learn tasks better than others, and gene expression patterns in their brains may be associated with this difference in ability ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0304563   Article Title: Behavioral and genetic correlates of heterogeneity in learning performance in individual honeybees, Apis mellifera Author Countries: Germany Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Including “tactile emoticons” into social media communications can enhance communication, according to a study published June 12, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Alkistis Saramandi and Yee Ki Au from University College London, United Kingdom, and colleagues. Digital communications rely exclusively on visual and auditory cues (text, emoticons, videos, and music) to convey tone and emotion. Currently lacking from these platforms is touch, which can convey feelings of love and support, impact emotions, and influence behaviors. Technology companies are developing devices to incorporate touch into digital interactions, such as interactive kiss ...

Osaka, Japan – Women live longer than men. This isn’t unique to humans, either; we see this trend in a wide range of other animals. Biologists have theorized that the discrepancy in life expectancy between sexes might be partly related to reproduction, but how? In a study published in Science Advances, researchers from Osaka University have discovered for the first time that germ cells, the cells that develop into eggs in females and sperm in males, drive sex-dependent lifespan differences in vertebrate animals. The researchers ...

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver cancer-fighting medication directly to metastatic tumors. This approach has shown promise in mice, where it inhibited the growth and spread of tumors that had metastasized to the lungs, thereby boosting survival rates compared to control treatments. The findings are detailed in a paper published on June 12 in Science Advances. The microrobots are an ingenious combination of biology ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Feeling ambivalent about a political issue might seem to be a recipe for indecision and even inaction.   But a new study suggests, surprisingly, that ambivalence can actually lead some people –especially those with polarized views – to be more supportive of extreme actions, such as violence.   The reason? Researchers found that ambivalence creates discomfort in those with extreme views by making them feel weak or insecure about their beliefs – and that can lead them to compensate for that weakness by supporting extreme actions to signal strength.   “When people have ...

In recent years, the field of metamaterials has experienced substantial growth, revealing exciting potential, especially in advancing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology. Three new studies led by Dr. Xin Zhang, a BU College of Engineering Distinguished Professor and a professor at the BU Photonics Center, highlight the promising opportunities within this field. These studies, in collaboration with Dr. Stephan Anderson, a BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine professor of radiology, published in Advanced Science, Advanced Materials, and Science Advances, showcase innovative approaches to enhance the MRI experience for all patients. ...

USC Rossier Education Technology Accelerator (USC EdTech Accelerator) announced a unique collaboration with Intel Corporation focused on supporting the use of technology for learning with a particular emphasis on supporting marginalized communities and AI. The Partnership The USC EdTech collaboration with Intel will provide free educational and technical assistance to learning-focused start-ups to increase the likelihood that they design viable, efficacious and scalable AI-enhanced solutions for learners. “We believe ...

Using a unique setup, researchers from the Social Brain Lab at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have researched the neural mechanism behind a universal dilemma: deciding whether to help someone else even when it involves a personal sacrifice. We often have opportunities to give up something we care about to help others. What brain mechanisms help us make those decisions, and why do some people help more than others? Over the years, philosophers and scientists have suggested that the extent to which a person empathizes with the distress of others influences their willingness to help. To explore this hypothesis experimentally, Kalliopi ...

Osteoporosis is characterised by low bone mineral density and bone fragility.5 During menopause, falling oestrogen levels impair normal bone turnover, with an average reduction in bone mineral density of 10%.5 This is compounded by the age-related bone loss that occurs in both men and women. With an ageing population, post-menopausal osteoporosis represents a growing health problem.   These new data are from a case-control cohort study of over 128,000 women included in the French national claim database. The main aim was to estimate the incidence of long-term discontinuation of bisphosphonates – ...

VEXAS is characterised by predominantly rheumatic and haematologic systemic involvement, and caused by somatic mutation in UBA1 – a gene encoding ubiquitin-activating enzyme 1,1,2 which is necessary for a post-translation modification that affects protein functions ranging from degradation to subcellular localisation and kinase activation.3 The syndrome was first described in 2020, but diagnosis can be challenging as the symptoms overlap with many other inflammatory conditions.1 Hot on the heels of this recent discovery, research is underway to better understand pathogenesis, clinical features, and potential treatment options.1   To support this, ...

Arthritis affects various joints differently, despite systemic inflammatory cues.2 In people with rheumatoid arthritis, transcriptomic variances identified in synovial fibroblasts from various joint sites have been shown to translate into joint-specific phenotypes with distinct characteristics and responsiveness to cytokines.2,3 These findings suggest that different joints may potentially respond variably to specific immunosuppressive treatments. To expand on this, Ciurea and colleagues set out to investigate whether joints at different anatomical locations in people with PsA might respond differently to treatment with a tumour necrosis ...

The estimated prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in people with psoriasis ranges widely –between 6% and 42% – but in most cases, skin symptoms precede PsA, thus making skin psoriasis a model for pre-PsA.2 Assuming that there are shared pathways in the pathogenesis, it is possible that stringent treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis could reduce progression to clinically overt PsA.3,4 Biologic treatments are effective at controlling psoriasis, but there are no conclusive data that these treatments help prevent people from developing PsA. Several risk factors for transition have previously been identified by a EULAR taskforce.5 ...

The synovial tissue inflammation seen in RA shows high degree of heterogeneity – which may be a factor in people’s variable response to treatments. We also know that distinct synovial tissue macrophage subsets regulate inflammation and remission in rheumatoid arthritis.1 The potential of high-throughput analyses has been shown, and these technologies can help dissect disease heterogeneity and identify novel biomarkers that could be used in prognosis.2   To explore this further, 373 treatment-naïve RA patients were enrolled and given an ultrasound-guided synovial tissue biopsy. The synovitis degree and synovial pathotype was then determined for ...

A multi-centre, observational, prospective study was designed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of the systemic score in predicting life-threatening evolution – defined as the development of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) and/or mortality. The intention was also to derive a more aggressive clinical patient subset. To achieve this, Ruscitti and colleagues collected data from 597 patients taking part in the GIRRCS (Gruppo Italiano Di Ricerca in Reumatologia Clinica e Sperimentale) AOSD-study ...

The 2024 EULAR congress in Vienna included a clinical abstract session focusing on pain and prognosis in RA, where two groups presented their research into ways to characterise early RA.    The first looked at dissecting early RA patient trajectories through time-independent disease state patterns of inflammation in blood or joints. Presenting the work, Nils Steinz said “Previous studies have identified smooth time trajectories of rapid, slow, or no progression of disease activity, assessed through DAS28. In real life, we observe more chaotic disease evolvements – and particularly the detours could ...

However, this recommendation is not always followed in practice. This could be because the ASDAS was developed for research, and it is not known how well it performs in daily practice. Possibly, the cut-off of 2.1 as currently endorsed may be too strict in an everyday setting. To address this, Webers and colleagues set out to investigate which ASDAS cut-off values correspond best with treatment intensification in practice.   Data were taken from a prospective multi-centre registry for SpA, and treatment ...

Significant progress has been made at Tufts University School of Engineering in the development of a small device, about the size of a vitamin pill, that can be swallowed and passed through the gastrointestinal tract to sample the full inventory of microorganisms in an individual’s gastro-intestinal tract. This device has the potential to advance research on the relationship between resident bacteria and a wide range of health conditions. It could also serve as a diagnostic tool for adjusting the microbiome or administering drugs to treat those conditions. The device has completed ...