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 ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 1 July 2024      Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet       @Annalsofim      Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization ...

Boston, MA – New evidence comparing weight gain under eight different first-line antidepressants finds that bupropion users are 15-20% less likely to gain a clinically significant amount of weight than users of sertraline, the most common medication. The findings are published July 2 in Annals of Internal Medicine. Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S., with 14% of U.S. adults reporting using an antidepressant. Weight gain is a common side effect, which could affect patients’ long-term metabolic health and cause some to stop taking their prescribed treatment, leading ...

Dampening the "seeds" of hurricanes Increased atmospheric moisture produced weaker hurricane formation Increased atmospheric moisture may alter critical weather patterns over Africa, making it more difficult for the predecessors of many Atlantic hurricanes to form, according to a new study published this month.  The research team, led by scientists from the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), used an innovative model that allows for higher-resolution simulations of hurricane formation than ever before. This allowed researchers to study the effects of increased regional moisture over Africa, which is the birthplace of ...

“[...] cancer immunotherapy based on tumor-associated senescent cells and other types of senescent cells may achieve exciting outcomes beyond cancer therapy.” BUFFALO, NY- July 1, 2024 – A new review paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 12, entitled, “Senescent cell-derived vaccines: a new concept towards an immune response against cancer and aging?” Two recent seminal works have untangled the intricate role of tumor-associated senescent cells in cancer progression, or regression, by guiding our immune system against cancer ...

ST. LOUIS, MO., July 1, 2024 – Today, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center President and CEO Jim Carrington, PhD, announced he will step down on July 1, 2025.  “I’ve been so fortunate to have had this opportunity over the past 13 years,” said Dr. Carrington. “We’ve been able to do so much because of our exceptional people, our partners and our supporters. But it’s time to plan for a transition, and I know the Center will benefit greatly from the renewal of perspective, ideas ...

A Phase 1 trial testing the safety of an experimental nasal vaccine that may provide enhanced breadth of protection against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is now enrolling healthy adults at three sites in the United States. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is sponsoring the first-in-human trial of the investigational vaccine, which was designed and tested in pre-clinical studies by scientists from NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Laboratory of Infectious Diseases.  “The rapid development ...

A new North Carolina State University study examining the availability and content of commercial stock farmworker photos – images often used in health- and safety-education materials for farmworkers – shows a dearth of useful depictions of the people who work on farms and the tasks they perform. The study’s recommendations could lead to more relevant education materials that gain more attention and engagement from farmworkers “I was really interested in how farmworkers were represented in stock-photo libraries,” said Catherine LePrevost, agromedicine extension specialist and associate extension professor in NC State’s Department ...

URBANA, Ill. — Domesticated animals play a prominent role in our society, with two-thirds of American families enjoying the companionship of pets and many others relying on animal products for their nutritional needs. But the process of domestication remains a bit of a mystery. Convincing wild animals they are safe enough to coexist and mate in enclosures and in close proximity to humans and other animals is no small feat. What does it take behaviorally and genetically for that to happen?  For the most part, the animals we’ve domesticated have been docile for so long that ...

The Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute has launched a new initiative focused on advancing the science of catalysis. The Initiative for Computational Catalysis (ICC), which began operations on July 1, will harness computational techniques to study and design substances called catalysts that speed up chemical reactions. Such substances promise to be instrumental in clean energy generation and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes. “These are big questions that are hard to address from the very first step of the ...

WASHINGTON  –  U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Remote Sensing Division intern, Amaris McCarver, along with a team of astronomers, discovered the first millisecond pulsar in the stellar cluster Glimpse-CO1 and recently published findings in the Astrophysical Journal.   Pulsars are natural laboratories for studying the behavior of matter under extreme gravitational and magnetic fields - conditions difficult or impossible to replicate on Earth. They also function as natural timekeepers. Precise timing of the observed pulses from an array of pulsars offers a means to ...