This work reveals a new mechanism by which brown fat is converted into heat, and which protects from pathologies associated with obesity. The MCJ protein is key to the fat burning mechanism now identified, making it a promising target for treating obesity, according to the authors in Nature Communications. The research is led by Guadalupe Sabio, from Spain’s National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and Cintia Folgueira, from both CNIO and the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC). Obesity, which affects 650 ...

‘True Food’ Research Database Offers Rankings for 50,000 Processed Foods   The database, developed by researchers at Mass General Brigham and made available to the public, sheds light on the availability of processed foods at different grocery stores, highlighting the need for more understanding and regulation of the foods offered     A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham provides information to empower consumers and policymakers about the degree of processing of the foods available at three large grocery retailers. Using an algorithm, the researchers analyzed ...

Scientists at Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) have solved a big mystery in cancer research – why cells die in different ways following radiotherapy. This surprising finding opens up new opportunities to improve treatment and increase cure rates. The findings were published in Nature Cell Biology by first author Dr Radoslaw Szmyd of CMRI’s Genome Integrity Unit, which is led by Professor Tony Cesare. Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is a critically important type of cancer treatment. Scientists have struggled for decades to understand why radiation therapy kills cells from the ...

The most detailed study to date on the mechanisms by which a common type of bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, adapts to living on the human body could help improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of certain infections. The study, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge, the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (IBV) at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and their collaborators, involved using the genomes of thousands of S. aureus isolates cultured from the human nose and on the skin to investigate which genes are important for the bacteria to adapt and persist. Published today (13 January) in Nature Communications, ...

Legions of battery engineers and their supporters have sought for years to build batteries cheaper than the dominant lithium-ion technology, hoping to capture some of lithium-ion’s $50 billion-a-year and growing market. The latest darling contender among researchers, startups, and venture capitalists – sodium-ion batteries – has received much attention after COVID-induced mineral supply chain challenges sent lithium prices on a wild ride. Still, achieving a low-cost contender may be several years away for sodium-ion batteries and will require a set of technology advances and favorable ...

Scientists from the Francis Crick Institute, UCL, UCLH and Personalis have found that a test to detect circulating tumour DNA can predict lung cancer outcome in a Cancer Research UK-funded study. Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is fragments of DNA released into the blood by tumours. It’s known to be important for disease prognosis but can be difficult to measure precisely. In research published today in Nature Medicine, Crick and UCL scientists worked with Personalis to test a platform called NeXT Personal, which can detect very small amounts – 1 part per million – ...

Scientists have come a step closer to understanding how collisionless shock waves – found throughout the universe – are able to accelerate particles to extreme speeds. These shock waves are one of nature's most powerful particle accelerators and have long intrigued scientists for the role they play in producing cosmic rays – high-energy particles that travel across vast distances in space. The research, published today in Nature Communications, combines satellite observations from NASA’s MMS (Magnetospheric Multiscale) and THEMIS/ARTEMIS missions with recent theoretical advancements, offering a comprehensive new model ...

Living in a family where there is genetic risk for dementia significantly affects choices about having children and how to parent, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, published in the Journal of Genetic Counselling, interviewed 13 people – both parents and non-parents – who are at risk of developing familial frontotemporal dementia (fFTD). This form of dementia often begins in mid-life and is characterised by behavioural and personality changes. Children of an affected parent are at 50% risk of inheriting the gene that causes the disease. People in affected families fall into three groups: people who don’t choose to find out whether ...

A recent population-based study indicates that among children with cancer, those with obesity at the time of diagnosis may face an elevated risk of dying. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The retrospective study was based on information from the Cancer in Young People in Canada (CYP-C) database, including all children with newly diagnosed cancer aged 2 to 18 years across Canada from 2001 to 2020. Obesity was defined as age and sex-adjusted body mass index at or above the 95th percentile. Among ...

The language ‘engines’ that power generative artificial intelligence (AI) are plagued by a wide range of issues that can hurt society, most notably through the spread of misinformation and discriminatory content, including racist and sexist stereotypes.   In large part these failings of popular AI systems, such as ChatGPT, are due to shortcomings with the language databases upon which they are trained.  To address these issues, researchers from the University of Birmingham have developed a novel framework for better understanding large language ...

Technological advances have led to the widespread use of electric devices and vehicles. These innovations are not only convenient but also environmentally friendly, offering an alternative to polluting fuel-driven machines. Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used in electrical appliances and vehicles. Commercial LIBs comprise an organic electrolyte solution, which is considered indispensable to make them energy efficient. However, ensuring safety becomes a concern and may be difficult to achieve with the rising market demand. While solid-state batteries can help mitigate safety issues, the interface between solid electrodes and the ...

Rewards and financial incentives are successful methods to help people quit smoking, according to a new Cochrane review co-led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst public health and health policy researcher. For the first time, the researchers also found “high-certainty evidence” that this intervention works for pregnant people as well.   A previous review of studies, also published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, found moderate certainty that financial ...

Offering rewards helps people to stop smoking, with success rates continuing long after incentives have stopped.  The new research, led by the University of East Anglia, also explored whether incentives were effective in helping pregnant women to give up smoking.  While previous research found rewards played a moderate role in encouraging pregnant women to quit smoking, this up-to-date study found there is now “high certainty evidence” that such schemes are successful in this ...

Ecologists at the School of Biological Sciences of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have made valuable discoveries that could transform the conservation of two iconic cockatoo species: the Sulphur-crested cockatoos and the critically endangered Yellow-crested cockatoos – with only 2,000 individuals remaining in the wild for the latter. Until now, no whole-genome research had been conducted on either species, which were identified solely by subtle morphological differences. Through two innovative studies, the team ...

Key Takeaways: A new Perspective piece in The New England Journal of Medicine led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute examined the increasing frequency of physician strikes around the globe. The piece is one of the first to provide international lessons on balancing physician collective bargaining rights with patient protections in the U.S. The findings underscore the urgent need for regulatory reforms to address the increasing frequency of physician strikes and ensure the sustainability of the healthcare system. Boston, MA – A ...

From the persistent droughts of southern Africa and Central America in the early part of the year to the more recent devastating extreme rainfall in Spain and the deadly Hurricane Helene along America’s east coast, 2024 has been a year of climate events that affected the lives of billions of people.   In a recent paper published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, an international team of scientists led by Dr Wenxia Zhang at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, provide an overview of the characteristics and impacts of the most notable extreme events of the year, including rainfall and flooding, ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created nanostructured alumina surfaces which are strongly antibacterial but can be used to culture cells. They found that anodic porous alumina (APA) surfaces prepared using electrochemistry in concentrated sulfuric acid had unprecedented resistance to bacterial growth, but did not hamper cell cultures. The team’s technology promises to have a big impact on regenerative medicine, where high quality cell cultures without bacterial contamination may be produced without ...

A new tablet combining albendazole and ivermectin is safe and more effective than albendazole alone in treating Trichuris trichiura and other soil-transmitted helminths (STH), according to a clinical trial conducted by the STOP consortium and led by the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by “la Caixa” Foundation. The findings, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, open opportunities to improve the control of these neglected tropical infections, which affect around ...

In an effort to close the gap in neurological outcomes for underserved populations, a UTHealth Houston project funded with $2.9 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will engage community partners to improve the design of clinical trials. Neurologic conditions including stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and vascular cognitive impairment and dementia contribute to the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S. The goal of the project is to build an infrastructure for community-engaged research interventions for those three neurologic conditions affecting brain health. “Historically, clinical trials for neurological conditions haven’t ...

Depression can affect anyone. It is common, and in many cases severe. These days, there are good treatments available, typically involving a combination of psychotherapy and medication. However, finding the right treatment can take some time. Not everyone responds equally well to every medication. Researchers at six European university medical centers, led by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, teamed up to accelerate the process of arriving at solid findings relating to both new and known treatments. The key will be a joint study design, supported over the ...

Researchers from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, alongside mainland collaborators, have uncovered an unexpected phenomenon: severe wintertime ozone (O₃) pollution in Lanzhou, China, driven primarily by alkene emissions from local petrochemical industries. Traditionally associated with warm weather and strong solar radiation, hourly O₃ levels exceeding 100 ppbv were recorded during cold January days in 2018, peaking at an alarming 121 ppbv.   Using an advanced photochemical box model, the study identified alkene ozonolysis as ...

East Hanover, NJ – January 10, 2025 – The employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities has remained stable over the past 15 months amid historically high levels, with recent data suggesting a modest but encouraging upward trend, according to today’s January 2025 National Trends in Disability Employment monthly update (nTIDE) issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Month-to-Month nTIDE Numbers (comparing November 2024 to December 2024) Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) ...

A recent commentary article by researchers from Northwestern University, Harvard University, and The University of Texas at San Antonio highlights the significant but overlooked environmental and social impacts of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). Published in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, the research underscores the urgent need for sustainable practices and ethical governance as GenAI technologies proliferate.   The study reveals the environmental toll of GenAI development, with hardware production such as GPUs and data centers consuming ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  January 10, 2025  Contact: Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu ## Lower Access to Air Conditioning May Increase Need for Emergency Care for Wildfire Smoke Exposure As Los Angeles County battles the most destructive wildfires in its history, a new study suggest that US policies should prioritize equity and education regarding the measures people can take to protect themselves from the harmful pollutants in wildfire smoke.  People who have limited access to air ...

If your teeth have ever felt fuzzy after skipping a brushing, you’ve encountered biofilm—a slimy bacterial layer that clings to surfaces. In medical settings, biofilms make infections harder to treat when they form protective shields for bacteria on devices like catheters and implants.  UC Riverside scientists have now discovered a chemical that plants produce when they're stressed prevents biofilm from forming. The breakthrough offers potential advances in healthcare as well as preventing equipment corrosion in industrial settings.  “In simple terms, biofilms are communities ...