A new laboratory study suggests that human body lice are more efficient at transmitting Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, than previously thought, supporting the possibility that they may have contributed to past pandemics. David Bland and colleagues at the United States’ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Biology on May 21st. Y. pestis has been the culprit behind numerous pandemics, including the Black Death of the Middle Ages that ...

Roughly 60 percent of all Black Americans are exposed to some form of gun violence, and such exposures predict elevated rates of disability, according to Rutgers Health research. Survey data from 3,015 Black Americans linked specific disabilities ranging from trouble concentrating to difficulty dressing or bathing with exposure to various types of gun violence: being shot, being threatened with a firearm, knowing a shooting victim, and witnessing a shooting or hearing of one nearby. “Traditionally, the majority of efforts related to gun violence have focused on reducing homicides, but this study indicates that we need ...

NEWPORT, Ore. – A recent boom in the purple sea urchin population off the southern Oregon Coast appears to have had an indirect and negative impact on the gray whales that usually forage in the region, a new study shows. When urchin numbers rise, the spiky marine invertebrates can devour kelp forests that are a critical habitat for zooplankton, the tiny aquatic organisms that are the primary prey of many marine animals. Damaged kelp forests lead to reductions in zooplankton, and with fewer zooplankton to feed on, gray whales spend less time foraging there, researchers with Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute found. “This study shows the cascading ...

DETROIT – Wayne State University researchers are reporting new findings that demonstrate a link between exposure to per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in males and health issues in their offspring. The study, “Mixtures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) alter sperm methylation and long-term reprogramming of offspring liver and fat transcriptome,” published recently in Environment International, assessed the effect of PFAS mixtures on the sperm methylome and transcriptional changes in offspring metabolic tissues such as in the ...

Researchers at the University of Bern have for the first time been able to pin down a prehistoric settlement of early farmers in northern Greece dating back more than 7,000 years to the year. For this they combined annual growth ring measurements on wooden building elements with the sudden spike of cosmogenic radiocarbon in 5259 BC. This provides a reliable chronological reference point for many other archaeological sites in Southeast Europe. Dating finds plays a key role in archaeology. It is always essential to find out how old a tomb, settlement or single object is. Determining the age of finds from prehistoric times has only ...

NEW ORLEANS – Ochsner Health will host The Black Men’s Health Event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 25 at Zulu headquarters on 732 N. Broad St. This marks the third consecutive year for this free event, which emphasizes community health and wellness. Presented by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson, along with community partner The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, The Black Men’s Health Event advances a core mission to improve healthcare access, health equity and health outcomes. Attendees can take advantage of several free medical screenings: Blood Pressure Glucose Cholesterol Lung ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL:  9:39 a.m. PT, May 21, 2024   Session:  C17 – Pediatric Impact of COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Infections Clinical Prediction Tool for Prioritizing Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prevention Products for High-Risk Infants During Current Limited Availability of Nirsevimab in the United States Date and Time: Tuesday, May 21, 2024, 9:39 a.m. PT Location:  San Diego Convention Center, Room 6D (Upper Level)   ATS 2024, San Diego – On the heels of a shortage of nirsevimab for infant respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) prevention, a new tool ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A novel therapy that reprograms immune cells to promote antitumor activity helped shrink hard-to-treat prostate and bladder cancers in mice, according to research from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery. The study was published online May 3 in the journal Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Immunotherapies that help the immune system recognize and fight tumors have revolutionized care for many types of cancer. However, ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Urban planners increasingly are interested in green infrastructure projects for the health and climate benefits they bring to cities. But without attention to historical development patterns and existing power structures, such projects may not benefit all residents equally and may exacerbate social and racial inequalities, says a group of researchers and practitioners of nature-based solutions for urban areas. The researchers outlined their recommendations for a justice-oriented approach to urban greening projects in a paper published in the journal ...

BOSTON—Researchers will delve into emerging research in diabetes, obesity, reproductive health and other aspects of hormone health during the Endocrine Society’s ENDO 2024 news conferences June 1-4. The Society also will share its vitamin D Clinical Practice Guideline publicly for the first time during a news conference on Monday, June 3. Reporters will have an opportunity to hear directly from members of the guideline development panel. Other press conferences will feature select abstracts that are being presented at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s ...

WASHINGTON — Researchers have built a prototype fiber optic gyroscope for high resolution, real-time monitoring of ground rotations caused by earthquakes in the active volcanic area of Campi Flegrei in Naples, Italy. A better understanding of the seismic activity in this highly populated area could improve risk assessment and might lead to improved early warning systems. “When seismic activity occurs, the Earth’s surface experiences both linear and rotational movements,” said research team leader Saverio Avino from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (CNR-INO) ...

As part of an ongoing national research effort to better understand how physical activity improves health and prevents disease, seven University of Colorado Department of Medicine faculty members contributed to an article recently published in Nature, an international journal of science.  The paper, “Temporal dynamics of the multi-omic response to endurance exercise training,” discusses how eight weeks of endurance exercise training affected male and female young adult rats. The researchers found that all bodily tissues that were tested ...

Amsterdam, May 21, 2024 – The number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is expected to reach 100 million by 2050, but there is still no effective therapy. Leading researchers from around the world assess how oxidative stress (OS) may trigger AD and consider potential therapeutic targets and neuroprotective drugs to manage the disease in a collection of articles in a special supplement to the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, published by IOS Press. AD is the most common type of dementia and involves areas of ...

WASHINGTON — Sudden, severe dry spells known as flash droughts are rising in intensity around the world, with a notable exception in mountainous Central Asia, where flash drought extent is shrinking, according to new research. Heat and changes to precipitation patterns caused by a warming climate are driving these trends, the study found. Flash droughts arrive suddenly, within weeks, hitting communities that are often not prepared and causing lasting impact. They are an emerging concern for water and food security. The new study is the first to apply a systematic, quantitative approach to the global incidence of flash drought, mapping hotspots and ...

About The Study: Public health authorities in nearly all states and territories surveyed reported the ability to monitor and test persons exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus. However, jurisdictions varied in their capacity to monitor exposed persons, in recommendations for use of antivirals, and in potential use of H5N1 vaccines, if available, among first responders.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Noah Kojima, M.D., email nkojima@cdc.gov. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...

Today, DRI, one of our nation’s leading applied environmental research institutes, together with its Foundation, announced a new global initiative with the first in a series of summits. The event will be held at Encore Las Vegas from August 21-23, 2024. The AWE+ initiative will promote an Adaptable World Environment of strong, resilient communities in a climate shifting world. AWE+ 2024 - Wildfire Recovery and Resilience: Working Across Silos to Drive Solutions - is a global call-to-action for communities ...

HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. Recent developments at MD Anderson offer insights into biomarkers that predict immunotherapy responses, a possible treatment strategy for patients with LKB1-deficient cancers, therapeutic targets to prevent acute myeloid leukemia (AML) progression ...

Sensors enable us to monitor changes in systems of all kinds.  The materials at the heart of those sensors, of course, ultimately determine their end-use application. Devices made of silicon, for example, enable ultrafast processing in computers and phones, but they aren’t pliable enough for use in physiological monitoring.  They also require a lot of energy to produce. Lehigh University professor Elsa Reichmanis, Carl Robert Anderson Chair in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, recently received a grant from the National ...

Birmingham researchers have shown PEPITEM, a naturally occurring peptide (small protein) holds promise as a new therapeutic for osteoporosis and other disorders that feature bone loss, with distinct advantages over existing drugs. PEPITEM (Peptide Inhibitor of Trans-Endothelial Migration) was first identified in 2015 by University of Birmingham researchers.  The latest research, published today in Cell Reports Medicine, show for the first time that PEPITEM could be used as a novel and early clinical intervention to reverse the impact of age-related musculoskeletal diseases, with ...

About The Study: This cohort study of Japanese older adults identified that upward and downward socioeconomic status transitions were associated with risk of dementia and the length of dementia-free periods over the lifespan. The results may be useful to understand the association between social mobility and healthy longevity.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Hiroyasu Iso, Ph.D., email iso@pbhel.med.osaka-u.ac.jp. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.12303) Editor’s Note: Please see ...

Osaka, Japan – Upward social mobility may ward off dementia, according to a new study. Dementia, a collective term for conditions marked by memory loss and diminished cognitive functioning, strains healthcare systems and devastates quality of life for patients and their families. Research thus far has found correlations between socioeconomic status (SES) – Parent’s asset, education level, income, and work status – and susceptibility to dementia, and SES changes throughout a person’s life, known as social mobility, seem to influence this risk; however, scientific ...

Scientists discover ‘zoned development’ in dinosaur skin, with zones of reptile-style scales and zones of bird-like skin with feathers New dinosaur skin fossil found to be composed of silica – the same as glass Discovery sheds light on evolution from scales to feathers Palaeontologists at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland have discovered that some feathered dinosaurs had scaly skin like reptiles today, thus shedding new light on the evolutionary transition from scales to feathers. The researchers studied a new specimen of the feathered dinosaur Psittacosaurus from the early Cretaceous ...

Surgical teams at NYU Langone Health performed the world’s first genetically modified pig kidney transplants into a human body in September and November 2021, and then transplanted two pig hearts in the summer of 2022. These procedures were done in patients declared dead based on neurologic criteria (decedents) and maintained on ventilators with the consent of their families. Demonstrating the field’s progress, NYU Langone in April 2024 transplanted a pig kidney into a living patient. Now two new analyses, one published online on May 17 in Nature Medicine and the other May ...

SRI’s Targeted Antigen Loaded Liposomes (TALL) — a treatment that expands the benefits of immunotherapy such as check-point inhibitors — has been granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA). As a result, SRI’s future strategic partners can gain tax credits for qualified clinical trials and potentially receive market exclusivity for a period of seven years after the drug’s approval, among other benefits. “FDA's orphan drug designation brings worthy attention to the demonstrated impact of SRI's TALL biotherapeutic for pancreatic cancer,” said Kathlynn Brown, ...

The human genome consists of around 3 billion base pairs and humans are all 99.6% identical in their genetic makeup. That small 0.4% accounts for any difference between one person and another. Specific combinations of mutations in those base pairs hold important clues about the causes of complex health issues, including heart disease and neurodegenerative diseases like schizophrenia. Current methods to model or correct mutations in live cells are inefficient, especially when multiplexing — installing multiple point mutations simultaneously across the genome. Researchers from the University of California San Diego ...