EVANSTON, Ill. --- One of just two vertebrates without a jaw, sea lampreys that are wreaking havoc in Midwestern fisheries are simultaneously helping scientists understand the origins of two important stem cells that drove the evolution of vertebrates. Northwestern University biologists have pinpointed when the gene network that regulates these stem cells may have evolved and gained insights into what might be responsible for lampreys’ missing mandibles. The two cell types — pluripotent blastula cells (or embryonic stem cells) and neural crest cells — are both “pluripotent,” ...

A new study published in Nature Genetics by the Lymphoid Development Group at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences has reveals that the contribution of cells expressing maternal or paternal X chromosomes can be selectively skewed in different parts of the body. The study leverages human data from the 1000 Genomes Project combined with mouse models of human X chromosome-linked DNA sequence variation to advance our fundamental understanding of development in biologically female individuals who have two X chromosomes.    Until now, it was thought that the usage of maternal and paternal X-chromosomes was similar throughout the body. The ...

Distrust of health experts and credulity towards misinformation can kill. For example, during the Covid-19 crisis, high-profile health experts received death threats while misinformation went viral on social media. And already long before the pandemic, easily preventable but potentially serious diseases had been making a comeback around the world due to vaccine hesitancy – often powered by conspiracy theories. But what feeds this lack in trust in reliable sources of health information? Can it perhaps be mitigated? Those are the subjects of a new study in Frontiers in Medicine by researchers from the US. “Here we show that individuals who ...

It is no mystery that light is essential to human life. Since the discovery of fire, humans have developed various artificial light sources, such as incandescent lamps, gaslights, discharge lamps, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The distribution and intensity of artificial lights indoors are important factors that affect our ability to study and work effectively and influence our physical and mental health. Consequently, modern artificial light sources are designed with these psychological elements to achieve the best aesthetics. ...

A recent study from China has reported that Cordyceps sinensis (CS), a traditional Chinese medicinal fungus, can ameliorate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in mice by inhibiting mitochondrion-mediated oxidative stress. The research, conducted by a team led by Huan Tang and Jigang Wang from the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, was published in Wiley's MedComm-Future Medicine. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic and progressive lung disease characterized by a decline in lung function, ultimately leading to respiratory failure and a significantly reduced quality of life for patients. With a median ...

A rose by any other name is a rose, but what of a crystal? Osaka Metropolitan University-led researchers have found that single crystals of four anthracene derivatives with different substituents react differently when irradiated with light, perhaps holding clues to how we can use such materials in functional ways. Graduate student Sogo Kataoka, Dr. Daichi Kitagawa, a lecturer, and Professor Seiya Kobatake of the Graduate School of Engineering and colleagues compared the photoreactions of the single crystals when the entire anthracene crystal was irradiated with light. For two ...

Over the past few decades, many parts of the world have experienced record-breaking wildfire events—a trend that is, unfortunately, expected to rise. These extreme events not only result in mass evacuations, but also release greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, pose risks to life, devastate buildings and essential infrastructure, and fundamentally disrupt and detrimentally transform native ecosystems. In response to the increased risk of catastrophic wildfires, many planning and site design practices have sought to protect the trends and status quo of land development. These measures strive to resist and, ...

Using modern techniques, researchers have re-examined Johannes Kepler's half-forgotten sunspot drawings and revealed previously hidden information about the solar cycles before the grand solar minimum. By recreating the conditions of the great astronomer’s observations and applying Spörer's law in the light of modern statistics, an international collaborative group led by Nagoya University in Japan has measured the position of Kepler’s sunspot group, placing it at the tail-end of the solar cycle before the cycle that Thomas Harriot, Galileo Galilei, and other ...

Fukuoka, Japan – Researchers from Kyushu University have identified a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of advanced multiple sclerosis (MS), a potentially disabling condition associated with the central nervous system. In their latest study, conducted using an experimental mouse model of MS, they explored the role of connexin 43 (Cx43), a protein involved in cellular communication and cardiac function, and examined whether targeting this protein with specific blockers could improve ...

A new paper surveying advances in diabetes pathogenesis and treatment explores the complex factors contributing to the onset and progression of the disease, suggesting that an understanding of these dynamics is key to developing targeted interventions to reduce the risk of developing diabetes and managing its complications. In a paper published July 25 in a special 50th anniversary issue of the peer-reviewed journal Cell, the authors surveyed hundreds of studies that have emerged over the years looking at the causes underpinning types 1 (T1D) and 2 (T2D) diabetes and new treatments for the disease. They examine the role that genes, environmental factors, and ...

What puts the electronic pep in peptides? A folded structure, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Electron transport, the energy-generating process inside living cells that enables photosynthesis and respiration, is enhanced in peptides with a collapsed, folded structure. Interdisciplinary researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology combined single-molecule experiments, molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanics to validate their findings. “This discovery provides a new understanding of how electrons flow through peptides ...

BENTLEY UNIVERSITY New research from the Center for Integration of Science and Industry at Bentley University shows that differences between the financial structures of large pharmaceutical producers and smaller, emerging biotechnology companies creates synergies that contribute to the pipeline of new, innovative products in response to reductions in drug prices anticipated under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). While large pharmaceutical producers would likely reduce R&D spending in response to lower product revenues, R&D in smaller biotechnology companies is not likely to decrease and could sustain both corporate profits and new product ...

Some 65 million Americans now own firearms for protection—around 80% of the country’s estimated 81 million gun owners—suggest the results of a nationally representative survey carried out in 2023, and published online in the journal Injury Prevention. This perceived need is changing the profile of gun owners, the findings indicate, with increasing numbers of women and those of minority ethnic backgrounds citing protection as the primary reason for owning a firearm. In 2021, firearms caused the highest ...

There’s more than a 10-fold difference in the rates of unintentional gun deaths across US states, with such incidents claiming more than 12,000 lives between 2001 and 2021, finds research published online in the journal Injury Prevention. Poverty, rural residency, non-White ethnicity and firearms ownership are all associated with higher rates, the findings show. Firearms kill over 130 Americans every day. Most of these deaths are intentional, but of the 48,830 firearm related deaths in 2021, 549 were unintentional, note the researchers. But it’s not clear if rates differ within and between states. To explore this further, the researchers looked ...

Unplanned pregnancies among active service women may be curbing overall US military readiness for action and compromising its Women Peace and Security objectives, suggests research published online in the journal BMJ Military Health. That’s because they potentially result in the loss of an estimated 2.5 million to more than 4.5 million active duty days, depending on the denominator used, the findings indicate, with the highest rates among 18-24 year olds, those of White race, those deployed in junior ranks and those serving in the Army. The researchers set out to assess the impact ...

High levels of the respiratory irritant ozone and grass pollen are likely during the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games if hot, sunny weather prevails, suggests an analysis of historic air quality monitoring data for the city of Paris and surrounding area during previous summers, and published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Athletes can be affected by environmental factors, despite generally being in good physical condition, note the researchers. Breathing in air pollution during exercise may pose health risks, depending on exposure levels and underlying long term conditions, they add. Endurance athletes are particularly susceptible to allergic symptoms, they say.  To ...

The University of Illinois Center for Digital Agriculture (CDA) has launched a new partnership program for industry members to strengthen their ties to academia, technology, multidisciplinary research and professional development in a joint effort to tackle the globe’s most pressing agricultural challenges. Unveiled in June, the CDA Industry Partner Program (IPP) offers members the opportunity to collaborate with world-renowned researchers and field experts to solve complex problems facing the industry, whether they stem from a changing climate, personnel shortages or any other hurdles that spring up. IPP ...

An experimental drug originally developed to treat cancer may help clear HIV from infected cells in the brain, according to a new Tulane University study. For the first time, researchers at Tulane National Primate Research Center found that a cancer drug significantly reduced levels of SIV, the nonhuman primate equivalent of HIV, in the brain by targeting and depleting certain immune cells that harbor the virus.  Published in the journal Brain, this discovery marks a significant step toward eliminating HIV from hard-to-reach reservoirs where the virus evades otherwise effective treatment.  “This research is an important step ...

Two Medicaid policies can interact to increase oncology clinical trial enrollment among Black and Hispanic patients, according to a new study by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, and Medidata AI. Black and Hispanic patients are historically underrepresented in cancer clinical trials; equitable enrollment helps ensure the knowledge gained from trials generalizes to the entire population and promotes equitable patient access to the latest treatment options. The study, published July 25 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, examined the effect of the interaction between two Medicaid policies on the rates of enrollment for Black ...

A team of investigators from UCLA has identified distinct patient preference-based profiles among men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer regarding their treatment options that could help enhance shared decision-making and patient satisfaction in prostate cancer care.  The study, published in Urology Practice, reveals that while there were clear differences in treatment preferences among the profiles, these preference profiles did not significantly influence the patients' final treatment choices.  “Men ...

New research shows that California’s Central Valley, known as America’s breadbasket, gets as much as half of its groundwater from the Sierra Nevadas. This is significant for a farming region that, in some parts, relies almost entirely on groundwater for irrigation. While it is easy to see above-ground reservoirs rise and fall with the rain and snow, aquifers are a natural water source hidden out of sight, in some cases hundreds of feet underground. “They are like giant bathtubs full of water and sediment,” said UC Riverside associate professor of groundwater hydrology Hoori Ajami. Scientists have ...

Abu Dhabi, UAE, July 25, 2024: NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Associate Professor of Biology Shady Amin has received a grant of more than USD 500,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). He will lead a project that is aimed at elevating the understanding and awareness of the essential role played by diatoms, the tiny microalgae that can live in oceans or in symbiosis with endangered marine animal hosts like whales, dolphins, dugongs, and manatees and play a fundamental role in maintaining Earth’s delicate ecosystem. Diatoms are microalgae ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (July 25, 2024) – Three junior faculty members at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, have been named K12 2024 Faculty Scholars. They bring to 16 the number of junior faculty who have joined Sylvester’s prestigious K12 Calabresi Clinical Oncology Research Career Development Program since its inception in 2018. The program awards recipients with resources to pursue independent research careers in clinical and translational cancer research. The K12 2024 Faculty Scholars ...

American Geophysical Union   25 July 2024  AGU Release No. 24-28 For Immediate Release    This press release is available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/climate-change-will-bring-more-turbulence-to-flights-in-the-northern-hemisphere/ Climate change will bring more turbulence to flights in the Northern Hemisphere  Disruptive clear air turbulence is predicted to increase over most northern mid-latitude regions AGU press contact:    Liza Lester, +1 (202) 777-7494, news@agu.org (UTC-5 hours)   Contact information for the researchers:   Mohamed ...

CLEVELAND—In our increasingly interconnected world, the ongoing risk of communicable health conditions to human life demands organized and equitable public health efforts to combat known and emerging local and global health threats.   But how best to tackle such critical needs and balance individual autonomy with preventing public harm? How should we care for those who take care of us? How can we advance research and regain the trust of historically marginalized groups? What role should the United States play in the world’s healthcare plans?   These and other issues will be discussed this fall at Case Western Reserve University’s ...