University of Adelaide researchers have discovered that applying a beneficial fungus to soil leads to some varieties of wheat accumulating more bioavailable zinc and iron in the grain. The researchers inoculated eight widely grown Australian bread wheat varieties with a commercially available arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus product and found the plants had more grain and accumulated greater amounts of nutrients – in particular, the essential human micronutrient zinc. “Our research shows inoculating agricultural soils with mycorrhizal fungi could be a promising strategy for producing wheat grain with higher ...

Yolk proteins (vitellogenins, VITs) are crucial lipid-carrying molecules that supply nutrients from the mother to embryos in oviparous animals. In humans, their functional analog apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB-100) is a core component of low-density and very low-density lipoproteins (LDL and VLDL, respectively), playing a pivotal role in systemic lipid transport. Understanding how these lipoproteins are secreted may help unravel the mechanisms underlying conditions like atherosclerosis and fatty liver disease. In a recent article published in Life Metabolism, researchers report that VIT secretion in Caenorhabditis elegans is ...

The endangered golden-shouldered parrot, a technicolour species native to Far North Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula, is abandoning areas of grassland it usually nests in because woody plants are encroaching upon its preferred vegetation. Dr Gabriel Crowley, from the University of Adelaide, assessed the fate of 555 golden-shouldered parrot eggs from 108 nests monitored on Artemis Station by its owner, Susan Shephard, and Charles Darwin University researcher, Professor Stephen Garnett. They discovered that the spread of woody plants increased the probability of predation, and reduced nest success and survival of nesting adults. “The ...

A research team led by Dr. Xiaoqin Liu at the Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences has discovered and characterized a native peanut Ubiquitin4 promoter (AhUBQ4) with strong and consistent transcriptional activity. Recognizing the limitations of foreign promoters like CaMV 35S in peanut transformation—such as gene silencing and expression variability—the team sought a native solution to boost genetic engineering efficiency in this vital crop.   Using transcriptome data ...

In a key advance for regenerative medicine and gut health, scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have uncovered a precise and unexpected communication system in the gut. Support cells known as telocytes use fine extensions—like neurons in the brain—to deliver signals directly to intestinal stem cells. Their study, published in the journal Developmental Cell, challenges long-standing assumptions about how the gut maintains and repairs itself, possibly leading to better treatments for conditions like IBD ...

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays a central role in maintaining energy balance in cells, especially under energy stress. While upstream activation by the kinase LKB1 is well recognized, the precise mechanism by which LKB1 is mobilized under energy-deficient conditions has remained elusive. A recent study published in Life Metabolism reports that ROS, molecules often associated with oxidative stress, serve as critical signaling intermediates in this process. Under conditions such as glucose deprivation or metformin treatment, intracellular ROS levels rise, promoting the S-glutathionylation of PKCζ at cysteine 48. This post-translational modification facilitates the ...

Computer scientists at the University of Rochester have developed an AI-powered, speech-based screening tool that can help people assess whether they are showing signs of Parkinson’s disease, the fastest growing neurological disability in the world. A study published in the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease introduces a web-based screening test that asks users to recite two pangrams—short sentences using all 26 letters of the alphabet. Within seconds, the AI analyzes the voice recordings for subtle patterns linked to Parkinson’s, with nearly 86 percent accuracy. Parkinson’s ...

Researchers led by UC Davis Health scientist Sanchita Bhatnagar have developed a promising gene therapy that could treat Rett syndrome. The therapy works on reactivating healthy but silent genes responsible for this rare disorder and possibly other X-linked conditions, such as fragile X syndrome. Their findings were published in Nature Communications. About Rett syndrome Rett syndrome is a genetic condition that affects mostly girls. It is caused by a defective MECP2 gene located on the X chromosome. This ...

Infants, toddlers and preschoolers exhibit symptoms of long COVID, but the symptoms can be different and more difficult to identify in these children, according to Rutgers Health research.    The new study is part of the National Institutes of Health–funded Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) initiative and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics.  Lawrence Kleinman, a professor and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a professor of global public health at Rutgers School of Public Health, is the lead investigator for the Collaborative Long-term study of Outcomes ...

University of Utah researchers have developed a material that addresses an urgent environmental challenges: the efficient removal and real-time detection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a toxic and persistent member of the PFAS “forever chemicals” family, from contaminated water. In an industry-funded study published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Ling Zang, professor in the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and his research team introduced a dual-functional metal-organic framework (MOF) known as UiO-66-N(CH₃)₃⁺, a zirconium-based material known ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A groundbreaking study led by Oregon State University scientists shows that multiple Portland neighborhoods have levels of noise that are likely unhealthy. The research, the first of its kind in the United States, provides a framework for studying noise pollution in other cities in the U.S., which lags behind European nations in examining the effects of noise on human health. The project directed by assistant professor Matthew Bozigar and graduate student Carson Mowrer of the OSU College of Health indicates that the loudest parts of Portland are also the most socially vulnerable, with lower incomes and higher proportions ...

TUCSON, Ariz. — Signs reading “slippery when wet” frequently warn about the dangers of slipping and falling. But floors made slick by dry spills are also a significant hazard – one that’s overlooked and understudied, according to University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers who developed a new way to assess floor slipperiness caused by dry contaminants.  “Most people think materials like oil or soapy water are the main cause of slips,” said study lead Jonathan Lee-Confer, PhD, an assistant professor of physical therapy in the School of Health Professions at the U of A Mel and Enid Zuckerman College ...

Many self-tests available on the UK high street are unfit-for-purpose and need much greater regulation to ensure they are safe and reliable, conclude two studies published by The BMJ today. The findings show that most self-tests lack essential information about who should use them, how to interpret the results, and what actions to take next. Some also contradict evidence-based guidance, “creating risks for misinterpretation and inappropriate healthcare decisions,” say the authors. Self-testing is increasingly popular, with a wide range of tests available to UK consumers without needing healthcare professional involvement. The ...

A comprehensive new study analysing data from over 160,000 adults finds that walking approximately 7,000 steps per day is associated with reductions in the risk of several serious health outcomes, including all-cause mortality (47% reduction), cardiovascular disease (25% reduction), cancer (6% reduction), type 2 diabetes (14% reduction), dementia (38% reduction), depression (22% reduction), and falls (28% reduction).* Unlike earlier studies that mainly focused on heart health or overall death rates, this research, published ...

A new study has found that the bone fracture protection women get from menopausal hormone therapy (MHT, also known as HRT) disappears within a year of stopping treatment. In the new study, published in Lancet Healthy Longevity, experts from the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, also found that in most cases, stopping treatment is then followed by some years of elevated fracture risk compared to women who have never used MHT. Fracture risks then falls to be similar to, and then lower than women who have never used ...

Walking 7000 steps a day can lower the risk of an early death by up to 47 percent Health benefits increased with every 1000-step increment up until 7000 steps, at which point the benefits began to taper off   A major new study led by the University of Sydney suggests that walking 7000 steps a day offers similar health benefits across several outcomes as walking 10,000.   Led by Professor Melody Ding from the School of Public Health, the study was published in The Lancet Public Healthand analysed data from 57 studies from ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Speeding up chemical reactions is key to improving industrial processes or mitigating unwanted or harmful waste. Realizing these improvements requires that chemists design around documented reaction pathways. Now, a team of Penn State researchers has found that a fundamental reaction called oxidative addition can follow a different path to achieve the same ends, raising the question of whether this new order of events has been occurring all along and potentially opening up new space for chemical design.  A paper describing the research appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Golf course managers have much more insight into which fungicides to use to suppress turfgrass diseases, such as the common and costly dollar spot disease, without damaging the grass on their fairways, thanks to a new study by researchers at Penn State. The team evaluated variation in turfgrass injury caused by nine commercially available demethylation inhibitor (DMI) fungicides — a class of fungicide widely used in turfgrass management — commonly used ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A total collapse of the roughly 80-mile-wide Thwaites Glacier, the widest in the world, would trigger changes that could lead to 11 feet of sea-level rise, according to scientists who study Antarctica. To better predict fractures that could lead to such a collapse — and to better understand the processes driving changes in Antarctic ice shelves — a team led by researchers at Penn State developed a new method to evaluate cracks that destabilize ice shelves and accelerate those losses. They reported ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A nuclear winter is a theoretical concept, but if the climate scenario expected to follow a large-scale nuclear war, in which smoke and soot from firestorms block sunlight, came to fruition, global temperatures would sharply drop, extinguishing most agriculture. A nuclear winter could last for more than a decade, potentially leading to widespread famine for those who survive the devastation of the bomb blasts. Now, a team led by researchers at Penn State have modeled precisely how various nuclear winter scenarios could impact global production of corn — the most widely planted grain crop in the world. ...

Ivermectin administered to the whole population significantly reduces malaria transmission, offering new hope in the fight against the disease. The BOHEMIA trial, the largest study on ivermectin for malaria to date, showed a 26% reduction in new malaria infection on top of existing bed nets, providing strong evidence of ivermectin’s potential as a complementary tool in malaria control. The results of this project, coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) -an institution supported by the “la Caixa” Foundation- in collaboration ...

A new United Nations-funded study has highlighted the lasting psychological and social scars left by a state-sponsored witch hunt in The Gambia, more than a decade after it was carried out by former President Yahya Jammeh. The research, led by Professor Mick Finlay of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in collaboration with the University of The Gambia and Nottingham Trent University, is the first academic study into the stigma associated with government-led witchcraft accusations, and includes interviews with victims and their families from the villages most affected by the campaign. Jammeh’s 22-year dictatorship, which ended in 2016, was marked by human rights ...

A team of McGill University researchers, working with colleagues in the United States and South Korea, has developed a new way to make high-performance lithium-ion battery materials that could help phase out expensive and/or difficult-to-source metals like nickel and cobalt. The team’s breakthrough lies in creating a better method of producing “disordered rock-salt” (DRX) cathode particles, an alternative battery material. Until now, manufacturers struggled to control the size and quality of DRX particles, which made them unstable and hard to use in manufacturing settings. The researchers addressed that problem ...

New research reveals that tiny amounts of PFAS—widely known as “forever chemicals”—cross the placenta and breast milk to alter infants’ developing immune systems, potentially leaving lasting imprints on their ability to fight disease. University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) researchers tracked 200 local healthy mother–baby pairs, measuring common PFAS compounds in maternal blood during pregnancy and then profiling infants’ key T‑cell populations at birth, six months, and one year. By age 12 months, babies whose mothers had higher prenatal PFAS exposure exhibited ...

Ithaca, NY—A new study published in the journal Global Change Biology reveals that colonial-era landscape modifications have resulted in a devastating 80% loss of grassland habitat and significant declines in grassland bird populations in India's Nilgiri hills over the past 170 years. An international research team—led by scientists from Columbia University, the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati, and 10 other institutions—analyzed an extensive dataset comparing historical land cover ...