A new UCLA Health study found certain genetic variants could help explain how long-term pesticide exposure could increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease.  While decades of research have linked pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s disease risk, researchers have sought to explain why some individuals with high exposure develop the disease while others do not.   One longstanding hypothesis has been that susceptibility to the disease is a combination of both environmental and genetic factors.  The new study, published in the journal NPJ Parkinson’s Disease, used genetic data from nearly 800 Central Valley (California) residents with Parkinson’s ...

As the climate changes, animals are doing what they can to adapt.  Researchers from UBC Okanagan—which includes partners from Biodiversity Pathways’ Wildlife Science Centre, the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, the University of Alberta, and Environment and Climate Change Canada—wanted to evaluate why deer densities in the boreal forest are rapidly increasing.  Over the past century, white-tailed deer have greatly expanded their range in North America, explains Melanie Dickie, a doctoral student with UBC Okanagan’s Wildlife Restoration Ecology Lab.  In the boreal forest of Western Canada, ...

Depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are serious concerns for public health. Approximately 280 million people worldwide have depression, while 620 million people have CVD. It has been known since the 1990s that the two diseases are somehow related. For example, people with depression run a greater risk of CVD, while effective early treatment for depression cuts the risk of subsequently developing CVD by half. Conversely, people with CVD tend to have depression as well. For these reasons, the American Heart Association (AHA) advises to monitor teenagers with depression ...

Our bodies are made up of trillions of different cells, each fulfilling their own unique function to keep us alive. How do cells move around inside these extremely complicated systems? How do they know where to go? And how did they get so complicated to begin with? Simple yet profound questions like these are at the heart of curiosity-driven basic research, which focuses on the fundamental principles of natural phenomena. An important example is the process by which cells or organisms move in response to chemical signals in their environment, also known as chemotaxis. A constellation of researchers from three different research units at the Okinawa Institute of Science ...

A nationwide survey of people who were pregnant or trying to become pregnant found that overall 54 percent expressed interest in the RSV vaccine during pregnancy. Perceiving RSV as a serious illness in infants was the strongest predictor of likely vaccination during pregnancy. Likelihood to receive the RSV vaccine during pregnancy was also higher among parents with a child at home already. Findings were published in the journal Pediatrics. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of infection among infants, frequently resulting in hospital or intensive care admission. RSV infection severe enough to require hospitalization has been associated with long-term wheezing ...

Tumor-resident microbiota in breast cancer promotes both the initiation and progression of cancer. However, the potential of targeting microbiota to enhance the efficacy of breast cancer treatment has not been comprehensively explored. In this study, researchers analyzed the microbial composition within breast tumors and identified a notable enrichment of ETBF in patients who exhibited resistance to taxane-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Key findings from the study include: Even at low biomass levels, ETBF ...

The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) has awarded The Lundquist Institute (TLI) a four-year grant totaling $2,623,234. The research project is led by Dr. Harry Rossiter, an investigator at TLI and Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The project aims to develop wearable multiplex biosensors to monitor exacerbation risk in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD affects approximately 16 million Americans and is the third leading cause of death globally. Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), typically caused by a lung infection, are associated ...

A research team led by Professor Jong Kyoung Kim and Yujin Jeong (PhD candidate), from the Department of Life Sciences at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in collaboration with Professor Yun-Hee Lee and Cheoljun Choi (PhD candidate) from the College of Pharmacy at Seoul National University, Professor Young-Min Hyun and Koung-Min Park (PhD candidate) from Yonsei University College of Medicine, Professor James Granneman from Wayne State University (WSU), and Professor Young-Suk Jung from the College of Pharmacy at Pusan National University, ...

Survivors of breast cancer are at significantly higher risk of developing second cancers, including endometrial and ovarian cancer for women and prostate cancer for men, according to new research studying data from almost 600,000 patients in England. For the first time, the research has shown that this risk is higher in people living in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK. Around 56,000 people in the UK are diagnosed each year, the vast majority (over 99%) of whom are women. Improvements in earlier diagnosis and in treatments mean that ...

International DNA Day Launch for Hong Kong’s Moonshot for Biology The first emblematic species sequenced by the Hong Kong Biodiversity Genomics Consortium are published to coincide with International DNA Day. Joining a global “moonshot for biology” that aims to sequence, catalogue, and characterize the genomes of all of Earth's eukaryotic biodiversity. A significant portion of modern knowledge in biology has emerged through sequencing the genetic code of the world’s biodiversity, which to date has been largely uncharacterized and increasingly ...

DALLAS, April 24, 2024 — The Periodic Table of Food Initiative ('the Initiative'), a pioneering collaboration led by the American Heart Association, the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, has unveiled an initial suite of scientific tools, data, and training aimed at revolutionizing global agriculture and nutrition. This first phase introduces two data interfaces–the PTFI MarkerLab interface and the American Heart Association Precision Medicine Platform–which provide standardized data on the biomolecular composition of 500 foods that are representative of global consumption. ...

Study found GPT-4-generated messages to patients were acceptable without any additional physician editing 58% of the time and provided more detailed educational information than those written by physicians AI-generated messages had shortcomings, including 7% of responses being deemed unsafe if left unedited Generative AI may promote efficiency and patient education, but require a “doctor in the loop” and a cautious approach as hospitals integrate algorithms into electronic health records A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham demonstrates that large language models (LLMs), a type of generative ...

Opioid use during pregnancy is not associated with a substantial increase in the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders such as ADHD in children, finds a large study from South Korea published by The BMJ today. A slightly increased risk of neuropsychiatric disorders was found, but the researchers say this should not be considered clinically meaningful because it was limited to mothers exposed to more than one opioid prescription, high doses, and over longer time periods during pregnancy. According to 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 7% of women in the United States were prescribed opioids during pregnancy. Previous ...

Public health experts are calling for a ban on alcohol industry funded education programmes in UK universities and schools, which they say normalise drinking and downplay the long term health risks of alcohol.  They include an industry-backed “freshers’ week survival guide” for university students and a theatre based educational programme in schools funded by Diageo, one of the world’s biggest alcoholic beverage companies, reports an investigation by The BMJ.   The call follows a successful campaign in Ireland that has led to educational programmes ...

Have you ever hailed a ride from an unrated Uber driver? Dined at a zero-star restaurant? Made a pricey online order from the lowest-rated Amazon vendor? Likely not. That's because rating systems have overhauled the way we travel, eat and shop. Born from the early days of e-commerce on sites like eBay, ratings help weed out scammers and lend some semblance of order to a fast-changing online marketplace. But there's a darker side to this reliance on ratings and rankings, says Marion Fourcade, a UC Berkeley sociology professor and director of Social Science Matrix. Supercharged ...

A new study led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) shows how firms in the United States behave differently depending on the political party in charge - even if they do not change policies. The researchers, from UEA in the UK and Colorado School of Mines in the US, investigated the implications of changes in energy companies’ behaviour in response to the outcome of gubernatorial elections, which take place to elect state governors. Using elections where the outcome is very close to see how unpredictable changes in the ruling party affect things, they focused on the behaviour of ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Just as water moves through a river, rivers themselves move across the landscape. They carve valleys and canyons, create floodplains and deltas, and transport sediment from the uplands to the ocean. A new paper out of UC Santa Barbara presents an account of what drives the migration rates of meandering rivers. The two authors compiled a global dataset of these waterways, analyzing how vegetation and sediment load effect channel movement. “We find a global-scale trend between the amount of sediment that rivers ...

Improved climate conditions in Europe for a range of climate-sensitive infectious diseases increase the risk of local transmission. Researchers are fighting back with early warning systems that combine mosquito surveillance with climate forecasts to give local communities time to prepare and protect themselves. **ECCMID has now changed its name to ESCMID Global, please credit ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID, Barcelona, Spain, 27-30 April) in all future stories** The geographical range of vector-borne diseases, especially diseases that ...

*Please mention the ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID) Barcelona, 27-30 April) if using this material* Climate change is multiplying the threat caused by antimicrobial resistance (AMR), amplifying its growing risk through increasing global temperatures, greenhouse gas emissions and rising sea levels. This warning along  will be given in a new evidence review at this year’s ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID) (27-30 April), by Professor Sabiha Essack, South African Research Chair in Antibiotic Resistance and One ...

*Embargo 0001H CEST Barcelona time Thursday 25 April* Concerns about the common side-effects of COVID-19 vaccines and their effectiveness are key to determining whether adults in Germany and the UK choose to get vaccinated against the virus, according to new research being presented at this year’s ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID) in Barcelona, Spain (27-30 April). In contrast, timing of COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, as well as their type, have little influence on people’s willingness to get vaccinated in both countries. The ...

**ECCMID has now changed its name to ESCMID Global, please credit ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID, Barcelona, Spain, 27-30 April) in all future stories** Experts are working on a new type of ultraviolet light called far-UVC that could be highly effective for reducing air-borne transmission of diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza, as well as surface contamination in hospitals, with hopes that it could even reduce the risk of the next pandemic. In a new research review presented at this year’s ...

Meta-analysis of genetic studies from 10 countries finds infants born by C-section have more antibiotic resistance genes; antibiotic use and prematurity also fuel resistance. Infants living in Africa had more antibiotic resistant genes than those from Europe. Findings indicate that interventions targeting the gut microbiome of mothers and their infants, such as probiotics, could help reduce antibiotic resistance spread. **ECCMID has now changed name to ESCMID Global, please credit ESCMID Global Congress in all future stories** A meta-analysis of genetic studies analysing the microbiota (bacteria in the gut) of 1,275 infants from 10 countries finds that caesarean delivery and antibiotic ...

TikTok’s swift ascension to the upper echelons of social media is often attributed to its recommendation algorithm, which predicts viewer preferences so acutely it’s spawned a maxim: “The TikTok algorithm knows me better than I know myself.” The platform’s success was so pronounced it’s seemed to spur other social media platforms to shift their designs. When users scroll through X or Instagram, they now see more recommended posts from accounts they don’t follow. Yet for all that influence, the public knows little about how TikTok’s ...

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected three New York University faculty as 2024 fellows: Glennys R. Farrar, a professor in the Department of Physics; André A. Fenton, a professor and chair of the Center for Neural Science; and Rachel L. Swarns, a professor in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.   “We honor these artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders in the public, non-profit, and private sectors for their accomplishments and for the curiosity, creativity, and courage required ...

When cancer patients undergo chemotherapy, the dose of most drugs is calculated based on the patient’s body surface area. This is estimated by plugging the patient’s height and weight into an equation, dating to 1916, that was formulated from data on just nine patients. This simplistic dosing doesn’t take into account other factors and can lead to patients receiving either too much or too little of a drug. As a result, some patients likely experience avoidable toxicity or insufficient benefit from the chemotherapy they receive. To make chemotherapy dosing more ...