Toronto, ON – A sizeable improvement was found in the prevalence of American adults aged 65 and older without disabilities -- including memory, hearing, visual, and functional disabilities or limitations in activities of daily living -- according to a new nationally representative study published online in the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics Plus found. In total, 61% of older Americans reported being free from disability in 2008. The prevalence increased to 65% in 2017. While this may seem like a small increase, had the prevalence of individuals without disabilities remained ...

THESSALONIKI, Greece, 11 February 2025 - In a notable Genomic Press research report, researchers at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki have uncovered a significant presence of manic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs), offering valuable insights that could reshape treatment approaches. The rigorous peer-reviewed study, published in Brain Medicine, examined 75 stable outpatients with SSDs, revealing that more than one in four patients (26.7%) exhibited distinct manic symptoms, a finding that ...

“The cosmological principle is like an ultimate kind of statement of humility,” explains James Adam, astrophysicist at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa, and lead author of the new paper. According to the Cosmological Principle, not only are we not at the center of the Universe, but a true center does not exist. A further assumption, similar to but distinct and independent from homogeneity, is that the Universe is also isotropic, meaning it has no preferred directions. These assumptions underlie the Standard Model of Cosmology, the theoretical ...

Most people want harmful social media content such as physical threats and defamation to be restricted. This also applies in the USA where several social media platforms have recently modified their policies in favor of unrestricted free speech. However, the majority of users believe that intolerance and hate have become unavoidable on social media. This was revealed in a large-scale survey conducted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Oxford in 10 countries in Europe, America, Africa and Australia. The study also highlights differences among countries. The global debate on whether and how social media content should ...

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 4:00 AM GMT TUESDAY 11 FEBRUARY / 23:00 ET MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2025 A new large-scale, global survey has revealed that most people want harmful social media content such as physical threats and defamation to be restricted. This also applies in the USA where several social media platforms have recently modified their policies in favor of unrestricted free speech. However, the majority of users believe that intolerance and hate have become unavoidable on social media. This study, conducted ...

New Curtin University research has found exposure to outdoor air pollution and extreme temperatures during pregnancy may increase the risk of prolonged pregnancy, offering new insights into the impact of climate change on maternal health.   The study analysed data from nearly 400,000 births in Western Australia and found that higher exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) and biothermal stress (a measure that combines air temperature, radiant temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and human physiology) was associated ...

Researchers have developed a new AI algorithm, called Torque Clustering, that is much closer to natural intelligence than current methods. It significantly improves how AI systems learn and uncover patterns in data independently, without human guidance. Torque Clustering can efficiently and autonomously analyse vast amounts of data in fields such as biology, chemistry, astronomy, psychology, finance and medicine, revealing new insights such as detecting disease patterns, uncovering fraud, or understanding behaviour. “In nature, animals learn by observing, exploring, and interacting with their ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — It’s 1999, the 21st century is on the horizon, and California has big plans for marine conservation. New legislation has presented a mandate to establish an ambitious network of marine protected areas (MPAs) unlike anywhere else in the world. The goal is to craft strategic protections to safeguard the state’s marine life for preservation and economic benefits alike. Now 25 years later, an international team of researchers, led by scientists at UC Santa Barbara, have evaluated the network’s ...

Public posts on social media platforms shed light on the extent and nature of prolific illegal wildlife hunting in Lebanon, research in Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation, published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora, has found.  The study is the first to use social media as a tool for assessing illegal hunting activities in Lebanon. The country, along with the Mediterranean region more broadly, is a global poaching blackspot, particularly for the illegal killing of protected ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- The world’s largest known lithium deposit exists within a vast salt pan called the Salar de Uyuni, which stretches for thousands of square miles atop a high, dry Andean plateau in Bolivia. For most of the year, salt crystals encrust the terrain, white as confectioner’s sugar. During the wet season, pooling rainwater mirrors surrounding mountains and sky. “The Salar is a magical place for travelers from all over the world who come to see the colors, the reflections, in this endless white landscape,” said Avner Vengosh, Nicholas Chair of Environmental Quality at the Duke University ...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It’s called “woody breast” and for consumers it can mean a chewier chicken sandwich, but for the industry it can mean up to $200 million annual yield loss. Work done by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station is not only making woody breast easier to detect in chicken meat but is accurate up to 95 percent of the time. The development could help improve quality assurance and customer confidence in one of the state’s most economically important agricultural products. What allows ...

Around 1 in 5 UK medical students considers dropping out of medical school, with mental health issues a key contributor to their intention to abandon medicine, suggest the results of an observational study published in the open access journal BMJ Open. The shortage of doctors worldwide is a major cause for concern, say the researchers, with the current shortfall thought to be around 6.5 million. These shortages not only affect the quality of patient care, but also doctors’ wellbeing as a result of increased workload and chronic stress, which further undermine recruitment and retention, creating a vicious circle, they add. Given that medical ...

The combination of poorly developed social and cognitive skills during childhood is linked to poor exam results by the age of 16, with those for whom these  issues persist throughout their childhood more than 4 times as likely not to pass at least 5 GCSEs, finds research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. The findings, which are based on a large set of nationally representative data, suggest that childhood cognitive and behavioural issues may be behind 17% of GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) exam fails among 16 year olds, conclude the researchers. “Years in school matter, not just for exam results, but for skills and capacity development. ...

A poorly positioned menstrual cup to capture monthly blood flow may lead to more serious complications than leakage alone, warn doctors in the journal BMJ Case Reports, after treating a young woman with uterohydronephrosis—a swollen kidney caused by blocked urine flow into the bladder. The use of menstrual cups as a sustainable alternative to other methods of controlling period blood flow is rising, note the report authors. While reported complications are rare, the evidence suggests that pain, vaginal wounds, allergic reactions, ...

New Haven, Conn. — Synthetic biologists from Yale were able to re-write the genetic code of an organism — a novel genomically recoded organism (GRO) with one stop codon — using a cellular platform that they developed enabling the production of new classes of synthetic proteins. These synthetic proteins, researchers say, offer the promise of innumerable medical and industrial applications that can benefit society and human health. The creation of the landmark GRO, known as “Ochre” — which fully compresses redundant, or “degenerate” codons, into a single codon — is ...

https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/AMM-2024-0053 Announcing a new publication for Acta Materia Medica journal. Estrogens have been reported to cause dysfunction in biliary transport systems, thereby inducing cholestasis. Multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) is a transporter responsible for independent bile flow. Emerging evidence indicates that PDZ domain containing 1 (PDZK1) regulates localization of MRP2; however, PDZK1’s role and regulatory machinery in MRP2-mediated estrogen-induced cholestasis (EIC) remain unclear. The authors of this article observed, in a mouse model of EIC, downregulated PDZK1 expression in the liver and enhanced intracellular ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 10 February 2025    @Annalsofim          Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.          ----------------------------       1. ...

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. This issue includes studies to be presented this week at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Metastasis-directed therapy shows favorable ...

MSU has a satellite uplink/LTN TV studio and Comrex line for radio interviews upon request. EAST LANSING, Mich. – Feeling ready for a committed relationship is a key step in dating. But do your friends agree that you’re ready for a long-term relationship? As this week is Valentine’s Day, newer couples may be considering just how serious their relationship is together. A new study from Michigan State University found that friends significantly agreed on who was ready for committed relationships — and who wasn’t. The ...

Integrated care – a coordinated approach that addresses patients’ physical, mental and social health needs – has been shown to improve patient outcomes, reduce health care costs and address health disparities.   Since 2019, the Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care’s Center for Integrated Care has served as a hub for integrated care education and training at Rutgers Health while providing clinical services with partners throughout New Jersey.   Researchers at the center have published ...

Like most aquatic vegetation, kelp is being negatively impacted by climate change. Warming ocean temperatures have led to shorter growing and harvesting seasons, including for sugar kelp, one of the most commonly farmed kelp species. The loss of kelp populations can significantly impact ecosystems, and potentially the growing demand for sustainably farming food, feed, fertilizer, medicine, and cosmetics. To give kelp a chance against climate change, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have identified kelp species with natural adaptations to cope with heat. In a new study published in the Journal of Applied Phycology[RM1] , WHOI experts identify new strains ...

HOUSTON – (Feb. 10, 2025) – Rice University scientists and collaborators at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have demonstrated a new method for detecting the presence of dangerous chemicals from tobacco smoke in human placenta with unprecedented speed and precision. The research team used a combination of light-based imaging techniques and machine learning (ML) algorithms to identify and label polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives (PACs) ⎯ toxic compounds generated through the incomplete combustion ...

No exhaust means no emissions, right?  Not quite. It is commonly known that while electric vehicles do not produce tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions while driving, they do create debris from tire and brake abrasion. However, the degree to which they do and how that compares to internal combustion engine vehicles was largely unknown until the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute's Hesham Rakha investigated it. In an article published in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Rakha, alongside institute research associate Mohamed Farag and Associate Professor of civil and environmental engineering Hosein Foroutan, reported findings ...

A team of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC has unlocked the details of a cellular pathway that triggers cellular inflammation and aging and is linked to Alzheimer’s disease, particularly among those who carry the APOE4 genetic risk. They have also found a way to return cells to a healthy state, revealing a new potential approach to treatment. The study, the culmination of a decade of research on a protein known as ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), was just published in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration. Past research ...

Kick-Off Episode with Dr. Margaret Foti, CEO of AACR, Premieres February 11 Bethesda, MD – February 7, 2025 – The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is excited to announce the official launch of its groundbreaking new podcast, All Things Cancer, premiering on February 11, 2025. Hosted by NFCR CEO, Sujuan Ba, Ph.D., this compelling series will bring together the entire ecosystem of cancer research—including leading scientists, oncologists, doctors, patient advocates, caregivers, biotech innovators, and survivors—for powerful discussions on the breakthroughs shaping the future of cancer research, treatment, and ...