PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State University and Mayo Clinic researchers have developed an electrochemical catheter hub that could someday help prevent deadly central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) that annually kill thousands of people around the world. Reporting in the journal, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, the researchers showed that their e-catheter hub showed “significant antimicrobial activity,” killing off a common type of bacteria that is responsible for hospital infections. “Our idea was to produce hypochlorous acid, a common disinfectant, ...

A recent uptick in battery-related fires has drawn attention to the challenge of identifying defects that can cause these catastrophic malfunctions, but are rarely obvious to the naked eye. In hopes of preventing the dangerous glitches that can cause batteries to overheat and catch fire, researchers from Drexel University have developed a standard testing process to give manufacturers a better look at the internal workings of batteries. In a paper recently published in the journal Electrochimica Acta, the group presented methods for using ultrasound to monitor the electrochemical and mechanical functions of a battery — which ...

Psychosis often begins not with characteristic disturbances of the mind – delusions like paranoia or hallucinations – but with disturbances in the way we move our body. For researchers like Indiana University Assistant Professor Alexandra Moussa-Tooks in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, these motor disturbances offer critical insights into the condition of psychosis itself.  In a new study published on June 25 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, senior-author Moussa-Tooks and first-author Heather Burrell Ward, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, explore one such motor ability – ...

Brightly colored inexpensive and disposable electronic cigarettes and vapes continue to gain popularity. These devices turn flavored nicotine-containing liquid into a vapor that people inhale over hundreds or thousands of puffs — commonly called vaping. Researchers report in ACS Central Science that after a few hundred puffs, some disposable vaping devices released higher amounts of metals and metalloids than older refillable e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, thereby raising a user’s risk of health problems. “Our study highlights the hidden risk of these new and popular disposable electronic cigarettes ...

They may look like travel shampoo bottles and smell like bubblegum, but after a few hundred puffs, some disposable, electronic cigarettes and vape pods release higher amounts of toxic metals than older e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. For example, one of the disposable e-cigarettes studied released more lead during a day’s use than nearly 20 packs of traditional cigarettes. The study, published June 25 in the journal ACS Central Science, noted that although most disposable ...

In this April 2025 issue of Translational Lung Cancer Research, a pioneering study, led by Professor Shuben Li from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, revisits a classic but unresolved question in airway surgery: Should tracheobronchial anastomoses be routinely wrapped following resection and reconstruction? The article, titled "Tracheobronchial resection and reconstruction: to wrap or not to wrap the anastomosis?"，presents a single-center experience to explore the relationship ...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive cancer affecting the blood and bone marrow that progresses rapidly, making immediate treatment essential. While chemotherapy and targeted drugs have improved outcomes for some patients, many forms of AML remain resistant to treatment, and relapses are common.   A new study sheds light on why certain types of AML are so challenging to treat and how outcomes for patients might be improved. Researchers from Japan, including scientists from Chiba University, have discovered ...

The skin acts as the body’s first line of defense against external threats. However, as we age, the epidermis—the outermost layer of skin—gradually becomes thinner and loses its protective strength. About 90% of the cells in this layer are keratinocytes, which originate from deeper layers of the epidermis and migrate upward, ultimately forming the skin’s protective barrier. To combat aging’s impact on skin, numerous studies have emphasized the benefits of vitamin C (VC), a vitamin well known for its role in skin health and antioxidant ...

Technology plays a pivotal role across industries today, and agriculture is no exception. In the realm of regenerative agriculture - an approach focused on conserving and restoring soil health and biodiversity - technology is key in enhancing data collection, monitoring, and supporting informed decision-making.  TUdi is a collaborative project between the European Union and China funded by the European Commission and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, within the Horizon 2020 programme. The project's goal is to develop and promote soil-restoration strategies ...

Children growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods—communities with low rates of high school graduation and employment, low family income, and other measures of adversity—are at heightened risk of experiencing mental health conditions. But a new study from Mass General Brigham suggests that, while neighborhood environment plays a key role in mental health, having greater access to mental health staff in schools could help lower risk.   In a study of 30,000 high school and middle school students at 62 schools ...

Research Highlights: Over the past 50 years, overall heart disease death rates have dropped by 66% and deaths from heart attacks have declined by nearly 90%. The types of heart disease people are dying from most often have shifted from heart attacks to an increase in deaths from heart failure, arrhythmias and hypertensive heart disease. Researchers say this shift, in part, is the result of advances in public health measures focused on prevention and life-saving interventions to improve early diagnosis and treatment, allowing people to live longer while managing chronic heart conditions   DALLAS, June 25, 2025 — While heart disease has been the leading ...

Research led by Earth scientists at the University of Southampton has uncovered evidence of rhythmic surges of molten mantle rock rising from deep within the Earth beneath Africa. These pulses are gradually tearing the continent apart and forming a new ocean. The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, reveal that the Afar region in Ethiopia is underlain by a plume of hot mantle that pulses upward like a beating heart. The team’s discovery reveals how the upward flow of hot material from the deep mantle is strongly influenced by the tectonic plates – the massive solid slabs ...

In 1970, someone over the age of 65 hospitalized for a heart attack in the United States had about a 60% chance of leaving the hospital alive. Today, the survival rate is over 90%, with even better outcomes for younger patients. Those numbers have contributed to a remarkable decrease in the likelihood of dying from any type of heart disease over the last 50 years, according to a new study of heart disease mortality led by Stanford Medicine researchers. In 1970, 41% of all deaths were attributed to ailments of the heart; in 2022, that statistic had dropped to 24% of all deaths.  Most strikingly, the proportion ...

Academics at King’s College London and the University of East Anglia have released guidance for GPs on how to manage patients who may be privately accessing weight loss drugs. The medications are not routinely prescribed for obesity management in primary care. But it is estimated 1.5million people used weight-loss jabs in March 2025 with 80% of purchases through online retailers. As these users are privately accessing the medication, providers do not always provide wrap-around care such as dietary advice or psychological support. The authors of the guidance, published today in Obesity Facts, say the ten evidence-based tips aim to help GPs who see patients using ...

CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE FOR RELEASE: June 25, 2025   Kaitlyn Serrao 607-882-1140 kms465@cornell.edu Low-cost carbon capture? Bury wood debris in managed forests ITHACA, N.Y. – Taking carbon out of the atmosphere is essential for slowing global warming – and a team of Cornell University researchers has estimated “huge” potential for carbon capture using a method that is low-tech, sustainable and relatively simple: burying wood, especially the debris from managed ...

Osaka, Japan – A groundbreaking study led by a global research consortium offers new hope for patients with mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease. Researchers using an insect model and transcriptome analysis have unravelled the mechanism of iron regulation between host tissue and the mycetoma grain, a fungal mass characteristic of the disease. This discovery illuminates how the causative fungus invades and develops these protective grains within subcutaneous tissue, paving the way for new drug development and less invasive treatment strategies beyond surgical removal, potentially reducing the burden on patients significantly. Mycetoma, a chronic infectious ...

Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy, specifically to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), may increase the risk of childhood overweight or obesity. This is the conclusion of a large, pan-European meta-analysis study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, and recently published in Environment International. The study examined the relationship between exposure to air pollutants during pregnancy and during childhood, and its impact on body mass index (BMI) and ...

A new study by Professor José Villalaín, Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), provides a detailed description of how nymphaeol A — a compound found in propolis — behaves when interacting with cell membranes. Based on molecular dynamics simulations, the research is featured on the June cover of the scientific journal Membranes. Nymphaeol A is one of the main bioactive compounds in propolis, a resinous substance produced by honeybees and used since antiquity for its therapeutic effects. It has also been isolated from Macaranga tanarius, a tropical tree known as the parasol leaf macaranga, which ...

Flawed Impact Metrics Jeopardize EU Deregulation Plans, Study Finds A newly published peer-reviewed study has raised concerns about the evidence base behind the European Union’s long-running efforts to reduce bureaucracy for businesses, suggesting that key measurement tools are methodologically flawed and have faced little scrutiny over the years. The study, led by Academy Research Fellow Matti Ylönen of the University of Helsinki, traces the EU’s deregulation agenda back to the 1990s, focusing on its reliance on the Standard Cost Model (SCM)—a ...

Policymakers and drinkers are speaking different languages when it comes to alcohol consumption, according to new research.   A new study by a team psychologists, linguists and policy experts from University of Staffordshire, University of Liverpool, Oxford Brookes University and London South Bank University reveals stark differences in the way that policymakers and the public talk about alcohol consumption – and argues for a new approach to alcohol interventions and health campaigns.   Using ...

Proteins are the workhorses of biology. They perform virtually every important function in living organisms. They store, copy and protect our DNA, digest food to give us energy, and harness this energy to make our cells and muscles work. But imagine if proteins could be specifically designed to provide even more versatile molecular toolboxes for science, technology and healthcare. In essence, this is what protein design is all about. It is a growing field that allows scientists to create entirely new proteins - including those that nature itself has not explored - and to tailor them to solve specific challenges. Protein ...

Berlin, 25 June 2025 – The Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI) in Berlin has announced a collaboration with scientific technology company Bizmuth MBE Ltd. to integrate intelligent automation into the growth of semiconductor materials. The six-month partnership, running from June to December 2025, is one of the first initiatives in Europe to apply large language models (LLMs) and multimodal AI to the autonomous control of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). MBE is a well-established method for producing tailored atomically precise ...

Quantum computers can solve extraordinarily complex problems, unlocking new possibilities in fields such as drug development, encryption, AI, and logistics. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a highly efficient amplifier that activates only when reading information from qubits. Thanks to its smart design, it consumes just one-tenth of the power consumed by the best amplifiers available today. This reduces qubit decoherence and lays the foundation for more powerful quantum computers with significantly more qubits and enhanced performance. Bits, which are the building blocks ...

Diversity in the genome reflects adaptability The plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae causes major damage in agriculture. However, it also produces a large number of biologically active natural products. These could help the bacterium to adapt to changing environmental conditions and displace competitors. In a comprehensive genomic analysis, the researchers examined 18 representative strains of the bacterial species and analyzed their genetic potential to produce natural products using state-of-the-art bioinformatics methods. They were able to identify a total of 231 so-called biosynthetic gene clusters. These gene clusters ...

No-one could claim to be unaware of the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID): drugs can increase the time needed to react, impair coordination, alertness, and cognition, and lower inhibitions, thus encouraging reckless and aggressive driving. In the US in 2021, 10,903 people died in crashes where drugs were involved, which corresponds to 26% of all traffic deaths that year. And because new drugs constantly hit the black market, efforts to tackle the issue can be very challenging. A new study ...