Niigata, Japan— In a remarkable advancement for soil science, researchers from Japan have developed a novel method for estimating microbial biomass using water-extractable organic matter (WEOM) from air-dried soils. This innovative approach not only simplifies the estimation process but also eliminates the need for toxic solvents typically used in traditional methods, such as chloroform fumigation extraction. A research was conducted by a dedicated team from Niigata University, Kyushu University, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, and Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences researchers. The study analyzed 50 soil samples from ten diverse profiles across various regions in Japan, including six ...

New commentary published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine warns that current risk-based regulatory approaches to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare fall short in protecting patients, potentially leading to over- and undertreatment as well as discrimination against patient groups. The authors found that while AI and machine learning systems can enhance clinical accuracy, concerns remain over their inherent inaccuracy, opacity, and potential for bias which are not adequately addressed by the current regulatory ...

Hot tubs and saunas can both soothe aching muscles and provide welcome warmth, but hot tubs might offer greater health benefits. That’s the takeaway from a new study done by researchers in the Bowerman Sports Science Center at the University of Oregon, which compared the physiological effects of soaking in a hot tub to sitting in a traditional dry heat sauna or a more modern far-infrared sauna. By raising core body temperatures, soaking in hot water can help lower blood pressure, stimulate the immune system and, over time, improve the body’s ...

Combining neck surgery with intensive speech therapy is associated with greater improvements in a person's ability to communicate after a stroke than intensive speech therapy alone, finds a clinical trial published by The BMJ today. The results show improvements immediately after surgery without any long-term severe adverse events or lasting discomfort, as well as reported improvements in quality of life and post-stoke depression over six months. Stroke is the most common cause of aphasia (problems with communication, including speaking, understanding others, reading and writing). More than 60% of patients are ...

Introducing performance related pay for UK general practices initially improved quality of care, but did not seem to provide lasting improvements beyond that expected by previous trends, finds a study published by The BMJ today. And initial gains in quality seemed to reverse when financial incentives were withdrawn, say the researchers. The UK Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) pay-for-performance programme was introduced across the NHS in 2004 to reward general practices for providing high quality care across a range of disease indicators ...

Focusing solely on achieving weight loss for people with a high body mass index (BMI) may do more harm than good, argue experts in The BMJ today. Dr Juan Franco and colleagues say, on average, people with high weight will not be able to sustain a clinically relevant weight loss with lifestyle interventions, while the potential harms of weight loss interventions, including the reinforcement of weight stigma, are still unclear. They stress that a healthy lifestyle has important benefits, but that weight alone might not give an adequate picture of someone’s health, and say doctors should provide high quality, evidence based care reflecting individual preferences ...

Serious quality defects were found in a significant number of cancer medications from sub-Saharan Africa, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame. For the study published in The Lancet Global Health, researchers collected different cancer medications from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi and evaluated whether each drug met regulatory standards. Researchers considered a variety of factors, including appearance, packaging, labeling and, most importantly, the assay value. The assay value is the quantity of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) found in each drug. To meet safety standards, most products should be within a ...

More effective platforms for drug and medical device development and better cross sector engagement are urgently required to prevent the ‘unacceptably high’ newborn death rate, according to a global report. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Commission on the future of neonatology report found this field of medicine faced significant challenges across leadership, collaboration, regulation and funding, which were hindering better health outcomes for newborns. The Lancet Commission was created to consider these challenges and design a roadmap to accelerate research and development ...

The Multilink Consortium, a NIHR-funded partnership between the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Programme, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, has published the first-of-its-kind research in sub-Saharan Africa to examine the scale and impact of ‘multimorbidity’ in patients admitted acutely to hospital. Multimorbidity refers to the presence of two or more chronic diseases. Researchers discovered that of 1007 ...

A quarter of people seeking care for symptoms of chronic respiratory diseases in Kenya may incur ‘catastrophic’ health costs, new research published in The Lancet Global Health has found. A study of almost 300 adults accessing treatment for respiratory symptoms across five health facilities in Meru County, Kenya, found that over a quarter (26%) had ‘catastrophic health expenditure’ (CHE, defined as over 10% of their household’s monthly outgoings) relating to their illness and seeking care. The severe economic burden included ...

JUNE 2025 TIP SHEET Alcohol & Cancer Sobering Truth: Alcohol-Fueled Cancer Deaths Rising Across U.S. (Video Available) Sylvester researchers have become the first to look at trends in alcohol-linked cancer mortality across the U.S. Their findings, presented last month at ASCO 2025, found that alcohol-related cancer deaths nationwide nearly doubled between 1990 and 2021. Moreover, the highest burden fell on men over 55, whose alcohol-linked cancer mortality rose by more than 1% a year between 2007 and 2021. “That’s a big and concerning rise,” said Chinmay Jani, M.D., Sylvester hematology and oncology ...

The Center for Space Exploration Research at the University of California, Davis, has partnered with Proteus Space to launch a US government-sponsored satellite into space with a custom AI-enabled payload in a brand-new, first-ever rapid design-to-deployment small satellite. The team will launch the satellite and payload in October 2025 from Vanderberg, CA. From the time the project was fully approved, the design and launch will occur within an unprecedented 13 months. (The normal pace for small satellites is often measured in years.) The UC Davis-designed ...

SYDNEY, Australia - A new study involving 121 former elite rowers from Australia has revealed one in five develops atrial fibrillation (AFib). This common heart rhythm condition can lead to stroke and heart failure in some individuals, but the researchers identified new genetic and clinical tools that enable early preventive strategies.   Researchers also found the retired rowers, who include former Olympians, are almost seven times more likely to develop AFib than the general population – despite having far fewer AFib risk factors like high ...

A common medication already used for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis is effective for patients with giant cell arteritis, according to findings from a team at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Causing the body’s immune system to attack blood vessels in the head, neck, and other areas, giant cell arteritis often leads to headaches, vision loss, and even aortic aneurysms. But nearly half of patients taking upadacitinib in a new Phase 3 clinical trial achieved sustained remission— while reducing their dependence on glucocorticoids (typically called “steroids”), ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2025   MINNEAPOLIS — People living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods may be more likely to have biomarkers for inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published June 25, 2025, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that neighborhood factors cause these biomarkers: it only shows an association. “Studies have shown that living in less advantaged neighborhoods may increase your risk for Alzheimer’s ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2025 MINNEAPOLIS — The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has issued a position statement on therapies for neurological conditions that have limited evidence or no approved use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The statement is published June 25, 2025, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The statement includes guiding principles for discussions with patients and policymakers about these therapies. Although the statement includes illustrative examples, it does not provide clinical recommendations ...

CINCINNATI – Scientists from Cincinnati Children’s and colleagues based in Japan report achieving a major step forward in organoid technology--producing liver tissue that grows its own internal blood vessels. This significant advance could lead to new ways to help people living with hemophilia and other coagulation disorders while also taking another step closer to producing transplantable repair tissues for people with damaged livers. The study, led by Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD, director ...

BOSTON, MA – June 25, 2025 – The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) proudly awarded the 2025 Lupus Insight Prize today to highly respected immunologist Deepak Rao, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The Prize recognizes Dr. Rao’s pioneering and widely reported findings published in Nature, which reveal a previously unknown imbalance in key immune cells that contribute to lupus. The study sheds light on how this imbalance arises and identifies a potential target for restoring immune system regulation in people with the disease. Dr. Rao was honored today at the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) 2025 meeting in ...

Los Angeles, CA – June 25, 2025 - The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) is proud to announce that Dr. Yangzhi Zhu, Assistant Professor at TIBI, has been honored with the 2024 Biosensors Young Investigator Award.   This prestigious award recognizes early-career researchers who have made outstanding contributions to the field of biosensors. All nominations were evaluated by a distinguished committee led by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Giovanna Marrazza.   Dr. Zhu’s research focuses on the development of flexible biosensors and wearable bioelectronics for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. His lab leads interdisciplinary efforts ...

Imagine a future in which people with disabilities can walk on their own, thanks to robotic legs. A new project from Northern Arizona University is accelerating that future with an open-source robotic exoskeleton.  Right now, developing these complex electromechanical systems is expensive and time-consuming, which likely stops a lot of research before it ever starts. But that may soon change: Years of research from NAU associate professor Zach Lerner’s Biomechatronics Lab has led to the first comprehensive open-source exoskeleton framework, made freely available to anyone worldwide. It will help overcome several huge obstacles for potential ...

In the Andes, the rise of agriculture to replace foraging was not the result of hardship and resource scarcity, but instead a time of economic resilience and innovation, according to a study published June 25, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Luis Flores-Blanco of the University of California Davis and Arizona State University, U.S., and colleagues. The transition from foraging to farming was a major shift in human history that laid the foundations for the expansion of modern civilization. The current prevailing ...

In an international study, participants’ attitudes towards certain social groups—namely, politicians and Black people—were more strongly related to their attitudes towards the men than the women of each group, suggesting that men are the “default” for attitudes towards these groups. Curtis Edward Phills of the University of Oregon, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on June 25, 2025. Prior research has shown how people often discuss some social groups as though they are primarily made up ...

A U.K. study of data on more than 30,000 crimes sheds new light on crime after dark, suggesting that the overall risk of crime rises when darkness falls, but that risk varies depending on type of crime and geographical area. Jim Uttley of the University of Sheffield, U.K., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on June 25, 2025. Prior research has shown that darkness reduces people’s feelings of safety, and that improved street lighting can help people feel safer being out after dark. However, research on whether the risk ...

Data from Poland, Indonesia and Nepal indicate that affectionate behavior is associated with higher relationship satisfaction - though cultural differences impact how affection is displayed and perceived Article URL: https://plos.io/3FLkDOt Article title: To hug or not to hug? Public and private displays of affection and relationship satisfaction among people from Indonesia, Nepal, and Poland Author countries: Poland, Nepal, Indonesia Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

"Boomerang" made from mammoth tusk is likely one of the oldest known in Europe at around 40,000 years old, per analysis of this artifact from a Polish Upper Paleolithic cave Article URL: https://plos.io/43ScZex Article title: Boomerang and bones: Refining the chronology of the Early Upper Paleolithic at Obłazowa Cave, Poland Author countries: Italy, Canada, Switzerland, Poland, U.K., Germany. Funding: This research was supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement ...