IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON PRESS RELEASE Peer Reviewed / Observational study / People Under STRICT EMBARGO until: Wednesday 10th September 2025 23:30 (UK Time) / 18:30 (US Eastern Time) Chronic disease deaths decline globally, but progress is slowing **Country-level data available, see notes to editors** Mortality from chronic diseases fell in 80% of countries in the decade leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic (2010-2019) Progress has slowed, with 60% of countries performing worse than in the preceding decade Among high-income ...

Death rates from chronic diseases have fallen in four out of five countries around the world in the last decade - but progress has slowed, suggests an analysis led by researchers at Imperial College London and published in The Lancet. In recent decades there have been many global and national political pledges and plans to improve prevention and treatment of chronic diseases (also called non-communicable diseases - NCDs), such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease, neurological conditions and others. This includes the UN Sustainable Development Goal of reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one-third by 2030. This study is believed to be the first ...

A meta-analysis of 17 trials including over 9,000 toddlers found no evidence that parent-focused early childhood obesity prevention programs have an impact on young children's BMI. Authors say their findings underscore the need to re-think current behavioural approaches to prevent obesity in early childhood and stress the need for broader, coordinated and resourced public health action. Existing approaches to parent-focused behavioural programs delivered up to 12 months of age which aim to combat childhood obesity are ...

UCL Press Release Under embargo until Thursday 11 September 2025, 00:01 UK time Peer reviewed, qualitative study Study sheds light on hurdles faced in transforming NHS healthcare with AI Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into NHS hospitals is far harder than initially anticipated, with complications around governance, contracts, data collection, harmonisation with old IT systems, finding the right AI tools and staff training, finds a major new UK study led by UCL researchers.  Authors of the study, published in The Lancet  eClinicalMedicine, say ...

Spinal cord injuries caused by external trauma, such as traffic accidents or falls, often lead to the permanent loss of motor and sensory functions. This is because the spinal cord—the central pathway connecting the brain and the rest of the body—harbors a “brake” mechanism that halts repair. For the first time, the molecular mechanism behind this braking system has been revealed. A research team led by Director C. Justin LEE of the Center for Cognition and Sociality at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), in collaboration with Professor HA ...

CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE FOR RELEASE: Sept. 10, 2025 Adam Allington (231) 620-7180 aea235@cornell.edu As farm jobs decline, food industry work holds steady ITHACA, N.Y. – A new Cornell University study covering nearly three decades and 189 countries finds that while traditional farm jobs decline as nations grow wealthier, employment in the broader food industry – from processing plants to restaurants – remains surprisingly steady, offering better wages but ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is often linked to supercomputers and massive data centers, but Kennesaw State University researcher Bobin Deng is aiming for something a bit more accessible through a new National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. An assistant professor in Kennesaw State’s College of Computing and Software Engineering, Deng said the goal is to move AI beyond the cloud and into the hands of people where it can have the most impact – their personal devices. The research could allow AI tools to function without an internet connection, something that is uncommon ...

Ikoma, Japan—Many advances in medicine and drug development were possible owing to flow cytometry, a single-cell analysis technique that analyzes cells using the emitted fluorescence of their chemical tags while passing through a laser beam. Most flow cytometers possess a microfluidic channel, a small channel that regulates the flow of fluorescently tagged analytes. Flow cytometry enables quick single-cell counting and analysis, making it a cornerstone of modern biomedical research. A powerful variant, impedance flow cytometry, replaces ...

FOR EMBARGOED RELEASE  Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025  5 p.m. EDT  Contact: NIH Office of Communications  301-496-5787                                       Treating opioid addiction in jails improves treatment engagement, reduces overdose deaths and reincarceration   NIH-funded study demonstrates life-saving potential of providing medications for opioid use disorder in carceral settings    A study supported ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2025 Highlights: Chronic insomnia—trouble sleeping at least three days a week for three months or more—could speed up brain aging. People with chronic insomnia were 40% more likely to develop dementia or mild cognitive issues than people without insomnia. Insomnia with perceived reduced sleep was associated with lower cognition comparable to being four years older. Better sleep isn’t just beauty rest—it might protect your brain health. MINNEAPOLIS — People with chronic insomnia may ...

Studies show that teacher turnover has a negative impact on students’ academic performance, but little is known about other ways that their departures affect student behavior. In a new study of New York City public schools, researchers found that teacher turnover is linked to higher rates of student suspensions and requests from teachers seeking disciplinary action, known as office disciplinary referrals (ODR). “Teacher turnover has generally been studied for its impact on student achievement, but there are a host of reasons to expect that turnover, which creates disruption and instability, would also lead to more disciplinary infractions and suspensions,” says lead author Luis ...

By Chris Woolston Aphids, grasshoppers and other bugs aren’t the only pests that can quickly wipe out a crop. Many harmful bacteria have evolved ways to bypass a plant’s defenses. A once-healthy tomato plant can quickly turn sick and blotchy, thanks to microscopic foes armed with an arsenal of tricks. In a recent study, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have identified a tool that helps the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae turn a plant’s fundamental biology against itself. The findings, recently published in the prestigious journal mBio, could eventually lead to new approaches to protecting crops, said co-author Barbara Kunkel, ...

Female treefrogs prefer a mate with an impressive call, but the crowded environments give unattractive males an edge, according to a new international study led by Assistant Professor Jessie Tanner of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. When choosing among only two males, female gray treefrogs pick the mate with faster and more regular calls. Faced with four or eight types of calls, however, their choices were inconsistent, according to the study recently published in the biological sciences journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. In the wild, frogs usually are choosing mates in noisy, crowded environments called choruses, with many males calling at the same ...

Key Takeaways Penn researchers built a light-based crystal “tunnel” that forces light to move one way, even around bumps, bends, and defects. By driving the crystal with circularly polarized light, the team created a protected topological channel that keeps light on course. The discovery points toward sturdier lasers, smarter optical chips, and future devices that could safeguard quantum information. Relaying a message from point A to B can be as simple as flashing a thumbs-up at a stranger in an intersection, signaling them to proceed—nonverbal, clear, and universally understood. ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (09/10/2025) — New research from the University of Minnesota Medical School is providing important insights into how COVID-19 persists in cancer patients even long after testing positive. The findings were recently published in iScience. During a peak of COVID-19 in 2020, there was concern around cancer patients who had contracted COVID-19 and developed severe inflammatory reactions that looked similar to autoimmune conditions. To better understand this phenomenon, researchers studied three cancer patients ...

Tiny metal figurines from Sardinia's Nuragic civilization in around 1,000 BC reveal extensive ancient Mediterranean metal trading networks Article URL: http://plos.io/45QCTPq Article title: Multiproxy analysis unwraps origin and fabrication biographies of Sardinian figurines: On the trail of metal-driven interaction and mixing practices in the early first millennium BCE Author countries: Germany, Denmark, Italy Funding: Grant agreement 23–1869 to HV, MKH, GS. Augustinus Foundation funding the Metals & Giants project. https://augustinusfonden.dk/en The foundation played no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation ...

Natural microfibers may degrade differently to synthetic materials under simulated sunlight exposure in freshwater and seawater conditions, with implications for how such pollutants affect aquatic life Article URL: http://plos.io/3HS46t5 Article title: Structural evolution of microfibers in seawater and freshwater under simulated sunlight: A small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering study Author countries: Italy, Austria Funding: This work was partially funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU, Project Code: ECS00000041, Project Title: Innovation, Digitalization and Sustainability for the Diffused Economy in Central Italy ...

Indian new mums report better postpartum wellbeing when their own mum acts as their primary support - while women whose mother-in-law is the primary caregiver instead report significantly lower overall wellness Article URL: https://plos.io/45Sz6RO Article title: Investigating the role of family members in postnatal care: Evidence from mother-caregiver dyads in India Author countries: U.S., India Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Educational attainment and intelligence, and to a smaller extent parental education and father’s occupational class, are associated with midlife socioeconomic status, according to a new study published September 10, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Erik Lykke Mortensen of University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Socioeconomic status (SES)—a measure of individual differences in access to material and social resources—has long been linked with health, morbidity, and cognition. Previous studies ...

Northeastern and Midwestern residents tend to have higher physical, social, and financial—i.e., “traditional”—wellness, while Southern residents have higher “existential” wellness, involving a sense of purpose and community identity, per an analysis of survey data from more than 325,000 U.S. residents. David Samson of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on September 10, 2025. A growing body of research explores factors that may be linked with traditional and existential wellness. Many such factors, such as healthcare ...

In a three-year study involving  more than 5,000 residents of Israel before and after the mass traumatic events of October 7, 2023, those who watched extensive media coverage of the attacks were found to be more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prof. Erez Shmueli and Prof. Dan Yamin of Tel Aviv University and Wizermed LTD,  in collaboration with colleagues from Tel Aviv University and Stanford University present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Mental ...

Dogs reportedly became harder to train as the pandemic progressed, though this seemed to improve by the time it was ending, according to a study publishing September 10, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Courtney Sexton of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, U.S., Yuhuan Li of the University of Washington, U.S., and colleagues. Understanding dog behavior can help owners to improve their relationships with their pets and to monitor their health and welfare. To investigate general patterns of dog behavior, researchers analyzed data from a survey completed ...

The withdrawal of U.S. funding for tuberculosis could lead to up to 2.2 million additional deaths between 2025 and 2030 inclusive, per modelling study across 26 high-burden TB countries.   Article URL: https://plos.io/423TG0g Article Title: A deadly equation: The global toll of US TB funding cuts Author Countries: Switzerland, United States Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. END ...

An unusual therapy developed at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) could change the way the world fights influenza, one of the deadliest infectious diseases. In a new study in Science Advances, researchers report that a cocktail of antibodies protected mice—including those with weakened immune systems—from nearly every strain of influenza tested, including avian and swine variants that pose pandemic threats. Unlike current FDA-approved flu treatments, which target viral enzymes and can quickly become useless as the virus mutates, this therapy did not allow viral escape, even after a month of repeated exposure in animals. That difference could prove crucial in future outbreaks, when ...

For many children, the transition from learning to read to reading to learn is a crucial and sometimes nerve-wracking milestone. Reading aloud in class is intended to foster fluency and confidence, but for many students, it may spark anxiety that can hinder literacy development well into adulthood. In response to this challenge, PhD student Lauren Wright led a team of researchers—including collaborators from the University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago, and University of Wisconsin–Madison—through an innovative study to explore how technology might assist children in learning contexts where anxiety can be a barrier. This work emerged from Assistant Professor ...