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 ...

Today, high school students worldwide face unprecedented levels of stress as they navigate academic pressures, issues with social identity, and future career decisions. In Japan, researchers have found that depressive symptoms affect a large portion of high school students, with many scoring above clinical cutoff points for depression. These symptoms not only increase the risk of developing major depressive disorders but also negatively impact students’ educational outcomes, future employment prospects, and their economic well-being throughout their lives. Recognizing this vulnerability, numerous school-based programs have been developed ...

As many as 19% of packaged foods and beverages contain synthetic food dyes, according to new research evaluating the content of 39,763 US grocery store products. The findings were published today in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 1 Synthetic dyes are commonly used to make products more appealing, particularly those marketed to children, but a growing body of evidence suggests they may cause or worsen behavioral problems such as hyperactivity and inattention.2 Researchers at The George Institute for Global Health, the University of North Carolina and the Center for Science in the Public Interest assessed ingredient data for packaged foods ...

Philadelphia, June 25, 2025 – As many as 19% of packaged foods and beverages sold by top US food manufacturers contain synthetic food dyes, according to new research evaluating the content of 39,763 American grocery store products. The findings of the study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (JAND), published by Elsevier, demonstrate the widespread prevalence of synthetic dyes in US foods and beverages, especially those marketed to children, and can help inform policymakers interested in taking legislative or regulatory action. Food colors are an additive ...

Women who experience severe bleeding after giving birth face elevated risks to their cardiovascular health that can persist for up to 15 years – a new analysis of data from over 9.7 million women across Europe, North America and Asia shows.  The findings, which follow a review of research data some of which dates back to 1986, suggests that women who experience postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) have an increased risk to both cardiovascular conditions – such as heart failure, stroke, and ischemic heart disease – and thromboembolic ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Weak bones can have deadly consequences. Women often get bone density tests to screen for osteoporosis, yet many men don’t even realize they are at risk until they suffer a major fracture.  June is Men’s Health Awareness Month, with a focus on raising awareness about osteoporosis in men. A new survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center among U.S. adults finds that only 1% of men are concerned about bone density.  This concerns Paul Lewis, MD, an interventional radiologist at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.  “It’s a silent disease, and it’s silent until it makes some noise, ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (June 25, 2025)—It’s no secret that women often become less interested in sex with age. However, orgasm and satisfaction have been shown to not decline significantly with age. A new study suggests regular sexual activity may limit vulvar pain, irritation, and dryness, which are all common reasons women have less sex as they get older. Results of the study are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society. Estrogen deficiency during and after menopause may reduce the life expectancy of women and impair their quality of life through a condition called genitourinary ...

A review article recently published in Molecular Biomedicine by Prof. Juan Du and Dr. Xia Peng of Capital Medical University School of Stomatology presents an authoritative and up-to-date synthesis of the molecular biology of lysine lactylation (Kla), a novel post-translational modification that connects cellular metabolism with gene expression and protein function. First described in 2019, Kla is now known to modify not only histones but also a vast array of non-histone proteins. These modifications regulate processes such as inflammation, DNA repair, cancer metabolism, and immune signaling. While histone Kla has been the primary focus of earlier research, this new ...

For over a decade, researchers have considered boson sampling—a quantum computing protocol involving light particles—as a key milestone toward demonstrating the advantage of quantum methods over classical computing. But while previous experiments showed that boson sampling is hard to simulate with classical computers, practical uses have remained out of reach. Now, in Optica Quantum, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) present the first practical application of boson sampling for image recognition, a vital task across many fields, from forensic science to medical diagnostics. Their approach uses just three ...

summary A research team led by Associate Professor Yasushi Segawa, graduate students Mai Nagase (at the time of the research) and Rui Yoshida, and technical staff member Sachiko Nakano of the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS) and SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), together with Associate Professor Takashi Hirose of Kyoto University's Institute for Chemical Research, has synthesized three-dimensionally shaped molecules containing an internal twist and shown that they possess the properties of organic semiconductors. By introducing methyl groups into a planar molecule containing several thiophene units and forcing it into a twisted conformation, ...

A collaboration spanning Europe, Australia and North America to create a cutting-edge bushfire evacuation simulator has been recognised for its contribution to fire safety.    The simulator visualises bushfire spread and people movement based on traffic congestion, weather conditions and other factors to calculate how quickly a community can escape a fire.  The award-winning team from RMIT University, Imperial College London, Canada’s National Research Council, Lund University and end-users like GHD Group, have collaborated for over eight years to develop and test the free-to-use simulation tool, ...

The question of whether Earth is alone in harboring life has captivated humanity for millennia. In recent years, scientists have turned to Earth-like planets in other solar systems that may show the most promise, but many revolve around stars that emit much stronger solar radiation than our own. Now, a new study offers evidence that life as we know it may be able to thrive on those Earth-like exoplanets.   Published June 12th in Astrobiology, the new research demonstrated that lichen found in the Mojave Desert survived for 3 months under levels ...

When pain strikes from multiple sources—such as a paper cut followed by contact with hot water—the experience can feel disproportionately intense. But is this agony merely additive, or does the brain integrate these signals in a way that amplifies suffering? Researchers have long known that pain is highly subjective and is influenced not only by the intensity of harmful stimuli but also by cognitive factors, such as instructions on how to perceive pain. However, how the brain integrates ...

Over recent centuries, the intensification of land use has caused the loss of natural sponge functions in landscapes. River straightening, bank stabilisation and embankments disrupt the natural exchange of water with the floodplains, which not only absorb and slowly release water during droughts but also provide diverse habitats, nature-based flood protection, and valuable recreational areas. Restoring wetlands is vital in addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. The "SpongeBoost" project supports policy-making, ...

A UBC Okanagan research team has developed an innovative artificial intelligence system that can accurately predict where ships are heading and arriving, potentially helping Canadian ports better prepare for incoming vessels and respond more efficiently to global supply chain disruptions. Dr. Zheng Liu, a Professor with UBCO’s School of Engineering, and doctoral student Chengkai Zhang have created TrajReducer, a framework that increases prediction accuracy and computational efficiency by analyzing ship trajectories through advanced spatial clustering and cross-dimensional metadata ranking. The ...

Living with an autoimmune disease is linked to a near doubling in the risk of persistent mental health issues, such as depression, generalised anxiety, and bipolar disorder, with these risks higher in women than in men, finds a large population-based UK study, published in the open access journal BMJ Mental Health. Chronic exposure to the systemic inflammation caused by the autoimmune disease may explain the associations found, say the researchers. A growing body of evidence suggests that inflammation is linked to mental ill health, but many of the published studies have relied on small sample sizes, limiting their statistical power, note the researchers. In a bid to overcome this, ...

The emotional demands and confrontation inherent in person-contact roles, involving direct face to face or voice to voice interaction with external parties, are linked to a heightened risk of type 2 diabetes, suggests research published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. And inadequate social support from managers and colleagues at work seems to amplify the magnitude of these associations, the findings indicate. Job strain, job insecurity, workplace violence and bullying, and effort–reward imbalance have all been linked ...

The annual cost of hand and wrist injuries among dog walkers in the UK is estimated to top £23 million, with women and the over 65s most at risk as a result of being pulled along on the dog leash, finds a review of the available evidence, published online in the journal Injury Prevention. Cases of dog walking injuries have been rising in recent years in tandem with an increase in dog ownership and dog walking to improve fitness, explain the researchers.  In the UK alone, there are around 8.5 million dogs–one for every seven to eight people. Despite the many cognitive and physical health benefits of dog ownership, it is not without ...