Dark matter is one of science’s greatest mysteries. It doesn’t absorb, reflect or emit light, so we can’t see it. But its presence is implied by the gravitational effects it appears to have on galaxies. Although dark matter  makes up about 85 percent of the cosmos, scientists know very little about its fundamental nature. Theories abound, and research by Clemson University postdoctoral fellow Alex McDaniel provides some of the most stringent constraints on the nature of dark matter yet. His research also reveals a small hint of a signal that, if real, ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A Hands-on Workshop introducing the Updated Human Salivary Proteome (HSP) Wiki was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, LA, USA.  The information accumulated in the literature about salivary proteins, their expression, function, and role in health and disease has been made available by establishing the Human ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A study aiming to determine experiential impact on student-empathy in relation to timing of when they experienced a VR-simulation of homelessness was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, LA, USA.  The abstract, “Evaluating Homelessness Empathy Through Virtual Reality Among Dental Students” was presented during the “Late Breaking Abstracts I” Poster Session ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A study aiming to assess an innovative “SMARTeeth” program that provides a digital tool-enabled oral health screening for underserved pregnant women at an obstetric office facilitated by community health workers (CHWs). was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, LA, USA. The abstract, “Smart Connected Oral ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A study investigating the effects of local application of fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) on periodontal healing in osteoporosis model rats was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, LA, USA.  The abstract, “FGF-2 Promotes Periodontal Healing in an Osteoporosis Model Rat” was presented during the “Periodontal ...

When small hierarchical groups bond, neural activity between leaders and followers aligns, promoting quicker and more frequent communication, according to a study published on March 19th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Jun Ni from Beijing Normal University, China, and colleagues. Social groups are often organized hierarchically, where status differences and bonds between members shape the group’s dynamic. To better understand how bonding influences communication within hierarchical groups and which brain regions are involved in these processes, the researchers recorded 176 three-person ...

Men and women with lower income or education levels are more likely to develop medical conditions related to alcohol abuse compared to similar individuals with a higher socioeconomic status. Alexis Edwards of Virginia Commonwealth University, US, and colleagues report these findings in a new study published March 19th in the open access journal PLOS Medicine. The World Health Organization estimates that harmful alcohol use accounts for 5.1% of the global burden of disease and injury worldwide, and results in three million deaths ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A study aiming to utilize current dental course materials, syllabi, and textbooks to investigate ChatGPT's potential benefits for dental students. was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, LA, USA. The abstract, “ChatGPT to Help Dental Students Retain Knowledge and Enhance Performance” ...

(Memphis, Tenn – March 19, 2024) MYCN is a gene associated with cell proliferation and growth, which is mutated in many types of cancer. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital studying high-risk neuroblastoma found that MYCN plays a role in modifying the cellular state, causing a positive feedback loop that leads to a faster progressing disease. Their work to understand this process revealed a potential therapeutic target in the protein KDM4. Inhibiting KDM4 demonstrated strong anticancer ...

Mental illness is a major public health issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20% of U.S. adults live with a mental illness, like depression and anxiety. For perspective, this is more than all adults with coronary heart disease (5%) and diabetes (14.7%) combined. Yet, understanding and addressing mental illness remains very challenging. A team of UC Davis experts were tasked with evaluating the services of 15 mental health crisis programs in California. These programs designed for adult and transitional age youth (ages 16-25) were funded between 2018 and 2021 by ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A study aiming to evaluate how biochemical inhibition of endogenous Wnt signaling affects barrier functions of the junctional epithelium was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, LA, USA.  The abstract, “Disrupting Wnt Signaling in the Junctional Epithelium ...

The World Mitochondria Society (WMS) and the International Society of Microbiota (ISM) are proud to announce their collaboration in organizing the inaugural Conference on Targeting Extracellular Vesicles, to be held on October 17-18, 2024, at Corinthia Palace in Malta. This groundbreaking event will delve into the multifaceted roles of extracellular vesicles (EVs), particularly their interactions with mitochondria and microbiota, shaping the future of EV-based medicine. The scientific board - composed of Ramaroson Andriantsitohaina, Marvin Edeas, Carla Lopes, Devika Manickam, Didier Serteyn, and Volkmar Weissig stated: “WMS and ISM will jointly spotlight EVs. Tailored discussions on ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A study exploring the potential of 3D-printed scaffolds with controlled delivery of small molecule, icariin (ICA), to promote cleft bone regeneration through recruitment and activation of endogenous stem/progenitor cells was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A Hands-on Workshop exploring the evidence and applications of Chat GPT in dental education was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, LA, USA. The presenters discussed the evidence supporting the use of Chat GPT in health education and research, and examined its effectiveness in improving learning outcomes ...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) disproportionately impacts women and younger populations, with incidences peaking between adolescence and young adulthood. Alarmingly, a strong correlation exists between IPV experienced in adolescence and its persistence into adulthood. Radiologists can play a key role in identifying physical signs of IPV, since specific fracture patterns detected in imaging have been shown to be predictive of abuse in children and adults. However, limited information is available about injury patterns in IPV-exposed adolescents and emerging adults despite their vulnerability. In a recent study, researchers from Brigham and ...

AMHERST, Mass. – There is a surprising dearth of research about how breast cancer cells can go dormant, spread and then resurface years or even decades later, according to a new review of in vitro breast cancer studies conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.     “[Our review found that] less than 1% of all these studies that combine cells with designer environments look at dormancy,” says Shelly Peyton, Provost Professor of Chemical Engineering. “It’s ...

Texans have long endured scorching summer temperatures, so a global warming increase of about 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 Celsius) might not sound like much to worry about. But a new study concludes that the heat index — essentially how hot it really feels — has increased much faster in Texas than has the measured temperature: about three times faster. That means that on some extreme days, what the temperature feels like is between 8 and 11 F (5 to 6 C) hotter than it would without climate change. The study, using ...

Research Highlights: Three independent, preliminary research studies have found that new Type 2 diabetes and weight-loss medications are often not prescribed or provided to patients as needed. One study of adults who had insurance covering the cost of obesity medications found that their likelihood of being prescribed the medications differed based on racial, demographic and medical factors. A second study determined that not all patients with Type 2 diabetes were equally likely to use the newest medications. A ...

Boston, MA – In the first national estimate of county-level disparities in heat-related emergencies, a new study led by investigators from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute found that vulnerable communities were at high risk. The study, “County-Level Disparities in Heat-Related Emergencies,” was published in the March 19 edition of JAMA Network Open. Climate change has led to significant heat waves with increasing frequency and intensity; the hottest on record occurred in July 2023. Prior studies have highlighted the role of extreme heat waves on significant health-related outcomes including cardiovascular and all-cause mortality ...

Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, an investigator in the department of Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Nir Hacohen, PhD, director of the Center of Cancer Immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital, are co-authors of a recently published study in Nature Immunology, Human Lung Cancer Harbors Spatially-organized Stem-immunity Hubs Associated with Response to Immunotherapy. What Question Were You Investigating? Multicellular networks are critical in mediating immune responses. How do immune cells organize within tumors to effectively eliminate malignant cells? We recently reported the discovery of a network of immune cells ...

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – March 19, 2024) Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is a rare liver cancer with a poor prognosis if not addressed early with surgery. The disease is caused by a single genetic mutation that creates a fusion protein. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and The University of Tennessee Health Science Center discovered an immune cell protein that can target and spark the destruction of FLC. Scientists found naturally occurring T cells in a patient with FLC were uniquely capable of recognizing the fusion protein. These cells provide ...

What was once a subject of public health debate is now a matter of clear scientific consensus: low-carb diets can be safe, nutritious, and should be included as an option within the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A group of experts, including leading nutrition and health researchers and healthcare professionals, reviewed the evidence and arrived at more than 15 areas of unanimous scientific agreement on the benefits, opportunities and considerations around lower carbohydrate dietary patterns. A review of the state of science and summary of the consensus ...

Oceans are subject to continuous change, mostly over extremely vast periods of time running into millions of years. Researchers from Universidade de Lisboa in Portugal and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany now used computer simulations to demonstrate that a subduction zone originating in the Western Mediterranean will propagate into the Atlantic under the Strait of Gibraltar. According to their model, this will create a new Atlantic subduction zone 50 million years into the future, which will then move down into the Earth's mantle. The new geodynamic ...

“A wonderful book full of fascinating scientific insights explained with great clarity, inspiring us to let kindness reign in our hearts and thus accomplish the twofold benefit of others and oneself.” —Matthieu Ricard, author of Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Transform Ourselves and the World The science is in: being good is actually good for you. In this bracingly original book, The Biology of Kindness—the first in a trilogy on the topic of daily wellness—the science of mindfulness and the findings of biology come together to show how kindness and optimism improve ...

Alexandria, VA, USA – A study aiming to use a novel transgenic mouse model (TTP knock-in – TTPKI) that has a moderate elevation of TTP systemically to understand if there is a long-term benefit for bone health, thus contributing towards healthy aging was presented at the 102nd General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 48th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, on March 13-16, 2024, in New Orleans, ...