Our willingness to help others is governed by a specific brain region pinpointed by researchers in a study of patients with brain damage to that region.  Learning about where in the brain ‘helping’ decisions are made is important for understanding how people might be motivated to tackle large global challenges, such as climate change, infectious disease and international conflict. It is also essential for finding new approaches to treating disorders of social interactions.   The study, ...

Blood, lymph fluid and other biological liquids can have surprising and sometimes troubling properties. Many of these biological solutions are non-Newtonian fluids, a type of liquid that is characterized by a non-linear relationship between stress and strain. Consequently, non-Newtonian fluids don’t necessarily behave as one would expect from a liquid. For example, some of these peculiar fluids deform when touched lightly but will act almost as a solid when a strong force is applied.  And biological ...

It’s important to ensure that care provided at US hospitals that predominantly serve Black and Hispanic populations is as high-quality as the care provided at other US hospitals. New research reveals significant disparities in the delivery of cancer-related care at minority serving hospitals (MSHs) compared with non-MSHs, however. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. For the study, investigators analyzed information from the National Cancer Database (which accrues approximately 70% of US cancer diagnoses) to identify patients eligible for definitive ...

Osaka, Japan - A research team at Osaka University will start an investigator-initiated clinical trial for refractory prostate cancer patients after successful development of a new alpha-ray therapeutic agent ([At-211] PSMA-5) and confirmation of its efficacy in animal models. This will be a world-first in-human clinical trial with [At-211] PSMA-5. Prostate cancer is on the rise worldwide and is the most commonly diagnosed new cancer in men in Japan. Various treatments are offered for prostate cancer, but the prognosis is very poor when the disease is resistant to standard treatment and associated with multiple metastases. In ...

Since the launch of ChatGPT 3 in November 2022, we've been abuzz with talk of artificial intelligence: is it an unprecedented opportunity, or will it rob everyone of jobs and creativity? As we debate on social media (and perhaps use ChatGPT almost daily), generative AIs have also entered the arena of university communication. These tools—based on “Large Language Models” that were optimized for interactive communication—can indeed support, expand, and innovate university communication ...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology could offer companionship to lonely people amid an international epidemic of loneliness, says a robotics expert. Tony Prescott, a professor of cognitive robotics at the University of Sheffield, argues in his new book The Psychology of Artificial Intelligence that ‘relationships with AIs could support people’ with forms of social interaction.. Loneliness has been found to seriously impair human health, and Professor Prescott makes a case that advances in AI technology could ...

Published today in the Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, evidence of an ‘Age of Monotremes’ has been unearthed by a team of Australian scientists at the Australian Museum (AM), Museums Victoria and Australian Opal Centre. The findings were led by two renowned mammalogists, Honorary Associate of the Australian Museum, Professor Tim Flannery; and Professor Kris Helgen, Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI). Found in the Lightning Ridge opal fields, NSW, the opalised jaws ...

The SELECT Trial has revealed the potential of semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, in combating kidney function decline among individuals with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease but without diabetes.1 Unveiling the results today at the 61st ERA Congress, researchers presented the impressive secondary analysis from the SELECT (Semaglutide Effects on Heart Disease and Stroke in Patients with Overweight or Obesity) trial, a randomised trial comprising a participant pool of 17,604 individuals. Experts believe the study’s results offer hope for those affected by obesity, a condition known ...

A groundbreaking study, presented today at the 61st ERA Congress, has uncovered a significant breakthrough in the diagnosis and monitoring of kidney diseases associated with nephrotic syndrome.1 Using a hybrid technique, researchers identified anti-nephrin autoantibodies as a reliable biomarker for tracking disease progression, opening new avenues for personalised treatment approaches. Nephrotic syndrome, characterised by elevated protein levels in the urine, is linked to kidney diseases such as minimal change disease (MCD), primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), and membranous nephropathy (MN). The primary cause behind nephrotic syndrome is damage to podocytes, the ...

Protest movements that reject political parties have an unintended consequence, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame: They empower savvy politicians who channel them to shake up the status quo. The findings provide a framework for understanding recent global political realignments and offer lessons for activists who want to make a meaningful impact. They are particularly relevant in an era when mass protests have become an increasingly common tool to voice dissent with powerful institutions and draw attention to overlooked issues ranging from climate and conflict ...

UC Santa Cruz researchers have discovered a peptide in human RNA that regulates inflammation and may provide a new path for treating diseases such as arthritis and lupus. The team used a screening process based on the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR to shed light on one of the biggest mysteries about our RNA–the molecule responsible for carrying out genetic information contained in our DNA. This peptide originates from within a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) called LOUP. According to the researchers, ...

Imagine if your dead laptop or phone could charge in a minute or if an electric car could be fully powered in 10 minutes. While not possible yet, new research by a team of CU Boulder scientists could potentially lead to such advances.  Published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers in Ankur Gupta’s lab discovered how tiny charged particles, called ions, move within a complex network of minuscule pores. The breakthrough could lead to the development of more efficient energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors, said Gupta, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering.  “Given the critical role ...

ORLANDO, May 24, 2024 – For the first time, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide ices have been observed in the far reaches of our solar system on trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). A research team, led by planetary scientists Mário Nascimento De Prá and Noemí Pinilla-Alonso from the University of Central Florida’s Florida Space Institute (FSI), made the findings by using the infrared spectral capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to analyze the chemical composition of 59 trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs. The pioneering study, published ...

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Nuclear physicists have long been working to reveal how the proton gets its spin. Now, a new method that combines experimental data with state-of-the-art calculations has revealed a more detailed picture of spin contributions from the very glue that holds protons together. It also paves the way toward imaging the proton’s 3D structure. The work was led by Joseph Karpie, a postdoctoral associate in the Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics (Theory Center) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. He said that this decades-old mystery began with measurements of the sources of the proton’s spin in ...

Up to 80% of breast cancer deaths occur in patients with tumors that express estrogen receptor-alpha. Although these estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers often initially respond to standard treatment that combines endocrine therapies with CDK4/6 inhibitors, drug resistance often develops leading to lethal metastatic disease that spreads from the breast and does not respond to available treatments. Looking to identify new vulnerabilities in this type of cancer that could lead to improved therapies, ...

“We have identified binding motifs within the C-tails of PAR1,2&4, indispensable for cancer growth and development.” BUFFALO, NY- May 24, 2024 – A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 11) on April 25, 2024, entitled, “PH-binding motifs as a platform for drug design: Lessons from protease-activated receptors; PARs.” While targeted cancer therapy is greatly dependent on specific oncogenic pathways or conferred by genetic alterations, it remains yet challenging and somewhat disappointing. The high level of failure relies ...

Undergoing surgery is seldom a pleasant experience, and it can sometimes be highly invasive. Surgical procedures have evolved steadily over the centuries, growing with the knowledge of anatomy and biology. Innovative methods have also been bolstered with new tools, and a growth in the use of robotics since the 1980s has moved health care forward significantly. Assistant Professor Zhenhua Tian has pressed forward another step in the march of progress using robotics and noninvasive acoustics, and his team’s work has been published in Science Advances. Robot-assisted surgery  Surgery using robots has been invasive since its invention because ...

LOGAN, UTAH, USA – A long-standing debate among evolutionary scientists goes something like this: Does evolution happen in a predictable pattern or does it depend on chance events and contingency? That is, if you could turn back the clock, as celebrated scientist Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) described in his famous metaphor, “Replaying the Tape of Life,” would life on Earth evolve, once again, as something similar to what we know now, or would it look very, very different? “If you frame it as an either/or question, it’s too simplistic,” says Utah State University evolutionary biologist Zachariah Gompert. “The answer isn’t ‘completely ...

The stress of heart failure is remembered by the body and appears to lead to recurrent failure, along with other related health issues, according to new research. Researchers have found that heart failure leaves a “stress memory” in the form of changes to the DNA modification of hematopoietic stem cells, which are involved in the production of blood and immune cells called macrophages. These immune cells play an important role in protecting heart health. However, a key signaling pathway (a chain of molecules which ...

Scientists have pinpointed genetic changes that can leave children born with little to no immune defence against infection. In a new study of 11 affected individuals, researchers from Newcastle University, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Great North Children’s Hospital, and their collaborators were able to link mutations in the NUDCD3 gene to Severe Combined Immunodeficiency and Omenn syndrome1 – rare and life-threatening immunodeficiency disorders. These mutations prevented the normal development of diverse immune cells needed to combat different pathogens2. The findings, published today (24 May) in Science Immunology, ...

LAWRENCE — Using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, an astronomer at the University of Kansas led a study appearing today revealing 15 new exoplanets — planets beyond our solar system — along with the mass of 126 other exoplanets. The findings give astronomers new understanding of the makeup of exoplanets and their star systems generally.  The study cataloging the exoplanets — comprising severe and exceptional environments, some of which hold promise to support life — was conducted under auspices of the TESS-Keck Survey and appears ...

WHAT: Mice administered raw milk samples from dairy cows infected with H5N1 influenza experienced high virus levels in their respiratory organs and lower virus levels in other vital organs, according to findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results suggest that consumption of raw milk by animals poses a risk for H5N1 infection and raises questions about its potential risk in humans.  Since 2003, H5N1 influenza viruses have circulated in 23 countries, primarily affecting wild birds and poultry with about 900 human cases, primarily among people who have had close contact with infected birds. In ...

Researchers at the U of A found self-identified small business owners on TikTok are circumventing a number of local, state and federal laws that restrict the individual sale of tobacco products. Specifically, the researchers found that 45% of the videos highlighted the fact that they did not require identification to verify the purchaser’s age. “Many states have laws that govern procedures necessary to sell e-cigarettes,” explained lead researcher Page Dobbs, an associate professor of public health in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation ...

Leading African scientists have issued a compelling call for more equitable research partnerships in a new paper published in Nature Medicine. The paper underscores the critical need for fair and collaborative research efforts to explore the unique and diverse microbiomes found in African populations and environments. Historically, these microbiomes have been underrepresented in global studies. Over the past two decades, our understanding of the role played by the microbiome in different ecosystems has significantly expanded. For ...

LA JOLLA, CA—New research from scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) suggests people who received COVID-19 vaccines and then experienced "breakthrough" infections are especially well armed against future SARS-CoV-2 infections. By analyzing blood samples from study volunteers, the LJI researchers discovered that people who experienced symptomatic breakthrough infections develop T cells that are better at recognizing and targeting SARS-CoV-2, including the Omicron and Delta variants. The researchers describe this increased protection as an "immunity wall." "The virus evolves, but, importantly, so does the immune system. T cells ...