(Toronto, May 20, 2025) JMIR Publications invites submissions to a new theme issue titled “Opportunities and Challenges in the Applications of AI In Public Health Informatics” in its open access journal Online Journal of Public Health Informatics. The premier, peer-reviewed journal is indexed in PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC), DOAJ, Sherpa/Romeo, Web of Science Core Collection: Emerging Sources Citation Index and Scopus. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in public health informatics presents both significant challenges and opportunities. AI has the potential to revolutionize public health by enabling better data ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A novel analysis suggests more than 3,500 animal species are threatened by climate change and also sheds light on huge gaps in fully understanding the risk to the animal kingdom. The study was published today in BioScience. “We’re at the start of an existential crisis for the Earth’s wild animals,” said Oregon State University’s William Ripple, who led the study. “Up till now, the primary cause of biodiversity loss has been the twin threats of overexploitation and habitat alteration, but as climate change intensifies, we expect it to become a third ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Abbreviated breast MRI shortens exam time while retaining a high level of diagnostic accuracy of breast cancer in women with extremely dense breasts, according to an article published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Women with extremely dense breasts have a high proportion of dense glandular and fibrous tissue and very little fatty tissue. This can be a risk factor for breast cancer due to the similar appearance of tumors and dense breast tissue on mammograms. Supplemental MRI screening is generally recommended for women with extremely dense ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Radiologists, computer scientists and informaticists outline pitfalls and best practices to mitigate bias in artificial intelligence (AI) models in an article published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). “AI has the potential to revolutionize radiology by improving diagnostic accuracy and access to care,” said lead author Paul H. Yi, M.D., associate member (associate professor) in the Department of Radiology and director of Intelligent Imaging Informatics at ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A type of artificial intelligence called fine-tuned large language models (LLMs) greatly enhances error detection in radiology reports, according to a new study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Researchers said the findings point to an important role for this technology in medical proofreading. Radiology reports are crucial for optimal patient care. Their accuracy can be compromised by factors like errors in speech recognition software, variability ...

New research published in BioScience reveals that climate change is rapidly emerging as a third major threat to Earth's wild animals, joining habitat alteration and overexploitation in what scientists call a shift from "twin to triple threats." The research team, led by William J. Ripple of Oregon State University, analyzed data for 70,814 animal species from 35 classes, using two publicly available biodiversity datasets to assess climate change vulnerability among the world's wild animal populations. Their ...

A new liquid biopsy blood test could help detect cases of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated head and neck cancers with significantly higher accuracy than currently used methods, including before patients develop symptoms, according to new Mass General Brigham research. The researchers at Mass Eye and Ear, a member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, found that the blood-based diagnostic test they developed called HPV-DeepSeek achieved 99% sensitivity and 99% specificity for diagnosing cancer at the time of first clinical presentation, including ...

Aging is a multifaceted process driven by interconnected biological mechanisms, among which genomic instability and telomere attrition stand as primary hallmarks. Emerging research underscores the pivotal role of the human microbiome in modulating these processes, offering novel insights into aging and age-related diseases. This review synthesizes current evidence on how microbial dysbiosis accelerates aging by disrupting genomic integrity and telomere dynamics, while also exploring therapeutic strategies to promote healthy ...

Could AI that thinks more like a human be more sustainable than today’s LLMs? The AI industry is dominated by large companies with deep pockets and a gargantuan appetite for energy to power their models’ mammoth computing needs. Data centers supporting AI already account for up to 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions. In a Perspective, Alvaro Velasquez and colleagues propose an alternative model: neurosymbolic AI, which would require far less computing power, creating opportunities for smaller players to enter the field and allowing society to enjoy the benefits of AI without the environmental costs. Neurosymbolic AI is built on data-driven neural ...

A research paper by scientists at Hefei University of Technology presented an intuition-guided deep reinforcement learning framework for soft tissue manipulation under unknown constraints. The research paper, published on Apr. 14, 2025 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems. Intraoperative soft tissue manipulation is a critical challenge in autonomous robotic surgery. Furthermore, the intricate in vivo environment surrounding the target soft tissues poses additional hindrances to autonomous robotic decision-making. Previous studies assumed the grasping point was known and the target deformation could be achieved. The constraints were assumed to be constant during the ...

A team of Mount Sinai surgeons has performed the first heart-liver-kidney triple organ transplants in New York. They successfully completed two of these complex surgeries on patients from Westchester County, who have since returned home and are making full recoveries. Heart-liver-kidney transplants are extremely rare—only 58 have been done across the country since the United Network for Organ Sharing, the government agency that oversees transplantation, started tracking cases in 1987. The two procedures at The Mount Sinai Hospital, which took place on January 10 and March 8, were among only four to date in the ...

Sharks have been evolving for more than 450 million years, developing skeletons not from bone, but from a tough, mineralized form of cartilage. These creatures are more than just fast swimmers – they’re built for efficiency. Their spines act like natural springs, storing and releasing energy with each tailbeat, allowing them to move through the water with smooth, powerful grace. Now, scientists are peering inside shark skeletons at the nanoscale, revealing a microscopic “sharkitecture” that helps these ancient apex predators withstand extreme physical demands of constant motion. Using synchrotron X-ray nanotomography with detailed ...

Americans perceive small juries of content experts as the most legitimate moderators of potentially misleading content on social media, according to a survey, but perceive large, nationally representative or politically balanced juries with minimum knowledge qualifications as comparably legitimate. Social media content moderation policies tend to attract criticism, with some calling for more aggressive removal of harmful and misleading content and others decrying moderation as censorship and accusing expert moderators of being politically biased. Less clear is what the general public would like to see in terms of content ...

A Perspective proposes a pathway to improvements in sustainability of marine ecosystems and resources in China. Based on environmental accounting used in China’s terrestrial ecosystems, the approach would implement policy and governance to ensure accountability for sustainable use of marine systems. Laurence J. McCook and colleagues argue that the ecosystem goods and services provided to the nation by oceans and coastal ecosystems—including seagrass beds, salt marshes, coral reefs, and mangrove forests—are ...

A drug used to treat type 2 diabetes may also be effective in slowing the progression of prostate cancer. This is shown by an international study in which researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, have participated. The researchers have found that drugs that regulate a particular protein have a key role in reducing prostate cancer recurrence among diabetic patients. "This is a significant discovery. For the first time, we have clinical observations showing that prostate cancer patients with diabetes who received drugs targeting the protein remained relapse-free during the period we followed them," ...

New cases of dementia in the United States declined from 2015 to 2021, but the number of people living with the condition continued to rise due to population ageing, with nearly 2.9 million traditional Medicare beneficiaries (around 12%) living with a dementia diagnosis in 2021, finds a study published by The BMJ today. What’s more, a greater burden of dementia was seen in marginalized and low resource communities, highlighting the importance of policy approaches to promote equitable dementia care, say the ...

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a complaint with the  National Institutes of Health’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare today, May 19, 2025, asking for an investigation of Arizona State University’s use of animals to study the effects of dietary supplements on adults with Down syndrome. “Arizona State University cannot justify its use of mice to study a common nutrient that could be easily and ethically studied in consenting human volunteers,” the complaint says. “These uses of animals run afoul of the ...

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital leukemia researcher Charles G. Mullighan, MBBS (Hons), MSc, MD, senior deputy director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. Mullighan was selected to join the Royal Society for his trailblazing contributions to genomic research, which have advanced the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of acute leukemia, notably childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia ...

Efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C under the Paris Climate Agreement may not go far enough to save the world’s ice sheets, according to a new study. Research led by Durham University, UK, suggests the target should instead be closer to 1°C to avoid significant losses from the polar ice sheets and prevent a further acceleration in sea level rise. The team reviewed a wealth of evidence to examine the effect that the 1.5°C target would have on the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, which together store enough ice to raise global sea levels by almost 65 metres. The mass of ice lost from these ice ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- By combining information from many large datasets, MIT researchers have identified several new potential targets for treating or preventing Alzheimer’s disease. The study revealed genes and cellular pathways that haven’t been linked to Alzheimer’s before, including one involved in DNA repair. Identifying new drug targets is critical because many of the Alzheimer’s drugs that have been developed to this point haven’t been as successful as hoped. Working with researchers at Harvard Medical School, the team used data from humans and fruit flies to identify cellular pathways linked to neurodegeneration. ...

A combination of two drugs could improve outcomes and reduce the need for toxic chemotherapy for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL), the commonest cancer in childhood and one that can be particularly difficult to treat in older patients, according to Cambridge scientists. Although the research has so far only been conducted in cell lines and mice, the team is seeking funding to begin clinical trials in patients shortly. More than 500 people a year in the UK are diagnosed with B-ALL, many of whom are children, where it makes up 40% of all ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Measuring the density of a cell can reveal a great deal about the cell’s state. As cells proliferate, differentiate, or undergo cell death, they may gain or lose water and other molecules, which is revealed by changes in density. Tracking these tiny changes in cells’ physical state is difficult to do at a large scale, especially with single-cell resolution, but a team of MIT researchers has now found a way to measure cell density quickly and accurately — measuring up to 30,000 cells in a single hour. The researchers also showed that density ...

Tokyo, Japan—The COVID-19 pandemic increased public awareness of the importance of mask use for personal protection. However, when the mesh size of mask fabrics is small enough to capture viruses, which are usually around one hundred nanometers in size, the fabric typically also restricts air flow, resulting in user discomfort. But now, researchers from Japan have found a way to avoid this. In a study published this month in Materials Advances, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo have overcome this bottleneck and developed a filter capable of capturing nanoparticles such ...

As people age, their immune systems become less efficient, posing a challenge for cancer therapies that rely on harnessing immune cells. In a new study published in Nature Cancer, researchers from the University of Lausanne (UNIL), the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), show that this age-related immune decline has a measurable impact on CAR-T cell therapy, one of the most advanced forms of cancer immunotherapy. CAR-T ...

Patients with rare mitochondrial diseases already face a host of serious health issues, from muscle weakness to neurological problems and heart conditions. But one of their most life-threatening challenges has remained a mystery—why are they so vulnerable to severe infections? Now, scientists at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) may have finally pinpointed why. Their new study, published in Nature Communications, shows that damaged mitochondria put the immune system in a constant state of alert, leading to dangerous overreactions when patients encounter bacteria. This excessive immune ...