An innovative test that combines a DNA extraction system inspired by a modified 3D printer (PrintrLab) with loop-mediated isothermal molecular amplification (LAMP) could be used to detect T. cruzi infection -responsible for Chagas disease- in newborns. This is the conclusion of a proof-of-concept study conducted in the Bolivian Chaco, an endemic area for Chagas disease.  The study was coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by "la Caixa" ...

What types of cities exist in Europe and which are more favourable in terms of human health, environmental quality and carbon footprint? To answer these questions, a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, has analysed 919 European cities. The research, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, identified four basic urban configurations on the continent: compact-high density cities, open lowrise-medium density cities, open lowrise-low density cities and green-low density cities. The results show that greener and less densely populated ...

Reducing consumption of processed meat by around one-third could prevent more than 350,000 cases of diabetes in the US over 10 years, a study suggests. Cutting US adults’ processed meat intake by 30 per cent – the equivalent of around 10 slices of bacon a week – would also lead to tens of thousands of fewer cases of cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer, researchers say. A team from the University of Edinburgh’s Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems together with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has developed ...

Stem cell-based embryo models (SCBEMs) are three-dimensional biological structures that mimic aspects of early human embryo development. They can be created in the lab from stem cells, and can provide new insights into critical stages of early human development that are normally inaccessible to researchers. Embryo model work is expected to lead to new interventions for a range of conditions, including revolutionising treatments for recurrent miscarriage, understanding developmental disorders and improving the success rate of IVF. Although embryo models are not the same ...

Tampons from several brands that potentially millions of people use each month can contain toxic metals like lead, arsenic, and cadmium, a new study led by a UC Berkeley researcher has found. Tampons are of particular concern as a potential source of exposure to chemicals, including metals, because the skin of the vagina has a higher potential for chemical absorption than skin elsewhere on the body. In addition, the products are used by a large percentage of the population on a monthly basis—50-80% of those who menstruate use tampons—for several hours at a time. “Despite this large potential for public health concern, very little research ...

Researchers at Rice University are making strides in understanding how chromosome structures change throughout the cell’s life cycle. Their study on motorized processes that actively influence the organization of chromosomes was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. “This research provides a deeper understanding of how motorized processes shape chromosome structures and influence cellular functions,” said Peter Wolynes, study co-author and the D.R. Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science. ...

Rice University chemist Han Xiao has been awarded nearly $2 million from the National Institutes of Health Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program for established investigators. All organisms with few exceptions use 20 standard amino acids to build proteins. Xiao’s research aims to reprogram the genetic code to precisely manipulate biological systems by using noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) with diverse properties to help build proteins. Researchers generally use ncAAs to investigate the structure and dynamics of proteins, but Xiao wants to take that a step further. “This innovative approach could revolutionize how ...

Swedish researchers have created a questionnaire test for home use that quickly identifies high risk of heart attack. A study shows that it has the same level of accuracy as blood tests and blood pressure measurements. The study, published in Journal of the American Heart Association, uses data from the SCAPIS population study, which is based at the University of Gothenburg, with the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation as its main sponsor. The study was led by Göran Bergström, Professor of Clinical Physiology at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, senior ...

Researchers from the Butantan Institute and collaborators are developing a more potent version of the BCG vaccine that protects against tuberculosis. While the conventional immunizer reduced infection by 90% in experiments with mice, the so-called recombinant BCG increased the protection rate to 99%. In addition, the new formulation protected the animals for a significantly longer period of time. “BCG is the first vaccine we receive at birth, and it’s indeed effective in protecting children. But immunity against the disease tends to wane in adulthood, and as bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics, no ...

URBANA, Ill. – Urban agriculture has the potential to improve food security through local, efficient, and sustainable food production. Examples of urban food systems include hydroponics, where plants grow in a nutrient solution without soil, and aquaponics, which combines hydroponics with raising fish in tanks. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examines the use of aquaponics wastewater as a growth medium for lettuce in a hydroponic system. This practice can potentially ...

Every living cell transcribes DNA into RNA. This process begins when an enzyme called RNA polymerase (RNAP) clamps onto DNA. Within a few hundred milliseconds, the DNA double helix unwinds to form a node known as the transcription bubble, so that one exposed DNA strand can be copied into a complementary RNA strand. How RNAP accomplishes this feat is largely unknown. A snapshot of RNAP in the act of opening that bubble would provide a wealth of information, but the process happens too quickly for current technology to easily capture visualizations ...

A new study led by Rice University’s Peter Wolynes offers new insights into the evolution of foldable proteins. The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers at Rice and the University of Buenos Aires used energy landscape theory to distinguish between foldable and nonfoldable parts of protein sequences. Their study illuminates the ongoing debate about whether the pieces of DNA that code for only part of a protein during their origins can fold on their own.   The researchers focused on the extensive relationship between exons in protein structures and the evolution of protein foldability. They highlighted ...

MINNEAPOLIS – Having higher levels of inflammation in your 20s and 30s may be linked to having memory and thinking problems at middle age, according to a study published in the July 3, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study looked at levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood. CRP is produced by the liver and increases when there is inflammation in the body. The study does not prove that having higher levels of this protein causes dementia. It only shows an association. There are two kinds of inflammation. Acute inflammation happens when the body’s immune response jumps into action to fight off infection or ...

Higher inflammation in young adulthood linked to lower performance in skills testing in midlife.  Young adults who have higher levels of inflammation, which is associated with obesity, physical inactivity, chronic illness, stress and smoking, may experience reduced cognitive function in midlife, a new study out of UC San Francisco has found.    Researchers previously linked higher inflammation in older adults to dementia, but this is one of the first studies to connect inflammation in early adulthood with lower cognitive abilities in midlife.    “We know from long-term studies that brain changes leading to Alzheimer’s ...

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a mysterious and deadly neurological disorder, usually goes undiagnosed until after a patient dies and an autopsy is performed. But now, UC San Francisco researchers have found a way to identify the condition while patients are still alive.     A study appearing in Neurology on July 3 has found a pattern in the spinal fluid of PSP patients, using a new high-throughput technology that can measure thousands of proteins in a tiny drop of fluid.    Researchers ...

The cerebellum is a region of the brain that helps us refine our movements and learn new motor skills. Patients and mouse models experience many kinds of abnormal movements when their cerebellum is damaged. They can have uncoordinated and unbalanced movements, called ataxia. They can have atypical positioning of body parts or uncontrolled movements because their muscles are working against each other, called dystonia. Or they can have disruptive shaky movements, called tremors. Understanding how changes in a single brain region ...

https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/bioi-2024-0018 Announcing a new article publication for BIO Integration journal. Esomeprazole (ESO) gastro-resistant tablets (40 mg) are sold under the brand name, Zosa, which effectively manages conditions associated with the overproduction of gastric acid, including peptic ulcer disease and Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. This article quantifies impurities in esomeprazole using advanced analytical techniques known as analytical quality by design with high-performance liquid chromatography. Buffer selection ...

https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/CVIA.2024.0038 Announcing a new article publication for Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications journal. Atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) is defined as excursion of the atrial septum exceeding 10 mm beyond the atrial septum into the right or left atrium, or a combined total excursion of 15 mm on the right and left sides during the cardiac cycle. According to previous studies, 20–40% of patent foramen ovale (PFO) cases are accompanied by ASAs. ASA is associated with the presence of PFO, left atrial dysfunction, cryptogenic stroke, migraine, and arterial embolism, thus making ...

Owning cryptocurrency may be associated with certain personality and demographic characteristics as well as a reliance on alternative or fringe social media sources, according to a study published July 3, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Shane Littrell from the University of Toronto, Canada, along with colleagues from the University of Miami, USA.  Anonymous trading and unregulated markets hallmark cryptocurrency’s unique subculture. While some consider the digital currency to be financially unreliable, hundreds of millions of global investors think otherwise. This study identified various political, psychological, and social characteristics ...

Cigarette smokers, cigar smokers, and non-smokers each have distinct personality profiles, according to a study published July 3, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Dritjon Gruda from Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, Portugal, and Jim McCleskey from Western Governors University, USA. Tobacco use remains a formidable global public health challenge, responsible for more than 8 million deaths annually, including those attributed to second-hand smoke exposure. Emerging research underscores the critical role of psychological factors, including personality traits, in shaping ...

A new study done in more than 14,000 ninth graders in Germany has revealed that students experience grading bias based on their gender, body size, ethnicity and parental socio-economic status. These negative biases stack on each other, meaning that students with multiple intersectional identities get significantly lower grades than their peers regardless of their true abilities. Richard Nennstiel and Sandra Gilgen of the University of Bern and University of Zurich in Switzerland present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on July 3, ...

Analysis of the medical records of nearly 50,000 people who experienced dengue fever in Taiwan suggests that this disease is associated with elevated short- and long-term risk of depression. Hsin-I Shih and colleagues of National Cheng Kung University and National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. People may develop dengue fever after being bitten by a mosquito carrying the dengue virus. Dengue fever can be mild, but it can also progress ...

Twelve years ago, cancer researchers at University of California San Diego identified a molecule that helps cancer cells survive by shuttling damaging inflammatory cells into tumor tissue. In new research, they show that the same molecule does the same thing in lung tissue infected with COVID-19 — and that the molecule can be suppressed with a repurposed cancer drug. The work, published in Science Translational Medicine, represents a new approach to preventing irreversible organ damage in infectious diseases like COVID-19 and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).  The two key players in this scenario are inflammatory cells called myeloid ...

Many vaccines are only partially effective, have waning efficacy, or do not work well in the very young or the very old. For more than a decade, Ofer Levy, MD, PhD, and David Dowling, PhD, in the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, have tried improving vaccines by adding compounds known as adjuvants to boost vaccine recipients’ immune responses.   Now, under a large Adjuvant Discovery Program contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ...

Childhood home temperature and community connectedness can help predict how U.S. residents set their thermostats, offering new ways to encourage energy conservation and combat climate change, according to a study published July 3 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Dritjon Gruda from the National University of Ireland Maynooth and Paul Hanges from the University of Maryland. Half of U.S. households’ annual electricity use goes to heating and cooling, but less than half of homeowners tweak their thermostats to save energy ...