ST. LOUIS, MO, May 12, 2025 — The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and matching funders today awarded two Seeding Solutions grants totaling over $5 million to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (Danforth Center) for crop development research. FFAR, the Danforth Center, Kansas State University, The Land Institute, the Perennial Agriculture Project and Saint Louis University provided $2,926,098 to a project accelerating the domestication of perennial crops, which are planted once and ...

How would you summarize your study for a lay audience?  Advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC) includes cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder carcinoma, and ampullary carcinoma. BTC is a rare and aggressive group of cancers, carrying one of the worst prognoses in all of oncology. Only about 10% of patients survive beyond five years.  Although these cancers differ significantly depending on where they arise within the biliary system—a network of ducts that transports bile to aid digestion—most patients receive the same standard treatment: a combination ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 12 May 2025    Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, threads, and Linkedin         Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.    ----------------------------       1. ...

University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) researchers, who are on faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, presented findings at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Chicago last month. These included a study conducted with researchers at the National Cancer Institute, which evaluated lifetime alcohol consumption and found that current drinkers who drank an average of 14 or more drinks per week throughout adulthood ...

Geothermal energy can make a decisive contribution towards the energy revolution in Germany while supporting the changeover from the use of fossil to climate-neutral energy resources. However, to ensure widespread public acceptance, it is essential to reduce associated risks, such as the triggering of earthquakes, as far as possible. A new research project led by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) will investigate the impact of changes in deep geothermal reservoirs caused by contact between hot rock and cold water. "We want to understand the effect of thermally induced fracture ...

A Simon Fraser University new study is challenging a commonly held misconception that there’s little organizations can do to encourage employees to disclose mental health concerns. World Health Organization data shows 15 per cent of adults have a mental health concern, while other surveys have found 65 per cent of employees believe mental health concerns interfere with their job. Yet many organizations, even those with mental health supports and programs, see disclosure as a personal decision they have no influence over.  “That’s just not what ...

Scientists at UCLA's Olympic Analytical Laboratory turned their sophisticated analytical capabilities for testing athlete samples for performance-enhancing drugs to research examining the U.S. meat supply as part of a study led by Texas Tech. The study was designed to investigate concerns that residues of growth promoters used in meat production could potentially cause athletes to test positive. The laboratory, which typically searches for prohibited substances in urine and blood samples from elite ...

A new study led by the University of Southampton and research institutes in France has uncovered the mystery of how mini sand dunes form on beaches and in deserts. While the formation of large desert dunes is well understood, scientists haven’t been able to use the same theory to explain how smaller-scale dunes - the kind you might walk through on a beach holiday, emerge. The findings, published today [12 May 2025] in the journal PNAS, not only reveal how these so-called ‘proto dunes’ occur on Earth, but could hold clues to how they form on Mars and other planets. “These are the ...

New archaeological research by Tulane University and the Proyecto Templo Mayor in Mexico reveals how obsidian – a volcanic glass used for tools and ceremonial objects and one of the most important raw materials in pre-Columbian times – moved across ancient Mesoamerica and shaped life in its capital, Tenochtitlan. The study sheds new light on the economic networks, rituals and political influence of the Mexica (Aztec) Empire.   Published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study analyzed 788 obsidian artifacts excavated from the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, the main temple and core of the Mexica Empire located in ...

A new study has uncovered hidden social patterns in ancient Hebrew kingdoms by analyzing personal names from archaeological findings. Applying diversity statistics typically used in ecological studies, the researchers found that the Kingdom of Israel had a far more diverse onomastic (naming) landscape than Judah—indicating a more open, cosmopolitan society. Over time, name diversity in Judah declined, likely reflecting increasing religious centralization and sociopolitical control. This interdisciplinary approach opens new possibilities for studying ancient cultures using statistical ...

Lower the legal tackle height in women's rugby is providing effectin in reducing head contacts between players, a world-first study suggests.  Changes to the tackle height law in women’s community rugby in Scotland is linked to reductions in head-to-head and head-to shoulder contacts, the study found. A study compared more than 11,000 tackles between the 2022/23 season, before the reduced tackle height law was trialed and the 2023/24 season when it was introduced.   Experts found 21 per cent fewer upright tackles and a 34 per cent increase in tacklers entering the tackle bent at the waist, the recommended ...

New York, NY – The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), is proud to recognize the outstanding contributions of Lauren Hunt, PhD, RN, FNP, with the 2025 Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research. This award honors a health services researcher in an early or middle phase of his/her career who has already made importantcontributions with work that respects the value of multidisciplinary health services ...

Conditions such as Tourette syndrome (TS), schizophrenia, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have sex differences with unknown mechanisms. These sex-specific mechanisms may inform the development of more effective treatments. In a new JNeurosci paper, Meghan Van Zandt and Christopher Pittenger used mice to shed light on the mechanisms underlying sex differences in these psychiatric conditions.  Prior to this study, the researchers knew that these neurological disorders are characterized ...

Do your wrinkles always form in the same pattern every time you're in the water for too long? According to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York, the answer is yes. A couple of years ago, Binghamton University Associate Professor Guy German published research about why human skin wrinkles when you stay in the water too long. Received wisdom held that the water swelled your skin and made your fingers wrinkly, but little to no research had been done to prove that. What German and his team at the Biological Soft Matter Mechanics Laboratory found is that blood vessels beneath the skin actually contract after prolonged ...

Hoboken, N.J., May 12, 2025 — Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders characterized by recurrent seizures, affects over 70 million people worldwide. In the United States, about 3.4 million people live with this challenging condition. Around one third of the epilepsy cases cannot be controlled by medications. For those patients, surgical resection of the epileptogenic zone (EZ), an area whose removal can lead to seizure freedom — a period of time when a person with epilepsy experiences no seizures — can be ...

Providing hearing aids and advice on their use may preserve social connections that often wane as we age, a new study shows. Its authors say that this approach could help ease the loneliness epidemic that older Americans face. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a quarter of seniors say they have little or no contact with others, and a third report feeling lonely. Experts have linked such isolation in part to hearing loss, which can interfere with communication and relationship building. The 2023 U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory named improving social connection as great a priority as targeting tobacco use, ...

After treatment with CAR-T cells — immune cells engineered to attack cancer — patients sometimes tell their doctors they feel like they have “brain fog,” or forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating. A new Stanford Medicine-led study shows that CAR-T cell therapy causes mild cognitive impairments, independent of other cancer treatments, and that this happens via the same cellular mechanism as cognitive impairment from two other causes: chemotherapy and respiratory infections such as flu and ...

To the point Mother-offspring attachment in the wild: Wild chimpanzees develop secure or insecure-avoidant attachments to their mothers, but not disorganised attachments, suggesting that it is not a viable survival strategy in the wild. Attachment types: Chimpanzees with secure attachment are confident, while those with insecure-avoidant attachment are more independent. Disorganised attachment, common in humans and captive chimps, is linked to emotional and mental health issues. Potential parenting lessons: Taking into account the impact of ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that Texas’s abortion restrictions were associated with increases in mental distress among females of reproductive age, especially among younger individuals who may have less ability to overcome barriers to abortion care. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jusung Lee, PhD, email jusung.lee@utsa.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.9576) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study of U.S. medical student matriculants found a decrease in the number of matriculants who were first-generation. These students were at significant risk of attrition from medical school, particularly when considering the intersectionality with low-income and underrepresented in medicine identities. These results suggest a need to recruit and retain these students, so that the physician workforce better reflects the backgrounds and experiences of the communities served. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Sophia C. Kamran, MD, email skamran@mgh.harvard.edu. To ...

About The Study: Nearly 19 million children were estimated to be living in a household with at least 1 parent with substance use disorder, accounting for one-quarter of all U.S. children in 2023. Children in such households are more likely to develop adverse health outcomes than their peers without exposure to parental substance use disorder.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Sean Esteban McCabe, PhD, email plius@umich.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.0828) Editor’s ...

About The Study: After the end of emergency allotments nationwide by March 2023, there were significant increases in food insecurity and poor physical health days among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. No changes in poor mental health days or poor or fair health status were observed.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rishi K. Wadhera, MD, MPP, MPhil, email rwadhera@bidmc.harvard.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.6010) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

The Food and Drug Administration’s approval in 2023 of lecanemab — a novel Alzheimer’s therapy shown in clinical trials to modestly slow disease progression — was met with enthusiasm by many in the field as it represented the first medication of its kind able to influence the disease. But side effects — brain swelling and bleeding — emerged during clinical trials that have left some patients and physicians hesitant about the treatment. Medications can have somewhat different effects once they are released into the real world with broader ...

Under embargo until 10:00 AM EST May 12, 2025    Who?      500+ public health researchers, thought-leaders, policy-makers & civil society actors. What?     Inaugural Exposome Moonshot Forum. Where?   Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, Washington D.C. When?    Monday May 12th to Thursday May 15th, 2025: www.exposomemoonshot.org         Background: The Human Genome Project, initiated in 1990 and completed in 2003, was a global scientific effort to map and sequence all genetic material, the information needed to ...

The research by black hole expert Heino Falcke, quantum physicist Michael Wondrak, and mathematician Walter van Suijlekom (all from Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands) is a follow-up to a 2023 paper by the same trio. In that paper, they showed that not only black holes, but also other objects such as neutron stars can 'evaporate' via a process akin to Hawking radiation. After that publication, the researchers received many questions from inside and outside the scientific community about how long the process would take. They have now answered this question in the new article. Ultimate end The researchers calculated ...