One of the largest studies on wildlife activity—involving more than 220 researchers, 163 mammal species and 5,000 camera traps worldwide—reveals that wild animals react differently to humans depending on where the animals live and what they eat. Bigger herbivores—plant-eating animals like deer or moose—tend to become more active when humans are around, while meat-eaters like wolves or wolverines tend to be less active, preferring to avoid risky encounters. Urban animals like deer or raccoons may become more active around people, as they get used to human presence and find food like garbage or plants, which they can access at night. But ...

The Organoid group at the Hubrecht Institute have identified a new link between FBXW7 mutations and EGFR signaling activity. The FBXW7 gene is commonly mutated in colorectal cancer and such mutations have been associated with worse treatment outcome. The researchers used colon organoids and the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique to investigate the consequences of multiple common FBXW7 mutations. Further understanding of the link with EGFR signaling could help improve treatment strategies for colorectal cancer. The research was published on March 14th in Proceedings of the national academies of sciences (PNAS). Cancer is caused by the accumulation of mutations in different ...

The use of antipsychotics during pregnancy isn’t linked to childhood neurodevelopmental disorders or learning difficulties, UNSW Sydney-led study shows – giving assurance to those concerned about continuing their medications during pregnancy.  Antipsychotics – a branch of medication designed to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder – are important tools for mental health care management. They work by blocking the effect of dopamine, which can help reduce psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions.  These versatile ...

For younger Black patients living in rural parts of the Southeastern United States, peer coaching is more effective than traditional clinical care in controlling high blood pressure, according to a new study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. The investigators learned that for people under age 60 who have persistently uncontrolled hypertension, the benefits of working with a peer health coach were equivalent to what would be expected from taking a low dose of blood pressure medication. The findings were published March 18 in JAMA Internal Medicine. The randomized ...

About The Study: The findings of this study indicate that childhood lead exposure from drinking water is widespread in Chicago, and racial inequities are present in both testing rates and exposure levels. Machine learning may assist in preliminary screening for lead exposure, and efforts to remediate the effects of environmental racism should involve improving outreach for and access to lead testing services.  Authors: Benjamin Q. Huynh, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.0133) Editor’s ...

Mothers and daughters have a strong bond, yet do you know that connections reminiscent of this close relationship extend all the way to the cellular level? During the process of cell division, new daughter cells inherit a mix of genetic material and other molecules from their mother cells. This inheritance includes both beneficial components, which can help them for a robust start in life, and potentially harmful mutations or damaged molecules, posing significant challenges for the newly born daughter cells. How daughter cells manage and ...

Embargoed press materials are now available for Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Top scientists and educators in the field will gather at the meeting, March 23–26 in San Antonio.   Reporters are invited to attend an exciting lineup of in-person scientific sessions in San Antonio or access press materials electronically. Register now or find more information in the #DiscoverBMB newsroom. Please note that only a limited number of complementary on-site press passes will be issued, so advance registration is recommended.   Explore the schedule at a ...

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have identified a yeast that could be used to prevent invasive candidiasis, a major cause of death in hospitalized and immunocompromised patients. The study, to be published March 18 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), shows that the novel yeast lives harmlessly in the intestines of mice and humans and can displace the yeast responsible for candidiasis, Candida albicans. Millions of microbial species live within or on the human body, many of them being harmless or even beneficial to human health. The microscopic yeast C. albicans is commonly found in the intestines ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE Monday, March, 18,2024 10 a.m. EDT Contact: NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison NIH News Media Branch 301-496-5787 NIH studies find severe symptoms of “Havana Syndrome,” but no evidence of MRI-detectable brain injury or biological abnormalities Compared to healthy volunteers, affected U.S. government personnel did not exhibit differences that would explain symptoms   Using advanced imaging techniques and in-depth clinical assessments, a research team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found no significant evidence of MRI-detectable brain injury, nor differences in most clinical measures compared to ...

About The Study: In this exploratory study, there were no significant differences between individuals reporting anomalous health incidents and matched control participants with respect to most clinical, research, and biomarker measures, except for objective and self-reported measures of imbalance and symptoms of fatigue, posttraumatic stress, and depression. This study did not replicate the findings of previous studies, although differences in the populations included and the timing of assessments limit direct comparisons. ...

About The Study: In this exploratory neuroimaging study, there were no significant differences in imaging measures of brain structure or function between individuals reporting anomalous health incidents and matched control participants after adjustment for multiple comparisons. U.S. government personnel stationed internationally have reported anomalous health incidents, with some individuals experiencing persistent debilitating symptoms.  Authors: Carlo Pierpaoli, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering in ...

Global coffee consumption generates millions of tons of spent coffee grounds each year, which can be damaging to wildlife and the environment. However, new research published in the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology reveals that spent coffee grounds could be repurposed to act as a powerful adsorbent of bentazone, a herbicide commonly used in agriculture that is highly neurotoxic. In the study, investigators found that when they used zinc chloride to activate the carbon from spent coffee grounds, the activated carbon showed a 70% efficiency in bentazone removal. ...

Astronomers have charted the largest-ever volume of the universe with a new map of active supermassive black holes living at the centers of galaxies. Called quasars, the gas-gobbling black holes are, ironically, some of the universe’s brightest objects. The new map logs the location of about 1.3 million quasars in space and time, the furthest of which shone bright when the universe was only 1.5 billion years old. (For comparison, the universe is now 13.7 billion years old.) “This quasar catalog is different from all previous catalogs in that it gives us a three-dimensional map of the largest-ever volume of the universe,” says map co-creator David Hogg, a ...

Life can be hard for a raptor. If you’re a teenager from the city, it’s even harder. That’s according to a new study published in the Journal of Raptor Research titled “Causes of Death of Female Cooper’s Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) from an Urban Setting in New Mexico, USA,” conducted by Brian A. Millsap and his colleagues at the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the course of 11 years, his research team affixed GPS transmitters to 158 female Cooper’s hawks in the Albuquerque area. Of those, 88 died and were found, allowing the researchers to investigate cause of death. The ...

Middle-aged adults in the U.S. tend to report significantly higher levels of loneliness than their European counterparts, possibly due in part to weaker family ties and greater income inequality, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.  “Loneliness is gaining attention globally as a public health issue because elevated loneliness increases one’s risk for depression, compromised immunity, chronic illness and mortality,” said lead author Frank Infurna, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Arizona State ...

The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is proud to announce that both the organization and our CEO, Dr. Sujuan Ba, have been honored with the "2024 Pioneer in Medicine Award" by the World Brain Mapping Foundation and the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics.  The award was presented to Dr. Ba at the 21st Annual GFC Awards Gala on Friday, March 15th, 2024.  This recognition highlights a significant landmark in NFCR's over 50 years of impact in charting new pathways through research to find ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Venting about a source of anger might feel good in the moment, but it’s not effective at reducing the rage, new research suggests. Instead, techniques often used to address stress – deep breathing, mindfulness, meditation, yoga or even counting to 10 – have been shown to be more effective at decreasing anger and aggression. Researchers analyzed over 150 studies involving more than 10,000 participants and found that what really works to reduce anger is lowering physiological arousal – in other words, turning down the heat. Activities that increased arousal overall ...

Images When climate scientists look to the future to determine what the effects of climate change may be, they use computer models to simulate potential outcomes such as how precipitation will change in a warming world.  But University of Michigan scientists are looking at something a little more tangible: coral.  Examining samples from corals in the Great Barrier Reef, the researchers discovered between 1750 and present day, as the global climate warmed, wet-season rainfall in that part of the world increased by about 10%, and the rate of extreme rain events more than doubled. Their results are published in Nature, Communications Earth and Environment. "Climate scientists ...

An “anti-hunger” molecule produced after vigorous exercise is responsible for the moderate weight loss caused by the diabetes medication metformin, according to a new study in mice and humans. The molecule, lac-phe, was discovered by Stanford Medicine researchers in 2022. The finding, made jointly by researchers at Stanford Medicine and at Harvard Medical School, further cements the critical role the molecule, called lac-phe, plays in metabolism, exercise and appetite. It may pave the way to a new class of weight loss drugs. “Until now, the way metformin, which is prescribed to control blood sugar ...

After birth, liver cells acquire different functions depending on their location. CNIO researchers have discovered that this specialization occurs with the onset of oral food intake, which is intermittent. The alternation of periods with and without nutrients activates the mTOR gene and causes liver cells to specialize, which completes liver maturation. The finding is the result of an investigation into the consequences of sedentary lifestyles and overeating in today’s society, where the body ...

Scents, such as coffee, flowers, or freshly-baked pumpkin pie, are created by odor molecules released by various substances and detected by our noses. In essence, we are smelling molecules, the basic unit of a substance that retains its physical and chemical properties. A research team led by Dr. ZHOU Wen from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered that this process of "smelling" involves an analysis of submolecular structural features. The study was published online in Nature Human Behaviour on March 18. In this study, the ...

Anyone who wants to produce medication, plastics or fertilizer using conventional methods needs heat for chemical reactions – but not so with photochemistry, where light provides the energy. The process to achieve the desired product also often takes fewer intermediate steps. Researchers from the University of Basel are now going one step further and are demonstrating how the energy efficiency of photochemical reactions can be increased tenfold. More sustainable and cost-effective applications are now tantalizingly close. Industrial chemical reactions ...

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have performed the most comprehensive analysis to date of cancer of the ureters or the urine-collection cavities in the kidney, known as upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC).  The study, which compared the characteristics of primary and metastatic tumors, provides new insights into the biology of these aggressive cancers and potential ways to treat them. In the study, which appeared March 18 in Nature Communications, the researchers examined tissue samples from 44 primary and metastatic UTUC tumors. They compared gene mutations ...

· Temperature sensor warns of disease flareups, tracks disease progression in real time · Currently no way to quickly detect inflammation, leading to invasive surgeries · Strategy could be useful in ulcerative colitis, another inflammatory bowel disease  CHICAGO --- A team of Northwestern University scientists has developed the first wireless, implantable temperature sensor to detect inflammatory flareups in patients with Crohn’s disease. The approach offers long-term, real-time monitoring and ...

A new study led by researchers at McLean Hospital (a member of Mass General Brigham) and Washington State University used advances in digital testing to demonstrate that naturally occurring glucose fluctuations impact cognitive function in people with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Results showed that cognition was slower in moments when glucose was atypical – that is, considerably higher or lower than someone’s usual glucose level. However, some people were more susceptible to the cognitive effects of large glucose fluctuations than others. “In trying to understand how diabetes impacts the brain, our research shows that it is important to consider not only how people ...