Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the most prevalent malignancy in Egypt and globally. However, non-invasive diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers for early detection of HCC are still lacking. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are one of the promising biomarkers. They are considered stable, long-stranded non-coding RNAs in a sealed circular form held together by covalent bonds. circRNAs have been observed in several genetic studies to play a vital role in the initiation and progression of malignancy. Our current cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the potential role of serum-derived ...

Background and objectives Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in cancer care in China as an integral part of treatment. This study aimed to understand the motivations of cancer patients in China for adopting TCM in their treatment and to examine their communication with oncologists. Gaining insights into these factors can enhance culturally sensitive, patient-centered oncology care. Methods A consecutive sample of 287 outpatients with cancer was recruited. Sociodemographic and clinical data, TCM usage, ...

Maui, HI – The U.S. National Science Foundation Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, the world’s most powerful solar telescope, operated by the NSF National Solar Observatory (NSO) near the summit of Maui’s Haleakalā, reached a major milestone: achieving first light with its most advanced instrument, the new Visible Tunable Filter (VTF). The solar image it produced shows early promise to the instrument’s scientific capabilities. Designed and built by the Institut für Sonnenphysik (KIS) in Freiburg, Germany, the VTF is the world’s largest imaging spectro-polarimeter, emerging as a centerpiece to the ...

With a primary mirror diameter of four meters, the Inouye Solar Telescope is the largest in the world. Thanks to the optimal observational conditions on the Hawaiian volcano Haleakala and the use of sophisticated methods of image stabilization and reconstruction, the Inouye Solar Telescope has been providing breathtakingly detailed views of our star since 2022: it can make smallest structures visible. To extract as much detailed information as possible about our star from sunlight, the Inouye Solar Telescope is gradually being equipped with additional scientific instruments. They process ...

WASHINGTON – The annual Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) meeting, SCAI Scientific Sessions 2025, will kick off on Thursday, May 1, 2025, with nearly 2,000 scientists, researchers, innovators, and clinicians joining together to discuss advances in the field of interventional cardiology and endovascular medicine. The conference will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. from Thursday, May 1, through Saturday, May 3, highlighting innovative breakthroughs in cardiovascular care, prevention, ...

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a complex and dynamic network consisting of tumor cells, immune cells, stromal cells, extracellular matrix (ECM), cytokines, and growth factors, all interacting to influence tumorigenesis, progression, and metastasis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of non-coding RNAs longer than 200 nucleotides, have recently garnered significant attention for their role in regulating gene expression within the TME. They contribute to crucial processes such as immune evasion, angiogenesis, metabolic reprogramming, and the maintenance of cancer stem cells, and their influence extends across transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and epigenetic levels. This ...

Plant-based seafood alternatives should have similar flavors, textures and nutritional content to the foods they mimic. And recreating the properties of fried calamari rings, which have a neutral flavor and a firm, chewy texture after being cooked, has been a challenge. Building off previous research, a team publishing in ACS Food Science & Technology describes successfully using plant-based ingredients to mimic calamari that matches the real seafood’s characteristic softness and elasticity. Previously, Poornima Vijayan, Dejian Huang and colleagues presented ...

Ischemic stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability worldwide, with narrowing of the carotid artery due to atherosclerosis contributing to up to 30% of all cases. For decades, medical practitioners have primarily relied on the degree of carotid narrowing (stenosis) to assess the risk of stroke and determine the best treatment options. However, mounting evidence suggests that this approach may be insufficient for patients with mild but symptomatic carotid stenosis. Despite being classified as ‘low-risk’ ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists developed a machine-learning tool that can teach itself, with minimal external guidance, to differentiate between aerial images of flowering and nonflowering grasses — an advance that will greatly increase the pace of agricultural field research, they say. The work was conducted using images of thousands of varieties of Miscanthus grasses, each of which has its own flowering traits and timing. Accurately differentiating crop traits under varied conditions at different points in the growing cycle is a formidable task, said Andrew Leakey, a professor of plant biology ...

TAMPA, Fla. — Moffitt Cancer Center has launched The ImmunoVerse, a new podcast hosted by President and CEO Patrick Hwu, M.D. A world-renowned physician-scientist and tumor immunologist, Hwu will bring immunotherapy discoveries to life through the voices of those advancing the groundbreaking field. Each episode of The ImmunoVerse will feature conversations with leading physicians and scientists in the field, including prominent guests like Dr. Steven Rosenberg of the National Cancer Institute. Through engaging discussions, listeners will meet the visionaries leading ...

Carbon-containing meteorites look like they had less severe impacts than those without carbon because the evidence was blasted into space by gases produced during the impact. The Kobe University discovery not only solves a 30-year-old mystery, but also provides guidelines for a future sampling mission to Ceres. Knowing what happens when meteorites collide is important for understanding the evolution of the solar system because it provides a window into the solar system’s past. And so, planetary scientists as well as astrobiologists analyzing meteorite samples have been ...

Osaka, Japan – Neutrophils, one of the immune system warriors that were thought to be all the same, turn out to be diverse. Unfortunately, these cells are also active in autoimmune diseases. New research from Japan has found that a certain subpopulation of these white blood cells can predict disease relapse at an early stage, which may enable improved personalized treatment. In a study soon to be published in Nature Communications, a multi-institutional research team led by The University of Osaka investigated which cell types dominate the blood of patients at the ...

As Canadians face increasingly intense and frequent heat waves, health, education and legal experts are sounding the alarm on a growing crisis: extreme heat in schools and child care settings due to the escalating effects of climate change.  Amid Government of Canada warnings of near record heat ahead in 2025, the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment (CPCHE) and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) say Canada’s schools and child care facilities are ill-prepared and children are paying the price.   Released in parallel by CPCHE ...

Humans, it turns out, are better than current AI models at describing and interpreting social interactions in a moving scene—a skill necessary for self-driving cars, assistive robots, and other technologies that rely on AI systems to navigate the real world. The research, led by scientists at Johns Hopkins University, finds that artificial intelligence systems fail at understanding social dynamics and context necessary for interacting with people and suggests the problem may be rooted in the infrastructure of AI systems. “AI for a self-driving car, for example, would need to recognize the intentions, goals, and actions of human drivers and pedestrians. You ...

A Kobe University team was able to edit the DNA of Lactobacillus strains directly without a template from other organisms. This technique is indistinguishable from natural variation and enabled the researchers to create a strain that doesn’t produce diabetes-aggravating chemicals. Humans have improved the microorganisms we rely on for millennia, selecting variants that are better able to produce wine, yogurt, natto and many other products. More recently, direct genetic modification has emerged as a tool to exert more precise and efficient control over the improvement, but also has drawn much public criticism for often using DNA from unrelated organisms ...

ChatGPT and alike often amaze us with the accuracy of their answers, but unfortunately, they also repeatedly give us cause for doubt. The main issue with powerful AI response engines (artificial intelligence) is that they provide us with perfect answers and obvious nonsense with the same ease.  One of the major challenges lies in how the large language models (LLMs) underlying AI deal with uncertainty. Until now, it has been very difficult to assess whether LLMs designed for text processing and generation base their responses on a solid foundation ...

In recent years, the number of students missing school has risen steeply. In the UK, one in 50 students missed more than 50% of school in 2022-23. Previously, almost 95% of sampled students were found to miss school regularly because going caused them significant emotional distress, a phenomenon known as school distress. Of this sample, many students were diagnosed with neurodivergent disorders or autism. But how does kids struggling with school attendance affect parents? Now, in the first large-scale study that ...

New research led by Griffith University argues that the term nature positive is being adopted more for political rhetoric and less for any real-life improvement in nature conservation, posing a new risk to biodiversity.  The study, published in Nature Portfolio Journal njpBiodiversity explores the tourism sector as an example.  The team, led by Emeritus Professor Ralf Buckley with coauthors from universities in Australia, Chile, China and Japan, analysed the fine-scale political processes in the lead-up ...

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 24 APRIL 2025 AT 1AM (UK TIME).   Peer reviewed | Systematic Review | People    Breakthrough approach for diagnosing TB could significantly improve detection  A new strategy for tuberculosis (TB) screening, proposed by a team of researchers led by Queen Mary University of London, provides a solution to problems with current TB screening, which does not always accurately detect disease. Simultaneously screening for both active and dormant TB infection could save lives, ...

A sharp drop in aid for pre-primary education may be the first sign that the international community is turning its back on the world’s most vulnerable children amid wider economic strain, a new report warns. The annual donor ‘scorecard’, produced by researchers at the University of Cambridge for the charity Theirworld, reveals that the proportion of global education aid being committed to early childhood education – which was already well below international targets – has started to fall. The report’s authors warn that the true picture could be far worse, ...

Today, 24 April 2025, marks the first-ever World Hormone Day, a global campaign to raise awareness of the vital role of hormones in human health. After three successful years of European Hormone Day, the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) and the European Hormone and Metabolism Foundation (ESE Foundation) have moved to a worldwide campaign this year in response to requests from the global endocrine community. Endocrinology is the study of hormones. When they are out of balance or fail, this can lead to the development of prevalent chronic diseases such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, cancer, osteoporosis and obesity, and other health challenges such as infertility. Despite ...

The first clinical trial to test whether adults allergic to peanuts can be desensitised has shown great success with two thirds of the cohort consuming the equivalent of five peanuts without reacting.   The Grown Up Peanut Immunotherapy (GUPI) trial is the first study entirely in adults with severe allergy to test whether daily doses of peanuts taken under strict supervision can be safely tolerated.   The approach, known as oral immunotherapy, has seen success in trials in infants and children worldwide. The findings of the ...

About The Study: By taking advantage of a quasi-experiment and corroborating findings from Wales in a different population, this study provides evidence of the potential benefits of herpes zoster vaccination for dementia that is more likely to be causal than that of more commonly conducted associational studies. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Pascal Geldsetzer, ScD, MBChB, MPH, email pgeldsetzer@stanford.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.5013) Editor’s ...

EL PASO, Texas (April 23, 2025) – The University of Texas at El Paso has launched the AI Institute for Community-Engaged Research (AI-ICER), an interdisciplinary think tank designed to leverage artificial intelligence technologies to address pressing regional and national challenges. The institute was established with funding from The University of Texas System Regents' Research Excellence Program. "This institute positions UTEP as a leader in responsible AI research while strengthening our mission as a community-engaged institution," said Ahmad M. Itani, Ph.D., UTEP vice president for research. ...

Yuze “Alice” Sun, an electrical engineering professor, has been elected to The University of Texas at Arlington’s Academy of Distinguished Researchers for her contributions to technologies critical to health care, environmental monitoring and national defense. “Dr. Sun is a trailblazer in multidisciplinary research whose transformative advancements have significantly impacted devices we rely on every day to diagnose and treat disease, communicate with others and allow our military ...