Background and Aims The incidence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has been escalating annually, positioning it as the leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Ursolic acid has demonstrated promising therapeutic efficacy in managing MASLD, thereby justifying the need for an in-depth exploration of its pharmacological mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate elucidate the therapeutic mechanisms by which ursolic acid modulates estrogen conversion in the treatment of MASLD. Methods Building upon prior studies that ...

New research from the University of Rochester suggests that experiencing feelings of pride and awe toward one's children can significantly enhance parental well-being. The study, which will be published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, found that these positive emotions contribute to greater life satisfaction and stronger parent-child bonds.  The research team, led by Princeton Chee, conducted a series of studies involving nearly 900 parents to examine how parental pride and awe affect various aspects of well-being.  "Parental pride and awe are common and beneficial feelings parents can have with their ...

Sound is a powerful source of information. By training algorithms to identify distinct sound signatures, sound can reveal what a person is doing, whether it's cooking, vacuuming or washing the dishes. And while it's valuable in some contexts, using sound to identify activities comes with privacy concerns, since microphones can reveal sensitive information. To allow audio sensing without compromising privacy, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed an on-device filter, called Kirigami, that can detect and delete human speech segments ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study asked three questions about muscle protein synthesis in response to a nine-day diet and weight training regimen: First, does the source of protein — plant or animal-based — make any difference to muscle gain? Second, does it matter if total daily protein intake is evenly distributed throughout the day? And third, does a moderate but sufficient daily protein intake influence any of these variables? The answer to all three questions is “no,” the researchers found. Their findings are reported in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. “The longstanding belief or ...

Ticks are more likely to carry the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in areas where pheasants are released, new research shows. Pheasants are not native to the UK, but about 47 million are released here each year for recreational shooting. Researchers studied ticks in 25 woodland areas in South West England where pheasants are released – and 25 nearby control sites where no pheasants are released. They found that Borrelia spp. – the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease – was almost ...

Older adults with cancer respond just as well as younger patients to immune checkpoint inhibitors despite age-related immune system differences, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and the Johns Hopkins Convergence Institute. The study was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, including the National Cancer Institute’s Specialized Programs of Research Excellence. Most new solid tumor cancer diagnoses happen in people ages 65 or older, and overall, these patients have worse cancer treatment outcomes than ...

Scientists from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and University of Las Vegas Nevada (UNLV) have uncovered a genetic link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a rare genetic condition called myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). The study, published today in Nature Neuroscience, suggests that while ASD has previously been characterized by a loss of gene function, another mechanism may be leading to the social behaviours often observed in individuals with ASD.  DM1 is an inherited condition which causes progressive muscle ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. –  Most parents agree that talking to their kids about puberty is important—but when and how to start the conversation is often less clear, a new national poll suggests. Among the most common challenges for parents: choosing the right age to start talking about body changes and whether to explain sex, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. Parents are evenly split in thinking it’s best to start talking about puberty before 10 years, at age 10 or when children are older. “It’s easy to assume a child is too ...

“Tusi”, also known as “tucibí” or “pink cocaine”, is a drug concoction that emerged in Latin America and Europe within the past decade and is becoming increasingly popular in the USA.  A new study published in the scientific journal Addiction estimates that in 2024, 2.7% of electronic dance music-nightclub attending adults in New York City (NYC) used Tusi in the past year, with higher use among Hispanic people and people who use other drugs.   Consumers often don’t understand what Tusi is when they take it.  Tusi ...

In popular culture, dads are stoic, sensitive and strong. So powerful is the mystique of the happy dad that celebrities, joke books – even hard seltzers – carry the label.   Real life is different. Fathers get down, sometimes debilitatingly. And as new research from Rutgers Health reveals, when paternal depression goes undiagnosed or unaddressed, the negative social and behavioral effects on children can persist for years.   In a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Kristine Schmitz, an assistant professor of pediatrics ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have found that the motion of unlabeled cells can be used to tell whether they are cancerous or healthy. They observed malignant fibrosarcoma cells and healthy fibroblasts on a dish and found that tracking and analysis of their paths can be used to differentiate them with up to 94% accuracy. Beyond diagnosis, their technique may also shed light on cell motility related functions, like tissue healing.   While scientists and medical experts have been looking at cells under the microscope for many centuries, most studies and diagnoses focus on their shape, what they contain, and where different parts are located inside. ...

New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025, Malaga, Spain, 11-14 May) shows that the internationally recognised body mass index (BMI) cut-off points greatly overestimate overweight and obesity in male athletes. The study, from Italy, also proposes new cut-off points for overweight and obesity in this group. Body mass index (BMI) is a key method for measuring people’s weight status, defining whether they have normal weight, overweight or obesity. It is easily calculated by dividing an individual’s weight in kilograms by the ...

When you see a bag of carrots at the grocery store, does your mind go to potatoes and parsnips or buffalo wings and celery?  It depends, of course, on whether you’re making a hearty winter stew or getting ready to watch the Super Bowl.  Most scientists agree that categorizing an object — like thinking of a carrot as either a root vegetable or a party snack — is the job of the prefrontal cortex, the brain region responsible for reasoning and other high-level functions that make us smart and social. In that account, the eyes and visual regions of the brain are kind of like a security camera collecting data and processing it ...

LOGAN, UTAH, USA – Understanding the material basis of adaptive evolution has been a central goal in biology dating back to at least the time of Darwin. One focus of current debates is whether adaptive evolution relies on many mutations with small and roughly equal effects, or is it driven by one or a few mutations that cause major changes in traits. Chromosomal rearrangements where large chunks of chromosomes are inverted, moved, deleted or duplicated, provide a possible source for such large-scale “macromutations.” However, characterizing chromosomal rearrangements with commonly tried ...

What were you investigating? We investigated how our brains process language during real-life conversations. Specifically, we wanted to understand which brain regions become active when we're speaking and listening, and how these patterns relate to the specific words and context of the conversation. What methods did you use? We employed artificial intelligence (AI) to take a closer look at how our brains handle the back-and-forth of real conversations. We combined advanced AI, specifically language models like ...

TAMPA, Fla. (April 18, 2025) – A new study led by the University of South Florida reveals opioid control policies may offer broader public health benefits, including reducing instances of domestic violence. As policymakers continue to grapple with the opioid epidemic, this study highlights the power of research to inform effective public policy. The research conducted by USF doctoral student Minglu Sun and Andrei Barbos, associate professor of economics, underscores how opioid abuse can cause a powerful ripple effect across society. Published in Health Economics, the study analyzes the impact on the prevalence of domestic violence in Mandatory Access Prescription ...

Recognized for outstanding research and service to the community, Wei Kang, a Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, was honored by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) as a 2025 SIAM Fellow. Applied mathematics provides a foundation for all kinds of leading-edge research into complex science and technology with naval and defense applications. A leading professional society for math whizzes, SIAM selected 25 Fellows from its international community of 14,000 members who represent almost 500 organizations worldwide, including academia, ...

An international research collaboration led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists that examined microscopic blobs of protein found in human cells has discovered that some morph from an almost honey-like substance to a hard candy-like solid.  These mysterious droplets, known as biomolecular condensates, solidify when they carry a high proportion of the protein alpha-synuclein, the scientists reported in Science Advances. Clumps of alpha-synuclein are commonly found in the brain cells of people with Parkinson’s disease, ...

Fifty years since its discovery, scientists have finally worked out how a molecular machine found in mitochondria, the ‘powerhouses’ of our cells, allows us to make the fuel we need from sugars, a process vital to all life on Earth. Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Mitochondrial Biology Unit, University of Cambridge, have worked out the structure of this machine and shown how it operates like the lock on a canal to transport pyruvate – a molecule generated in the body from the breakdown of sugars – into our mitochondria. Known as the ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers have found that targeting an enzyme called PGM3 can help stop the growth of glioblastoma, the most dangerous type of brain tumor. This enzyme plays a vital role in the hexosamine synthesis pathway, which is involved in the processes of protein and lipid glycosylation that allow tumors to rapidly grow. Lipid glycosylation is a process where sugar molecules attach to fats (lipids) in the body. Researchers with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James and Richard J. Solove Research Institute believe that targeting PGM3 can reduce tumor growth and eliminate glioblastoma cells. “This ...

In a groundbreaking study co-authored by a Texas A&M University scientist, researchers have revealed new insights into the geological history of Mars' Jezero Crater, the landing site of NASA’s Perseverance rover. Their findings suggest that the crater's floor is composed of a diverse array of iron-rich volcanic rocks, providing a window into the planet’s distant past and the closest chance yet to uncover signs of ancient life. Research scientist Dr. Michael Tice, who studies geobiology and sedimentary geology in the Texas A&M College of Arts and ...

PHILADELPHIA, PA (April 17, 2025) – A Monell Chemical Senses Center study published this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation offers renewed hope for individuals living with Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS), a rare genetic disorder characterized by early-onset obesity, compulsive eating, and cognitive impairments. The Monell team and colleagues identified that GLP-1 receptor agonists, a class of drugs currently used to treat type-2 diabetes and obesity, as a promising therapeutic for managing the metabolic complications associated with BBS. They used ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For scientists who want to learn about the geological history of a planet, river deltas are a great place to start. Deltas gather sediment from a large area into one place, which can be studied to reveal climate and tectonic histories or signs of past life. That’s why NASA sent its most recent Mars rover to Jezero Crater, home to a prominent and well-preserved delta.  And that’s why planetary scientists are also interested in finding deltas on Saturn’s moon Titan. Titan is the only planetary body ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The professional world has no shortage of micromanagers — or, as Penn State School of Labor and Employment Relations (LER) faculty members Craig L. Pearce and Hee Man Park like to call them, “accidental dictators.” But leaders don’t have to fall into that trap, according to an article published in the journal Organizational Dynamics co-written by Pearce, Brova Family Endowed Professor of leadership and human resources, and Park, associate professor of human resource management and director of LER’s graduate program. The journal’s readership is largely made up ...

Lehigh University Senior Research Scientist Arup K. SenGupta, a professor emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is the 2025 recipient of the Simon W. Freese Environmental Engineering Award and Lecture, presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). SenGupta, an ASCE Fellow, is an internationally recognized water scientist whose research has led to sustainable solutions for removing arsenic, fluoride, and other contaminants from drinking water around the world. His pioneering work in ion exchange science has also advanced technologies for desalination, wastewater reclamation, and carbon ...