EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS – Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Now a new study has found exposure to this invisible, odorless gas is also linked to an increased risk of stroke. The study, which examined exposures in middle age to older female participants, found an increased risk of stroke among those exposed to high and even moderate concentrations of the gas compared to those exposed to the lowest concentrations. The study is published in the January 31, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS – People with polycystic ovary syndrome may be more likely to have memory and thinking problems in middle age, according to new research published in the January 31, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that polycystic ovary syndrome causes cognitive decline. It only shows an association. Polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal disorder that is defined by irregular menstruation and elevated levels of a hormone called androgen. Other symptoms may include excess hair growth, acne, infertility and poor metabolic ...

Rochester Institute of Technology scientists will be the lead researchers on a $1.8 million NASA grant to study electromagnetic signals from merging supermassive black holes. RIT’s Manuela Campanelli, Distinguished Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics and director of the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, will lead the collaborative project with help from Yosef Zlochower, professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. The project will also include researchers from the University of Idaho, Johns Hopkins University, and the Goddard Space Flight Center. The team will combine astrophysical knowledge with state-of-the-art ...

Indiana University researchers in the College of Arts and Sciences in Bloomington have identified a missing link that can help protect the brain from aging. Hui-Chen Lu, professor and director of the Linda and Jack Gill Center for Biomolecular Science at IU, alongside graduate students Sen Yang and Zhen Xian Niou, found that nicotinamide nucleotide adenylyl transferase 2, or NMNAT2, provides energy to axons independent of the mitochondria. It does this by propelling glycolysis, a process in which glucose is broken down to produce energy. This gives axons enough energy to ...

AURORA, Co. (January 31, 2024) - A collaborative cohort of researchers, led by University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus professor Angelo D’Alessandro, have identified kynurenine as a critical new biomarker in the quality of stored red blood cells (RBCs), a crucial step in the development of more personalized transfusions. Study results published today in the journal Blood.  The transfusion of RBCs is one of the most common in-hospital medical procedures second only to vaccination. The blood supply is dependent on altruistic blood donors, and donated RBCs are stored ...

In a new study, 38 percent of dog owners surveyed in Denmark reported giving their pups cannabinoids, particularly cannabidiol or CBD. Pernille Holst and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on January 31. Cannabis has become popular for recreational and medical use in humans, and many cannabis-based products are also available for pets. But because cannabis is not legal for veterinary use in countries such as Denmark, pet owners are using it without a prescription. To understand how common unlicensed cannabinoid use for pets is in Denmark, Holst and colleagues distributed an anonymous ...

After big shocks such as the pandemic lockdowns and the invasion of Ukraine, happiness levels may return to normal in as little as 2-3 weeks, per sentiment analysis of tweets in ten countries ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295896 Article Title: Reactions to macro-level shocks and re-examination of adaptation theory using Big Data Author Countries: South Africa, New Zealand Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Non-invasive wearable devices might be able to predict preterm birth by monitoring changes in maternal heart rate variability ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295899 Article Title: Wearable-derived maternal heart rate variability as a novel digital biomarker of preterm birth Author Countries: USA Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Evidence from teeth reveals that vitamin D deficiency during childhood was likely a major issue in industrialized England, according to a study published January 31, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Anne Marie Snoddy of the University of Otago, New Zealand and colleagues. The 18th and 19th centuries AD were a period of industrialization and urbanization in England. This was also a time of increasing incidence of health issues like vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and associated conditions like rickets, potentially linked to changing social practices ...

Rickets ran rife in children following the Industrial Revolution, but University of Otago-led research has found factory work and polluted cities aren’t entirely to blame for the period’s vitamin D deficiencies.   In a Marsden funded study, just published in PLOS One, researchers from Otago, Durham University, University of Edinburgh, University of Brighton, and University of Queensland, sampled teeth from a cemetery site in industrial era England, looking for microscopic markers of nutritional disease.   Lead author Dr Annie Sohler-Snoddy, Research ...

NEW YORK, NY (January 31, 2024) – The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) announced today that, following a nationwide search, its Board of Directors has named Hunter College President Emerita Jennifer J. Raab as its next President and Chief Executive Officer, effective this month. NYSCF is one of the world’s leading nonprofit stem cell organizations, raising and investing more than $450 million since its founding in 2005 to accelerate cures for the major diseases of our time through stem cell research. The foundation conducts its own pioneering research at the NYSCF Research Institute laboratories in Manhattan, informs and convenes scientists and ...

Brigham and MIT researchers uncovered never-before-seen details in human brain tissue with new, inexpensive microscopy technology. KEY TAKEAWAYS Researchers have developed a new microscopy technology called decrowding expansion pathology (dExPath) to analyze brain tissue. By pulling proteins apart with dExPath, researchers can stain proteins in tissue that could not be accessed before, highlighting nanometer sized structures or even cell populations that were previously hidden. This “super-resolution imaging” technology ...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can predict whether adult patients with brain cancer will survive more than eight months after receiving radiotherapy treatment. The use of the AI to successfully predict patient outcomes would allow clinicians to be better informed for planning the next stage of treatment and refer patients to potentially life-saving treatment quicker. This is the first use of AI to predict short-term and long-term survivors within eight-months of radiotherapy. The paper published recently in Neuro-Oncology shows how researchers ...

In a major stride towards sustainable industrial fermentation, a team of researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in The Netherlands, has unveiled pioneering advancements in the purification of isopropanol and acetone from the fermentation of waste gases. The study, published in SCI's Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, introduces novel processes that promise to elevate the efficiency and viability of large-scale production. Isopropanol and acetone have a combined global market of $10 billion. Both chemicals are important industry solvents and isopropanol ...

Solar flares occur when magnetic energy builds up in the Sun’s atmosphere and is released as electromagnetic radiation. Lasting anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, flares usually reach temperatures around 10 million degrees Kelvin. Because of their intense electromagnetic energy, solar flares can cause disruptions in radio communications, Earth-orbiting satellites and even result in blackouts. Although flares have been classified based on the amount of energy they emit at their peak, there has not been significant study into differentiating ...

Among the most difficult types of pain to alleviate is neuropathic pain, pain that is usually caused by damage to nerves in various body tissues, including skin, muscle and joints. It can cause patients to suffer feelings like electric shocks, tingling, burning or stabbing. Diabetes, multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy drugs, injuries and amputations have all been associated with neuropathic pain, which is often chronic, sometimes unrelenting and affects millions of people worldwide. Many of the available pain medications are only moderately effective at treating this type of pain and often come with serious ...

Researchers at Hackensack Meridian’s John Theurer Cancer Center (JTCC), are part of a published Phase 3 study reporting on the equivalent safety and effectiveness in the oral treatment of blood cancers–such as myelodysplastic syndrome and/or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia–to its previously inpatient, intravenous treatment counterparts.    John Theurer Cancer Center is part of the NCI-designated Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University.    Dr. James K. McCloskey, M.D., led JTCC’s ...

Irvine, Calif., Jan. 31, 2024 — Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and Los Alamos National Laboratory, publishing in the latest issue of Nature Communications, describe the discovery of a new method that transforms everyday materials like glass into materials scientists can use to make quantum computers.   “The materials we made are substances that exhibit unique electrical or quantum properties because of their specific atomic shapes or structures,” said Luis A. Jauregui, professor of physics & astronomy ...

“[...] this is the first study describing a BCAS1+ cell population in a large cohort of diffuse glioma patients.” BUFFALO, NY- January 31, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on January 24, 2024, entitled, “BCAS1 defines a heterogeneous cell population in diffuse gliomas.” Oligodendrocyte precursor markers have become of great interest to identify new diagnostic and therapeutic targets for diffuse gliomas, since state-of-the-art studies point towards immature oligodendrocytes as a possible source of gliomagenesis. Brain enriched myelin associated ...

In a significant development for personalised nutrition, researchers in Italy have cultivated microgreens with bespoke nutritional profiles to serve individual dietary requirements. The study, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (doi: 10.1002/jsfa.13222), provides a blueprint for the soilless cultivation of nutritionally enriched plants in a commercial greenhouse setting. Co-authors Massimiliano D’Imperio and Francesco Serio, both at the Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA) National Council ...

Quantum dots are a kind of artificial atom: just a few nanometres in size and made of semiconductor materials, they can emit light of a specific colour or even single photons, which is important for quantum technologies. The discoverers and pioneers of the commercial production of quantum dots were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2023. In recent years, quantum dots made of perovskites have attracted particular attention. Perovskites belong to a class of materials that have a similar structure to the mineral perovskite ...

Crop-livestock integration (CLI) systems combine the growing of crops in rotation or consortium, especially grain crops such as soybeans, corn and sorghum, and forage plants used to feed cattle and pigs, with the raising of livestock, typically beef cattle. The crops provide most of the cash income, while the livestock has food available during the dry season and facilitates seed management. CLI improves soil fertility, raises yields and helps rehabilitate degraded areas while reducing the use of pesticides, mitigating the risk of erosion and the seasonality of production, and lowering ...

January 31, 2024—Using Emergency Medical Services (EMS) data, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health compared the national burden of pedestrian injuries from motor vehicles to that of pedestrian falls occurring on streets and sidewalks and found that the probability of a pedestrian suffering a severe injury is higher for motor vehicle collisions as compared to falls.   Yet, the public health burden of the number of pedestrians injured from a fall – severe or otherwise - is significantly higher compared to the number of pedestrians injured by a motor ...

A protein found abundantly in breast cancers that are refractory to conventional treatments is thought to cause the development of metastasis. Targeting it would prevent metastatic spread and therefore increase patients survival. These are the findings of a study conducted by a French-American team and led by a biologist at CNRS1. The study, the results of which appear on 31st January in Cell Discovery, aims to better understand the mechanisms at play in the development of primary tumours in aggressive ...

About The Study: In this analysis using data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study, there was a high prevalence of mental disorders affecting children and youths, indicating that more than 1 of 10 (or 293 million) individuals ages 5 to 24 globally live with a diagnosable mental disorder. In terms of burden, around one-fifth of all disease-related disability (considering all causes) was attributable to mental disorders among this population. Additionally, this age period encompasses about one-fourth of the mental disorder burden across the entire life course.  Authors: Christian Kieling, M.D., Ph.D., of the Universidade ...