A review published in The Laryngoscope indicates that climate change’s effects on pollen seasons and concentrations are contributing to increasing rates of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever. When investigators assessed research published between 2000 and 2023, they identified 30 studies that reported on the current epidemiological state of allergic rhinitis, described factors related to climate change, and observed how global warming is affecting pollen seasons and allergy symptoms. Sixteen studies reported longer pollen seasons and/or higher pollen concentrations related to climate change. As an example, total pollen emissions in the U.S. are projected to increase by 16–40% ...

Several states, including Georgia, offer state-funded pre-kindergarten programs to students regardless of their family’s income. New research in Economic Inquiry investigates whether such programs offer long-lasting academic benefits to all students. Using enrollment lottery data from a large school district in metro Atlanta, investigators found that lottery-winning enrollees of school-based pre-kindergarten entered kindergarten more prepared in both math and reading than non-winning peers. Gains tended to fade by the end of kindergarten, however, and some negative achievement effects ...

Hydrogels, which are soft materials formed by crosslinking polymers, could have a variety of medical applications. In research published in Advanced Science, investigators developed an injectable hydrogel containing components of fish swim bladders and used it to repair damaged heart tissue. The fish swim bladder is an organ that aids fish in floating in water and is composed of collagen, glycosaminoglycans, and elastin, closely resembling parts of the human heart. Experiments revealed that the researchers’ fish swim bladder–based hydrogel enhances cardiac cell adhesion and stretching while promoting new ...

New research published in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging has uncovered changes in brain connectivity during chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. In the study of 55 patients with breast cancer and 38 controls without cancer, investigators conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging scans of participants’ brains over several months. Scans from patients revealed changes in brain connectivity, particularly in the frontal-limbic system (involved in executive functions) and the cerebellar cortex (linked to memory) throughout the course of treatment. These changes got worse and spread more as chemotherapy continued. “The ...

Risky driving by parents and other motorists who do the school run is putting children in danger, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Traffic Injury Prevention. Double parking, not obeying traffic controls and other unsafe behavior occurs at the majority (98%) of elementary schools during morning drop-off times.  The authors analyzed data from more than 500 schools in Canada and say hazardous driving is an “urgent and serious” issue. The most observed misdemeanour was to drop a student ...

According to a new RAND survey, over 80% of public school-based pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers use multiple curriculum materials. Some combine materials that focus on a particular domain – such as literacy or numeracy – while others use material that covers many domains at once, and some use both. More than two-thirds reported using materials that they created themselves, often in conjunction with commercial curricula.   Most public school-based pre-K educators surveyed believe their instructional materials are high quality, especially ...

Philadelphia, April 9, 2025 – Research has found that handheld electro-shockers commonly used for self defense can potentially interact with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) such as pacemakers, putting individuals at risk. The study in Heart Rhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, and the Pediatric & Congenital Electrophysiology Society, published by Elsevier, shows that the individual interactive risk is primarily based on the applied voltage, but also on the manufacturer and type of implanted CIED. The use of TASER pistols by security forces has been controversial ...

Doctor Elodie Bouzbib, from Public University of Navarra (UPNA), together with Iosune Sarasate, Unai Fernández, Manuel López-Amo, Iván Fernández, Iñigo Ezcurdia and Asier Marzo (the latter two, members of the Institute of Smart Cities) have succeeded, for the first time, in displaying three-dimensional graphics in mid-air that can be manipulated with the hands. 'What we see in films and call holograms are typically volumetric displays,' says Bouzbib, the first ...

A recent study published in Magnetic Resonance Letters has revealed for the first time the interaction mechanism between the mitochondrial proteins HAX1 and CLPB, filling the research gap between these two key proteins in the field of structural dynamics and functional association. By integrating multiple biophysical techniques, the research team based in Hefei, China, revealed the high-affinity binding properties between the two and their structural basis, which provides new research perspectives for understanding diseases related to abnormal mitochondrial function. HAX1 and CLPB: from structural differences to functional synergy HAX1 ...

The ricefield eel (Monopterus albus) is the only protogynous hermaphrodite freshwater fish. While the mechanism underlying the natural sex change in this species has been fascinating scientists for a long time, it remains elusive and mysterious. In a new study published in Water Biology and Security, a team of researchers in China reported a temperature-induced sex reversal mechanism in ricefield eel. “We show that warm temperature induces the expression of male sex determination genes in ovarian tissues, ...

FLUID, an open-source, 3D-printed robot, offers an affordable and customizable solution for automated material synthesis, making advanced research accessible to more scientists. A team of researchers led by Professor Keisuke Takahashi at the Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, have created FLUID (Flowing Liquid Utilizing Interactive Device), an open-source robotic system constructed using a 3D printer and off-the-shelf electronic components. To demonstrate FLUID’s capabilities, the team used the robot to automate the co-precipitation of cobalt and nickel, creating ...

A new study by psychologists has shed light on the way lip size could influence perceptions of facial attractiveness. Led by Professor David Alais in the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney, researchers have uncovered gender-specific biases and the potential influence of cosmetic procedures on Western perceptions of beauty. The study used digitally manipulated images to alter lip size on both male- and female-appearing faces and asked participants to rate their attractiveness. The results showed a difference in ...

The prevalence of tooth and gum issues among teenage (academy) professional footballers in England is high, finds research published in the open access journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. Inadequate oral hygiene, poor diet, and infrequent routine visits to the dentist, are all contributory factors, the findings suggest, prompting the researchers to call for remedial action to promote good oral health. This is essential for wellbeing, quality of life, long term health, and ultimately sporting performance, they emphasise. Previously published research indicates high levels of tooth and gum disease among professional senior team footballers in England ...

Hearing loss is linked to a heightened risk of developing heart failure, with the psychological distress caused by the impairment taking a key role in the observed association, finds a large long term study, published online in the journal Heart. Hearing loss is increasingly common, particularly as people age, while the prevalence of heart failure is also on the rise, affecting around 64 million people worldwide, note the researchers. While impaired hearing is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, principally, it is thought, as a result of the resulting ...

Relaxation techniques may help lower high blood pressure—at least in the short term—but the longer term effects are unclear, finds a pooled data analysis of the existing research published in the open access journal BMJ Medicine. And the risk of bias in the existing body of research means that further, more rigorously designed and longer studies are needed to confirm whether these techniques have a constructive role in the treatment of high blood pressure, conclude the researchers. High blood pressure affects around a third of 30-79 year olds and is one of the leading attributable causes of deaths in both men and women, note the researchers. While ...

Plans to ban junk food adverts from bus stops and billboards to protect public health are being stymied by advertising industry lobbying, reveals an investigation published by The BMJ today. The BMJ sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to 52 of the 317 councils in England to uncover how advertising firms and lobby groups were targeting council policies to restrict ‘out-of-home’ junk food adverts. McDonald's was the largest out-of-home advertiser in 2024 with a spend of £86.3 million, according to trade body Outsmart. Others in the top 20 include Pepsico, Coca Cola, KFC, Mars and Mondelez, the US owners of Cadbury. The FOI responses ...

General practitioners are now “prescribing" parkrun for their patients as part of a social prescribing initiative to promote preventative care. But in The BMJ today, Dr Margaret McCartney argues that turning parkrun into a prescription medicalises a walk in the park and is a retrograde step. Parkrun is an organised, timed, and free 5 km run, jog, walk, or wheel on Saturday mornings—in parks, on beaches, or on trails around the world but mainly in the UK, where it originated.  Parkrun ...

The American Meteorological Society continuously publishes research on climate, weather, and water in its 12 journals. Many of these articles are available for early online access–they are peer-reviewed, but not yet in their final published form. Below are some recent examples. JOURNAL ARTICLES Multi-factor Change in Western U.S. Nighttime Fire Weather Journal of Climate Western fires become less prone to “lay down” at night. Wildfires typically calm down at night–a crucial break for firefighters–yet firefighter and satellite measurements confirm increased nocturnal fire activity in the western U.S. from 1980 to 2020. This study shows increases in meteorological ...

  People’s political affiliation can be shown in their brain activity when they carry out mundane chores such as buying food, a new study shows. How the brain reacts to food purchasing decisions can be used to determine people’s political affiliation with almost 80 per cent accuracy, researchers have found. Although buying eggs and milk can lack emotional potency and political content, understanding how the neural systems lead people to make indistinguishable choices may help to explain the broader mechanisms of partisanship. Experts from Iowa State University, the ...

Berlin, Germany – April 7, 2025 — With antimicrobial resistance rising as one of the world's most pressing health threats, the 8th World Congress on Targeting Phage Therapy 2025 will bring together the global phage community to shape the future of infection control and microbiota modulation. Taking place on June 10–11, 2025, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Berlin Ku'damm, this landmark event will showcase cutting-edge research, real-world clinical insights, and groundbreaking applications of bacteriophage therapy across medicine, oncology, agriculture, and industry. Strategic Importance Phage therapy has entered a new ...

SAN ANTONIO — April 8, 2025 – Southwest Research Institute has launched a new markerless motion capture system that simplifies how film and gaming studios capture human movement for 3D animations. SwRI’s Biomechanical Evaluation and Animation Motion Capture (BEAMoCap™) tool converts video into realistic 3D animations without the conventional marker suits worn by actors. BEAMoCap won a 2025 Technology Innovation Award from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). SwRI staff accepted the award at ...

Xiamen University (XMU) has joined the Bentham Science Institutional Membership Program. This membership enables XMU researchers to publish their articles as Open Access under the CC-BY 4.0 license at concessionary rates in any Bentham Science journal. Through collaborations with institutions and organizations worldwide, Bentham Science is committed to promoting open research and fostering scientific advancements in science, medicine, and technology. Xiamen University (XMU), founded in 1921, is a prestigious comprehensive university ...

Two mixtures of common food additives, including aspartame, sucralose, xanthan & guar gums, modified starches, carrageenan and citric acid, are linked with slightly increased risk of type II diabetes, per French cohort study of more than 100,000 adults   In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Medicine: https://plos.io/3RkrNLv   Article title: Food additive mixtures and type 2 diabetes incidence: Results from the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort Author countries: France Funding: see manuscript END ...

Food additive mixtures are an everyday feature of our diets, especially through ultra-processed foods. Until recently, safety evaluations of these additives have been conducted substance by substance due to a lack of data on the effect of them ingested together. In a new study, researchers from Inserm, INRAE, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Paris Cité University and Cnam, as part of the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (CRESS-EREN), examined the possible links between exposure to mixtures of ...

Though the sense of touch underlies how we and most other animals interact with the world around us, much remains unknown about how this sense is processed in the brain. Researchers from Heidelberg University and Ludwig Maximillan University Munich in Germany measured the neuronal activity differences between active touch and passive touch in mice. As reported April 8th in the open-access journal, PLOS Biology, the researchers find that active and passive touch are processed by different pathways in the brain. Active touch can be thought of as grabbing something with your hand, while passive ...