(WASHINGTON— April 9, 2025) — A marker linked to inflammation, C-reactive protein, may increase significantly during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle in female patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), according to emerging research published today in Blood Vessels, Thrombosis & Hemostasis.  This observation provides insight into the pattern of painful vaso-occlusive events (VOEs), which are driven by inflammation, in female patients with the disorder. “We know both from the literature and anecdotally from our patients that women with SCD have VOEs that cluster ...

With the global prevalence of obesity on the rise, it is crucial to explore the neural mechanisms linked to obesity and its influence on brain and cognitive health. However, the impact of obesity on the brain is complex and multilevel. To address this, Prof. Anqi QIU, Professor of the Department of Health Technology and Informatics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Global STEM Scholar, has unveiled novel research to advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between obesity and its implications for cognitive health in adults.  Obesity ...

LOS ANGELES — Keck Medicine of USC will open a four-story, 100,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art medical office building located at 590 S. Fair Oaks Ave. in Pasadena in fall 2025.   As the newest addition to the renowned academic health system, the location will significantly expand Keck Medicine clinical care for residents of Pasadena and neighboring communities in the San Gabriel Valley.   What sets the new Pasadena location apart   “This new location — our largest and most advanced outpatient setting — will ...

TAMPA, Fla. (April 9, 2025) – A new study led by the University of South Florida and the University of Cincinnati sheds light on the powerful impact of workplace cohorts on newcomer retention. The findings provide critical insights for organizations seeking to reduce employee turnover and improve stability among their teams. Cohorts, groups of new employees that join an organization at the same time and are usually trained together, are common in the military and in professional services such as law, accounting and consulting firms. ...

New Curtin University research into the overlooked environmental impact of pet dogs has found far-reaching negative effects on wildlife, ecosystems and climate.   While ecological damage caused by cats has been extensively studied, the new research found dogs, as the world’s most common large carnivores, present a significant and multifaceted environmental threat.   Lead researcher Associate Professor Bill Bateman, from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said the research found that human-owned, pet dogs disturb and directly harm wildlife, particularly shorebirds, even when leashed.   “As well as predatory behaviour like chasing wildlife, ...

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [April 9, 2025] — New research in the April 2025 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found significant disparities based on race, socioeconomic status, and other factors when it came to quality of care and outcomes for people with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (mPDAC)—which is associated with very high cancer mortality. The researchers used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database to study 14,147 patients who were diagnosed ...

For generations, sailors around the globe have reported a mysterious phenomenon: Vast areas of the ocean glow steadily at night, sometimes for months on end. The light is bright enough to read by and is oddly similar to the green and white aura cast by glow-in-the dark stars that have decorated children’s rooms. Stretching over ocean space as broad as 100,000 square kilometers, the light can, at times, even be seen from space.    This rare bioluminescent display was coined by sailors as “milky seas.” Despite being encountered for centuries, scientists still know very little about what causes this glowing effect because ...

A groundbreaking study presents a comprehensive approach to restructuring medium-level voltage (MLV) distribution systems that enhances reliability while reducing both energy losses and carbon emissions.   The study introduces an innovative "N+1 bus configuration" for radial distribution systems (RDS) - a simple yet powerful modification to conventional power networks that adds just one additional tie line to existing systems. This seemingly minor change delivers remarkable improvements in system performance when combined with distributed renewable energy resources (DER).   The research team conducted extensive testing on both real-time radial ...

For millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals around the world, communication barriers can make everyday interactions challenging. Traditional solutions, like sign language interpreters, are often scarce, expensive and dependent on human availability. In an increasingly digital world, the demand for smart, assistive technologies that offer real-time, accurate and accessible communication solutions is growing, aiming to bridge this critical gap. American Sign Language (ASL) is one of the most widely used sign languages, consisting of distinct hand gestures that represent letters, ...

There is growing recognition in medicine that what happens in one part of the body can ripple through others. That idea is now being explored in a surprising place: the mouth. A new review by an international group of researchers has examined the mounting evidence linking periodontal disease—commonly known as gum disease—to chronic liver conditions, including cirrhosis, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), and alcohol-related liver disease. Though the mouth and liver are separated ...

The Korea Institute of Energy Research (President Yi Chang-keun, hereinafter referred to as “KIER”) has successfully developed ultra-lightweight flexible perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells and achieved a power conversion efficiency of 23.64%, which is the world’s highest efficiency of the flexible perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells reported to date. The solar cells developed by the research team are extremely lightweight and can be attached to curved surfaces, making it a promising candidate for future applications in buildings, vehicles, aircraft, and more. Crystalline silicon-based single-junction solar cells ...

A comprehensive study has examined the magnetic field emissions (MFE) from vehicle-mounted wireless power transfer (WPT) systems, providing critical insights for ensuring user safety during electric vehicle charging. As wireless charging technology gains popularity for fleet vehicles and accessibility applications, understanding and controlling electromagnetic field exposure becomes increasingly important.   Researchers conducted extensive physical measurements around a vehicle equipped with an in-house designed WPT system, examining how various factors affect magnetic field emissions where users might be positioned during charging operations. The study specifically investigated: - ...

Cancer diagnoses traditionally require invasive or labor-intensive procedures such as tissue biopsies. Now, research published in ACS Central Science reveals a method that uses pulsed infrared light to identify molecular profiles in blood plasma that could indicate the presence of certain common cancers. In this proof-of-concept study, blood plasma from more than 2,000 people was analyzed to link molecular patterns to lung cancer, extrapolating a potential “cancer fingerprint.” Plasma is the liquid portion of blood, depleted of any ...

Wear and tear on plastic products releases small to nearly invisible plastic particles, which could impact people’s health when consumed or inhaled. To make these particles biodegradable, researchers created plastics from plant starch instead of petroleum. An initial study published in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry shows how animals consuming particles from this alternative material developed health problems such as liver damage and gut microbiome imbalances. “Biodegradable starch-based plastics may not be as safe and health-promoting as originally assumed,” ...

Iron and its alloys, such as steel and cast iron, dominate the modern world, and there’s growing demand for iron-derived products. Traditionally, blast furnaces transform iron ore into purified elemental metal, but the process requires a lot of energy and emits air pollution. Now, researchers in ACS Energy Letters report that they’ve developed a cleaner method to extract iron from a synthetic iron ore using electrochemistry, which they say could become cost-competitive with blast furnaces. "Identifying oxides which can be converted to iron metal at low temperatures is an important ...

University of Oregon chemists are bringing a greener way to make iron metal for steel production closer to reality, a step towards cleaning up an industry that’s one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions worldwide.  Last year UO chemist Paul Kempler and his team reported a way to create iron with electrochemistry, using a series of chemical reactions that turn saltwater and iron oxide into pure iron metal.   In their latest work, they’ve optimized the starting materials for the process, identifying which kinds of iron oxides will make the chemical reactions the most cost-effective. That’s a key ...

Plastics are everywhere—from packaging and textiles to electronics and medical devices. As plastic waste breaks down, it releases microscopic particles that can penetrate our ecosystems, hinder plant growth, and potentially transfer harmful pollutants to organisms, including humans. Therefore, these plastic particles are a potential threat to the ecosystem, especially in their nanoparticulate form (1–100 nm diameter), which can penetrate the environment through different routes, including the soil beneath our feet. With this in mind, a team of researchers from Japan set out to study the migration behavior of nanoplastics ...

Coupling reactions are among the most transformative tools in organic chemistry, enabling the formation of crucial chemical bonds in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced materials. Since their introduction, they have been one of the backbones of modern organic synthesis. However, these methods have long relied on environmentally taxing transition metal catalysts, such as palladium, which are often scarce, costly, and generate unwanted byproducts. The limitations of conventional coupling methods have prompted researchers to seek alternative strategies that better align with the principles of green and sustainable chemistry ...

Amid deepening inequalities and escalating crises, including climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, a new United Nations report presents a bold approach for change.  The 2025 Interconnected Disaster Risks report, Turning Over a New Leaf, issued by the UN University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), shifts focus from diagnosing problems to mapping out solutions. It establishes that many of today’s solutions are surface-level fixes, and that to create ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine have discovered a new way that neurons act in neurodegeneration by using human neural organoids – also known as “mini-brain” models – from patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Understanding this new pathway could help researchers find better treatments for FTLD and Alzheimer’s, the two most common forms of dementia that lead to cognitive decline. Researchers used advanced techniques to study neurons from ...

A pivot from fossil fuels to clean energy technologies by 2060 would improve energy security and reduce trade risks for most nations, according to an April 9 study in Nature Climate Change.  Lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth minerals are among the prized materials for countries and corporations racing to secure supplies for energy systems that do not add greenhouse gases to our atmosphere. Unlike fossil fuels, natural reserves of these materials are most concentrated in the Global South, shuffling the geopolitics of energy and global trade. “Most people ...

New research from the University of Sydney has revealed poor oral health is significantly associated with higher instances of migraines, abdominal and body pain in women.  Published in Frontiers in Pain Research, the world-first study identified specific oral microbes correlated with certain pain conditions, suggesting a potential relationship between the oral microbiome and the nervous system.    The findings highlight the importance of good oral health to potentially mitigate pain and improve overall wellbeing, prompting further exploration into the role of oral microbiota in chronic unexplained ...

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 ...