(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Researchers at UC Davis have identified changes in the gut microbiome that can result in an inability to digest sorbitol. Sorbitol, a sugar alcohol, is used in sugar-free gum, mints, candy and other products. It is also found naturally in apricots, apples, pears, avocadoes and other foods. At high levels, sorbitol can cause bloating, cramps and diarrhea. For some people, even a small amount causes digestive upset, a condition known as sorbitol intolerance. A new study with mice found that taking antibiotics, combined with a high-fat diet, reduced the number of Clostridia gut microbes, which can break down sorbitol. ...

With age, cells can experience senescence, a state where they stop growing but continue releasing inflammatory and tissue-degrading molecules. When a person is young, the immune system responds and eliminates senescent cells, often referred to as zombie cells. However, zombie cells linger and contribute to various age-related health problems and diseases. Mayo Clinic researchers, in two studies, shed light on the biology of aging cells. In a study published in Aging Cell, Mayo Clinic researchers analyzed zombie ...

Contributed by Arianna Soldati, GSA Science Communication Fellow Our planet’s lithosphere is broken into several tectonic plates. Their configuration is ever-shifting, as supercontinents are assembled and broken up, and oceans form, grow, and then start to close in what is known as the Wilson cycle. In the Wilson cycle, when a supercontinent like Pangea is broken up, an interior ocean is formed. In the case of Pangea, the interior ocean is the Atlantic. This ocean has a rift in the middle, and passive margins on the side, which means no seismic or volcanic activity occurs along its shores. Destined to keep expanding, an Atlantic-type ...

When an enemy invades, defenders are ferried to the site to neutralise the marauders. In the human body, a protein carrier called SPNS2 transports S1P molecules from endothelial cells to rally immune cell response in infected organs and tissues. Using specially-developed nanobodies that bind to SPNS2 and enlarge the entire structure, the enlarged SPNS2 structure allows the S1P molecules to be viewed via cryogenic electron microscopy.  Scientists from the Immunology Translational Research Programme at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, ...

WASHINGTON, February 15, 2024—The American Educational Research Association (AERA) has announced the selection of 24 exemplary scholars as 2024 AERA Fellows. The AERA Fellows Program honors scholars for their exceptional contributions to, and excellence in, education research. Nominated by their peers, the 2024 Fellows were selected by the Fellows Committee and approved by the AERA Council, the association’s elected governing body. They will be inducted during a ceremony at the 2024 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on April 12. With this cohort, there will be a total of 762 AERA ...

First-year Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM) student Elizabeth Titova leveraged her background in phlebotomy and scientific research to publish a new clinical study around COVID-19 vaccination in Microbiology Spectrum, a peer-reviewed, open-access ASM Journal.   In her study, Titova found that while naturally stronger in immunocompetent individuals, the immunocompromised population—”especially cancer patients undergoing treatment”—still received a “robust immune response” from the vaccine, indicating protection against SARS-CoV-2.    This ...

It is not uncommon for people to “hit the wall” at work and experience burnout for short or long periods of time. “We have found that approximately 13 per cent of Norwegian employees are at high risk of burnout,” says Leon De Beer, Associate Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Department of Psychology. De Beer has contributed to a new study on burnout published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology with colleagues from the Healthy Workplaces research group. They are working on a new tool that can identify people at risk of burnout. ...

Women with HIV experience accelerated DNA aging, a phenomenon that can lead to poor physical function, according to a study led by Stephanie Shiau, an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Rutgers School of Public Health.   Published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, the study sheds light on the unique challenges faced by women with HIV as they age and opens avenues for tailored interventions to enhance health outcomes. Globally, over 50 percent of individuals living with HIV are ...

Parents of young children with an excitable or exuberant temperament could adapt their parenting style to help moderate their child’s potential development of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to a new study co-authored by a University of Waterloo researcher.  Developmental psychologists know that temperament, parenting, and the brain’s executive functions are interconnected factors in developing ADHD symptoms throughout childhood. But, the study found specific factors that predict a higher chance of ADHD symptoms, pointing to the importance ...

In a recent PeerJ Life & Environment study, Professor Jennifer Vonk from Oakland University presents compelling evidence that exotic cats possess the remarkable ability to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar human voices. The article - "Catcalls: Exotic Cats Discriminate the Voices of Familiar Caregivers" - delves into the often-overlooked realm of voice recognition among Felidae species. While much attention has been paid to domestication and early experiences in understanding animals' ability to differentiate between ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Feb. 15, 2024 – According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 6.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and 1 in 3 older adults will die with the disease or another form of dementia. There’s also a growing need for improved care and support, not only for persons living with dementia but also for their caregivers. Underrepresented populations are disproportionally more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease compared to other Americans, so there’s ...

For the first time, the Mount Sinai Health System has been named the official medical service provider for the International Sumo League—the world’s largest league of sumo wrestlers. Physicians from the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance are playing a key role in preparing the elite sumo wrestlers competing in international tournaments, including the upcoming World Championship Sumo at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Sunday, February 18.  “We are excited to partner with International Sumo League and offer comprehensive care and expert guidance ...

The Blood Cancer Healing Center, located at 3229 Burnet Avenue in Uptown Cincinnati, is poised to redefine care standards by offering comprehensive patient support and innovative treatments under one roof. With clinical services opening as part of a phased approach in the summer of 2024, this state-of-the-art facility will address the critical needs of the 1.6 million individuals affected by blood cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, annually in the U.S. Other spaces within the facility are scheduled to open in 2025. Care will be given around the clock in both the inpatient ...

A new Tulane University study published in Nature Communications offers a glimpse into the possible impact of climate change on coastal wetlands 50 years or longer into the future. Scientists are usually forced to rely on computer models to project the long-term effects of rising seas. But an unexpected set of circumstances enabled a real-world experiment along the Gulf Coast. An extensive network of nearly 400 monitoring sites was established along the Louisiana coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Then the ...

A consortium of Birmingham researchers, clinicians and industry partners has received a second £1.1m award from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) for a three-year study supporting the further development of a novel device that could revolutionise the clinical management of anal fistula.    In this intrusive and embarrassing condition, sufferers experience daily discomfort and smelly discharge from a tunnel between the bowel and skin around the anus. It affects mostly young people and has a significant impact on employment and family life due ...

From today, patients and doctors at Amsterdam UMC's Heart Centre can make use of the app HartWacht (HeartGuard, in English) to supplement their care. Through the use of a small measurement instrument, around the size of a cereal bar, and a mobile app, patients can now have their blood pressure and arrythmias monitored at home. This means that patients need to visit their cardiologist less frequently. For doctors, this means they have more precise measurements and can act quicker where necessary. A ''win-win'' in the eyes of Michiel Winter, cardiologist at Amsterdam UMC and leader of this project.   "HartWacht ...

Cells need energy to function. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg can now explain how energy is guided in the cell by small atomic movements to reach its destination in the protein. Imitating these structural changes of the proteins could lead to more efficient solar cells in the future. The sun’s rays are the basis for all the energy that creates life on Earth. Photosynthesis in plants is a prime example, where solar energy is needed for the plant to grow. Special proteins absorb the sun’s rays, and the energy is transported as electrons inside the protein, in a process called charge transfer. In a new study, researchers show how ...

Body language and the understanding thereof is a crucial part of communication. It is often assumed that humans can innately recognize other’s emotions, but there is growing evidence that the ability to decipher these emotions is not instinctive but shaped by people’s culturally shared understanding of emotions. A team of scientists in the US decided to investigate how cultural upbringing and access to emotion category words, which categorize and facilitate access to a complex set of emotional ideas, experiences, and responses ...

WASHINGTON – A new Environmental Working Group peer-reviewed study has found chlormequat, a little-known pesticide, in four out of five people tested. Because the chemical is linked to reproductive and developmental problems in animal studies, the findings suggest the potential for similar harm to humans. EWG’s research, published February 15 in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, tested the urine of 96 people for the presence of chlormequat, finding it in 77 of them. EWG summarized the findings in an article published on its website. “EWG’s new study on chlormequat ...

Mothers are less likely to take antidepressants if their own parents and parents-in-law are healthy and live close by– a new study finds. On the flip side of the coin, antidepressant use was highest in mothers whose parents and parents-in-law were elderly, in poor health, and lived far away – possibly due to the stress caused by needing to care for and support older grandparents instead of receiving help from them. The findings of this new longitudinal study which tracked 488,000 mothers of young children between 2000-2014 are published today in the peer-reviewed journal Population Studies. “Previous studies have consistently shown that younger grandparents in good ...

KEY TAKEAWAYS The majority of the world’s people live in what are known as “blood deserts,” areas in which the clinical need for blood components cannot be met in at least 75% of cases. A global coalition of experts led by researchers from the Brigham identified urgent steps that can be taken by health systems to improve access to blood until longer term strategies are established Billions of people live in parts of the world that are so remote from the nearest hospital facility with a functioning blood bank that they are termed “blood deserts.” Researchers  from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the ...

Walking or jogging, yoga, and strength training seem to be the most effective exercises to ease depression, either alone or alongside established treatments such as psychotherapy and drugs, suggests an evidence review published by The BMJ today. Even low intensity activities such as walking or yoga are beneficial, but the results suggest that the more vigorous the activity, the greater the benefits are likely to be. The authors stress that confidence in many of the findings remains low ...

Securing suitable childcare for the irregular and long working hours demanded by a medical career is a crippling financial burden and a draining source of stress for doctor parents, reveals an exclusive snapshot survey by The BMJ today. Some doctors have resigned or are considering resigning, others have changed specialities in the hope that it gives them more flexibility, and yet more altered their plans to have children as a result, reports health journalist Erin Dean. The BMJ Childcare Survey ran on bmj.com from 16 to 30 November ...

Feminist health narratives are being co-opted by commercial interests to market new technologies, tests, and treatments that are not backed by evidence, argue researchers in The BMJ today. Dr Tessa Copp at The University of Sydney and colleagues say such marketing behaviour risks harming women through inappropriate medicalisation, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment. They call for greater wariness of simplistic health messages that any knowledge is power, and urge health professionals and governments ...

Processing times for complaints against drug companies suspected of having breached their industry code of practice have more than tripled in a nearly two-decade period, an investigation by The BMJ has found. Data analysis by Shai Mulinari at Lund University and Piotr Ozieranski at the University of Bath show that the average processing time of a complaint more than tripled between 2004-2021, from less than three months to more than 8.5 months. Numerous complaints have taken more than a year ...