A team at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) has developed a comprehensive set of innovative genetic tools and mouse lines, called iFlpMosaics, designed to enhance the study of gene function and its implications in health and disease. The groundbreaking study, led by Dr. Rui Benedito and published in Nature Methods, presents a pioneering approach that overcomes critical limitations of existing methods for generating genetic mosaics. These innovations will enable scientists to more accurately investigate the effects of somatic mutations on cellular biology and disease. The study highlights the iFlpMosaics toolkit's utility across different experimental setups, ...

Philadelphia, December 13, 2024 – Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Stanford University have revealed the molecular structure of TRACeR-I, a protein platform for reprogramming immune responses. A better understanding of its structure may help optimize designs for the platform, which can be used to develop cancer treatments by either directly modifying immune cells or by creating proteins that help immune cells locate cancer cells. The findings were published today by the journal Nature ...

Also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486, M87 is the brightest object in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, the largest gravitationally bound type of structure in the universe. It came to fame in April 2019 after scientists from EHT released the first image of a black hole in its center. Led by the EHT multi wavelength working group, a study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal presents the data from the second EHT observational campaign conducted in April 2018, involving over 25 terrestrial and orbital telescopes. The authors report the first observation of a high-energy gamma-ray flare in over a decade from the supermassive black hole M87, based on nearly ...

A new database of African hippo populations has revealed huge gaps in our knowledge of where the megaherbivores live and thrive, with populations fragmented and reliant on protected areas. Hippos are classified as “vulnerable to extinction” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and have been called the “neglected megafauna”, with a lack of scientific attention and much less research into their lives and habitats than other large mammals. University of Leeds School of Biology Postgraduate Researcher Hannah Lacy ...

Sometimes, moving just a few inches can go a long way. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have developed a promising technique for head and neck reconstruction that shifts the placement of transferred tissue with blood vessels attached, offering a safer, faster option for patients with complex tissue defects, especially those at high risk. Head and neck reconstruction plays a crucial role in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer. The goal is to preserve functions vital for breathing, ...

Precursor lesions of pancreatic cancer are very difficult to characterise with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But now, in a new study, researchers led by Noam Shemesh and Carlos Bilreiro – respectively head of the Preclinical MRI lab at Champalimaud Research and a doctor at the Champalimaud Clinical Centre’s Radiology Department – have shown, for the first time, that a particular form of MRI, called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), is capable of robustly detecting pre-malignant lesions in the pancreas. ...

New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden highlights the possibility of screening people with type 2 diabetes for liver damage at the same time as they undergo screening for eye disease. The study is published in Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology. More than half of all people with type 2 diabetes have steatotic (or fatty) liver disease, but most do not realise it since liver disease rarely causes any symptoms in the earlier stages. Over time, liver fibrosis can develop. This is a type of scarring of the liver that can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer in some patients. International ...

New research finds that giraffes much prefer flat terrain and do not traverse slopes of more than 20°, which severely limits the areas in, and outside, protected reserves they can access. The findings, which is are yet to be published, will be presented at the British Ecological Society’s (BES) Annual meeting in Liverpool on the 13th December. A new study analysing the movements of 33 GPS collared giraffes in South Africa has found that they avoid steep terrain and are unable to navigate slopes with a gradient of more than 20° , most likely due to the energy required and the risk of falling. The researchers from the University of Manchester ...

1. A research team from NIMS and UTokyo has proposed and demonstrated that the transverse magneto-thermoelectric conversion in magnetic materials can be utilized with much higher performance than previously by developing artificial materials comprising alternately and obliquely stacked multilayers of a magnetic metal and semiconductor. 2. When a temperature gradient is applied to a magnetic conductor, a charge current is generated in a direction orthogonal to directions of both temperature gradient and magnetization of the magnetic conductor. This transverse magneto-thermoelectric phenomenon, ...

-With images-   Durham University scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery in marine geoscience, revealing unprecedented insights into the dynamics of Earth’s longest runout sediment flows.   By using seabed seismographs placed safely outside the destructive paths of powerful underwater avalanches of sediment, researchers have successfully monitored turbidity currents—a natural phenomenon that shapes deep-sea landscapes, damages telecommunication cables, and transports large quantities of sediment and organic carbon to the ocean floor.   The study recorded two massive turbidity ...

Despite awe-inspiring diversity, nearly every lifeform – from bacteria to blue whales – shares the same genetic code. How and when this code came about has been the subject of much scientific controversy.  Taking a fresh approach at an old problem, Sawsan Wehbi, a doctoral student in the Genetics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program at the University of Arizona, discovered strong evidence that the textbook version of how the universal genetic code evolved needs revision. Wehbi is the first author of a study published in the journal PNAS suggesting the order with which amino acids – the code's building blocks –  were recruited is at odds with ...

A program designed to prepare future teachers and K-12 students for a lifetime of innovation recently received a $572,890 boost from the National Science Foundation. The ChangeMaker K-12 program, designed by faculty from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s College of Education & Human Development, received a second round of grant funding to expand the teacher prep program to other universities. The new partners are the University of Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Tech University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The project is led by Dr. Doug Williams, director of UL Lafayette’s Center for Innovative Learning and Assessment Technologies, along with Dr. Aimee Barber, ...

A team of researchers at USC and the University of Utah has received a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to map out how an incurable eye disease affects the wiring that powers vision in the eye, in hopes of discovering ways to slow or prevent blindness. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a progressive disease with four known stages that affects the retina, the area at the back of the eye where light is turned into electrical signals that the brain processes to produce sight. The research ...

AI will soon receive a dose of empathy with the goal of helping to match people with depression to their best-fit medication. A team led by Farrokh Alemi, a professor in the College of Public Health (CPH), and Kevin Lybarger, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), received $1,049,998 in research funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to continue their work on developing an AI system that helps patients find the right depression medications. With this funding support, Co-PIs Alemi and Lybarger will hone large language models (LLMs) to address known challenges in ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Midwest played a central role in the growth of Black freedom movements in the 20th century. It was a key site for incubating and expanding the ideas of political activist Marcus Garvey, not only in the U.S., but globally, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of African American studies and history Erik S. McDuffie. McDuffie examined the influence of Garvey and the importance of the Midwest in the growth of Black internationalism and radicalism in his new book, “The Second Battle for Africa: Garveyism, the U.S. Heartland and Global Black Freedom.” McDuffie ...

In most research labs, the scientists are on the same page about why they’re pursuing a research project. But the Rubin Lab at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus isn’t an ordinary research lab. The lab is examining how aggression affects vision in female fruit flies, but Janelia Senior Group Leader Gerry Rubin doesn’t care too much about the specific answer. Instead, he simply wants to see if the neuroscience research tools that he spent the last decade building are adequate to uncover the underlying mechanisms at play.    Postdoc Katie Schretter, on the other hand, is interested in understanding how neurons in the fly brain ...

HOUSTON, Dec. 12 2024 – A group of ambitious students from the University of Houston and Texas A&M University, identifying as the “Dream Team,” secured third place in the prestigious global Switch Competition. This annual virtual event, sponsored by the Switch Energy Alliance, challenges university students to develop innovative solutions for addressing energy poverty worldwide — a critical issue affecting millions. The team is comprised of Sarah Grace Kimberly and Pranjal Sheth, both senior finance majors at UH, and Nathan Hazlett, a finance graduate student at A&M who previously earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering. Competing ...

For experiments that require ultra-precise measurements and control over atoms — think two-photon atomic clocks, cold-atom interferometer sensors and quantum gates — lasers are the technology of choice, the more spectrally pure (emitting a single color/frequency), the better. Conventional lab-scale laser technology currently achieves this ultra low-noise, stable light via bulky, costly tabletop systems designed to generate, harness and emit photons within a narrow spectral range. But what if these atomic applications ...

A new analysis published in the journal Science reveals that overfishing has caused populations of chondrichthyan fishes – sharks, rays, and chimaeras – to decline by more than 50 per cent since 1970. To determine the consequences, a team of researchers developed an aquatic Red List Index (RLI) which shows that the risk of extinction for chondrichthyan has increased by 19 per cent. The study also highlights that the overfishing of the largest species in nearshore and pelagic habitats could eliminate up to 22 per cent of ...

Clinicians who completed an American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) course introducing the foundations of lifestyle medicine and food as medicine reported significant improvements in their knowledge and confidence, as well as increases in how often they practice lifestyle medicine with patients, a research study found. The findings are important because, while lifestyle behavior changes are often the optimal treatment option in clinical practice guidelines for noncommunicable chronic diseases, many clinicians cite their lack of knowledge and training in lifestyle behavior interventions as a barrier. A growing body of evidence supports the ...

An international team of scientists headed by Dr. Lukas Bruder, junior research group leader at the Institute of Physics, University of Freiburg, has succeeded in producing and directly controlling hybrid electron-photon quantum states in helium atoms. To this end, they generated specially prepared, highly intense extreme ultraviolet light pulses using the FERMI free electron laser in Trieste, Italy. The researchers achieved control of the hybrid quantum states using a new laser pulse-shaping technique. Their results have ...

It’s a question that has puzzled thinkers for centuries: Are we humans alone in our pursuit of fairness and the frustration we feel when others get what we want? In recent years, evolutionary psychologists have suggested that we’re not all that special. Animals, from corvids to capuchin monkeys, express what humans might recognize as jealousy when, for example, they are passed over for a sought-after snack. Many argue this is evidence we are not alone in our aversion toward unfairness.  But new research from the University of California, Berkeley, makes the case that humans might be unique after all.  Using data from ...

Researchers at University of California San Diego and collaborating institutions have shed light on the ways that social risks, such as housing or food insecurity, pose barriers to routine cancer screenings. The study, published in JNCI Cancer Spectrum, found that patients experiencing social risks were less likely to receive orders for cancer screenings and even less likely to complete screenings when ordered. The study also found that patients experiencing social risks had higher rates of primary care ...

Editors of academic journals hold an influential position in their field. They have decision-making power over which authors and papers get published, set journal policy, and help shape the trajectory of their discipline. It is also a role in which women are frequently underrepresented. Assistant professor of accounting Sebastian Tideman-Frappart and several colleagues set out to fill a knowledge gap about this issue in the field of management science by tracking gender diversity in world-leading management journals over time. The resulting article – co-authored by Brooke Gazdag, associate professor of management at Kühne Logistics University; Jamie Gloor, assistant professor ...

In a breakthrough study published this week in The Journal of Physiology, researchers at the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa's Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) demystify the energetic cost of humpback pregnancy and shed light on the unique vulnerabilities of migratory humpback mothers-to-be. With an arsenal of tools that range from cutting-edge technology to historical whaling records, the research was done in close partnership with Alaska ...