Research Highlights: People who regularly floss their teeth (one or more times per week) may lower their risk of stroke caused by a blood clot traveling from the heart and a stroke associated with an irregular heartbeat such as atrial fibrillation (AFib). The benefits of regular flossing may be independent of tooth brushing and other oral hygiene behaviors. Researchers suggest that flossing is a healthy habit that is affordable, easy to adopt and accessible everywhere. Note: The study featured in this news release is a research abstract. Abstracts presented at the American Heart ...

Research Highlights: Increased levels of Streptococcus anginosus, a common type of bacteria that usually lives in the mouth and gut, was found in the gut of recent stroke survivors in Japan. Over two years, stroke patients with a significant amount of Streptococcus anginosus bacteria in their gut were more likely to die or have another major cardiovascular event than stroke patients without Streptococcus anginosus in the gut. The results suggest that analyzing mouth and gut bacteria may someday help determine stroke risk, and that targeting these harmful bacteria with new therapies and proper dental hygiene may help prevent ...

Research Highlights: Shorter protective caps on chromosomes called telomeres, a proposed marker of accelerated biological cell aging, may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, dementia and late-life depression, according to an analysis of more than 356,000 people in the United Kingdom. The study did not find that the telomere length directly causes these age-related brain diseases. However, it indicates that healthier lifestyle choices might significantly counteract the harmful effects associated with shorter telomeres. Note: The ...

Australian cancer researchers are the first to establish a next-generation gene-editing tool for modelling and interrogating human disease. A novel pre-clinical model expressing an enhanced version of a new genome-engineering enzyme called Cas12a was generated by researchers at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI), WEHI and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. Cas enzymes are required to cut specific sections of DNA or RNA during CRISPR experiments. CRISPR is a revolutionary gene-editing tool widely used for cancer ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL 1000 GMT THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2025 Zika transmission has been reported more than 90 countries as the spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the virus, as well as dengue and chikungunya, has increased over recent years as an effect of climate change and urbanisation. Yet surprisingly little is known about the factors that drive Zika transmission success.   A new study led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and published in Communications Biology shows that Zika ...

Key cells in the brain, neurons, form networks by exchanging signals, enabling the brain to learn and adapt at incredible speed. Researchers of the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands (TU Delft) have developed a 3D-printed ‘brain-like environment’ where neurons grow similarly to a real brain. Using tiny nanopillars, they mimic the soft neural tissue and the brain extracellular matrix fibers. This model provides new insights into how neurons form networks, as well as a novel tool to understand in future how this process may change in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, ...

The development of vehicle components is a lengthy and therefore very costly process. Researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have developed a method that can shorten the development phase of the powertrain of battery electric vehicles by several months. A team led by Martin Hofstetter from the Institute of Automotive Engineering is combining simulation models of components with evolutionary optimisation algorithms. This AI system automatically optimises the entire powertrain – from the power electronics to the electric machine through to the transmission – in line with the manufacturer’s technical requirements, taking ...

The electronics of the future can be made even smaller and more efficient by getting more memory cells to fit in less space. One way to achieve this is by adding the noble gas xenon when manufacturing digital memories. This has been demonstrated by researchers at Linköping University in a study published in Nature Communications. This technology enables a more even material coating even in small cavities.  Twenty-five years ago, a camera memory card could hold 64 megabytes of information. Today, the same physical ...

New technology from Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, is helping the EU establish its own competitive computer manufacturing industry. Researchers have developed components critical for optimising on-chip memory, a key factor in enhancing the performance of next-generation computers. The research leader, Professor Per Stenström, along with colleagues, has discovered new ways to make cache memory work smarter. A cache is a local memory that temporarily stores frequently accessed data, improving a computer’s ...

The UK’s peatlands face an uncertain future amid the escalating impacts of climate change. Peatlands are critical ecosystems for carbon storage and biodiversity, containing more carbon than all the world's forests despite covering just 3% of the global land surface. But new research reveals that vast areas of the UK’s peatlands, including the Flow Country UNESCO World Heritage Site, are likely to be unsuitable for peat accumulation by 2061–80 due to climate change. The researchers urge for a shift in conservation strategies, with the ...

‘Sleep hygiene’: How FIFO workers can get a better night's sleep     Better sleep hygiene could see fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) mining shift workers get a better night’s sleep, new research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has shown.   Sleep hygiene includes habits and sleep environment factors that can positively influence sleep, including a healthy diet, physical exercise and limited screen time. While these all seem  obvious, the remote location of mine sites across Australia and the ...

###EMBARGOED BY BMC PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH UNTIL 1AM GMT JAN 30 / 8PM ET JAN 29### A new AI-based analysis of almost 10,000 pregnancies has discovered previously unidentified combinations of risk factors linked to serious negative pregnancy outcomes, including stillbirth. The study also found that there may be up to a tenfold difference in risk for infants who are currently treated identically under clinical guidelines. Nathan Blue, MD, the senior author on the study, says that the AI model the researchers generated helped identify a “really unexpected” combination of factors associated with higher risk, and that the model is an important step ...

A new Cochrane review confirms that antidepressants effectively reduce symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) under trial conditions, although there is limited data on long-term usage. GAD affects millions of people worldwide and is characterized by excessive worry about everyday issues. Antidepressants, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), are recognized treatments for GAD, recommended by many national bodies including the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. However, misconceptions ...

Childhood trauma can include witnessing death, experiencing severe injury, and physical or sexual violence. Over 81% of Brazilian youth had experienced trauma by age 18. Trauma was potentially responsible for a third of all mental health disorders by age 18. A new study by a team of researchers from the UK and Brazil has revealed a strong connection between childhood trauma and the development of psychiatric disorders in adolescents living in low-and middle-income countries. The research findings are based on the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort, Brazil, which has tracked more than 4,000 children born in Pelotas, a city in the southern ...

An England-wide study of over 58 million people has identified eight rare diseases that carry significantly increased risks for COVID-19-related mortality in fully vaccinated individuals. This important research calls for better inclusion of rare diseases in public health strategies, including future pandemic planning, vaccination policies, and NHS service provision.  Historically rare diseases have been difficult to study and neglected in research, in part due to a lack of large-scale data. This means that people living with rare conditions often struggle to get the treatment and support they need. Additionally, rare disease patients were overlooked in public health ...

Fresh embryo transfer may be a better option than use of frozen embryos for women with a low chance of having a healthy baby by vitro fertilisation (IVF), suggests a trial from China published by The BMJ today. The researchers say their findings do not support the routine use of the freeze-all strategy in women with low prognosis of IVF treatment success, which can be due to older age, low quantity or quality of eggs, or certain underlying conditions. IVF has revolutionised infertility treatment and a strategy of freezing all suitable embryos before transfer (freeze-all strategy) is now a routine part of the treatment to help prevent ...

Dongqing Wang, an assistant professor of Global and Community Health at George Mason’s College of Public Health, is pioneering research in prenatal nutritional interventions. His latest report identifies prenatal supplements that reduce health risks to small and vulnerable babies. This research was published in the prestigious The Lancet Global Health journal and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Wang found that compared to folic acid and iron alone, a multiple micronutrient supplement ...

-With images-   Researchers at Durham University have achieved a major advancement in understanding how proteins bind metals inside cells, a process crucial to life.   The study, published in Nature Communications, introduces a pioneering approach that allows scientists to accurately predict and engineer the metalation of proteins, a discovery with far-reaching implications for biotechnology and sustainable biomanufacturing.   The research builds upon years of work by the research team, dating back to key discoveries published in 2008.   In ...

Encouraging bilingualism at home can have many cognitive benefits, which may be particularly helpful to kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), new research from the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences indicates. A team of researchers led by Celia Romero, a graduate student in clinical psychology, along with associate professor Lynn Perry, professor Michael Alessandri, and former University professor Lucina Uddin, explored the role of bilingualism in 112 children, including typically developing children and children with autism, between the ages of 7 to 12 years old. Overall, they found that children who spoke two or more languages often had stronger executive ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus, more commonly known as lupus, has a variety of symptoms and room for improvement when it comes to treatment. Cutaneous lupus erythematosus is a common manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. The condition is characterized by rashes on various parts of the body including the face and scalp, hair loss and scarring of the skin. The rashes are caused by inflammation from the immune system fighting the body. The standard treatment for cutaneous lupus erythematosus is using immunosuppressants and biologic drugs to reduce inflammation. While ...

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created a new thermometer using atoms boosted to such high energy levels that they are a thousand times larger than normal. By monitoring how these giant “Rydberg” atoms interact with heat in their environment, researchers can measure temperature with remarkable accuracy. The thermometer’s sensitivity could improve temperature measurements in fields ranging from quantum research to industrial manufacturing.  Unlike traditional thermometers, a Rydberg thermometer doesn’t need to be first adjusted or calibrated at the ...

Lockdowns. Social distancing. Shuttered schools and businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic and its sweeping disruptions set off a stampede of “what it’s doing to us” research, focused largely on schoolchildren. How were students’ academics affected? Their mental health? Their social development? Left unexamined was whether the pandemic impacted the social cognition of preschool children — kids younger than 6 — whose social norms were upended by day care closures and families sheltered at home. That changed when a UC Merced ...

University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka scientists have successfully analysed more than 30 years of vital data on the thickness of landfast sea ice in Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound, which will prove useful to measure future impacts of climate change.   The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, set out to discover what key influences determine the thickness of landfast sea-ice, known as fast ice, using data from 1986 to 2022.   Fast ice is frozen ocean water that is attached to shorelines and persists for at least 15 days. It provides vital habitats for penguins and seals, as well as fish, krill and algae underneath the ice.   Scientists ...

  Tuberculosis remains one of the top infectious disease killers worldwide, a challenge amplified by drug-resistant forms of the disease. Now, in a major step forward, an international clinical trial has found three new safe and effective drug regimens for tuberculosis that is resistant to rifampin, the most effective of the first-line antibiotics used to treat TB. The research, published Jan. 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine, was led by researchers at Harvard Medical School and other members of the endTB project, ...

Rutgers Health researchers have found that a weekly injection of diabetes medication could replace painful daily hormone shots for people with a rare genetic form of lipodystrophy that leaves patients with almost zero fat tissue, according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine. Congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL), which affects only a few thousand people worldwide, results in severe metabolic disease, diabetes, insulin resistance and reduced life expectancy. With no fat tissue for proper storage, fat accumulates in organs ...