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Science13 Jan 2025

NIH-funded study finds cases of ME/CFS increase following SARS-CoV-2

What: New findings from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative suggest that infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may be associated with an increase in the number of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) cases. According to the results, 4.5% post-COVID-19 participants met ME/CFS diagnostic criteria, compared to 0.6% participants that had not been infected by SARS-CoV-2 virus. RECOVER is NIH’s national program to understand, diagnose, prevent, and treat Long COVID. The research team, led by Suzanne D. Vernon, Ph.D., from the Bateman Horne Center in Salt Lake City, ...

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Technology13 Jan 2025

Biophotovoltaics: A step forward in sustainable energy technology

In a groundbreaking study published in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, researchers have advanced our understanding of biophotovoltaic (BPV) systems—innovative devices that merge photosynthetic microbes with electrochemical systems to convert sunlight into electricity. Using the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, the study provides critical insights into the molecular mechanisms driving this green energy technology. Central to BPV systems is the process of extracellular electron transfer (EET), where electrons generated during photosynthesis are harvested by an electrode via mediators such as ferricyanide. The research reveals that EET ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

Experimental blood test for pancreatic cancer undergoing clinical development and evaluation

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Jan. 13, 2025) — An experimental blood test for pancreatic cancer that was developed by Van Andel Institute and University of Pittsburgh scientists is being evaluated by a commercial laboratory, an important milestone toward making the test available for patients. A recent double-blinded, peer-reviewed analysis published in Cancer Letters revealed that the experimental test correctly identified 71% of pancreatic cancer samples in the lab compared to only 44% correctly identified by the current gold-standard test. Teams led by ...

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Science13 Jan 2025

Polygamy is (not) for the birds

Researchers at Rice University have uncovered new insights into the evolution of bird behavior, revealing why certain mating systems persist while others disappear over time. In a recent paper published in the journal Evolution, Rafael S. Marcondes and Nicolette Douvas reveal that lekking — a mating system where males display for females without forming lasting bonds — is an evolutionarily stable strategy. In contrast, resource-defense polygamy, where one sex — usually but ...

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Space13 Jan 2025

Hubble reveals surprising spiral shape of galaxy hosting young jet

The night sky has always played a crucial role in navigation, from early ocean crossings to modern GPS. Besides stars, the United States Navy uses quasars as beacons. Quasars are distant galaxies with supermassive black holes, surrounded by brilliantly hot disks of swirling gas that can blast off jets of material. Following up on the groundbreaking 2020 discovery of newborn jets in a number of quasars, aspiring naval officer Olivia Achenbach of the United States Naval Academy has used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to reveal surprising properties of one of them, quasar J0742+2704. "The biggest surprise was seeing the distinct ...

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Science13 Jan 2025

Study: US methamphetamine mortality 61 times higher in '21 than 1999

OXFORD, Miss. – Methamphetamine deaths in the U.S. rose 61-fold from 1999 to 2021, according to a new study, highlighting a growing crisis in addiction and public health. Looking at the gender breakdown of these deaths could improve harm-reduction efforts and outcomes for patients suffering from addiction, said Andrew Yockey, University of Mississippi assistant professor of public health and co-author of the study. “We know that, across the board, men are more likely to use every substance except tranquilizers than women, and we found that to be true here,” Yockey said. “Especially if we're thinking about methamphetamine, ...

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Earth Science13 Jan 2025

Atop the Oregon Cascades, UO team finds a huge buried aquifer

THIS PUBLICATION IS EMBARGOED UNTIL 3 PM EASTERN TIME ON JANUARY 13, 2025. Oregon’s Cascade Range mountains might not hold gold, but they store another precious resource in abundance: water. Scientists from the University of Oregon and their partners have mapped the amount of water stored beneath volcanic rocks at the crest of the central Oregon Cascades and found an aquifer many times larger than previously estimated — at least 81 cubic kilometers. That’s almost three times the maximum capacity of Lake Mead, ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

Bay Area community leader champions CPR education and heart health on national platform

DALLAS, Jan. 13, 2025 — Corey Bentley, an American Heart Association local volunteer and marketing professional in the San Francisco Bay Area, is the Association’s 2024 National Leaders of Impact™ Winner. In the fall of 2024, more than 300 local leaders in 60 communities volunteered to improve heart health while raising funds to fuel the lifesaving mission of the Association, through its nationwide Leaders of Impact campaign. The head-to-head competition doesn’t just focus on raising critical funds. It also supports access to equitable health in local communities given that health inequities related to uncontrolled high blood pressure rates, tobacco ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

Aston University and Birmingham Children’s Hospital study shows diagnosis and treatment of preschool wheeze needs improvement

Preschool wheeze is a common condition in children under six, affecting 30-40% of children Aston University’s Dr Gemma Heath led a study into parents’ experiences of managing preschool wheeze, including confusion and psychological distress They identified problems with inconsistent terminology and uncertainty around diagnosis and say a unified approach is needed. A study led by Aston University’s Dr Gemma Heath and Dr Prasad Nagakumar from Birmingham Children’s Hospital, has shown that treatment and diagnosis for preschool wheeze needs more effective ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

Manure management in China cuts river antibiotic pollution but raises groundwater contamination risks

A recent study published in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology reveals significant changes in antibiotic pollution patterns in China’s water systems over the past decade, driven by evolving manure management practices. Conducted by researchers from China Agricultural University and Wageningen University, the study developed the MARINA-Antibiotics (China-1.0) model to track antibiotic flows from livestock manure into rivers and groundwater across 395 sub-basins between 2010 and 2020. The study found a 59% decrease in antibiotic pollution in rivers, primarily due to improved manure recycling and reduced direct manure discharge into waterways. However, ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

New book provides big recommendations from the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 13, 2025 – With cancer still rising in the U.S. Latino population, leaders at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) and national cancer experts have published an online book with innovative recommendations to reduce Latino cancer. The book, “Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2024 Conference Proceedings,” highlights results of the same-named conference that brought 300 researchers, advocates and survivors to San Antonio in February 2024. A follow-up conference is planned for Feb. 18-20, 2026, in San Antonio. Included ...

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Science13 Jan 2025

Ash tree variability may offer restoration path post-beetle decimation

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The invasive emerald ash borer, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was first found in the United States in southeast Michigan in 2002. In the decades since, the wood-boring beetle has spread east and west across the U.S. and Canada, killing tens of millions of ash trees, causing one of the costliest forest insect invasions to date. More than 90% of all ash infested by the insect native to Asia eventually die, threatening to make the tree species functionally extinct in North America. In response, researchers at Penn State are working with the U.S. Forest Service and other partners to identify and develop ...

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Engineering13 Jan 2025

Integrating CRISPR and biomaterials engineering: Paving the way for safer gene therapies

CRISPR is a powerful gene-editing tool that holds enormous potential for treating genetic diseases by allowing scientists to cut, replace, or delete mutations in DNA. It can also modify gene expression, temporarily amplifying or diminishing its effects. Yet, despite its promise, applying CRISPR (which is a reagent, or a substance that facilitates a reaction) in patients presents significant challenges. “CRISPR is difficult to control when you want to do gene editing in vivo, or directly in the patient,” says Tomas Gonzalez-Fernandez, an assistant professor of bioengineering in Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering ...

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Science13 Jan 2025

New tool for synthetic biology

Scientists at the University of Stuttgart have succeeded in controlling the structure and function of biological membranes with the help of "DNA origami". The system they developed may facilitate the transportation of large therapeutic loads into cells. This opens up a new way for the targeted administration of medication and other therapeutic interventions. Thus, a very valuable instrument can be added to the toolbox of synthetic biology. Prof. Laura Na Liu and her team published their findings in the journal Nature Materials (DOI: 10.1038/s41563-024-02075-9). The ...

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Technology13 Jan 2025

Yu & Martin adapting mixed reality training programs to real-world scenes to enhance human-AI teaming in emergency responses

Lap Fai (Craig) Yu, Associate Professor, Computer Science, College of Engineering and Computing, and Joel Martin, Associate Professor, Kinesiology, College of Education and Human Development, received funding for the project: “EAGER: TaskDCL: Adapting Mixed Reality Training Programs to Real-World Scenes to enhance Human-AI Teaming in Emergency Responses.” This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project funds research that intends to speed up the development of mixed reality and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to help ...

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Science13 Jan 2025

ExxonMobil donates $10 million to fund MD Anderson-led Be Well™ Beaumont initiative

HOUSTON and BEAUMONT, TEXAS ― In an effort to improve public health and reduce cancer risk in East Texas, leaders in Beaumont are working with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to launch Be Well™ Beaumont through a newly announced $10 million gift from ExxonMobil. Community members, collaborators and representatives from MD Anderson kicked off the 10-year initiative today in Beaumont. Be Well Beaumont aims to promote wellness and to lower cancer risk among community members by providing them with cancer prevention education and tools. ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

Long reads successfully used to find genetic causes of rare diseases

The cause of rare diseases is increasingly being detected through genome sequencing, which involves reading the entire human DNA by first breaking it into small pieces—short reads. Christian Gilissen, Lisenka Vissers, and colleagues found that a new technique using long reads is even more effective at detecting complex causes. They report that eighty to ninety percent of cases were detectable, as stated in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Rare diseases are typically due to genetic causes. These causes are more and ...

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Space13 Jan 2025

X-ray flashes from a nearby supermassive black hole accelerate mysteriously

One supermassive black hole has kept astronomers glued to their scopes for the last several years. First came a surprise disappearance, and now, a precarious spinning act. The black hole in question is 1ES 1927+654, which is about as massive as a million suns and sits in a galaxy that is 100 million light-years away. In 2018, astronomers at MIT and elsewhere observed that the black hole’s corona — a cloud of whirling, white-hot plasma — suddenly disappeared, before reassembling months later. The brief though dramatic shut-off was a first in black hole astronomy. Members of the MIT team have now caught the same black hole exhibiting ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

New research highlights trends in ADHD diagnoses

New research identifies differing trends in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses among adolescents and adults, including an increase among adults from 2020 to 2023. The study, published in the American Psychiatric Association Journal Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice, found a significant downward trends in ADHD incidence among adults from 2016 to 2020 and adolescents from 2016 to 2018. The ADHD incidence rate remained stable for adolescents in subsequent years. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity that interferes with a person’s functioning and ability ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

United States dementia cases estimated to double by 2060

A new study shows that the risk of developing dementia anytime after age 55 among Americans is 42%, more than double the risk reported by older studies. That dementia risk translates into an estimated half-million cases this year, rising to 1 million new cases a year by 2060, according to the new work. Dementia involves progressive declines in memory, concentration, and judgment. The increasing number of cases is directly tied to the aging of the U.S. population. Beyond aging, a high risk of dementia is linked to genetic factors, as well as high rates of hypertension and diabetes, obesity, unhealthy diets, ...

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Energy13 Jan 2025

“The biggest challenge is lacking public acceptance of wind turbines”

In brief In their overview study, the team of researchers led by Russell McKenna identified 14 key impact categories of wind energy. They provide possible solutions for the identified impacts and suggest research priorities. More than 400 studies were included in the analysis. The review paper, recently published in the journal Joule, provides guidance for future studies and policy decisions. What is the study about, and what is its core message? Russell McKenna: The study looks at the impacts of wind energy on the systems in which it is embedded; whether environmental and climate systems, socio-economic, ...

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Science13 Jan 2025

Six-month outcomes in the long-term outcomes after the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children study

About The Study: The results of this cohort study suggest that although children and young adults with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) can have severe disease during the acute phase, most recovered quickly and had a reassuring midterm prognosis. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Dongngan T. Truong, MD, email truongd@kidsheart.com. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.5466) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, ...

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Science13 Jan 2025

Global prevalence of sexual violence against children

About The Study: The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis highlight the burden of sexual violence against children worldwide based on current available evidence. There is a pressing need to enhance data collection efforts globally, especially in under-researched regions and for boys. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Antonio Piolanti, PhD, email antonio.piolanti@aau.at. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.5326) Editor’s ...

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Medicine13 Jan 2025

Chances of quitting smoking improve with integrated care, including medication and counseling

HOUSTON ― Smokers undergoing lung cancer screening may have the best chance of quitting if they receive integrated care, which includes medication and comprehensive counseling with tobacco treatment specialists, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study results, published today in JAMA Internal Medicine, demonstrated that integrated care outperformed other cessation methods with a nearly two-fold improvement in the odds of quitting. In this randomized clinical trial of 630 current smokers who were eligible for lung cancer screening, over ...

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Environment13 Jan 2025

From microplastics to macro-impact: KTU expert explains plastic recycling challenges

“Microplastic particles are currently found almost everywhere – in water, food, fish, and even breast milk,” says Artūras Torkelis, a PhD student at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU). He emphasises that proper waste management is essential for reducing these risks. The use of plastic in Europe has skyrocketed over the past decade. Recent statistics reveal that in 2021, each person in the European Union (EU) generated an average of 36 kg of plastic packaging waste. Of the more than 16 million tonnes of plastic packaging generated that year, only 6.5 million tonnes were recycled. Plastic recycling remains a serious problem. ...

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