New research has found that two similar species of birds – both capable of displaying self-control through delayed gratification – behave very differently around their favourite food when they have company. Published in the journal PLOS ONE, the study was led by researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge, UK, and the University of Cambridge, who compared the behaviour of two species of corvids: Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) and New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides). Although both are highly intelligent birds ...

New research could one day pave the way for the treatment of vaginal yeast infections,  by shedding new light on how microbes in the body absorb zinc. Around three quarters of women develop vaginal yeast infections at least once in their lifetime, and approximately 140 million women globally suffer from recurrent infections. Recurrent yeast infections can have an enormous impact of quality of life. Existing anti-fungal treatments are not always effective and resistance against these treatments is developing. Thrush is caused by a yeast called Candida. There are a number of species of Candida, but the one that causes most ...

A protein in the immune system programmed to protect the body from fungal infections is also responsible for exacerbating the severity of certain autoimmune diseases such as irritable bowel disease (IBS), type 1 diabetes, eczema and other chronic disorders, new research from The Australian National University (ANU) has found.  The discovery could pave the way for new and more effective drugs, without the nasty side effects of existing treatments. In addition to helping to manage severe autoimmune conditions, the breakthrough could also help treat all types of cancer.   The scientists have discovered ...

December 6, 2023   UMass Amherst Researchers Develop Grassroots Framework for Managing Environmental Commons New tool relies on a foundation of local traditional ecological and social knowledge for more      just, sustainable and resilient conservation strategy AMHERST, Mass. – A team of sustainability scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced in the journal PLOS ONE that they have developed a community-based framework, founded on extensive local and traditional knowledge, to help assess and respond to the kinds of ecological threats ...

The ocean's capacity to store atmospheric carbon dioxide is some 20% greater than the estimates contained in the latest IPCC report1. These are the findings of a study to be published in the journal Nature on December 6, 2023, led by an international team including a biologist from the CNRS2. The scientists looked at the role played by plankton in the natural transport of carbon from surface waters down to the seabed. Plankton gobble up carbon dioxide and, as they grow, convert it into organic tissue via photosynthesis. When they die, part of ...

Researchers have discovered that misreading of therapeutic mRNAs by the cell’s decoding machinery can cause an unintended immune response in the body. They have identified the sequence within the mRNA that causes this to occur and found a way to prevent ‘off-target’ immune responses to enable the safer design of future mRNA therapeutics. mRNA - or ‘messenger ribonucleic acid’ - is the genetic material that tells cells in the body how to make a specific protein. Researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit have discovered that the cellular ...

Most neurodegenerative diseases, including dementias, involve proteins aggregating into filaments called amyloids. In most of these diseases, researchers have identified the proteins that aggregate, allowing them to target these proteins for diagnostic tests and treatments. But, in around 10% of cases of frontotemporal dementia, scientists had yet to identify the rogue protein. Now, scientists have pinpointed aggregated structures of the protein TAF15 in these cases. Frontotemporal dementia results from the degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, which control emotions, personality and behaviour, as well speech and understanding of words. ...

Galactic winds enable the exchange of matter between galaxies and their surroundings. In this way, they limit the growth of galaxies, that is, their star formation rate. Although this had already been observed in the local universe, an international research team led by a CNRS scientist1 has just revealed—using MUSE,2 an instrument integrated into the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope—the existence of the phenomenon in galaxies which are more than 7 billion years old and actively forming stars, the category to which most galaxies belong. The team’s ...

Brigham researchers found that individuals with darker skin tones and more severe acne were likely to face greater stigma  Researchers note the importance of treating acne as a medical problem and ensuring access to treatment    A new study highlights how stigmatizing attitudes about individuals with acne may influence social and professional perceptions. Led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, the study ...

New York, NY (December 6, 2023)—Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified an allergy pathway that, when blocked, unleashes antitumor immunity in mouse models of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).   And in an early parallel study in humans, combining immunotherapy with dupilumab—an Interleukin-4 (IL-4) receptor-blocking antibody widely used for treating allergies and asthma—boosted patients' immune systems, with one out of the six experiencing significant tumor reduction.   The findings were ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional analysis of the U.S. adult population, 63% of adults had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The economic burden of ACE-related health conditions was substantial. The findings suggest that measuring the economic burden of ACEs can support decision-making about investing in strategies to improve population health.  Authors: Cora Peterson, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, is the corresponding author.   To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.46323) Editor’s Note: Please ...

About The Study: This survey study with 1,357 respondents demonstrates that stigmatizing attitudes toward patients with acne existed across a variety of social and professional scenarios, with severe acne and acne in darker skin tone being associated with a greater degree of stigma. These findings highlight the need to identify approaches to reduce stigmatizing attitudes in the community and for adequate access to care, which might prevent negative downstream effects related to these stigmatizing attitudes. Authors: John ...

About The Study: This randomized clinical trial found that a single health care worker-collected throat specimen had higher sensitivity for rapid antigen testing for SARS-CoV-2 than a nasal specimen. In contrast, the self-collected nasal specimens had higher sensitivity than throat specimens for symptomatic participants. Adding a throat specimen to the standard practice of collecting a single nasal specimen could improve sensitivity for rapid antigen testing in health care and home-based settings.  Authors: Tobias Todsen, M.D., Ph.D., of Copenhagen University Hospital in ...

Human fingers and toes do not grow outward; instead, they form from within a larger foundational bud, as intervening cells recede to reveal the digits beneath. This is among many processes captured for the first time as scientists unveil a spatial cell atlas of the entire developing human limb, resolved in space and time. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Sun Yat-sen University, EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute and collaborators applied cutting-edge single-cell and spatial technologies to create an atlas characterising the cellular landscape of the early human limb, pinpointing the exact ...

Like any typical car or house or society, the pace at which parts of our bodies fall apart varies from part to part.  A study of 5,678 people, led by Stanford Medicine investigators, has shown that our organs age at different rates — and when an organ’s age is especially advanced in comparison with its counterpart in other people of the same age, the person carrying it is at heightened risk both for diseases associated with that organ and for dying. According to the study, about 1 in every 5 reasonably ...

A central goal in quantum optics and photonics is to increase the strength of the interaction between light and matter to produce, e.g., better photodetectors or quantum light sources. The best way to do that is to use optical resonators that store light for a long time, making it interact more strongly with matter. If the resonator is also very small, such that light is squeezed into a tiny region of space, the interaction is enhanced even further. The ideal resonator would store light for a long time in a region at the size of a single atom. Physicists and engineers have struggled for decades with how ...

Research led by Queen Mary University of London’s Wolfson Institute of Population Health has found that hormone levels, measured through blood tests, are an important indicator of whether women will benefit from recently licensed medication for the prevention of breast cancer.    Aromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole are recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Care and Excellence (NICE) as an option for preventive therapy in post-menopausal women at high risk of breast cancer. Anastrozole (Arimidex) is now also licensed by the ...

ABSTRACTS: 162, 309, 322, 364, 741, 774, 856, 983 SAN DIEGO ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. This special edition features oral presentations from the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, describing the latest scientific and clinical breakthroughs for hematological cancers. In addition to these ...

INDIANAPOLIS – As hospitalizations due to chronic conditions increase across the United States, attention is focusing on using data collected in electronic health records (EHRs) by healthcare systems to enable public health departments to gain understanding of the incidence and prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, asthma, obesity and other chronic diseases with the ultimate goal of improving disease outcomes. In the U.S., 90 percent of clinicians, medical laboratories, imaging centers and other providers use EHR systems, providing ample data on individuals with access to healthcare. However, access ...

SAN ANTONIO – A combination of two HER2-targeted drugs, tucatinib (Tukysa) and trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla, T-DM1), extended progression-free survival among patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, compared with T-DM1 alone, according to results from the HER2CLIMB-02 trial presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held December 5-9, 2023. T-DM1 is an antibody-drug conjugate comprised of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and the cytotoxic drug emtansine. It was approved for use ...

SAN ANTONIO – For patients whose breast cancer converted from lymph node-positive to lymph node-negative disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, skipping adjuvant regional nodal irradiation (RNI) did not increase the risk of disease recurrence or death five years after surgery, according to results from the NRG Oncology/NSABP B-51/RTOG 1304 clinical trial presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held December 5-9, 2023. Patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer that has already spread to regional lymph nodes may receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy; in some cases, neoadjuvant therapy completely eradicates ...

Washington, December 6, 2023—Students achieve better grades in college science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses when those classrooms have higher numbers of underrepresented racial-minority and first-generation college students, according to new research released today. The findings were published in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. While this link holds true for all students, it is even stronger for students who are underrepresented racial minorities (URMs) and the first in their family to attend college. The authors found that in STEM courses ...

The brains of special warfare community personnel repeatedly exposed to blasts show increased inflammation and structural changes compared with a control group, potentially increasing the risk of long-term, brain-related disease, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC) led the study, which compared the brains of nine special operations personnel exposed to blasts with a control group of nine military service members with only minimal exposures to blasts. Participants’ brains were analyzed using sophisticated imaging techniques, combined with surveys ...

Philadelphia, December 6, 2023 – Aging is associated with chronic, nonresolving inflammation, or “inflammaging,” that can lead to tissue dysfunction. New findings reported in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, reveal insights into the cellular programs and factors that promote the resolution of inflammation during aging. These findings may lead to the development of new strategies to limit age-related organ decline.   The resolution of inflammation is an active process that is governed by numerous factors, such as specialized ...

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ph.D., M.D., M.A.S.., Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the JAMA Network™ has been named as one of Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare 2023 for the second year in a row. This program acknowledges and honors individuals who are deemed by their peers and the senior editors of Modern Healthcare to be the most influential figures in the industry in terms of leadership and impact. "It’s an honor to be recognized for two consecutive years by Modern Healthcare," ...