Washington DC, November 28, 2024: The global food system is uniquely vulnerable to climate impacts, making adaptation of paramount importance. While contributing roughly one-third of total anthropogenic emissions, food systems around the world fortunately also hold immense potential for mitigation through improved practices and land use. A new article published today in Science emphasizes the critical role of agrifood value chains (AVCs) in supporting both adaptation and mitigation at the farm level. Authored by Johan Swinnen (International Food Policy Research Institute), Loraine Ronchi (World Bank Group), and Thomas Reardon (Michigan State University and IFPRI), the paper pushes back ...

Learning French while also developing language skills in one’s mother tongue is no easy task. As a result, allophone children often face learning and communication difficulties in kindergarten, which can negatively impact their educational journey. However, solutions are emerging. According to a study led by Sylvana Côté, preschool education services significantly help bridge the gap between children whose mother tongue is French and those for whom French is a second or even a third language. Professor Côté, from the School of Public Health at the Université de Montréal (ESPUM), is the director of the Observatory ...

A team at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), led by Professor Miguel Ángel del Pozo Barriuso, who heads the Mechanoadaptation and Caveolae Biology group at the CNIC, has identified an essential mechanism in fat cells (adipocytes) that enables them to enlarge safely to store energy. This process avoids tissue damage and protects the body from the toxic effects of accumulating fat molecules (lipids) in inappropriate places. The results, published in Nature Communications, signify a major advance in the understanding of metabolic diseases. Moreover, this discovery ...

The increased use of a chemical compound to replace TNT in explosive devices has a damaging and long lasting effect on plants, new research has shown. In recent years, TNT has started to be replaced with DNAN, but until now very little was known about how this substance impacts the environment and how long it can remain in the soil. Researchers at the University of York have been studying the environmental impact of the explosive, TNT, for more than a decade. They have shown that the chemical compound, which is used by the military around the world, remains in ...

An international team of scientists recently published a study highlighting the potential role of iron sulfides in the formation of life in early Earth’s terrestrial hot springs. According to the researchers, the sulfides may have catalyzed the reduction of gaseous carbon dioxide into prebiotic organic molecules via nonenzymatic pathways. This work, which appeared in Nature Communications, offers new insights into Earth’s early carbon cycles and prebiotic chemical reactions, underscoring the significance of iron sulfides in supporting the terrestrial hot ...

New research from Karolinska Institutet shows that long-term sex hormone treatment in transgender individuals can lead to significant changes in body composition and risk factors for cardiovascular disease, particularly in transgender men. The study is published in the Journal of Internal Medicine. “We saw that transgender men treated with testosterone increased their muscle volume by an average of 21 percent over six years, but also that the amount of abdominal fat increased by 70 percent,” says Tommy Lundberg, docent at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet. “In addition, they had more liver ...

Seven out of ten homes in Europe are smoke-free, according to a major survey published today (Thursday) in ERJ Open Research [1]. However, some countries have come further than others in protecting children and adults from second-hand tobacco smoke in the home.   Greece came out bottom of the 12 countries in the survey, with smoking allowed in more than half of homes. In Romania, Bulgaria and Spain more than four in ten homes allow smoking to take place. England scored the highest out of the 12, with more than eight in ten homes smoke-free, with Ireland, Latvia and Italy following next.   The researchers say that the ...

An injection given during some asthma and COPD attacks is more effective than the current treatment of steroid tablets, reducing the need for further treatment by 30%. The findings, published today in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, could be “game-changing” for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world, scientists say. Asthma attacks and COPD flare-ups (also called exacerbations) can be deadly. Every day in the UK four people with asthma and 85 people with COPD will tragically die. Both conditions are also very common, in the UK someone has an asthma attack every ...

Certain hormone replacement therapy (HRT) tablets containing both oestrogen and progestogen are associated with a higher risk of heart disease and rare but serious blood clots known as venous thromboembolism (VTE) in women around the age of menopause, finds a study from Sweden published by The BMJ today. Another HRT tablet called tibolone was associated with an increased risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke, but not blood clots, “highlighting the diverse effects of different hormone combinations and administration methods on the risk of cardiovascular disease,” say the researchers. HRT is used to relieve menopausal ...

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and a programme of physical and mental rehabilitation probably improve symptoms of long covid, but the effects are modest, finds a review of the latest evidence published by The BMJ today. Intermittent aerobic exercise also probably improves physical function compared with continuous aerobic exercise. But the researchers found no compelling evidence to support the effectiveness of other interventions, including certain drugs, dietary supplements, inspiratory muscle training, transcranial ...

An investigation published by The BMJ today reveals the extent of fossil fuel industry involvement in medical research, leading to fresh calls for academics and publishing companies to cut ties with companies. An analysis by journalists Hristio Boytchev, Natalie Widmann and Simon Wörpel found that over the past six years, more than 180 medical articles have acknowledged fossil fuel industry funding, and an additional 1000 articles feature authors who worked for a fossil fuel company or related organisation. While many studies don’t have an obvious link with fossil fuel industry interests, experts told The BMJ that publishing research ...

Researchers at Uppsala University have analysed the effects of seven different hormone treatments for menopausal symptoms on the risk of blood clots, stroke and heart attack. The study, which involved around one million women aged between 50 and 58, shows that the risks differ depending on the active substance and how the medicine is taken. Published in the scientific journal BMJ, this is the largest and most comprehensive study of currently prescribed hormonal substances in the world. “There is concern among women that menopausal hormone therapy increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. This concern is based on older studies conducted more than ...

Patients with relapsed or refractory CD19-positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who were treated with the novel anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel), experienced high response rates and most did not need a subsequent stem cell transplant (SCT), according to results from the Phase Ib/II FELIX trial co-led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, ...

For oral medications that prevent new HIV infection to be effective, the patient must take certain actions, including attending doctor’s visits every three months and – most importantly – consistency.  These daily oral antiretrovirals, more commonly referred to as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), such as Truvada®, are extremely effective at HIV prevention, but only if they are taken daily as directed. Truvada’s efficacy is greatly compromised when taken inconsistently.  However, results from a recent Gilead-funded clinical trial (Purpose-2) led by physicians at Emory University ...

Looking to inform the conservation of critically endangered bird species, University of Utah biologists completed an analysis identifying traits that correlate with all 216 bird extinctions since 1500. Species most likely to go extinct sooner were endemic to islands, lacked the ability to fly, had larger bodies and sharply angled wings, and occupied ecologically specific niches, according to research published this month. While some of these findings mirror previous research on extinct birds, they are the first to correlate bird traits with the timing of ...

MINNEAPOLIS – People who develop multiple sclerosis (MS) as children and grow up in less advantaged neighborhoods may have a larger volume of inflammation and brain tissue loss on imaging than those who grow up in more advantaged neighborhoods, according to a study published in the November 27, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. MS rarely develops in children. About 5% of people with MS are diagnosed before age 18. In addition to neighborhood location, worse brain imaging outcomes were also seen ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS – People who have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) who have a family history of mental illness may have a higher risk of aggression in middle age, according to a study published in the November 27, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. CTE is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated head injuries, often seen in athletes and military personnel, that can lead to mood changes and dementia. “This ...

Manmade sounds such vehicle traffic can mask the positive impact of nature soundscapes on people’s stress and anxiety, according to a new study published November 27, 2024, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Paul Lintott of the University of the West of England, U.K., and Lia Gilmour of the Bat Conservation Trust, U.K. Existing research shows that natural sounds, like birdsong, can lower blood pressure, heart, and respiratory rates, as well as self-reported stress and anxiety. Conversely, anthropogenic soundscapes, like traffic or aircraft noise, are hypothesized to have negative effects on human health and wellbeing in a variety ...

Contrary to widespread concerns that global crop yields have stagnated in recent decades, a comprehensive study of worldwide food production finds yields have continued to grow at roughly the same rate since the 1960s. John Baffes of the World Bank and Xiaoli Etienne of the University of Idaho, U.S., report these findings on November 27, 2024, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.  Almost 10 billion people are expected to inhabit Earth by 2050, so agricultural production will become increasingly critical ...

Children who grow up with pets or on farms may develop allergies at lower rates because their gut microbiome develops with more anaerobic commensals, per fecal analysis in small cohort study ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0313078 Article Title: Gut microbiota markers in early childhood are linked to farm living, pets in household and allergy Author Countries: Sweden Funding: This work was supported by the Region Västra Götaland (agreement concerning medical research and education – ALF), https://www.alfvastragotaland.se [ALFGBG966243] [ALFGBG720181] ...

North American Early Paleoindians almost 13,000 years ago used the bones of canids, felids, and hares to create needles in modern-day Wyoming, potentially to make the tailored fur garments which enabled their dispersal into these colder climates ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0313610 Article Title: Early Paleoindian use of canids, felids, and hares for bone needle production at the La Prele site, Wyoming, USA Contact: Spencer Pelton, spencer.pelton@wyo.gov, Ph. +1 307 399 2827 Author Countries: U.S. Funding: Funding for this project includes the National Science Foundation (award #1947297), the ...

Higher levels of democracy and lower levels of corruption are associated with more doctors, independent of healthcare spending, per cross-sectional study of 134 countries. ### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal. pgph.0003656 Article Title: The relationship between democracy and corruption and the global physician workforce Author Countries: Canada Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new polymer design that appears to rewrite the textbook on polymer engineering. No longer is it dogma that the stiffer a polymeric material is, the less stretchable it has to be. “We are addressing a fundamental challenge that has been thought to be impossible to solve since the invention of vulcanized rubber in 1839,” said Liheng Cai, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, and chemical engineering. That’s when Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered that heating natural rubber with sulfur ...

A Wyoming archaeological site where people killed or scavenged a Columbian mammoth nearly 13,000 years ago has produced yet another discovery that sheds light on the life of these early inhabitants of North America. Wyoming State Archaeologist Spencer Pelton and colleagues at the University of Wyoming and other institutions have found that these Paleolithic humans made needles from the bones of fur-bearers -- including foxes; hares or rabbits; and cats such as bobcats, mountain lions, lynx and possibly even the now-extinct ...

A new preclinical study by Mass Eye and Ear investigators showed that a novel mRNA-based therapy may be able to prevent blindness and scarring from proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) following a retinal detachment repair or traumatic injury to the eye. There is no current treatment for PVR other than surgery, which itself carries a high risk of causing or exacerbating PVR. Their results, published in Science Translational Medicine, show the promise that mRNA-based therapies may one day offer patients with PVR and other retinal conditions. “This ...