Plastic waste and its buildup in nature has become a major environmental concern in recent times. While plastic pollution in the oceans is undoubtedly a concern, the presence of plastics in soils around the world is also known to cause severe environmental and health issues. As plastics fragment into smaller pieces known as microplastics (MPs) in the soil through natural and anthropogenic processes, they drastically alter soil properties. Moreover, they are also absorbed by plants, potentially entering human ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 25 December 2023   Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet    @Annalsofim   Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.   ----------------------------   1. ...

Barley seedlings grow on average 50% more when their root system is stimulated electrically through a new cultivation substrate. In a study published in the journal PNAS, researchers from Linköping University have developed an electrically conductive “soil” for soilless cultivation, known as hydroponics.  “The world population is increasing, and we also have climate change. So it’s clear that we won’t be able to cover the food demands of the planet with only the already existing agricultural methods. But with hydroponics we can grow food also in ...

Gastric cancer, a significant global health burden, claims over 7% of cancer-related deaths annually. Although only 1-3% of cases have a genetic basis, understanding these genetic drivers is crucial for developing preventative strategies. Gastric cancer, a formidable foe in the global health arena, casts a long shadow over millions of lives each year. While its tendrils reach far and wide, a distinct subset – hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) – emerges as a particularly aggressive and enigmatic adversary. This group of cancers, accounting for roughly 10% ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University showed that visual aids which create the illusion of movement, like a screen placed in front of one’s hand showing the hand move, can improve motor performance and the early stages of motor learning. Compared to observing third-person motions, functional near-infrared spectroscopy data also showed greater changes in brain activity in regions associated with motor learning. Findings like this might inform new treatment strategies for hemiplegic stroke patients. Visual-motor illusion (VMI) is the curious illusion of watching your body move even while it is still. ...

Every holiday season, Americans buy nearly 30 million live Christmas trees. Many families enjoy not only having a live tree inside their homes but also smelling the fresh fragrance it creates. That smell comes from chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, little is known about how much is emitted and whether they have any health impacts. “Our nose is a good chemical sensor,” said Dustin Poppendieck, an environmental engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). “We know that these trees are emitting something, ...

Recent research suggests that the emergence of tuberculosis infection in human populations dates back tens of thousands of years earlier than previously known cases in the Middle East. In collaboration with an international research team, Hungarian researchers have edited and published a special issue of the journal Tuberculosis. In July 2022, the Department of Anthropology of the University of Szeged organised a conference on the paleopathology and evolution of tuberculosis. The ICEPT3 conference was closely linked to the NRDI-best funded research project of György ...

WELLESLEY, MA – Emerging evidence implicates the gut microbiome in cognitive outcomes and neurodevelopmental disorders, but the influence of gut microbial metabolism on typical neurodevelopment has not been explored in detail.  Researchers from Wellesley College, in collaboration with other institutions, have demonstrated that differences in the gut microbiome are associated with overall cognitive function and brain structure in healthy children. This study – published today in Science Advances – is a part of the Environmental Influences ...

HMRI and University of Newcastle researcher, Professor Murray Cairns, along with his Precision Medicine team have discovered a way of predicting who will respond to blood pressure treatments to lower sodium in the body. Their findings were published this week in Circulation, a prestigious international cardiology journal.  Professor Cairns says, “High blood pressure – or hypertension related disease – kills up to 20 per cent of people. At least 30 per cent of the adult population has it – that’s ...

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 22, 2023 – A new study indicates that severity of amyloid deposition in the brain — not just age — may be key to determining who will benefit from new anti-amyloid therapies to delay the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.  University of Pittsburgh clinicians and scientists report that the accumulation of toxic amyloid beta clumps that signal Alzheimer’s disease pathology accelerates in old age but the baseline amyloid burden and the overall brain health going into this acceleration ...

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Vizient Southern States, a membership alliance for not-for-profit health care providers, awarded Jason Hill, MD, MMM, clinical innovation officer, Ochsner Health, the 2023 Brilliance Award as a result of being selected to present at the 2023 Connections Summit. This year, six Vizient Southern States’ members were selected to share their stories of success with a national audience of Vizient members. Selected abstracts showcased their organization’s projects that demonstrated ...

This whirling image features a bright spiral galaxy known as MCG-01-24-014, which is located about 275 million light-years from Earth. In addition to being a well-defined spiral galaxy, MCG-01-24-014 has an extremely energetic core known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and is categorized as a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies, along with quasars, host one of the most common subclasses of AGN. While the precise categorization of AGNs is nuanced, Seyfert galaxies tend to be relatively nearby and their central AGN does not outshine its host, while quasars are very distant AGNs with incredible luminosities that outshine ...

Researchers at the University of Warsaw's Faculty of Physics with colleagues from Stanford University and Oklahoma State University have introduced a quantum-inspired phase imaging method based on light intensity correlation measurements that is robust to phase noise. The results of the research have been published in the prestigious journal “Science Advances”. The new imaging method can operate even with extremely dim illumination and can prove useful in emerging applications such as in infrared and X-ray interferometric imaging and quantum and matter-wave ...

When you eat a large meal, your stomach sends signals to your brain that create a feeling of fullness, which helps you realize it’s time to stop eating. A stomach full of liquid can also send these messages, which is why dieters are often advised to drink a glass of water before eating. MIT engineers have now come up with a new way to take advantage of that phenomenon, using an ingestible capsule that vibrates within the stomach. These vibrations activate the same stretch receptors that sense when the stomach is distended, creating an illusory sense of fullness. In animals who were given this ...

Obesity interventions, such as gastric bypass surgery, can alter the signaling of the vagal nerve, which plays a crucial role in regulating digestion. In addition to traditional obesity interventions, new weight-management medications, such as Wegovy, are becoming increasingly popular options for patients with obesity since they are non-invasive and require minimal lifestyle modifications. Developing a variety of non-invasive, convenient weight-management options for patients with obesity is essential to help reduce comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer ...

A common stomach bacteria found in two thirds of the world population may be linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggests. The study, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, investigated whether a clinically apparent Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection increased the risk of Alzheimer's disease in people aged 50 and older. The prevalent infection can trigger indigestion, gastritis, ulcers, and even stomach cancer. A team of McGill University researchers analyzed health data of over 4 million people in the United Kingdom aged 50 and above between 1988 and 2019. It found ...

Building on the momentum of the 6th World Congress on Targeting Phage Therapy, that gathered more than 150 attendees from over 30 countries and featured over 71 presentations, the highly anticipated Targeting Phage Therapy 2024 is set to unfold. Mark Your Agendas for the 7th World Congress on Targeting Phage Therapy Date: June 20-21, 2024 Location: Corinthia Palace, Malta What to Expect: Cutting-edge insights into phage therapy advancements and its potential to revolutionize medicine. Engaging keynotes and expert panels tackling ...

Liver cancer screening among patients with cirrhosis almost doubled when they were mailed a signed order from their specialist, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. However, when researchers added an incentive of $20 to the mailed orders, it made no difference in whether patients completed their screenings. The work was published this week in Hepatology Communications. “Our findings show that an approach like this can meaningfully increase liver cancer surveillance, ...

Texas A&M University School of Public Health research on attitudes toward pet vaccination and how they may be linked with human vaccine hesitancy was the subject of a new study recently published in the journal Vaccine. Simon Haeder, Ph.D., associate professor, analyzed data from an August 2023 survey of more than 2,000 dog and more than 1,400 cat owners to measure pet vaccination rates, perceptions of vaccines and support for pet vaccination requirements. “Decreasing pet vaccination rates pose challenges to society for a number of reasons, including increased incidents ...

Writing in Nature Communications on November 24, engineers at Columbia and theoretical collaborators at the Max Planck for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter find that pairing laser light to crystal lattice vibrations can enhance the nonlinear optical properties of a layered 2D material. Cecilia Chen, a Columbia Engineering PhD student and co-author of the recent paper, and her colleagues from Alexander Gaeta’s Quantum and Nonlinear Photonics group used hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). hBN is a 2D material similar to graphene: its atoms are arranged in a ...

Low-income U.S. veterans who are experiencing feelings of loneliness are more likely to purchase firearms, according to new research from UTHealth Houston. A study led by principal investigator Alexander Testa, PhD, assistant professor, and co-investigator Jack Tsai, PhD, professor, from the Department of Management, Policy and Community Health with UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, was published recently in Social Science & Medicine.  “Loneliness was significantly associated with a higher likelihood ...

Waltham — December 19, 2023 — For patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), treatment with diosmin – a flavonoid supplement derived from citrus fruits –reduced swelling of the knee and leg and some measures of associated pain can be achieved, reports a clinical trial in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.  "The use of diosmin after TKA reduced lower-extremity swelling and pain during motion and was not associated with an increased incidence of short-term complications involving the outcomes studied," according ...

  There does not appear to be any profound differences between so-called exposure-based CBT and traditional CBT in the treatment of fibromyalgia, according to a study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. Both forms of treatment produced a significant reduction in symptoms in people affected by the disease. The study is one of the largest to date to compare different treatment options for fibromyalgia and is published in the journal PAIN. About 200,000 people in Sweden currently live with fibromyalgia, a long-term pain syndrome that causes great suffering for patients through widespread pain, fatigue, and stiffness in the body. There is no cure ...

People who maintain or increase their aerobic fitness are at less risk of being hospitalized in future, particularly if they were hospitalized previously. These are the findings of a study conducted at the University of Gothenburg. Regular physical activity is linked to a number of health benefits, including a reduced risk of developing and dying from cardiovascular disease. However, there has been little research into the link between development of aerobic fitness and the likelihood of being hospitalized. The study in question, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, includes ...

A new study published today (22 December 2023) in Nature Communications details that markers of brain injury are present in the blood many months after COVID-19 infection, despite inflammation blood tests being normal. The findings represent a major output from the University of Liverpool and King’s College London led COVID-19 Clinical Neuroscience Study (COVID-CNS) and also involves scientists from the ISARIC4C consortium, The Pandemic Institute and the NIHR BioResource. Professor Benedict Michael, Principal Investigator and Director of the University of Liverpool’s Infection Neuroscience Laboratory ...