COLUMBUS, Ohio – Some say the holidays are the most wonderful time of the year. But for others, the hectic holiday season may be the most stressful.  A new national survey of 1,000 Americans commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine shows that 46% of Americans say they don’t get the alone time they need during the holidays. In addition, 56% of survey respondents say that it’s very important to their mental health to have adequate alone time. Sophie Lazarus, PhD, a clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Ohio State, says in ...

How did human brains get so big? The answer could be in our gut Microbes supporting the production of more metabolic energy could be key to the evolution of large brains First study to show gut microbes from different animal species shape variations in their biology Offers new take on human evolution, particularly the evolution of our large brains Mice with large-brain primate microbes eat more, but grew slower and put on less body fat  Their bodies use the excess energy to produce high levels of glucose, which is the brain’s primary ...

Background and objectives Because of its extraordinary phytomedicinal potential and numerous potential health benefits, lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), a well-known medicinal and aromatic plant, is of paramount significance. It is typically used as a drug replacement. Methods The present study was comprised of drying lemongrass into powder and determining the proximate and mineral composition, and then developing ethanolic extracts of powder to determine total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC), total carotenoids (TC), and DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Next, lemongrass powder (LGP) was replaced at 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10% levels ...

PHILADELPHIA, PA and QUEENSTOWN, SINGAPORE (Monday, Dec 2, 2024 9:30 pm EST; Tuesday, Dec 3, 2024 9:30 am SST) The Monell Chemical Senses Center, a global leader in advancing the scientific understanding of taste, smell, and related senses, and A*STAR Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (A*STAR SIFBI), a translational research institute for health and well-being focused on Asian phenotype have entered into a five-year research and education alliance.  Today, Benjamin P.C. Smith, PhD, Monell Executive Director & President, met with Sze Tan, PhD, A*STAR SIFBI Executive Director, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding ...

A series of five papers, published today in The Lancet Oncology by a University of Pittsburgh-led international team, highlights critical public health challenges related to cancer control in the eight countries that form the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh. The series underscores barriers contributing to significant disparities in cancer outcomes and identifies actionable solutions to address these challenges in one of the most comprehensive ...

White, male, billionaire entrepreneurs fuel stereotypes that compound the issues surrounding diversity in technology and computer science, according to a new study. The identities of famous people contribute a lot to stereotypes in their respective domains. Prominent public figures can easily become influential to young people. But are these role models effective for creating a diverse community of computer science students? That, at this point in time, seems unlikely. The study, carried out by the University of Reading and published today ([INSERT DATE]) in the Oxford Review of Education, ...

Newly discovered insect fossils are so small they can barely be seen by the human eye but have been preserved in an “extraordinary” way. Published in the journal Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, a new study reveals rare whitefly insect fossils have been found in Miocene age crater lake sediments at Hindon Maar, near Dunedin. Adult whiteflies are tiny insects about 3mm in size, smaller if they are immature. The fossils found at Hindon Maar are about 1.5mm by 1.25mm and have been preserved in the position they lived and died, attached to the underside ...

A new study published today in JAMA reveals text message reminders for patients who delay refilling their medications didn’t help improve how regularly they refilled medications over a year. The study enrolled over 9,000 patients in a randomized pragmatic clinical trial and included representation from a diverse population across subgroups, including females, Hispanic ethnicity and Spanish-speaking patients, all groups who can be traditionally underrepresented in clinical trials. “There are a lot of studies that focus on using technology ...

School-based mental health support should be more accessible for migrant children, a new study says. Schools are increasingly considered to be critical places for identifying and supporting mental health difficulties, but little is known about the barriers migrants face in accessing mental health support in schools. Researchers found a lack of targeted school-based mental health interventions designed specifically for young migrants that cater to their unique strengths, resilience and needs. The review of 38 studies shows that stigma around mental health and stressors associated with migration were among ...

Researchers from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Department of Earth Sciences assessed  an unprecedented 120 years of data from Kīlauea Volcano on Hawai‘i Island, uncovering, for the first time, century-spanning patterns of deformation and stress changes. They had a particular focus on the transformative 1975 magnitude 7.7 Kalapana earthquake, which also resulted in a 20-foot high tsunami. Their study was published recently in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. “Deciphering Kīlauea's history deepens our understanding of volcanic and seismic hazards,” said lead author Lauren Ward ...

McGill University scientists have discovered that pregnancy may trigger a natural immunity to boost protection against severe flu infection. Contrary to the common belief that pregnancy increases vulnerability to infections, researchers found that it strengthened an immune defense in mice, blocking the Influenza A virus from spreading to the lungs, where it can cause severe infection. “Our results are surprising because of the current dogma, but it makes sense from an evolutionary perspective,” said co-lead author Dr. Maziar Divangahi, ...

A groundbreaking Rice University study sheds light on the extraordinary evolution of anglerfish, a group of deep-sea dwellers whose bizarre adaptations have captivated scientists and the public alike. The research, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, uncovers how these enigmatic creatures defied the odds to diversify in the harsh, resource-poor environment of the bathypelagic zone — part of the open ocean that extends from 3,300 to 13,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. Led by a team of biologists including Rice’s ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 2 December 2024     @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.          ----------------------------          Using ...

The exceptional research, discovery and advocacy legacy of former WEHI director and Australian treasure Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE will continue through an ongoing professorship, announced today by WEHI and the Nossal family.  Launched with a generous gift from the Nossal family, the Sir Gustav Nossal Professor of Immunology is a prestigious new position that will lead pivotal research to advance human immunology.  An international search is now underway for an outstanding candidate who will become the first Nossal Professor, a role that will build on Sir Gus’ ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A new final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week for a mandatory alternative payment model called the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model aimed to improve the number of life-saving kidney transplants for patients whose kidneys have failed. The new rule will test whether performance-based upside or downside risk payments among a selected subset of kidney transplant hospitals increase access to kidney transplants for patients with end-stage kidney disease while maintaining or improving the quality of care and reducing Medicare ...

The algorithms behind generative AI tools like DallE, when combined with physics-based data, can be used to develop better ways to model the Earth’s climate. Computer scientists in Seattle and San Diego have now used this combination to create a model that is capable of predicting climate patterns over 100 years 25 times faster than the state of the art. Specifically, the model, called Spherical DYffusion, can project 100 years of climate patterns in 25 hours–a simulation that would take weeks for other models. In addition, existing state-of-the-art models need to run on supercomputers. This model can run on GPU clusters in a research lab.  “Data-driven ...

Severe COVID-19 arises in part from the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s impact on mitochondria, tiny oxygen-burning power plants in cells, which can help trigger a cascade of organ- and immune system-damaging events, suggests a study by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, along with other members of the COVID-19 International Research Team. Severe COVID-19 has been considered an inflammatory ...

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus will receive up to $46 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts (THEA) program to advance pioneering research aimed at curing total blindness through human eye transplantation. The award will support the work of the Total Human Eye-allotransplantation Innovation Advancement (THEIA) project team led by CU. The project is led by principal investigator and surgeon-scientist Kia Washington, MD, and co-principal investigator Christene A. Huang, ...

Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson received $1.7 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve knowledge regarding the prevalence, mortality and health outcomes for people of all ages living with spina bifida. Spina bifida is a birth defect that occurs when an embryo’s spinal cord does not properly close during the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy, resulting in a gap in the spine. According to the CDC, spina bifida occurs in 1 ...

New research findings from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health indicate that exposure to even low levels of arsenic poses significant health risks, including an increased risk of kidney cancer. The incidence of kidney cancer in the United States rose by an average of 1.2 percent each year between 2011 and 2019 to become the seventh most common cancer. In the meantime, smoking — a well-established risk factor for kidney cancer — has continued to decline. This led researchers to consider other possible contributing factors, including arsenic, a known cause of various cancers that is naturally occurring ...

A group of young students became bonafide biomedical scientists before they even started high school. Through a partnership with a nearby university, the middle schoolers collected and analyzed environmental samples to find new antibiotic candidates. One unique sample, goose poop collected at a local park, had a bacterium that showed antibiotic activity and contained a novel compound that slowed the growth of human melanoma and ovarian cancer cells in lab tests. Inequities in educational resources, especially those in science, engineering, technology and math (STEM), where ...

In a first-of-its-kind breakthrough, a team of UBC Okanagan researchers has developed an artificial adhesion system that closely mimics natural biological interactions. Dr. Isaac Li and his team in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science study biophysics at the single-molecule and single-cell levels. Their research focuses on understanding how cells physically interact with each other and their environment, with the ultimate goal of developing innovative tools for disease diagnosis and therapy. Two of Dr. Li’s doctoral students, Micah Yang and David Bakker, have engineered a new molecule that could transform how cells adhere to and communicate with one another. Micah Yang, ...

Seaweed is once again showing promise for making cattle farming more sustainable. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that feeding grazing beef cattle a seaweed supplement in pellet form reduced their methane emissions by almost 40% without affecting their health or weight. The study was published today (Dec. 2) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is the first study to test seaweed on grazing beef cattle in the world. It follows previous studies that showed seaweed cut methane emissions 82% in feedlot cattle ...

The consumption of milk products, eggs and fish has a positive effect on childhood development in Africa. This has been demonstrated in a recent study by the CABI's regional centre for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya and the University of Bonn. The researchers used representative data from five African countries with over 32,000 child observations. If the children had a diet containing animal products, they suffered less from malnutrition and related developmental deficiencies. The study has now been published in the journal PNAS.  Almost 150 million children under the age of five around the world suffer from serious growth and developmental ...

Fukuoka and Tsukuba, Japan—Researchers have uncovered key insights about how liquid crystals, materials capable of forming complex ordered structures, transform between different phases. Published in PNAS, the study provides a clearer understanding of how these materials change their structures at the microscopic level. This research could provide a means to give a deeper insight into the transformation between different structures in a wider variety of materials. Liquid crystals are materials that exhibit properties of both liquids and solids. They flow like liquids but can also ...