COVID-19 vaccination is not the cause behind a decrease in childbirth, according to a study from Linköping University, Sweden. The results speak against rumours about vaccination and reduced fertility. The findings have been published in the journal Communications Medicine. “Our conclusion is that it’s highly unlikely that the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 was behind the decrease in childbirth during the pandemic,” says Toomas Timpka, professor of social medicine at Linköping ...

Key takeaways   New research published in the European Heart Journal - Digital Health shows that an AI-enabled digital stethoscope more than doubles sensitivity for detecting moderate to severe valvular heart disease in a real-world clinical setting compared to a traditional stethoscope. A total of 357 patients of 50 years old or over were examined with both the traditional and the AI-enabled digital stethoscope and the results were compared.  The AI-stethoscope demonstrated significantly higher sensitivity in detecting the heart sound patterns that indicate valvular heart disease, with 92.3% sensitivity compared with 46.2% with the traditional stethoscope. Valvular ...

Insulated joints are little known, but many railway lines could not be used without them. They divide the rail network into electrically separated sections and register when a train enters and leaves a section. Only when the section is free again the next train is allowed to enter. Around 33,000 insulated joints are currently installed in Austria, but they wear out quickly on heavily used lines. Together with ÖBB and Martin Schienentechnik, Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has now developed a prototype for significantly more robust insulated joints using improved materials and new geometries. According to current research findings, ...

When startups scale quickly, founders often make hurried hiring decisions that unintentionally disadvantage women, according to new study from the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden. The study shows how the pressures of rapid growth increase the likelihood that founders rely on mental shortcuts and make biased decisions.  Drawing on large‑scale Swedish data, the study shows that scaling—when companies hire far more people than their usual growth trend would predict—puts pressure on founders to decide swiftly, which increases the use of mental shortcuts. These ...

A supermassive black hole with a case of cosmic indigestion has been burping out the remains of a shredded star for four years — and it’s still going strong, new research led by a University of Oregon astrophysicist shows. Already, the jet shooting out of the black hole is a contender for one of the brightest, most energetic things ever detected in the universe. Scientists have now collected enough data on the unusual occurrence to predict that the stream of radio waves belching from the black hole will keep increasing exponentially before peaking in 2027. “This is really unusual,” said Yvette Cendes, an ...

An international study investigating the genomic diversity of the Sudanese population reveals that the Copts originating in Egypt –who settled in the country between the seventh and eleventh centuries– have acquired a genetic variant that protects them from contracting malaria. “The acquisition of this variant has taken place very quickly, in just 1,500 years, after a group of Copts mixed with Sudanese populations with sub-Saharan characteristics”, explains David Comas, principal investigator at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE: CSIC-Pompeu Fabra University) and a full ...

  Hydrogen plays an important role in society’s energy transition. For the technology to be used on a broad scale, effective hydrogen sensors are required to prevent the formation of flammable oxyhydrogen gas when hydrogen is mixed with air. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, can present a compact sensor that can be manufactured on a large scale and is well suited to the humid environments where hydrogen is to be found. Unlike today’s sensors, the new sensor performs better the more humid it gets. Image: Chalmers University of Technology | Mia Halleröd Palmgren Wherever ...

Recent advances in biomolecular archaeology have revealed that ancient objects can retain the molecular fingerprints of past aromatic practices. These molecules provide unprecedented insight into ancient perfumery, medicine, ritual, and daily life. In a new publication, an interdisciplinary research team led by archaeo-chemist Barbara Huber (Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Tübingen), shows how museums can use this molecular evidence to engage audiences with the sensory worlds of the past. The team combined their expertise to create a new workflow ...

A new Canadian study has found that people living with dementia (PLWD) are often excluded from research due to assumptions of incapacity and variations in institutional processes. The authors argue that with rights-based, supported approaches, PLWD can participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their lives. “To ignore the PLWD from research is to exclude a critical piece of information that may affect research outcomes,” says Jim Mann, an advocate living with dementia and co-researcher in the study. The study, based on interviews with dementia researchers across Canada, reveals how a range ...

Supersulfide molecules, metabolites from plants that are important in cellular metabolism, are attracting attention in the medical and nutritional fields for their potential in supporting health and disease prevention. Natto, a Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with the Bacillus subtilis var. natto microorganism, is rich in these molecules. However, the mechanism by which they are produced during fermentation has remained unclear.  To better understand this complex process, a research group led by Professor Hideshi Ihara at Osaka Metropolitan University’s ...

A new study from researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine finds that regular family dinners may help prevent substance use for a majority of U.S. adolescents, but suggests that the strategy is not effective for youth who have experienced significant childhood adversity.  The findings provide important insights for practitioners looking to help families prevent substance use, as well as for researchers aiming to develop interventions that better account for adolescents’ unique experiences.  For the study, ...

Kumamoto University announced that Professor Kazuya Yamagata, of the Faculty of Life Sciences (Department of Pathophysiological Biochemistry), has been awarded Second Prize at the 62nd (FY2025) Erwin von Bälz Prize, a prestigious international medical award recognizing outstanding research that advances collaboration between Japan and Germany. Established in 1964, the Erwin von Bälz Prize is a long-standing and highly respected medical award that honors exceptional research achievements in medicine each year. It aims to promote academic exchange ...

From dyes to pharmaceuticals to emulsifiers - ethylamine (EA) is a versatile component used in many industries. The downside of EA is that its production is terribly complicated and energy intensive. However, it is not a simple task to simplify EA production in a way that can also be scaled up to industrial levels. Researchers at Tohoku University's WPI-AIMR may have found an answer to this problem. Rare earth Eu atoms were modified on Cu2O nanoneedles to produce a catalyst (Eu-Cu2O) that can increase the efficiency of ...

Australian researchers have developed a high‑performance coating made from peppermint essential oil that can be applied to the surfaces of many commonly used medical devices, offering a safer way to protect patients from infection and inflammation. Matthew Flinders Professor and senior author of the new study, Professor Krasimir Vasilev, says the idea emerged after noticing that eating peppermint leaves from his drink significantly relieved his sore throat, inspiring him to explore whether its bioactivity could be converted into a durable coating using ...

As federal policymakers weigh potential changes to how biomedical research is funded and regulated in the United States, a Virginia Tech scientist highlights the importance of preserving the nation’s ability to turn discovery into life‑saving therapies. In a commentary published this week in Nature Biotechnology, Robert Gourdie, professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, notes that well‑intentioned but overly restrictive policies could inadvertently undermine the technology‑transfer ecosystem ...

In Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Southeast Asia, vast areas spanning up to 300,000 square kilometers have emerged over thousands of years as plants grow and thrive in dense tropical peat swamp forests, then die and slowly decompose in waterlogged, low-oxygen conditions. As a result, large amounts of carbon get stored in the soil rather than released into the atmosphere. Heavy rainfall keeps these landscapes flooded for much of the year, allowing layers of dead vegetation to build up and gradually compress into dense, carbon-rich peat. New research from Hokkaido University suggests that the ...

Gene therapy holds the promise of preventing and curing disease by manipulating gene expression within a patient's cells. However, to be effective, the new gene must make it into a cell’s nucleus. The inability to consistently, efficiently do so has hampered progress in advancing treatment. University of California San Diego researchers, led by Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Professor Neal Devaraj’s lab, have unveiled a new method that greatly increases the efficacy of gene delivery while minimizing harmful side effects to the cell. Their work appears in Nature Communications. For ...

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Lin Cai, Professor and Frank Gunsaulus Faculty Fellow in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Boris S. Pervan, and Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering Thomas Wong, all faculty members at Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), have been selected as fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.   This distinction, reflecting their extraordinary accomplishments, is given to less than 0.1 percent of ...

Cancer cells carry thousands of mutations, but not all mutations are created equal. Some make tumors highly visible to the immune system, while others help cancers hide. In this study, researchers have discovered that across thousands of human cancers, there are five dominant patterns of protein-altering mutations — called amino acid substitution signatures — and these patterns help determine how tumors interact with the immune system. When DNA in a cell is damaged by environmental exposures (like tobacco smoke or UV light) or internal errors during replication and repair, the resulting mutations change the building ...

Autism has long been viewed as a condition that predominantly affects male individuals, but a study from Sweden published by The BMJ shows that autism may actually occur at comparable rates among male and female individuals.   The results show a clear female catch-up effect during adolescence, which the researchers say highlights the need to investigate why female individuals receive diagnoses later than male individuals.   The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased over the past three decades, with a high male-to-female diagnosis ratio of around 4:1.   The increase in prevalence is thought to ...

Testing menstrual blood for human papillomavirus (HPV) could be a “robust alternative or replacement” for current cervical cancer screening by a clinician, finds a study from China published by The BMJ today.   The researchers say using menstrual blood for HPV testing is convenient and non-invasive, allowing women to collect samples at home, and therefore could offer a practical pathway to expand access to screening.   Certain types of HPV infection can develop into cervical cancer and HPV testing is a key part of cervical screening. But not all women attend screening appointments for reasons including fear of pain, concerns about privacy and ...

More images available via the link in the Notes Section Summary: Some Argentinian penguins are experiencing high levels of predation from pumas recolonising their historical territory. A new study has quantified the risk on long-term penguin population survival. Over four years, pumas at a national park on the Argentinian Patagonia coast are thought to have killed over 7,000 adult penguins (7.6% of the colony’s adult population) – but left many uneaten. Long-term, however, puma predation alone is unlikely to threaten colony viability, while low breeding success and reduced juvenile survival appear to be ...

IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON PRESS RELEASE Under embargo until 00:01 GMT Thursday 5 February Peer-reviewed / Observational study / People  Exposure to burn injuries played key role in shaping human evolution, study suggests  Humans’ exposure to high temperature burn injuries may have played an important role in our evolutionary development, shaping how our bodies heal, fight infection, and sometimes fail under extreme injury, according to new research.  For ...

ANN ARBOR—The fastest land animal in North America is the American pronghorn, and previously, researchers thought it evolved its speed because of pressure from the now-extinct American cheetah. But recently, that theory has come under fire. Now, a University of Michigan study examining fossilized ankle bones of ancient relatives of the American pronghorn has shown that the pronghorn was evolving to be faster more than 5 million years before the American cheetah appeared on the continent. The study, ...

Scientists have developed an improved method to convert municipal wastewater sludge into higher quality renewable fuel while significantly reducing harmful nitrogen compounds, offering a promising pathway for cleaner energy and sustainable waste management. Municipal sludge is a by-product of wastewater treatment that is produced in massive quantities worldwide. Managing this material remains a growing environmental challenge. Traditional treatment methods often involve high costs, pollution risks, and limited resource recovery. ...