About 100,000 years ago, the first modern humans migrated out of Africa in large numbers. They were eminent at adapting to new habitats, and they settled in virtually every kind of landscape - from deserts to jungles to the icy taiga in the far north.   Part of the success was human's ability to hunt large animals. With clever hunting techniques and specially built weapons, they perfected the art of killing even the most dangerous mammals.   But unfortunately, the great success of our ancestors came at the expense of the other large mammals.   It is well-known that numerous large species went extinct ...

WASHINGTON—Children who are physically inactive may have high cholesterol in early adulthood and subsequent heart health issues in their mid-forties, according to new research published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. High cholesterol during childhood has been associated with early signs of heart disease when individuals reach their mid-twenties and an increased risk of premature cardiovascular death in their mid-forties. Several clinical trials aimed at lowering cholesterol levels in the youth population have had minimal ...

Washington, D.C.—A new paper describes a study of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) transmission among cockroaches, with implications for AMR transmission in humans. The study was published in mSystems, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. AMR represents a serious threat to the health of humans and other animals. With fewer and fewer drugs being effective against some microbial pathogens, infections have become increasingly difficult to treat. Theoretical modeling has been used to explore the spread of AMR through the microbiome of the symbiotic, or nonpathogenic, gut of animals. The present study ...

Perfume, rubbing alcohol, a cholesterol medication and even biological processes all depend on a chemical process called the aldol reaction. The reaction primarily combines compounds to form carbon-carbon bonds, which are incredibly strong and provide a molecule with stability. Catalyst clusters made of aluminum and oxygen typically help accelerate this reaction, but clusters that also include rare earth elements could offer more desirable and synergistic properties, according to a team of researchers based in China. The team developed three such clusters, ...

New York, NY [December 14, 2023]—In a novel study, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai introduced LoGoFunc, an advanced computational tool that predicts pathogenic gain- and loss-of-function variants across the genome. Unlike current methods that predominantly focus on loss of function, LoGoFunc distinguishes among different types of harmful mutations, offering potentially valuable insights into diverse disease outcomes. The findings were described in the November 30 online issue of Genome Medicine ...

Pollution spewing from a booming global economy poses a number of different threats to human health. Researchers from Zhongyuan University of Technology proposed a new possible avenue to efficiently convert nitrate, a widespread water pollutant, back to valuable ammonia. In their recently published study, the team outlined a novel path to efficiently convert nitrate to ammonia using metal-added polyoxometalate as the catalyst under mild operating conditions. The study was published December 8 in Polyoxometalates. In the past few decades, a number of methods have been deployed ...

Strictly embargoed until 0900 ET Thursday 14 December 2023 Increased sedentary time in childhood can raise cholesterol levels by two thirds as an adult, leading to heart problems and even premature death - but a new study has found light physical activity may completely reverse the risks and is far more effective than moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The study was conducted in collaboration between the University of Exeter, University of Eastern Finland, and University of Bristol and published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Researchers used data from the University of Bristol study Children of the 90s (also known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents ...

Female patients with a history of suicidality experience an increased risk of suicidal ideation or suicidal planning in the days surrounding menstruation, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago.   In the first longitudinal study of how suicidal thoughts and related symptoms fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, UIC researchers identified when some female patients are at the highest risk, offering new guidance for clinicians about when to focus interventions with suicidal patients. “As clinicians, we feel responsible for keeping our patients safe from a suicide attempt, but we often don’t have much information about when we need ...

Electricity is an indispensable resource for our daily lives; it powers our homes, industries, and agriculture, among other things. Electricity is generated in power plants that are often located in remote areas due to safety and environmental concerns. The generated electricity is then transported to residential and industrial areas through transmission lines. However, these remote locations pose challenges in terms of harsh environments that can easily damage the transmission lines. Therefore, regular inspection and maintenance of these lines are ...

When diagnosed with a blood clot or atrial fibrillation, patients are often prescribed anticoagulants, or blood thinners, to prevent a future clot. In a study of the three most commonly prescribed blood thinners, the oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban, known by the brand name Xarelto, was associated with a significantly higher risk of bleeding complications than apixaban (brand name Eliquis) and warfarin for patients with blood clots or atrial fibrillation. The findings, reported at the 2023 American Society ...

DAVIS, CA, December 14, 2023 – A recent study published online in the journal, Nutrients[1], suggests daily tree nut consumption reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetSx) by improving waist circumference, lipid biomarkers, and/or insulin levels, without requiring calorie restriction, in young adults.   In a randomized, parallel arm, dietary intervention study design, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center enrolled 84 men and women, ages 22-36, most of whom were either overweight or obese (BMI 24.5 to 34.9 kg/m2) and had at least one MetSx risk factor ...

Those who binge drink and have a certain genetic makeup are six times more likely to develop alcohol-related cirrhosis, according to new research from UCL, the Royal Free Hospital, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first to assess how an individual’s pattern of drinking, their genetic profile (via a polygenic risk score) and whether or not they have type-2 diabetes affects their risk of developing alcohol-related cirrhosis (ARC). The observation that pattern of drinking is more important than volume, coupled with the increased risk when genetic makeup and type-2 diabetes are also present, ...

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 14, 2023 – Spinal cord stimulation can elicit sensation in the missing foot and alleviate phantom limb pain in people with lower limb amputations, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine rehabilitation scientists report today. Pressure sensors on the insole of a prosthetic foot triggered electrical pulses that were then delivered to a participants’ spinal cord. Researchers found that this sensory feedback also improved balance and gait stability. The proof-of-concept study was done in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon ...

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world according to the Global Burden of Disease study, with 18.6 million annual deaths in 2019, of which around 7.9 are attributable to diet. This means that diet plays a major role in the development and progression of these diseases. The modern lifestyle of Western societies has led to specific eating habits such as eating dinner late or skipping breakfast. In addition to light, the daily cycle of food intake (meals, snacks, etc.) alternating with periods of fasting synchronizes the peripheral clocks, or circadian rhythms, of the body’s various organs, thus ...

All dog owners think that their pup is special. Science now has documented that some rare dogs are…even more special! They have a talent for learning hundreds of names of dog toys. Due to the extreme rarity of this phenomenon, until recently, very little was known about these dogs, as most of the studies that documented this ability included only a small sample of one or two dogs. In a new study published in the Journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the Family Dog Project (ELTE Eötvös Loránd  University, Budapest) shed new light on the characteristics of these exceptional dogs. In ...

  Researchers at IRB Barcelona reveal the pivotal role of iron accumulation in the development of fibrotic diseases and propose that iron detection via MRI can serve to diagnose fibrosis. Fibrotic diseases account for 45% of all mortality in developed countries. Published in Nature Metabolism, the study points to new therapeutic opportunities that target iron. Barcelona, 14 December 2023 – Fibrosis is associated with various chronic and life-threatening conditions, including pulmonary fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, kidney disease, and cardiovascular diseases, ...

If you thought blurry eyes were to blame for the “beer goggles” phenomenon, think again. Scientists from the University of Portsmouth have tested the popular theory that people are more likely to find someone attractive while drunk, because their faces appear more symmetrical.  The term “beer goggles” has been used for decades to describe when a person finds themselves sexually attracted to someone while intoxicated, but not sober. One possible explanation for the effect is that alcohol impairs the drinker’s ability to detect facial asymmetry, ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University scientists have sequenced the chia genome and in doing so provided a blueprint for future research that capitalizes on the nutritional and human health benefits of the plant. In the just-published paper, the researchers identified chia genes associated with improving nutrition and sought after properties for pharmaceuticals that could be used to treat everything from cancer to high blood pressure. The seeds of the chia plant have received widespread attention in recent years because of the nutritional punch they pack. Others have sequenced the chia genome, but this paper provides a more detailed look at the molecular ...

A new paper in Genome Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, finds that genetic material from Neanderthal ancestors may have contributed to the propensity of some people today to be “early risers,” the sort of people who are more comfortable getting up and going to bed earlier. All anatomically modern humans trace their origin to Africa around 300 thousand years ago, where environmental factors shaped many of their biological features. Approximately seventy-thousand years ago, the ancestors ...

Mice with human immune cells are a new way of testing anti-cancer drugs targeting the immune system in pre-clinical studies. Using their new model, the Kobe University research team successfully tested a new therapeutic approach that blindfolds immune cells to the body’s self-recognition system and so makes them attack tumor cells. Cancer cells display structures on their surface that identify them as part of the self and thus prevent them from being ingested by macrophages, a type of immune cell. Cancer immunotherapy aims at disrupting these recognition systems. Previous studies showed that a substance that blinds macrophages to one of ...

Batteries that exploit quantum phenomena to gain, distribute and store power promise to surpass the abilities and usefulness of conventional chemical batteries in certain low-power applications. For the first time, researchers including those from the University of Tokyo take advantage of an unintuitive quantum process that disregards the conventional notion of causality to improve the performance of so-called quantum batteries, bringing this future technology a little closer to reality. When you hear the word “quantum,” the physics governing the subatomic world, developments in ...

Do you celebrate your birthday in the same month as your mum?  If so, you are not alone. The phenomenon occurs more commonly than expected – a new study of millions of families has revealed.    Siblings also tend to share month of birth with each other, as do children and fathers, the analysis of 12 years’ worth of data shows, whilst parents are also born in the same month as one another more often than would be predicted.    Previous research has found that women’s season of ...

Bat numbers declined as Britain’s trees were felled for shipbuilding in the early colonial period, new research shows. The study, by the University of Exeter and the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT), found Britain’s Western barbastelle bat populations have dropped by 99% over several hundred years. Animals’ DNA can be analysed to discover a “signature” of the past, including periods when populations declined, leading to more inbreeding and less genetic diversity. Scientists used this method to discover the historic decline ...

Due to the merits of low cost, low installation requirements, and high-level safety, aqueous rechargeable batteries (ARBs) offer an ideal option for dealing with future energy-demand pressure. Traditional aqueous batteries are mostly concentrated on mono-valent metal-ion, such as Li+, Na+, and K+. Compared to mono-valent carriers, multivalent cations have the capability to transfer more than one electron, and thereby to potentially provide better energy storage. To date, aqueous multivalent ion batteries based on Zn2+ have received a lot of attention. However, the investigations on aqueous ...

Research led by Professor John McGrath from the University of Queensland found that the concentration of the C4 protein, an important part of the immune system, was not associated with risk of mental disorders.  However, the research also showed that a higher concentration of the C3 protein reduces the risk of schizophrenia in women, and studies based on the genetic correlates of C4 found strong links with several autoimmune disorders.   Professor John McGrath from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute said his colleagues at Aarhus University in Denmark looked at ...