Although travel restrictions and social measures during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic global drop in seasonal influenza cases, certain influenza lineages in specific regions kept the virus circulating and evolving, according to a new study. This was true in tropical areas with fewer travel restrictions, for example, including South and West Asia. The spread of seasonal influenza is closely tied to social behavior, particularly air travel, and to the periodic evolution of new virus strains that evade immunity from prior infections or vaccinations. In 2020, nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) introduced to combat COVID-19 – such as ...

Disruptions between the brain’s master circadian clock and the liver’s internal clock, communicated via the hepatic afferent vagal nerve (HVAN), can lead to unhealthy eating patterns and increased weight gain, according to a new study in mice. The findings identify the neural link as a potential therapeutic target for obesity and metabolic dysfunction related to circadian disruption. In mammals, circadian rhythms are controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) – a small part of the brain’s hypothalamus that regulates the body’s circadian rhythms. This cycle triggers a feedback loop involving key clock genes that keep ...

“Wet dog shakes” – a common reflex behavior shared among many hairy mammals and designed to expel water and irritants from their coats – happens when particular mechanoreceptors are activated, researchers studying mice report. Many furry mammals engage in rapid body twists known as "wet dog shakes" to effectively remove water from their fur, as well as to eliminate irritants like tangles or parasites, particularly in areas on the neck and back that are largely unreachable by self-grooming or licking. However, despite the commonality of this behavior ...

PHILADELPHIA— People who work the nightshift or odd hours and eat at irregular times are more prone to weight gain and diabetes, likely due to eating patterns not timed with natural daylight and when people typically eat. But is it possible to stave off the ill effects of eating at these “unusual” times despite it not being biologically preferable? A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania says ‘yes’, and sheds light on how the body knows when to eat. The study, published today in Science, explains how researchers discovered a connection between the liver's internal clock and feeding centers in the ...

The more a plant species invests in defense, the less potential it has for growth, according to a new study. Research made possible by open science provides new insights into plant adaptation and interspecies variation. Pathogens can significantly weaken the fitness of their hosts, sometimes even causing host mortality. Yet considerable variation is found between species in their investment in disease defense. Evolutionary theory predicts that allocation costs regulate this investment, but testing this hypothesis ...

Hip implants with a delta ceramic or oxidised zirconium head and highly crosslinked polyethylene liner or cup had the lowest risk of revision during the 15 years after surgery, a new study led by the University of Bristol has found.  The research could help hospitals, surgeons and patients to choose what hip implant to use for replacement surgery. The aim of the study was to establish hip implant materials at risk of revision to help orthopaedic surgeons, and patients, and to improve shared decision making ...

Most research on plant stem cells focuses on the tips of roots and shoots, where growth occurs in height. But Ten Tusscher explains that thickness growth is just as essential. “Plants can’t grow endlessly in height. They also need to grow in thickness, or they would simply fall over,” she says. The growth in thickness, is what makes older trees visibly thicker and more robust over time. This growth is essential for structural strength, particularly in trees. Stem cells in the plant’s cambium layer control this width growth, producing wood to support the plant’s structure. However, which genes enable these cambium stem cells to become active ...

University of Maryland entomologists uncovered a unique relationship between two species of fungi known for their ability to invade, parasitize and kill insects efficiently. Instead of violently competing for the spoils of war, the two fungi peacefully cooperate and share their victims. The findings, published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLOS) Pathogens on November 7, 2024, offer insight into some of the biggest evolutionary successes in nature’s history, according to study co-authors Raymond St. Leger, a Distinguished University Professor of Entomology, and entomology Ph.D. candidate Huiyu Sheng. “It’s not survival ...

Not everyone responds equally well to treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). What will work for individual patients involves trial and error during the treatment process. Now, a team of researchers led by Charité – Universitätsmedizin, in collaboration with colleagues in Berlin and Bonn, has succeeded in identifying a biomarker that indicates whether or not treatment with a certain medication called an immunomodulator will be successful. Writing in the journal Gastroenterology,* the researchers note that this will permit more targeted use of the therapy. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) takes multiple ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study is the first to describe an electrochemical strategy to capture, concentrate and destroy mixtures of diverse chemicals known as PFAS — including the increasingly prevalent ultra-short-chain PFAS — from water in a single process. This new development is poised to address the growing industrial problem of contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, particularly in semiconductor manufacturing. A previous U. of I. study showed that short- and long-chain PFAS can be removed from water using electrochemically driven adsorption, referred to as ...

Researchers Identify Reduction in Heart Failure-Related Risk Factors following Metabolic Surgery   Recent study suggests that metabolic surgery for patients with heart failure can reduce dependency on oral diuretics, which are used to manage heart failure symptoms FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  November 7, 2024  BATON ROUGE – Pennington Biomedical Research Center researchers at the Metamor Institute, along with colleagues from Our Lady of the Lake and LSU Health-New Orleans, have recently determined that metabolic surgery on patients with heart failure can result in a reduction in the need for oral diuretics, which are used to manage symptoms such as venous and ...

For more than 50 years, as a leading pioneer of preventive medicine and the “father of aerobics,” Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., has revolutionized health and fitness worldwide. Similarly, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) has long been dedicated to education, patient care and research. Today (Nov. 4) TTUHSC officially welcomed The Cooper Institute as part of its organization with a special presentation and unveiling of its new name – the Kenneth H. Cooper Institute at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. The Cooper ...

In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius experienced one of its most significant eruptions, burying the Roman city of Pompeii and its inhabitants under a thick layer of small stones and ash known as lapilli. Many of Pompeii's inhabitants lost their lives as their homes collapsed under the weight of the lapilli raining down from many kilometres above. Those who survived the initial phase of the eruption eventually succumbed to the dangerous pyroclastic flows. This fast-moving stream of hot gas and volcanic matter instantly enveloped their bodies in a solid layer of ash, effectively preserving their bodies, including their features. Since the 1800s, casts had been made by pouring plaster into the ...

In 79 CE, the active volcanic system in southern Italy known as Somma-Vesuvius erupted, burying the small Roman town of Pompeii and everyone in it. The “Pompeii eruption” covered everything in a layer of ash that preserved many of the bodies. Now, ancient DNA collected from the famed body casts alters the history that’s been written since the once forgotten town’s rediscovery in the 1700s. As reported on November 7, 2024, in Current Biology, the DNA evidence shows that individuals’ sexes and family relationships don’t match ...

Scientists have known for decades that the classic symptoms of schizophrenia, such as jumping to conclusions or difficulty adjusting to new information, can be attributed to poor communication between the cerebral cortex and the thalamus, known as the brain’s central switchboard. By measuring brain cell activity between these two regions as volunteers completed ambiguous tasks, a team of Tufts University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine researchers found a way to use someone’s sensitivity to uncertainty as a diagnostic tool.  In a study published November 7 in the journal ...

Annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from private aviation increased by 46% between 2019 and 2023, according to an analysis published in Communications Earth & Environment. The results also show that some individuals who regularly use private aviation may produce almost 500 times more CO2 in a year than the average individual, and that there were significant emissions peaks around certain international events, including COP 28 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Private aviation is highly energy-intensive, emitting significantly more CO2 per passenger than commercial flights, but is used by approximately 0.003% ...

Tree planting has been widely touted as a cost-effective way of reducing global warming, due to trees’ ability to store large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. But, writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, an international group of scientists argue that tree planting at high latitudes will accelerate, rather than decelerate, global warming. As the climate continues to warm, trees can be planted further and further north, and large-scale tree-planting projects in the Arctic have been championed by governments and ...

Genes contain instructions for making proteins, and a central dogma of biology is that this information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins. But only two percent of the human genome actually encodes proteins; the function of the remaining 98 percent remains largely unknown. One pressing problem in human genetics is to understand what these regions of the genome do—if anything at all. Historically, some have even referred to these regions as “junk.” Now, a new study in Cell finds that some noncoding RNAs are not, in fact, junk—they are functional and play an important role in our cells, including in cancer and human development. Using CRISPR technology that ...

About The Study: In this longitudinal cohort study of multiple aspects of child neurodevelopment between ages 6 and 24 months, negligible associations between prenatal exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection and child outcomes were observed. Follow-up research is warranted to determine whether these predominantly null effects persist into later childhood. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Gerald F. Giesbrecht, PhD, email ggiesbre@ucalgary.ca. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.43697) Editor’s ...

About The Study: Results from this study highlight a lower genetic detection rate for Black patients than for white patients with inherited retinal diseases. This supports a concern that the current development of inherited retinal disease therapeutics is highly dependent on the ability to identify the genetic cause of disease. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, K. Thiran Jayasundera, M.D., email thiran@med.umich.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2024.4696) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including ...

When thinking about the immune system, most people think about B and T cells and how they can be trained to recognize pathogens, preventing re-infections. Besides this “adaptive” immune system, we also have an “innate” immune system which acts as first line defense against e.g. bacteria and viruses. The textbook view is that the innate immune system is non-specific so that it’s response always follows the same pattern, even for recurring infections. However, research published today in Stem Cell Reports provides evidence ...

“It’s necessary to consider the full life cycle of plastics, starting from the extraction of fossil fuel and the primary plastic polymer production” says lead article writer Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez at Stockholm Resilience Centre. Plastics are not as safe and inert as previously thought. The new research article written by an international team of researchers uses the planetary boundaries framework to structure the rapidly mounting evidence of the effects of plastics on the environment, health and human wellbeing. 500 million tons of plastics are now produced yearly but only nine percent get recycled globally. Plastics are everywhere: ...

The risks of adverse effects and complications from treatment for prostate cancer are substantial and continue for years after treatment ends. The largest comprehensive analysis reporting long-term risks from such treatment relative to the risks faced by a control group of untreated men has just been published in the journal JAMA Oncology. In the 12 years following treatment, men whose initial treatment was a prostatectomy (removal of all or part of the prostate) had a risk of urinary or sexual complications ...

Before 2024 ends, Congress will decide whether to keep or change rules about telehealth, or let them expire. And even though the decision will focus on Medicare’s payment for virtual patient care, it will likely impact telehealth access for people with other kinds of health insurance too. Now, a new University of Michigan study suggests that policymakers can rest easier about one of the top worries about telehealth: that virtual care will drive up the use of tests and scans that patients don’t need, wasting money and resources. In fact, the study shows that low-value care didn’t rise faster at primary care practices that used telehealth the most, compared with those ...

City of Hope® Research Spotlight offers a glimpse at groundbreaking scientific and clinical discoveries advancing lifesaving cures for patients with cancer, diabetes and other chronic, life-threatening diseases. Each spotlight features research-related news such as recognitions, collaborations and the latest research defining the future of medical treatment. This roundup highlights the biology behind our sense of smell, real-world data that can be used to refine esophageal cancer treatment guidelines, a potential new approach to treating patients with type 2 diabetes, a new way to target pancreatic cancer ...