A study from researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of California San Diego has shed light on a previously poorly understood aspect of breast cancer recurrence: how cancer cells survive in bone marrow despite targeted therapies. The paper, “Breast cancers that disseminate to bone marrow acquire aggressive phenotypes through CX43-related tumor-stroma tunnels,” appears in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.  Estrogen receptor positive breast cancer is the most ...

Closing underperforming hospitals could worsen health inequality in rural areas, finds new study Closing underperforming hospitals may do more harm than good, particularly in rural areas -regardless of their performance status, according to new research from the University of Surrey. The study shows that while the promise of improved care quality often justifies hospital closures, they risk exacerbating health inequalities, particularly for patients who already face longer travel distances for treatment.  The study, published in Regional Science and Urban Economics, which focused on elective hip replacement ...

A basic function of cells is that they act in response to their environments. It makes sense, then, that a goal of scientists is to control that process, making cells respond how they want to what they want. One avenue for this ambition is cell receptors, which function like ignition slots on a cell, requiring keys – such as specific hormones, drugs, or antigens – to start up specific cellular activities. There are already synthetic receptors that give us some control over this sequence of events, most famously the chimeric antigen receptors used in CAR-T cell cancer therapy. But existing synthetic receptors are limited in the variety of keys ...

A UCLA study has outlined a new framework that researchers say would improve predictive power of genetics to determine how well a patient would respond to commonly prescribed medications as well as the severity of any side effects.  Published in the journal Cell Genomics, the study found that data from large libraries of sequenced human genomes and other biological data, known as biobanks, can provide new insights into genetic architecture of response to widely prescribed drugs.  Study first author and UCLA Bioinformatics Ph.D. candidate Michal Sadowski said the most ...

Richard G. Baraniuk, the C. Sidney Burrus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University, has been awarded the 2025 IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal. This honor recognizes Baraniuk’s exceptional achievements in signal processing, particularly his pioneering work in multiscale and sparse signal processing. Notably, Baraniuk’s professorship is named after his mentor, Charles Sidney Burrus, a former dean of engineering at Rice, who also won the Kilby Medal in 2009. Baraniuk’s innovative contributions have advanced the theoretical and practical frontiers of signal processing and machine learning. His work has focused on low-dimensional models, ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Being lonely is a bigger hurdle to a good night’s sleep for college students than too much time at a computer or other electronic screen, a new study by Oregon State University suggests. The research led by scientists in the OSU College of Liberal Arts is important because both insomnia and loneliness are serious public health concerns and are at epidemic levels among young adults in higher education, the researchers note. Jessee Dietch, John Sy and collaborators at Harvard Medical School and Chaminade University ...

A research team at the University of Göttingen, Germany’s Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) in Rhede, and the Thünen Institute in Braunschweig has investigated the importance of limestone quarries for wild bee conservation. Diverse landscapes with good connectivity between quarries and calcareous grasslands proved to be particularly valuable. Calcareous grasslands – meaning grasslands on chalk or limestone soils – are exceptionally rich in plant and animal species, making them valuable ecosystems. Quarries ...

ROCHESTER, Minn.  — Earlier research showed that primary care clinicians using AI-ECG tools identified more unknown cases of a weak heart pump, also called low ejection fraction, than without AI. New study findings published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health suggest that this type of screening is also cost-effective in the long term, especially in outpatient settings. Incremental drops in heart function are treatable with medication but can be hard to spot. Patients may or may not have symptoms when their heart is not ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Coconut palms are king throughout the tropics, serving as the foundation for human lives and cultures across the Pacific Ocean for centuries. However, 200 years of planting by colonial interests transformed the palm from the revered “Tree of Life” to a cash crop monoculture grown on Pacific atolls for a singular purpose — production of coconut oil (copra) for export around the world. Despite wide interest in the global footprint of palm crops, the distribution of coconut palms across tropical Pacific atolls has received little attention. Until now. Published in Environmental Research Letters, ...

SAN DIEGO ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. This special edition features upcoming oral presentations by MD Anderson researchers at the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, providing ...

Access to psychotherapy has risen substantially among U.S. adults with mild to moderate distress since 2018, according to a new study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The increase in psychotherapy use is particularly notable among younger adults, women, college-educated individuals, and those with higher family incomes. Privately insured individuals also experienced greater gains in psychotherapy use compared to those who are publicly insured or uninsured. The findings are published ...

Over the past decade, the proportion of residents in Stockholm County who identify as bisexual has nearly doubled. The younger generations are driving the trend and many of them have previously identified as heterosexual. This is according to a study published in JAMA Network Open by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the Centre for Epidemiology and Community Medicine within Region Stockholm in Sweden. The researchers analysed data from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort, covering more than 98,000 individuals from 2002 to 2021. The proportion of people ...

Choosing a film for a movie night is always a battle. Now imagine if you could pick one that provided a window into some of the most fundamental biological processes that keep us alive. For the first time ever, researchers have captured a real-time molecular movie to show how two essential cellular processes – transcription and translation – interact with each other in bacteria. In all living organisms, DNA contains the code that defines cellular structures and functions. An enzyme called RNA polymerase deciphers this code and converts it into RNA, a molecule ...

About The Study: This study found that psychotherapy use increased significantly faster among several socioeconomically advantaged groups and that inequalities were evident in teletherapy access. These trends and patterns highlight a need for clinical interventions and health care policies to broaden access to psychotherapy including teletherapy.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, email mo49@cumc.columbia.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3903) Editor’s ...

About The Study: Between 2010 and 2022—a time of tremendous attention to maternal health—there was a net loss of hospital-based obstetric care in both rural and urban hospitals across the U.S. In 2010, more than half of rural hospitals and two-thirds of urban hospitals offered obstetric care. Rural hospitals started with lower percentages of hospitals offering obstetrics compared with urban hospitals and experienced a larger increase in the percentage of hospitals without obstetrics.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Katy B. Kozhimannil, PhD, MPA, email Brad Robideau at brobidea@umn.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For ...

  A study by IRB Barcelona unveils how the lack of a fraction of the CPEB4 protein causes a decrease in the expression of genes that are crucial for neuronal development. Published in the journal Nature, the study opens new avenues for the development of targeted treatments for autism. Barcelona, 4 December 2024 –Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by difficulties in communication and social behaviour. Approximately 20% of cases are linked to a specific genetic mutation, but the origin of the remaining 80%, known as idiopathic autism, remains a mystery. A team of scientists led by Drs. Raúl Méndez and Xavier Salvatella at the Institute ...

Researchers at UCSF find a brain signature of resilience in mice that suggests a new way of treating severe depression.  Some people bounce back from trauma, but others get caught in depressive loops that sap the joy from their lives.   Now, scientists at UC San Francisco are learning how the brain creates these divergent experiences. They hope it will help them find a way to treat those who struggle with long-lasting symptoms of stress.  The researchers found that stress changes activity in a brain circuit ...

Fructose consumption has increased considerably over the past five decades, largely due to the widespread use of high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in beverages and ultra-processed foods. New research from Washington University in St. Louis shows that dietary fructose promotes tumor growth in animal models of melanoma, breast cancer and cervical cancer. However, fructose does not directly fuel tumors, according to the study published Dec. 4 in the journal Nature. Instead, WashU scientists discovered that the liver converts fructose into usable nutrients for cancer cells, a compelling finding that could open up new avenues for care and treatment ...

A study published today in Cell uncovers the deep evolutionary roots of flint and dent maize (also commonly known as “corn”), two foundational varieties central to modern maize breeding and cultivation. By analyzing ancient DNA from 32 maize samples spanning the last 3,000 years, researchers have reconstructed the journey of the crop into eastern North America, shedding new light on its geographic origins, dispersal routes, and history of selection. This study was carried out by an international team of scientists and spearheaded ...

EMBARGOED by JAMA Network Open until 11 a.m. ET, Dec. 4, 2024 Contact: Gina DiGravio, 617-358-7838, ginad@bu.edu Largest Study of CTE in Male Ice Hockey Players Finds Odds Increased 34% With Each Year Played 18 of 19 NHL Players Had CTE, but zero of 6 who played fewer than 6 years (Boston)—The largest study ever of 77 deceased male ice hockey players by the Boston University CTE Center found that the odds of having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) increased by 34% each year played, and 18 of 19 National Hockey League players had CTE. CTE is a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated traumatic brain injuries and most frequently found in former contact sport athletes ...

Astronomers say they are close to solving an intergalactic mystery about the creation of the universe's biggest galaxies which has puzzled experts for decades. Scientists have discovered the birth sites of gigantic elliptical galaxies which they claim offer new clues about how they were formed. The creation of these ancient galaxies, which look like bulging footballs compared to our flat disk-like Milky Way, remains a mystery to astrophysicists. But now academics from the University of Southampton, working with experts across the world, ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest regulatory monitor data may not adequately capture air quality exposures for some marginalized race and ethnicity groups, and the consequences of incomplete or uncertain air quality estimates for these communities should be further investigated.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Brenna C. Kelly, MS, email brenna.kelly@utah.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.49005) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

Researchers at Swansea University have developed a revolutionary bone graft substitute inspired by coral which not only promotes faster healing but dissolves naturally in the body after the repair is complete. This groundbreaking research, led by Dr Zhidao Xia from Swansea University Medical School in collaboration with colleagues from the Faculty of Science and Engineering and several external partners*, has been patented and published in the leading journal Bioactive Materials. Bone defects caused ...

The discovery of a unique case where the same insect species both pollinate a plant and distribute its seeds not only solves a long-standing botanical mystery. The Kobe University find also stresses the diverse roles insects play in our ecosystem. In the dark and moist understories of the subtropical forests of Shimoshima Island in Japan grow parasitic plants that feed on the roots of other plants. They are called Balanophora, and for over a century, the mechanism of their seed dispersal has remained a mystery. It has been ...

The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics has just published its highly anticipated Evidence-Based Clinical Guideline (EBG): “Phenylalanine Hydroxylase (PAH) Deficiency Diagnosis and Management: A 2023 Evidence-Based Clinical Guideline of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG),” in its official journal, Genetics in Medicine. Evidence-Based Clinical Guidelines are extremely important in healthcare because they help provide a framework for caring for an affected patient and can improve shared ...