Researchers have found that adolescents being bullied by their peers are at greater risk of the early stages of psychotic episodes and in turn experience lower levels of a key neurotransmitter in a part of the brain involved in regulating emotions. The finding suggests that this neurotransmitter — a chemical messenger that transmits nerve impulses for communication by a nerve cell — may be a potential target for pharmaceutical interventions aimed at reducing the risk of psychotic disorders. Psychosis is a mental state characterized by loss of contact with reality, incoherent speech and behavior, and typically hallucinations and delusions seen in psychiatric disorders ...

The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), encompassing ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), is rapidly increasing worldwide, affecting an estimated 6.8 million people. This surge brings significant economic burdens, with annual healthcare costs exceeding $12,000 and $7,000 for CD and UC patients, respectively. Tailored drug selection based on individual factors can potentially reduce these costs and improve patient outcomes. Factors associated with a Western lifestyle such as urbanization, high animal protein intake, ultra-processed foods, and reduced fiber ...

Utilizing crude glycerol for the synthesis of high-value products offers a promising solution to counter the adverse effects of declining glycerol prices in the biodiesel sector. The prevalence of crude glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production, across agriculture, biofuel, and industrial sectors is steadily rising. Recent advancements have demonstrated the effectiveness of both wild-type and mutant yeast strains as microbial cell factories capable of converting glycerol into a diverse array of valuable compounds, including microbial oils, sugar-alcohols (polyols), and organic acids. With the projected increase in biodiesel production, there is a need to explore integrated ...

Using a simple solvent sieve method, researchers from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have taken the lead in developing highly efficient and stable perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) with record performance. The study was published in Nature Photonics. Perovskites are one of the most promising optoelectronic materials due to their excellent optoelectronic performance and low preparation cost. Compared with traditional organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), PeLEDs have a narrower light-emitting spectrum and superior color ...

(WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2024) – Combination treatments with two or more blood pressure drugs can significantly reduce blood pressure in patients taking ibrutinib, according to a new study published in Blood Advances. Targeted drugs such as ibrutinib have improved outcomes for patients with cancers of the lymphatic system, but patients treated with ibrutinib and other drugs in its class often develop new or worsening high blood pressure (or hypertension or HTN). Few studies have examined how best to treat this potentially serious side effect, nor do any formal guidelines exist to steer doctors toward the most effective treatments. “To ...

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an ultra-sensitive sensor made with graphene that can detect extraordinarily low concentrations of lead ions in water. The device achieves a record limit of detection of lead down to the femtomolar range, which is one million times more sensitive than previous sensing technologies. “With the extremely high sensitivity of our device, we ultimately hope to detect even the presence of one lead ion in a reasonable volume of water,” said Prabhakar Bandaru, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. “Lead exposure is a serious health concern, ...

The world’s largest brain study of childhood trauma has revealed how it affects development and rewires vital pathways.     The University of Essex study – led by the Department of Psychology’s Dr Megan Klabunde – uncovered a disruption in neural networks involved in self-focus and problem-solving.    This means under-18s who experienced abuse will likely struggle with emotions, empathy and understanding their bodies.     Difficulties in school caused by memory, hard mental tasks and decision making may also emerge.    Dr ...

There was an increase in the number of unprovoked shark attacks worldwide and an uptick in fatalities in 2023 compared to the previous year. The University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF), a scientific database of global shark attacks, confirmed 69 unprovoked bites in 2023. Although this is higher than the most recent five-year average of 63 attacks, the data remain consistent with long-term trends. Ten of the past year’s unprovoked attacks were fatal, up from five the year before, with a disproportionate number occurring in Australia. Although the country accounted for 22% of all attacks, ...

New York, NY (February 5, 2024) — The Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced a transformative $1.95 million gift from Schmidt Sciences to create The Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Human Health Fellowship Program. The gift will support an inaugural cohort of five fellows over a three-year fellowship. By leveraging AI and machine learning to tackle the increasing volume of data in health care, The Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Human Health Fellows will play a pivotal role in advancing medical research. ...

DALLAS, Feb. 5, 2024 — The American Heart Association and the National Football League (NFL), in collaboration with its 32 NFL clubs, are challenging kids to get moving and PLAY 60 in advance of Super Bowl LVIII with the latest installment of the NFL PLAY 60 Fitness Break broadcast series. On Thursday, February 8 at 1 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. CT/ 10 a.m. PT the Association and the NFL will deliver an action packed, 15-minute synchronous broadcast to help students add movement to their day leading up to the big game along with ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have found a way to boost ethanol production via yeast fermentation, a standard method for converting plant sugars into biofuels. Their approach, detailed in the journal Nature Communications, relies on careful timing and a tight division of labor among synthetic yeast strains to yield more ethanol per unit of plant sugars than previous approaches have achieved. “We constructed an artificial microbial community consisting of two engineered yeast strains: a glucose specialist and a xylose specialist,” said Yong-Su Jin, a professor of food science and human nutrition ...

The restoration of mussel beds in the Wadden Sea or the Delta is a lot more successful when young mussels are helped a little with low, protective fences on the bottom. That is shown by research conducted by marine biologist Jildou Schotanus at the Hogeschool Zeeland / University of Applied Sciences in Vlissingen and at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research in Yerseke. She defends her thesis Restoring mussel beds on highly dynamic mudflats at the University of Groningen on Monday February 5th. Ecosystem engineers Mussels are so-called ecosystem ...

Although most patients diagnosed with Covid-19 will quickly recover, some people experience symptoms that linger well after they start testing negative again — including insomnia. Scientists already knew that insomnia was common in patients who had to be hospitalized, but a team of scientists led by Dr Huong T. X. Hoang of Phenikaa University, Vietnam began to wonder if mild infections might also affect sleep quality. “As a sleep researcher, I received many questions and complaints from relatives, friends, ...

Hill Prize in Medicine Awarded to Martin M. Matzuk, M.D., Ph.D. (NAS), Baylor College of Medicine Hill Prize in Engineering Awarded to Maria A. Croyle, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin Hill Prize in Biological Sciences Awarded to Russell A. DeBose-Boyd, Ph.D. (NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center Hill Prize in Physical Sciences Awarded to Allan H. MacDonald, Ph.D. (NAS), The University of Texas at Austin Hill Prize in Technology Awarded to Hermann Lebit, Ph.D., Alma Energy February 5, 2024 – Austin – TAMEST ...

How can inclusivity be achieved in cardiopulmonary exercise tests for individuals facing lower limb injuries or disabilities that make it impossible to pedal a bicycle? Conventional exercise assessments rely primarily on lower limb exercise to determine maximal oxygen uptake – a cardiopulmonary function metric that indicates the maximum amount of oxygen that can be taken into the body in one minute. If lower limbs cannot be exercised, it necessitates an upper limb alternative. However, no clear upper limb ...

With more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in one year, communities need more than ‘just say no’ drug prevention education and abstinence-only addiction treatment to save lives, an expert has warned. Statistics show that most people who complete conventional drug prevention education as youth eventually go on to use alcohol, nicotine, or illegal drugs. Harm reduction expert Sheila P. Vakharia, PhD, MSW, explains: “The majority have experimented, others use socially, and some experience substance-related problems or addictions. And, regardless of their patterns of use, most have never been taught strategies for safer substance use, ...

An article published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) describes five things clinicians and harm reduction workers should know about xylazine, a veterinary medication adulterating the illicit opioid supplyhttps://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.231603. There is no antidote to the effects of xylazine, and the authors explain that xylazine contamination should be suspected when naloxone appears not to work effectively in people with opioid toxicity. Highlights: Xylazine is not approved for use in humans and is increasingly found in illicit drug samples along with fentanyl. People using ...

Children and young adults with allergies or eczema who have difficulty swallowing may have eosinophilic esophagitis. A review published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) provides guidance on how to diagnose and manage this chronic inflammatory disease https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230378. In people with eosinophilic esophagitis, the esophageal lining is inflamed, which can cause injury and narrowing of the throat. Although it can affect anyone, the risk is higher in children aged 5–14 years ...

A recent re-emergence and outbreak of Mpox brought poxviruses back as a public health threat, underlining an important knowledge gap at their core. Now, a team of researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) lifted the mysteries of poxviral core architecture by combining various cryo-electron microscopy techniques with molecular modeling. The findings, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, could facilitate future research on therapeutics targeting the poxvirus core. Variola virus, the most notorious poxvirus and one of the deadliest viruses to have ...

Research Highlights: The weight loss medication tirzepatide significantly lowered the systolic blood pressure of nearly 500 adults who had obesity and took the medication for 36 weeks, or about eight months, in a subset of an international clinical trial. Participants taking 5 mg of tirzepatide had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 7.4 mm Hg; participants taking 10 mg had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 10.6 mm Hg; and participants taking 15 mg had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 8.0 mm Hg. In this study, the blood-pressure lowering effects of tirzepatide were evident during both day and night ...

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 10AM (UK TIME) ON MONDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2024  Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have found that the molecule RvT4 enhances the body’s natural defences against atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.  Studies in mice undertaken by researchers from Queen Mary University of London’s William Harvey Research Institute and Centre for Inflammation and Therapeutic Innovation, and funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and Barts Charity, shows that increasing levels of the RvT4 molecule in the body improves the ability of the body’s own defence ...

Climate models are essential to predicting and addressing climate change, but can fail to adequately represent soil microbes, a critical player in ecosystem soil carbon sequestration that affects the global carbon cycle. A team of scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed a new model that incorporates genetic information from microbes. This new model enables the scientists to better understand how certain soil microbes efficiently store carbon supplied by plant ...

FINDINGS Scientists at City of Hope®, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, have discovered a new cellular mechanism that plays an important role in cancer cells’ ability to cause disease. The study was published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology today. A team led by Chun-Wei (David) Chen, Ph.D., an associate professor of systems biology at City of Hope, pinpointed two cell-surface proteins, integrin αV and β5, that partner to spur cancer cell growth. The researchers next identified a region of integrin αV called the β-propeller domain ...

For years, there has been a long-held belief that acute viral infections like Zika or COVID-19 are directly responsible for neurological damage, but researchers from McMaster University have now discovered that it’s the immune system’s response that is behind it. The research, published on Feb. 5, 2024 in Nature Communications, was led by Elizabeth Balint, a PhD student at McMaster, and Ali Ashkar, a professor with the Department of Medicine and the Canada Research Chair in Natural Immunity and NK Cell Function. “We were interested in trying to ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created a new superconductor with a chiral crystalline structure by mixing two materials, one with superconductivity but no chirality, another with chirality but no superconductivity. The new platinum-iridium-zirconium compound transitions to a bulk superconductor below 2.2 K and was observed to have chiral crystalline structure using X-ray diffraction. Their new solid solution approach promises to accelerate the discovery and understanding of ...