Scientists have unravelled a mystery about the disappearance of dwarf hippos and elephants that once roamed the picturesque landscape on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus before palaeolithic humans arrived. Cyprus only had two species of megafauna present during the Late Pleistocene — the 500-kg dwarf elephant (Palaeoloxodon cypriotes), and the 130-kg dwarf hippo (Phanourios minor), but both species disappeared soon after humans arrived around 14,000 years ago. In examining the reasons behind the extinction of these prehistoric animals, research funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus through the Research and Innovation Foundation ...

Researchers have discovered that seabirds, including penguins and albatrosses, have highly-sensitive regions in their beaks that could be used to help them find food. This is the first time this ability has been identified in seabirds. An international team of researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, studied over 350 species of modern birds and found that seabirds have a high density of sensory receptors and nerves at the tip of their beaks, which has been previously identified in specialised tactile foragers such as ducks. The researchers say this touch-sensitive region could have come from a common ancestor, and further work is needed to determine ...

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL TUESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 23:15 UK TIME (BST).   Self-reporting of health may lead to underestimation of health inequalities in England  Peer reviewed | Observational study | People     A first-of-its kind analysis of data collected from England’s annual health survey found that of the people who reported their health as ‘poor’, those living in areas of high deprivation are likely to have worse health than those living in the least deprived areas.    This could mean that we are ...

Macquarie University researchers have discovered new information about how oral cancer cells may block the body's immune response. This could lead to better treatments for this aggressive disease. Their research, published in the Journal of Oral Biosciences this month, looked at protein interactions in oral cancer cells that might stop our immune cells from attacking these tumours. Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer in Australia and the most common in India. Advanced forms of oral cancer are hard to treat, with patients typically surviving less than 12 months. Lead author Dr Rajdeep Chakraborty from Applied Biosciences ...

Ottawa, ON, September 17, 2024 – A new study published in The Lancet Psychiatry found that 32% of individuals with an eating disorder had abnormal electrolyte levels, which were associated with a higher risk of death from any cause.  The study, led by researchers at ICES and The Ottawa Hospital, found that electrolyte abnormalities were also linked to the development of other serious health conditions, including chronic kidney disease, bone fracture, bowel obstruction, and acute kidney injury.  This is one of the first large, population-based studies to identify an important risk factor for mortality and poor health outcomes in individuals ...

Would-be dads taking drugs to stop their epilepsy seizures—and valproate in particular—should be largely reassured that the available evidence on the developmental risks to their offspring doesn’t justify any major concerns, concludes a systematic review of relevant studies published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. The available evidence is scarce and inconsistent, but most studies indicate no heightened risk, the findings show, casting doubt on the stance taken by the UK drugs regulator, the MHRA, in particular, say ...

A fifth of family doctors (GPs) seem to have readily incorporated AI into their clinical practice, despite a lack of any formal guidance or clear work policies on the use of these tools, suggest the findings of an online UK-wide snapshot survey, published in the open access journal BMJ Health & Care Informatics. Doctors and medical trainees need to be fully informed about the pros and cons of AI, especially because of the inherent risks of inaccuracies (‘hallucinations’), algorithmic biases, and the potential to compromise patient privacy, ...

HOUSTON ― According to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 80% of patients with previously untreated or relapsed/refractory advanced-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) – including both accelerated or myeloid blast phases of the disease – or Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML) achieved a bone marrow remission when treated with a novel combination of decitabine, venetoclax and ponatinib. Findings from the Phase II clinical trial, published today in The Lancet Haematology, represent an important step forward for patients ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Presenting the world’s smallest (and scrappiest) scuba diver: A species of semi-aquatic lizard produces a special bubble over its nostrils to breathe underwater and avoid predators, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.  Lindsey Swerk, an assistant research professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University, studies water anoles, a type of semi-aquatic lizard found in the tropical forests of southern Costa Rica. She had previously documented the lizards using a bubble underwater. When these lizards feel threatened by a predator, ...

About half of adults with type 1 diabetes face significant cognitive impairment, including problems with working memory and executive function that affect day-to-day thinking. But less is known about how the condition affects children during a window of time known to be critical for healthy brain development. A new large-scale longitudinal study, led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC, will unite 12 research centers across the United States to explore that important question. Researchers will collaborate to recruit a large, diverse group of children newly diagnosed with diabetes, taking a sweeping look at the environmental, lifestyle, ...

A landmark study has uncovered novel ancestry-specific genetic variants linked to multiple sclerosis (MS), offering new insights that could reshape treatment approaches for diverse populations affected by the disease.1 The research, presented today at ECTRIMS 2024, is the result of efforts by the Alliance for Research in Hispanic MS (ARHMS) Consortium and is the first large-scale study to identify ancestry-specific genetic effects for MS risk. In a comprehensive analysis of over 7,000 individuals from self-reported Hispanic (n=4,313; 2,201 MS, 2,112 controls) and African American (n=3,085; 1,584 MS, 1,501 controls) backgrounds, researchers discovered ...

New research presented today at ECTRIMS 2024 reveals that initiating monoclonal antibody therapy during childhood, rather than delaying treatment until early adulthood, significantly reduces long-term disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.1 The study, which utilised data from the French MS Registry, Italian MS Register, and the global MSBase Registry, analysed the outcomes of 282 patients with paediatric-onset MS who began experiencing symptoms before the age of 18 years. Patients were divided into two groups based on when they initiated monoclonal antibody treatment: either ...

Dr. Ali Khademhosseini, Ph.D., CEO and Director of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), is honored with the 2024 Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). This distinguished honor recognizes outstanding progress in the field of chemical engineering. Named after Dr. Andreas Acrivos, Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Engineering, emeritus at the City College of New York, whose pioneering work in fluid ...

American Geophysical Union  17 September 2024  AGU Release 24-33 For Immediate Release  This press release is available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/slow-landslides-growing-threat-mountain-communities/ Slow-moving landslides a growing, but ignored, threat to mountain communities Urban growth, climate change, and flood risk at lower elevations can push people to live on steeper, more dangerous terrain AGU press contact: Rebecca Dzombak, news@agu.org (UTC-4 hours) Potsdam press contact: Stefanie Mikulla, University of Potsdam, presse@uni-potsdam.de (UTC+2 hours) Researcher contact: Joaquin Vicente Ferrer, ...

Browser extensions, the software add-ons that help users customize and enhance their web browsers, are wildly popular. Some of the most-used extensions find shopping deals, fix grammar and typos, manage passwords, or translate web pages. The types of extensions available are nearly endless, and many have become indispensable tools for businesses and everyday users.  While these extensions can make web browsing more accessible, productive, and rewarding, they are not without risk. New research from Georgia Tech reveals that thousands of browser extensions pose significant threats to privacy, and hundreds automatically ...

SAN FRANCISCO—Within bacterial cells, specialized immune systems known as retrons fend off viral attacks. But that’s not all they can do. Scientists, including Seth Shipman, PhD, at Gladstone Institutes, have shown that retrons also serve an important purpose in the lab: precise DNA editing. In fact, retrons can be combined with CRISPR—the far more famous bacterial-defense-system-turned-gene-editor—to better edit human cells. Yet, for all their potential to help scientists better understand disease and develop new therapies, only a small number of retrons have been studied. In nature, many thousands of variations exist, some with greater gene-editing powers than ...

First-of-its-kind research by Tarang Parekh, assistant professor of epidemiology, reviewed the State Innovation Models (SIM), a payment system introduced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2013, which provides financial incentives to states to develop innovative payment models to improve healthcare systems. In the study, recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Parekh compared data from 2010 to 2015 from three SIM participating states, Arkansas, Massachusetts and Vermont, to Florida, Nebraska and New Mexico, which do not participate in ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Colorectal cancer (CRC) is no laughing matter. It’s the second-leading cause of cancer deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization. But new research led by the University at Buffalo suggests that humor can be an effective mechanism for reaching people who otherwise avoid information about colorectal cancer screening or other health messaging. The research, published online ahead of print in the British Journal of Health Psychology, found that in people who demonstrated a ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A novel neurotechnology treatment known as deep brain stimulation (DBS) can benefit patients with neurological disorders, but it involves surgical procedures with potential risks. Assessing the risk-benefit tradeoffs and the ethics in making decisions about whether to begin such treatments and when can be tricky for both patients and clinicians.   Laura Cabrera, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics, received a four-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research and develop ...

A discovery six years ago took the condensed-matter physics world by storm: Ultra-thin carbon stacked in two slightly askew layers became a superconductor, and changing the twist angle between layers could toggle their electrical properties. The landmark 2018 paper describing “magic-angle graphene superlattices” launched a new field called “twistronics,” and the first author was then-MIT graduate student and recent Harvard Junior Fellow Yuan Cao.   Together with Harvard physicists Amir ...

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 17, 2024 – In landmark research, scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) have reported the largest-ever genome-wide association study of dementia from all causes, revealing an overlap of genetic risks including neurodegeneration, vascular factors and cerebral small-vessel disease. Genome-wide association studies help scientists identify genes associated with a particular disease or trait by exploring the entire set of DNA, or genome, of a ...

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, has announced the formation of a new Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Drug Development, which merges the Department of Physiology and Department of Pharmacology. This new Department aligns the basic science research efforts of both entities with a strong emphasis on the development of new drug therapies. The Department will host three divisions spanning Cancer Therapeutics, Molecular Physiology, and Neuropharmacology, creating additional opportunities for research partnerships across current UMSOM Centers, ...

Big data and artificial intelligence are transforming how we think about health, from detecting diseases and spotting patterns to predicting outcomes and speeding up response times. In a new study analyzing two million Google Street View images from New York City streets, a team of New York University researchers evaluated the utility of this digital data in informing public health decision-making. Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), show how relying on street view images alone may lead ...

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Deep inside what we perceive as solid matter, the landscape is anything but stationary. The interior of the building blocks of the atom’s nucleus — particles called hadrons that a high school student would recognize as protons and neutrons — are made up of a seething mixture of interacting quarks and gluons, known collectively as partons. A group of physicists has now come together to map out these partons and disentangle how they interact to form hadrons. Based at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and known as the HadStruc Collaboration, these ...

Patients want providers to reach out early and often to ask about financial needs First study seeking cancer patient input on how they want to be screened Findings show how to best deploy policies to screen cancer patients for financial concerns CHICAGO --- Patients with cancer want their care team to assess them early in treatment about their concerns related to costs of care, reports a Northwestern Medicine study. It is the first time a study has sought cancer patients’ input on how they want to be screened for financial needs. The financial impact of treatment, referred to as financial toxicity, includes direct costs, such as how much ...