A team at the University of Missouri has devised a method to eliminate most nanoplastics from water using eco-friendly solvents, suitable for both fresh and saltwater applications. Nanoplasticst are an emerging enemy of human health. Much smaller in size than the diameter of an average human hair, nanoplastics are invisible to the naked eye. [...]
A team led by Jose Onuchic at Rice University and Paul Whitford at Northeastern University, both researchers at the National Science Foundation Physics Frontiers Center at the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) at Rice, has made a discovery in the fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19. [...]
Cornell University research demonstrates that sleep resets the hippocampus, enabling continuous learning and offering new strategies for treating memory-related disorders. While everyone knows that a good night’s sleep restores energy, a new Cornell University study finds it resets another vital function: memory. Learning or experiencing new things activates neurons in the hippocampus, a region of the [...]
Steps are being taken toward human clinical trials for the precision measurement of the intestinal microbiome. Researchers at Tufts University School of Engineering have made remarkable strides in developing a small, pill-sized device that can be swallowed to traverse the gastrointestinal tract, providing a comprehensive sampling of the microorganisms present within it. This device has the [...]
In a recent study published in the journal Eurosurveillance, researchers investigated the unusual rise in emergency department (ED) visits for pneumonia among children aged 5–14 years in England since November 2023. Their findings indicate that this increase, which persisted into early summer 2024, was primarily driven by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), even as other seasonal respiratory [...]
In a recent study published in PLoS Computational Biology, researchers used mathematical modelling to evaluate whether prioritizing older individuals for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) booster vaccinations consistently leads to optimal public health outcomes across diverse socio-economic settings. In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were crucial in reducing transmission and protecting healthcare [...]
A Yale School of Medicine team reports in a new study that an artificial intelligence (AI) model was able to reliably diagnose people living with Marfan syndrome from a simple facial photograph. Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder, affecting about 1 in 3,000 people, which impacts the body's connective tissues. "Patients living with Marfan [...]
In a recent study published in Science Advances, a group of researchers assessed whether dendritic spine head diameter in the temporal cortex is a better predictor of episodic memory performance in older adults than synapse quantity, accounting for β amyloid (Aβ) plaques (Clusters of protein fragments in the brain), neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) (Twisted protein fibers [...]
Parasites take an enormous toll on human and veterinary health. But researchers may have found a way for patients with brain disorders and a common brain parasite to become frenemies. A new study published in Nature Microbiology has pioneered the use of a single-celled parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, to inject therapeutic proteins into brain cells. The brain is very picky about [...]
A new study has revealed important information about how a patient's testosterone level can help protect them from severe Covid-19. Previous research involving Swansea University investigated how sex hormones are likely to be important determinants of Covid-19 severity. Now digit ratio expert Professor John Manning, of the Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) research team, has [...]
