Medical and Health Sciences

A new smart insole system that monitors how people walk in real time could help users improve posture and provide early warnings for conditions from plantar fasciitis to Parkinson's disease.

Among adults ages 18-49 (median age of 41 years) who were born with a hole in the upper chambers of their heart known as patent foramen ovale (PFO), strokes of unknown cause were more strongly associated with nontraditional risk factors, such as migraines, liver disease or cancer, rather than more typical factors such as high blood pressure.

Some medications are seen as a 'fix-all' solution, not addressing the root problem.

Researchers have successfully employed an algorithm to identify potential mutations which increase disease risk in the noncoding regions our DNA, which make up the vast majority of the human genome. The findings could serve as the basis for detecting disease-associated variants in a range of common diseases.

Biologists have discovered that disruptions in transfer RNA function can lead to the development of cleft lip and cleft palate.

Scientists could reshape cancer treatment by helping powerful drugs work better in the body by exploiting a surface protein called CD36 that helps pull substances into cells. This dramatically improves the uptake of a promising class of cancer-fighting drugs called PROTACs. The new drug design deliveries up to 22 times more of he drug inside cancer cells, and tumor suppression in mice.

A clinical trial conducted in a neonatal intensive care unit has identified a new treatment protocol to improve lung growth and function among preterm infants.

How do we learn new things? Neurobiologists using cutting-edge visualization techniques have revealed how changes across our synapses and neurons unfold. The findings depict how information is processed in our brain's circuitry, offering insights for neurological disorders and brain-like AI systems.

Two women meeting for the first time can judge within minutes whether they have the potential to be friends -- guided as much by smell as any other sense, research on friendship formation finds.

A team of researchers has identified a promising new approach that may one day help to restore vision in people affected by macular degeneration and other retinal disorders.

A new study has found important clues about the roles age, sex, hormonal changes and genetics play in how certain biomarkers for dementia are expressed in the blood, according to a new study.

Scientists have implicated the FOXR2 gene in previously unassociated brain tumor types, with implications for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.

Researchers report an association between urinary incontinence and cardiovascular disease risk in women. The researcher recommend women should be checked regularly for urinary incontinence.

'Do we see colors the same way?' is a fundamentally human question and one of great importance in research into the human mind. While impossible to answer at present, researchers take steps to answering it using a method that can map the experiences of colors between individuals, including those with colorblindness.

Mycobacteria are the world's most deadly bacteria --c ausing infectious diseases including tuberculosis (TB), which alone kills more than one million people each year. New drugs to fight these infections are desperately needed, as the number of cases of antibiotic-resistant mycobacteria is on the rise. Scientists have now used advanced imaging techniques to provide a detailed look at how a tiny virus, known as a phage, invades Mycobacteria.

Why does dementia affect more women than men? To help solve this mystery, researchers uncovered a new risk factor: age of menopause onset.

Crime scene investigation may soon become significantly more accurate and efficient thanks to a new method for detecting gunshot residues. Researchers have developed the technique that converts lead particles found in gunshot residue into a light-emitting semiconductor. The method is faster, more sensitive, and easier to use than current alternatives. Forensic experts at the Amsterdam police force are already testing it in actual crime scene investigations.

According to new research next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) -- the same technology which is powering the development of tailor-made medicines, cancer diagnostics, infectious disease tracking, and gene research -- could become a prime target for hackers.

Researchers have made significant advancements in understanding the earliest stages of stomach cancer, a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, through two recent innovative studies. With a prevalence rates particularly high in East Asia, including China, this cancer often stems from chronic inflammation caused by Helicobacter pylori infection, which affects approximately 15% of the Hong Kong population. This inflammation can lead to a pre-cancerous stage known as intestinal metaplasia. The innovative studies have uncovered crucial insights into the earliest changes in the stomach that contribute to the development of stomach cancer, laying the foundation for improved prevention and early detection, ultimately saving lives.

A new study suggests that climate trauma -- such as experiencing a devastating wildfire -- can have lasting effects on cognitive function.

There's a sensation that you experience -- near a plane taking off or a speaker bank at a concert -- from a sound so total that you feel it in your very being. When this happens, not only do your brain and ears perceive it, but your cells may also. Technically speaking, sound is a simple phenomenon, consisting of compressional mechanical waves transmitted through substances, which exists universally in the non-equilibrated material world. Sound is also a vital source of environmental information for living beings, while its capacity to induce physiological responses at the cell level is only just beginning to be understood.

A research team has developed a computational tool, Argo, designed to accurately track ARGs in environmental samples, providing insights into their dissemination and associated risks.

Step tracking with mindfulness training delivered via a mobile app boosts people's desire to exercise.

Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type 2 is a congenital malformation of the cerebral cortex that is often associated with difficult-to-treat epilepsy. In the affected areas, nerve cells and their layer structures are arranged in an atypical manner, which often makes drug therapy more difficult. A research team has now found evidence of profound changes in the dopamine system in FCD type 2.

In the global carbon cycle microorganisms have evolved a variety of methods for fixing carbon. Researchers have investigated the methods that are utilized at extremely hot, acidic and sulfur-rich hydrothermal vents in shallow waters off the island of Kueishantao, Taiwan.

Complex protein interactions at synapses are essential for memory formation in our brains, but the mechanisms behind these processes remain poorly understood. Now, researchers have developed a computational model revealing new insights into the unique droplet-inside-droplet structures that memory-related proteins form at synapses. They discovered that the shape characteristics of a memory-related protein are crucial for the formation of these structures, which could shed light on the nature of various neurological disorders.

Getting therapeutic drugs past the blood-brain barrier has long been a major challenge in treating brain diseases. Now, researchers have explored how cholesterol-modified heteroduplex oligonucleotides (Chol-HDOs) enhance drug delivery to the brain. Their study reveals that Chol-HDOs bind tightly to serum proteins, allowing them to persist in the bloodstream and cross into brain tissue. These findings offer insights into gene-targeting therapies and could help develop treatments for conditions like Alzheimer's disease.

A new imaging study showed that listening to favorite music affects the function of the brain's opioid system.

The simple act of looking at a piece of visual art can boost your wellbeing, a new research study has found, and this benefit can be gained in a hospital setting as well as an art gallery.

Affectionate mothering in childhood may have a lasting impact on important personality traits, potentially influencing life outcomes such as educational achievement, economic success, and health and well-being, according to new research. The findings suggest that positive maternal parenting could foster important traits such as openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness.

Individuals with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease show altered blood levels indicating damaged neuronal contacts as early as 11 years before the expected onset of dementia symptoms. This is evident in the levels of the protein 'beta-synuclein'.

Researchers evaluating a nature-based program of activities for patients with mild to moderate mental health conditions have shown that improvements in mood and anxiety levels can be seen in as little as 12 weeks.

New research shows Glycolysis -- the process of converting sugar into energy -- plays a key role in early development. More than fuel, Glycolysis doesn't just power cells -- it helps steer them toward specific tissue types at critical moments in development.

Scientists have discovered how aging blood stem cells acquire mutations that give them a growth edge, creating fertile ground for the development of clonol hematopoiesis, a condition that dramatically increases the risk of heart disease, blood cancers, and other illnesses. Importantly, they've also identified a method to halt this abnormal growth. This breakthrough provides crucial insight into age-related blood disorders and opens the door to new therapeutic strategies targeting the root cause of these conditions.

'Multi-zonal' liver organoids represent a significant step forward in developing lab-grown liver tissues.

A new study has identified a novel strategy for treating acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer for which the median survival time following diagnosis remains just 8.5 months.

Drugs like Ozempic, other blood sugar-reducing medications, may stave off dementia.

Macaque mothers experience a short period of physical restlessness after the death of an infant, but do not show typical human signs of grief, such as lethargy and appetite loss, finds a new study by anthropologists.

Researchers have identified the key brain regions that are essential for logical thinking and problem solving.

Bacteria naturally present in the human intestine (known as the gut microbiota) can transform cholesterol-derived bile acids into powerful metabolites that strengthen anti-cancer immunity by blocking androgen signaling, according to a preclinical study.

Monitoring blood levels of DNA fragments shed by dying tumor cells may accurately predict skin cancer recurrence, a new study shows.

Certain common genetic changes might make some people with focal epilepsy less responsive to seizure medications, finds a new global study.

Researchers investigated the quantities of thousands of muscle proteins and found a possible new explanation for muscle memory. A study showed for the first time that muscles 'remember' training at the protein level. The memory trace of previous resistance training persists in muscle proteins for over two months.

A new study questions the longstanding view that the visual system is divided into two pathways, one for object-recognition and the other for spatial tasks. Using computational vision models, researchers found the ventral visual stream, may not be exclusively optimized for object recognition.

A new study could lead to more widespread use of imaging technique to improve survival and prevent complications.

Scientists have developed a new type of handheld multi-purpose radiation detector that comprehensively detects all types of ionizing radiation. The device can be used by industrial and medical radiation users, regulatory authorities, the nuclear energy industry, first responders and military users. The technology has been patented and is currently being explored for commercialization.

A global study has shown that countries which consume more plant-based proteins -- such as chickpeas, tofu and peas -- have longer adult life expectancies. Scientists studied food supply and demographic data between 1961-2018 from 101 countries, with the data corrected to account for population size and wealth, to understand whether the type of protein a population consumed had an impact on longevity.

People with a certain heart valve abnormality are at increased risk of severe heart rhythm disorders, even after successful valve surgery. The condition is more common in women and younger patients with valve disorder and can, in the worst case, lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

A study demonstrates the role of the Galectin-1 protein in the nucleus of the cells surrounding the tumor -- fibroblasts -- contributing to their activation. Activated fibroblasts promote tumor growth and spread, while also conferring resistance to treatments. This may be one of the reasons behind the high aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of only 10%. The study's findings open the door to new therapeutic strategies against this type of cancer, focusing on the possibility of inhibiting this protein within the cells that surround and protect the tumor.

Researchers uncover how over-reducing breast motion in bras could increase back pain during exercise.

Growing cells in the laboratory is an art that humans have mastered decades ago. Recreating entire three-dimensional tissues is much more challenging. Researchers are developing a new hydrogel-based material that makes it possible to engineer artificial skin tissues, which can serve as living three-dimensional models of human skin for better understanding and treating skin diseases.

Researchers have developed a machine learning workflow to optimize the output force of photo-actuated organic crystals. Using LASSO regression to identify key molecular substructures and Bayesian optimization for efficient sampling, they achieved a maximum blocking force of 37.0 mN -- 73 times more efficient than conventional methods. These findings could help develop remote-controlled actuators for medical devices and robotics, supporting applications such as minimally invasive surgery and precision drug delivery.

The smallest control system of vision in mammals has been mapped -- a discovery that opens entirely new insights into how our vision works and how it can be affected by disease.

The human brain can learn through experience to filter out disturbing and distracting stimuli -- such as a glaring roadside billboard or a flashing banner on the internet. Scientists have used electroencephalography (EEG) to show that early visual processing in humans changes with repeated exposure.

Researchers discover that inflammation and aging contribute to non-viral liver cancer development: Green tea's role in reversing some of the pathway dysregulation that may contribute to the cancer development and other therapies are explored.

New research has uncovered how a simple circadian clock network demonstrates advanced noise-filtering capabilities, enhancing our understanding of how biological circuits maintain accuracy in dynamic natural environments.

Ambisonic rendering is a way to simulate the precise locations of sounds in 3D, and an ambisonics algorithm has allowed researchers to create rich virtual 'soundscapes.'Researchers decided to test the limits of ambisonic sound reproduction through their 'AudioDome' loudspeaker array. Humans' spatial acuity is high in front of our faces but decreases around the sides of our head, and the researchers' experiments obtained very similar results from listeners in the AudioDome, proving that the loudspeaker array can reproduce sound locations at a spatial scale beyond the human limits of perception.

An international team of researchers has discovered a natural mechanism that protects the heart from heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a serious condition in need of effective treatment. The team reports that when the cardioprotective mechanism fails, it promotes the development of HFpEF. Importantly, restoring the mechanism prevents the progression of the condition. The findings provide a promising therapeutic target to prevent and treat this life-threatening disease.

Researchers recently reported that American palates are likely to accept pearl millet -- a hardy, gluten-free grain that has been cultivated for centuries in rugged, drought conditions in Africa and India -- as an acceptable substitute in recipes that use wheat flour.

Pediatric infectious diseases experts stress the importance of vaccination against measles, one of the most contagious viruses, which is once more spreading in the United States.