New immune target to treat cardiovascular disease discovered: The protein, suPAR, has been found to cause atherosclerosis and kidney disease, raising potential for new treatments.

For the longest time, clinicians have treated cardiovascular disease by focusing on diabetes and blood pressure control, reducing cholesterol using medications like aspirin and statins. Despite these measures, heart disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States, with many patients having heart attacks even after their…

Cell biology: Strategy of Dis1 protein for microtubule shortening in fission yeast

Cell division, i.e., the process through which a parent cell divides into two daughter cells, is fundamental to the growth, repair, and reproduction of living organisms. During cell division, chromosomes are pulled towards opposite spindle poles through the shortening of molecular ropes known as microtubules. Microtubules, which are composed of…

Activated vitamin D3 treatment may reduce the risk of arsenic-mediated skin cancer: Calcitriol, or activated vitamin D3, may protect us from the harmful effects of arsenic in drinking water

Millions of people across the globe regularly consume arsenic-contaminated water. Exposure to arsenic has previously been associated with the development of various cancers including skin cancer. Research on the underlying molecular mechanisms regulating arsenic-mediated carcinogenesis remains sparse. Using in vitro studies, researchers from Japan demonstrate how calcitriol, or activated vitamin…

Researchers develop all-optical approach to pumping chip-based nanolasers: New technology could aid in meeting the ever-growing need to move more data faster

Researchers have developed a new all-optical method for driving multiple highly dense nanolaser arrays. The approach could enable chip-based optical communication links that process and move data faster than today’s electronic-based devices. “The development of optical interconnects equipped with high-density nanolasers would improve information processing in the data centers that…

Senate passes legislation to ban TikTok from US government devices | CNN Business

CNN  —  The Senate passed legislation Wednesday evening to ban TikTok from US government devices, in a move designed to limit perceived information-security risks stemming from the social media app. The vote by unanimous consent approved the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, a bill authored by Missouri Republican Sen.…

Live updates: Russia’s war in Ukraine

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if US Patriot missiles are sent to Ukraine, they would be legitimate targets for Russian forces. But he added that the US plan had not been confirmed. Peskov was asked by CNN if he held the same view as former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who…

Discovery could explain why women are more likely to get Alzheimer’s

Scientists at Scripps Research and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a clue to the molecular cause of Alzheimer’s — a clue that may also explain why women are at greater risk for the disease. In the study, reported on December 14, 2022, in Science Advances, the researchers found…

Early humans may have first walked upright in the trees

Human bipedalism — walking upright on two legs — may have evolved in trees, and not on the ground as previously thought, according to a new study involving UCL researchers. In the study, published today in the journal Science Advances, researchers from UCL, the University of Kent, and Duke University,…

Are people with cluster headaches more likely to have other illnesses?

People with cluster headaches may be more than three times more likely to have other medical conditions such as heart disease, mental disorders and other neurologic diseases, according to a study published in the December 14, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.…

Ebola vaccine regimens safe, immunogenic in adults and children

Two randomized, placebo-controlled trials evaluating three Ebola vaccine administration strategies in adults and children found that all the regimens were safe in both age groups, according to results published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Antibodies were produced in response to the vaccine regimens beginning at 14 days…

Frequent genetic cause of late-onset ataxia: Discovery will improve diagnosis and open treatment possibilities for thousands of people with this debilitating neurodegenerative condition worldwide

A new study published on Dec. 14, 2022 in the New England Journal of Medicine reports the identification of a previously unknown genetic cause of a late-onset cerebellar ataxia, a discovery that will improve diagnosis and open new treatment avenues for this progressive condition. Late-onset cerebellar ataxias (LOCA) are a…

Chaos gives the quantum world a temperature

A single particle has no temperature. It has a certain energy or a certain speed — but it is not possible to translate that into a temperature. Only when dealing with random velocity distributions of many particles, a well-defined temperature emerges. How can the laws of thermodynamics arise from the…

Using machine learning to improve the toxicity assessment of chemicals

Researchers of the University of Amsterdam, together with colleagues at the University of Queensland and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, have developed a strategy for assessing the toxicity of chemicals using machine learning. They present their approach in an article in Environmental Science & Technology for the special issue…

Olfactory viral inflammation associated with accelerated onset of Alzheimer’s disease: CU Anschutz researchers suspect it disrupts the olfactory tract, impacting the hippocampus which controls memory and learning

Viruses can inflame and disrupt connections between the olfactory system, which governs the sense of smell, and the part of the brain associated with memory and learning, possibly accelerating the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The…

Preoperative immunotherapy for mesothelioma shows favorable outcomes

In a study published recently in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine found that treating patients who have resectable malignant pleural mesothelioma, meaning that their tumor can be removed with surgery, with immunotherapy ahead of surgery resulted in favorable clinical outcomes. The study lays the…

Precision insights can be found in wastewater

Research from the lab of Fangqiong Ling at Washington University in St. Louis showed earlier this year that the amount of SARS-CoV-2 in a wastewater system was correlated with the burden of disease — COVID-19 — in the region it served. But before that work could be done, Ling needed…