Blood levels of a biomarker called glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) may uniquely aid prediction of dementia in Mexican Americans, researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) and collaborating institutions reported March 24. The team scrutinized conversion to dementia over an average four years of follow-up in 745 […]

Bea Ramiro began to study the sea snail species Conus rolani more or less by chance. Together with two fishermen she was collecting material in the waters off the Philippine island of Cebu in 2018. At the time, researchers knew that poison from the sea snail species Conus magus could be used as a painkiller. It can replace morphine […]

Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders, is characterized by the spontaneous repetition of seizures caused by the hyperactivity of a group of neurons in the brain. Could we therefore reduce neuronal hyperactivity, and treat epilepsy, by reducing the amount of energy supplied to neurons and necessary for their proper functioning? This was tested […]

The researchers set out to see if there had been an increase in the numbers of older people who were reporting their first concerns about memory loss or cognitive decline to their doctor and what their chances of developing dementia were after consultation. The study, published today in Clinical Epidemiology, looked at data from more than 1.3m […]

Chemists in India have published what they say is the first evidence for hydrogen bonds with tetravalent carbon atoms in proteins. Himansu Biswal’s team at the National Institute of Science Education and Research (Niser) in Bhubaneswar found 1051 such non-covalent interactions in existing Protein Data Bank (PDB) crystal structure information. Though the strongest such interactions […]

The amount of methane – a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over 100 years – leaking from a huge U.S. oil and gas producing region is several times greater than the federal government estimates, according to a new study led by Stanford University. Using airborne sensors able to […]

From election campaigns to the war in Ukraine, social networks are now used on a massive scale to influence public opinion. David Chavalarias, director of the Politoscope project and author of a newly released French-language book entitled Toxic Data, explains how online advocacy groups can shape the course of events in a country, even from […]

iologists and physicists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have teamed up to create new opportunities for cancer treatment using laser-generated proton beams. The ongoing project seeks to adapt the nascent technology of laser-driven ion accelerators – which are as cool as they sound – to make a more effective type of radiation therapy more […]

People often think of salmon when they think of omega-3 fatty acids, but a new research review found that the major plant-based version of the nutrient, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), can benefit heart health and reduce the risk of heart disease for those who don’t eat seafood. In a comprehensive literature review, the researchers found that […]

Even though the Russian president appears to be increasingly isolated, it would be impossible for him to run the country alone, as Françoise Daucé, a specialist on governmental-societal relations in Russia, points out. The expert, who heads the CERCEC laboratory, describes how in the past decade Vladimir Putin has established a power base spanning every […]