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A study of woodland ecosystems that provide habitat for rare, endangered species along streams, rivers throughout California reveals some ecologically important areas are inadvertently benefitting from water humans are diverting for their own needs. Though it seems a short-term boon to these ecosystems, the artificial supply creates an unintended dependence on its bounty, threatens the long-term survival of natural communities and spotlights the need for changes in the way water is managed across the state.

Certain patients with an aggressive form of ovarian cancer have a better chance of a cure through surgical removal of their tumor before chemotherapy instead of the reverse, a new study shows.

Early migrations of humans to the Americas from Siberia around 12,000 years ago have been traced using the bacteria they carried by an international team including scientists at the University of Warwick.

A new Northwestern University study is the first to explicitly address the gut microbiome as a pathway to understanding how environmental inequities could lead to health disparities.

Researchers analyzed the epigenetics--molecular factors and processes that determine whether genes are turned on or off--of a group of Poecilia mexicana fish that live in springs naturally high in hydrogen sulfide, which is normally toxic to most organisms. Even after raising samples of fish in freshwater, researchers found that grandchildren of sulfidic-adapted fish had more epigenetic marks in common with their wild, toxic-water-living grandparents than Poecilia mexicana that had always lived in freshwater.

Following 2020's extreme fire season, high-elevation forests in the central Rocky Mountains now are burning more than at any point in the past 2,000 years, according to a new University of Montana study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Those who deactivated their Facebook profiles report a lower regard for other ethnic groups, and this effect was more prevalent among people living in more ethnically homogenous areas, shows a new study of users in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The findings run counter to a commonly held view that social media usage exacerbates societal polarization.

In polymicrogyria, the cortex of the brain has irregular, small folds and disorganization in its cell layers, leading to intellectual/developmental disability and epilepsy. This study of four patients with polymicrogyria caused by a mutation in the gene ATP1A3 revealed surprises about the role of a common ion channel pump in early brain development.

Despite evidence regarding the benefits of vaginal birth after cesarean and recommendations to support shared decision making to reduce cesarean rates, minority women face many impediments that limit their access to appropriate health information and opportunities for such discussions.

The concept of rationing medical resources during the height of COVID-19 pandemic created tremendous anxiety in the patient and healthcare communities. In planning for that possibility Massachusetts created a triage scoring system focusing on an acute survival score that considers chronic life-limiting medical conditions of the patient, but it does not provide specifics about how to value those conditions in the equation.

Does evolution explain why we can't resist a salty chip? Researchers at NC State University found that differences between the elemental composition of foods and the elemental needs of animals can explain the development of pleasing tastes like salty, umami and sweet.

Climate reconstruction of the last 200,000 years from East Africa illustrates the living conditions of Homo sapiens when they migrated out of Africa / Homo sapiens was mobile across regions during wet phases and retreated to high altitudes during dry phases.

Investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center built a model to examine the potential impact of implementing blood pressure control programs at barbershops nationwide and found that such programs could reach one in three Black men with uncontrolled blood pressure nationally.

The intracellular purple sulfur bacterium "Candidatus Thiodictyon intracellulare" has lost the ability to oxidize sulfur and now supplies a ciliate with energy from photosynthesis / Youtube video available.

A clinical trial conducted at the University of Louisville has shown for the first time that heart failure treatments using cells derived from the patient's own bone marrow and heart resulted in improved quality of life and reduced major adverse cardiac events for patients after one year.

Coronavirus disruption to weddings has highlighted the complexity and antiquity of marriage law and reinforced the need for reform, a new study shows.

British children are consuming 'exceptionally high' proportions of ultra-processed foods, increasing their risk of obesity and damaging their long-term health.

New research indicates that there are four molecular subtypes of bronchiolitis--the most common lung infection in infants. Children with different subtypes face different risks of later developing asthma.

The structure of a biomolecule can reveal much about its functioning and interaction with the surrounding environment. In a new study by SISSA experimental data were combined with computer simulations of molecular dynamics to examine the conformation of an RNA fragment involved in protein synthesis and its dependence on the salts present in the solution. The research has led to a new method for high-resolution definition of the structures of biomolecules in their physiological environments.

The human gut microbiome is a complex community of trillions of microbes that are constantly interacting with each other and our bodies. It supports our wellbeing, immune system and mental health -- but how is it sustained?