A recent study by the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital shows that carnitine intake in the first postnatal weeks promotes better growth and larger brain size at term equivalent age in very preterm infants. Carnitine intake from breast milk in particular seems to be associated with better growth. The findings were published in Nutrients. Carnitine is a compound similar to amino acids, and its primary function in the body is to transport long-chain fatty acids to the cell powerhouse mitochondria for energy production. In addition, earlier studies have suggested that ..read more

A decades-long effort to lower the stillbirth rate in the United States has stalled, as has progress in closing a persistent gap in excess stillbirths experienced by Black women compared with White women, according to a Rutgers-led study. "Over the last 40 years, we have reduced certain risk factors for stillbirth, such as smoking and alcohol use before and during pregnancy, but these gains have been countered by substantial increases in other risk factors, like obesity and structural racism," said Cande Ananth, chief of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecol ..read more

Two weeks of eating a diet heavy in tomatoes increased the diversity of gut microbes and altered gut bacteria toward a more favorable profile in young pigs, researchers found. After observing these results with a short-term intervention, the research team plans to progress to similar studies in people, looking for health-related links between tomatoes in the diet and changes to the human gut microbiome — the community of microorganisms living in the gastrointestinal tract. "It's possible that tomatoes impart benefits through their modulation of the gut microbiome," said senior author Jessica ..read more

All living cells harbor nuclei — key biological structures that play an important role in information storage, retrieval, and duplication of genetic information. In mammals, these nuclei possess the nuclear envelope (NE) — the biological shield that protect nuclei from environmental stimuli (e.g., mechanical stress) and the associated damage. However, certain external stimuli can cause damage to the NE. When this happens, various mechanisms kick in to initiate the process of NE repair. However, the precise mechanism of NE repair has remained elusive. Quite recently, an international team of r ..read more

Curcumin, a natural molecule related to turmeric, has been used to treat cancer patients in cancer clinical studies. While it has documented antitumor effects, challenges involving its chemistry have caused drug development to lag. Now, a team of researchers at Kyoto University has developed a prodrug form of curcumin, TBP1901, that has shown anti-tumor effects without toxicities. “Curcumin has long been used as a spice or food coloring, so we expect to see minimal side effects,” says lead author Masashi Kanai. The natural polyphenol curcumin has shown promising efficacy with tumors in a numb ..read more

In the 1900s it was discovered that ceramic materials, at least in principle, can be permanently deformed without fracture at room temperature. Since then, materials researchers have dreamed of making ceramics that can be bent, pulled, and hammered without fracture. In his article Dr. Erkka J. Frankberg comments on recent research results on ductile ceramics and ponders whether they could be scaled for commercial use. Making of ductile ceramics is a hard task. Plasticity in ceramics is rarely observed and typically requires special conditions such as extreme temperatures to be plausible. The ..read more

A new study from North Carolina State University shows that exposure in utero to the flame retardant FireMaster® 550 (FM 550), or to its individual brominated (BFR) or organophosphate ester (OPFR) components, resulted in altered brain development in newborn rats. The effects — most notably evidence of mitochondrial disruption and dysregulated choline and triglyceride levels in brain tissue — were greater in male offspring than in females. The work adds to the body of evidence that both OPFRs and BFRs can be neurotoxic. FM 550 is a flame-retardant mixture first identified a decade ago. It was ..read more

The Nekton Maldives Mission, involving researchers from the University of Oxford, has found evidence of a previously undescribed ecosystem — ‘The Trapping Zone’ — that is creating an oasis of life 500 metres down in the depths of the Indian Ocean. The discovery has been hailed as highly significant by the Maldives Government. Video evidence from Nekton science cameras aboard the Omega Seamaster II submersible, combined with collected biological samples and extensive sonar mapping, indicate that in this zone predators such as sharks and other large fish feed on swarms of small organisms known ..read more

Quantum computers are powerful computational devices that rely on quantum mechanics, or the science of how particles like electrons and atoms interact with the world around them. These devices could potentially be used to solve certain kinds of computational problems in a much shorter amount of time. Scientists have long hoped that quantum computing could be the next great advance in computing; however, existing limitations have prevented the technology from hitting its true potential. For these computers to work, the basic unit of information integral to their operation, known as quantum bit ..read more

An Earth-like planet orbiting an M dwarf — the most common type of star in the universe — appears to have no atmosphere at all. This discovery could cause a major shift in the search for life on other planets. Because M-dwarfs are so ubiquitous, this discovery means a large number of planets orbiting these stars may also lack atmospheres and therefore are unlikely to harbor living things. The work that led to the revelations about the no-atmosphere planet, named GJ 1252b, are detailed in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. This planet orbits its star twice during the course of a single day on ..read more