A new study has identified sonographic biomarkers that can predict eventual malignant transformation of pathologically confirmed cirrhotic nodules for patients at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). These additional imaging features may have the potential to be adopted as ancillary or even major features to stratify probability for HCC in the contrast-enhanced LI-RADS system.

The global average temperature has increased 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 100 years. In contrast, the Corn Belt of the U.S., one of the most agriculturally productive regions of the world, has experienced a decrease in temperatures in the summer during the growing season. Known as the 'US warming hole,' this anomalous cooling phenomenon, which occurred in tandem with increasing rainfall,...

Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), one of the leading causes of honey bee colony losses, is much more genetically diverse in the United States than previously thought. The diverse lineages of this virus are all equally bad for bees, and they make it more complicated to develop antiviral therapeutics, which could be the basis for developing a vaccine for the virus.

A new study has uncovered why a protein mutation that causes inflammatory bowel diseases is dysfunctional.

Researchers have discovered in mice how one of the few genes definitively linked to schizophrenia, called SETD1A, likely confers risk for the illness. Mice genetically engineered to lack a functioning version of the enzyme-coding gene showed abnormalities in working memory, mimicking those commonly seen in patients. Restoring the gene's function corrected the working memory deficit and...

Vision researchers have disproved a long-standing theory of how the human vision system processes images, using computational models and human experiments. The findings could have implications for the understanding of human vision and diagnosis of vision anomalies.

People who carry around unhealthy amounts of weight don't just have heart disease and diabetes to worry about. Obesity is implicated in two thirds of the leading causes of death from non-communicable diseases worldwide and the risk of certain diseases differs for men and women.

Researchers have identified a potential approach to stop the growth of the most common type of brain tumor in children.

Mammalian brains, with their unmatched number of nerve cells and density of communication, are the most complex networks known. While methods to analyze neuronal networks sparsely have been available for decades, the dense mapping of neuronal circuits is a major scientific challenge. Researchers have now succeeded in the dense connectomic mapping of brain tissue from the cerebral cortex, and...

In any single location, there are typically more earthworms and more earthworm species found in temperate regions than in the tropics. Global climate change could lead to significant shifts in earthworm communities worldwide, threatening the many functions they provide.

A new study uncovered new information on why the Ebola virus can exert such catastrophic effects on the infected person. They've described for the first time how the virus disables T cells, an important line of immune defense, thus rendering the infected person less able to combat the infection.

Laryngeal paralysis is a serious and sometimes deadly disease in some dog breeds that prevents proper opening of the larynx for breathing. Specialists in canine head and neck surgery and geneticists have identify a mutation responsible for laryngeal paralysis in Miniature Bull Terriers, enabling the development of a genetic test for the disease.

A multicenter randomized clinical trial evaluating a new artificial pancreas system -- which automatically monitors and regulates blood glucose levels -- has found that the new system was more effective than existing treatments at controlling blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes.

Researchers have identified several chemical signatures, detectable in blood and urine, that can accurately measure dietary intake, potentially offering a new tool for physicians, dieticians and researchers to assess eating habits, measure the value of fad diets and develop health policies.

Typical geologic investigations of active earthquake fault zones require that the fault can be observed at or near the Earth's surface. However, in urban areas, where faults present a direct hazard to dense populations, the surface expression of a fault is often hidden by development of buildings and infrastructure. This is the case in San Diego, California, where the Rose Canyon fault zone trends...

Researchers have identified 57 genetic variations of a gene strongly associated with declines in blood oxygen levels during sleep. Low oxygen levels during sleep are a clinical indicator of the severity of sleep apnea, a disorder that increases the risk of heart disease, dementia, and death.

Nearly half of all nursing homes do not have adequately trained infection prevention staff and their efforts to combat the over prescription of antibiotics are suffering as a result, according to a new study.

A clinical trial shows infants who consume formula containing milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) score higher in cognitive, language and motor development than infants consuming a milk-based formula that didn't contain MFGM.

What exactly triggers the increase in carbon dioxide concentrations that causes the transition from a glacial stage to a warm stage is not fully understood. Scientists have developed a new model in which the weathering of pyrite, a common mineral containing sulfur, plays a key role.

Researchers are working to better control how the chemicals respond to treatment, as well as how to reverse the chemicals back to their original state with little to no interference. A team of researchers has achieved such results with a specific compound that can emit light and has potential applications in the next generation of smart devices such as wearable devices and anti-counterfeiting...

Animal models can serve as gateways for understanding many human communication disorders, but a new study suggests that the established practice of socially isolating mice for such purposes might actually make them poor research models for humans, and a simple shift to a more realistic social environment could greatly improve the utility of the future studies.

As more and more youth use electronic cigarettes, combined with research showing the health consequences of vaping -- including nicotine addiction -- researchers found that non-menthol flavors attract youth and adults to use e-cigarettes and that the use of flavored e-cigarettes contributes to multiple pathways linked to higher e-cigarette use among youth.

Education is known to be highly important for migrant children, yet relatively little is known about the diversity of associated school-based programs and their likely value in supporting the mental health of children. A scoping review was conducted of 20 school-based programs aimed at improving the mental health of adolescent forced migrants in high-income countries. Findings showed school-based...

A new Global Health Security Index released today, the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across 195 countries, suggests that not a single country in the world is fully prepared to handle an epidemic or pandemic.