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With the National Eye Institute reporting that about 11 million older adults in the U.S. endure a condition that leads to progressive blindness, known as age-related macular degeneration, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers are starting to understand what goes wrong in the disease, in order to develop new therapies to treat it.

A new study including University of Maryland Professor Ross Salawitch, shows that extremely low winter temperatures high in the atmosphere over the arctic are becoming more frequent and more extreme because of climate patterns associated with global warming. The study also shows that those extreme low temperatures are causing reactions among chemicals humans pumped into the air decades ago, leading to greater ozone losses. Published in the journal Nature Communications.

The origins of seven types of kidney cancer, including several rare subtypes, have been identified by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology and Oncode Institute. The findings confirm that these cancers have their origin in specific forms of developmental cells present in the maturing fetus.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a technology for cost-effective surveillance of the global spread of new SARS-CoV-2 variants. The technique is presented in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Results of the MOSAiC expedition show: the expected recovery of the ozone layer may fail to happen anytime soon, if global warming is not slowed down.

A fair society has evolved in banded mongooses because parents don't know which pups are their own, new research shows.

Eating fruits with lunch, vegetables at dinner and a dairy snack in the evening was associated with a reduced risk of death by cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality, according to a study of U.S. adults.Eating a Western lunch (typically containing a high quantity of refined grains, cheese and cured meat) was associated with an elevated risk of CVD and all-cause mortalities in the same study.

Patients with colon cancer enrolled in the U.S. military's universal health care system experienced improved survival compared with patients in the general population, according to results published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Although Americans spend billions on them, published research shows a lack of strong evidence that dietary supplements and alternative therapies help adults lose weight, according to a new study published in Obesity, the flagship journal of The Obesity Society (TOS).

Viral mutations during the COVID-19 pandemic could cause the SARS-CoV-2 virus to become more dangerous. A new study published in Genetic Epidemiology has examined the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2 viruses that have infected patients, looking for links between different mutations and patient deaths.

UJ researchers take a novel step to change hydrogenation into a safe, low energy process. They use a very stable three phase emulsion to transform a toxic waste product into valuable feedstock. The process does not require flammable, compressed hydrogen gas. The emulsion catalysis efficiently hydrogenates nitrobenzene at room temperature to output aniline. Aniline is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The bi-metallic hydrogenation catalyst is fully recovered afterwards.

A new UC Riverside study finds geckos are fierce hunters whether or not their tails are attached to their bodies.

Applying compost in apple orchards could reduce the need for synthetic fertilizer.

Using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) methodology to analyze whole-genome sequencing data of SARS-CoV-2 mutations and COVID-19 mortality data can identify highly pathogenic variants of the virus that should be flagged for containment, according to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MIT researchers.

A study published in Economic Inquiry that examined data from 133 countries from 1950-2014 found that a reduction in fiscal space--with fiscal space being the ability of governments to provide resources without undermining fiscal sustainability--in high income countries following the global financial crisis in 2007-2009 prevented these economies from adopting countercyclical fiscal policies.

An article published in the Journal of School Health stresses that food literacy--understanding the impact of food choices on our health, environment, and economy--should be a priority for K-12 schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

New research published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine indicates that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, produces microRNAs that can have impacts on infected cells. MicroRNAs are genetic molecules that prevent the production of particular proteins by binding to and destroying messenger RNAs that code for those proteins.

In a study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, investigators developed and validated a genetic risk score for predicting the onset and severity of the most common type of scoliosis in adolescents--called adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Chronic psychosocial stress--which involves a pathway called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis)--may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease. A new review published in Biological Reviews describes how environmental and genetic factors can impact individuals' HPA axis, and ultimately their risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Women who currently use hormonal contraceptives face more than a 2-fold higher risk of developing glaucoma, according to an analysis of electronic medical records for women aged 15-45 years from 2008 to 2018. The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology analysis included 2,366 women who developed glaucoma and 9,464 controls.