A University of Houston nursing researcher has developed the Lactation Psychological Needs Scale providing a new way to measure the psychological experience of breastfeeding.

As part of the body’s first line of defense against foreign invaders, macrophages play an integral role in the innate immune system. However, the ability of macrophages to interpret and respond to diverse danger signals remains incompletely understood. Researchers from the University of Manchester have now found that increases in cell volume reprogram macrophage gene expression and induce inflammation. The findings, to be published May 7 in the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), add another piece to the ever-expanding puzzle of immune-related inflammatory responses.

Scientists from the Natural History Museum, London have described a new genus and species of parasitic wasp found within the Museum’s collections, and named it as a birthday present for Sir David Attenborough.

Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) has become the standard treatment for localized prostate cancer. However, postoperative urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction remain common complications. A new review published in UroPrecision systematically examines nerve-sparing techniques during RARP, including anatomical foundations, surgical planes, innovative approaches, and patient selection tools, providing a practical guide for balancing cancer control and functional preservation.

To better understand how environmental conditions may have shaped the development of millet agriculture, researchers from the Institute of Earth Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and their collaborators in and aboard China investigated loess deposits from the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP).

An international, interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Göttingen University has been awarded a Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) research grant for the project “Noise or signal? Information fidelity at the edge of jamming”. The award is worth 1.2 million dollars for 3 years. Together with academics from New York University and Hokkaido University in the US and Japan, the funding will enable the development of innovative and international training and exchange of expertise, methods and new materials. This will support an interdisciplinary team of researchers to investigate the biophysical properties of biological and synthetic materials and develop ways to measure and understand signalling within cell materials.

Adequate boron (B) supply is essential for optimal growth and yield formation in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). With boron-deficient soils affecting croplands worldwide, developing varieties with enhanced boron-use efficiency represents a sustainable strategy to safeguard productivity. Central to this effort is the identification of genes that regulate boron homeostasis. 

Artificial intelligence can dramatically speed up the painstaking work of tracking wildlife with remote cameras, cutting analysis time from months or even a year to just days while producing nearly the same scientific conclusions as humans. That’s according to a new study led by researchers at Washington State University and Google, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. The team tested whether a fully automated AI system could replace humans in processing hundreds of thousands to millions of camera trap images collected in Washington, Montana’s Glacier National Park, and Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve.