New research led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) warns that hybrid forms of the parasites that cause schistosomiasis are undermining existing disease control strategies and could accelerate the spread of infection in Africa and beyond.

A new Curtin University-led study has shed new light on the widespread number of households in developing countries burning plastic as an everyday energy source, uncovering serious international health, social equality and environmental concerns.

In agricultural production, microplastics have become environmental pollutants that cannot be ignored. They may not only enter the food chain through the soil-plant system, threatening food safety, but also alter the physical and chemical properties of soil, interfere with microbial functions, and thereby affect soil health and crop growth.

In intensive care units, some patients who appear unconscious occupy a gray zone in their relationship to the world. To better diagnose them and predict their recovery potential, Dragana Manasova, Jacobo Sitt, and their colleagues have developed an automated tool that integrates multiple modalities for analyzing consciousness. Tested in three European care centers, it could contribute to a more refined and personalized assessment of disorders of consciousness. This work is published in Brain.