Poking holes in the “tens rule” of invasion ecology, the use of artificial intelligence to identify individual animals and more from ESA’s journals.

A research team from Oregon Health & Science University and Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth has developed an innovative fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) technique using near-infrared (NIR) fluorophores to improve the identification of tumors and nerves during head and neck cancer surgeries. In a study utilizing a human HNSCC xenograft model, the researchers demonstrated that tumor-specific and nerve-specific fluorophores could be used simultaneously, allowing for real-time differentiation between cancerous tissues and critical nerves. This advancement has the potential to enhance surgical outcomes by enabling complete cancer resection while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue, ultimately improving post-surgical quality of life for patients.

Collaborative research co-led by Dr. Julie St-Pierre’s lab at the University of Ottawa sheds new light on the mysteries of mitochondrial dynamics and its likely role in the metastatic progression of breast cancer – the most commonly-diagnosed cancer in women across the globe. Shapeshifting mitochondria continually fuse and divide, but precisely how those dynamics influence metastatic progression has intrigued scientists. In the work published in Science Advances, the uOttawa-led team puts forth compelling evidence that promoting mitochondrial elongation in cancer cells hobbles their ability to metastasize.

A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study is the first to describe an electrochemical strategy to capture, concentrate and destroy mixtures of diverse chemicals known as PFAS — including the increasingly prevalent ultra-short-chain PFAS — from water in a single process. This new development is poised to address the growing industrial problem of contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, particularly in semiconductor manufacturing.