Advancing Health Worldwide Content

Combining Signals Could Make for Better Control of Prosthetics

Andy Fell — April 23, 2025 - 2:17pm

Combining two different kinds of signals could help engineers build prosthetic limbs that better reproduce natural movements, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. The work, published April 10 in PLOS One, shows that a combination of electromyography and force myography is more accurate at predicting hand movements than either method by itself.

Avian Influenza Major Setback for the Patagonian Seal Population

Katherine E Kerlin — April 16, 2025 - 3:33pm

It may take 100 years for the southern elephant seal colony of Península Valdés in Argentine Patagonia to look like it did in 2022. A study published in Marine Mammal Science projected population trajectories after the 2023 epidemic of the High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza H5N1 virus, which killed almost all newborn pups and an unknown number of adults.

Researchers Develop an LSD Analogue with Potential for Treating Schizophrenia

Andy Fell — April 14, 2025 - 12:07pm

University of California, Davis, researchers have developed a new, neuroplasticity-promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic’s therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic potential.

The Gut Health Benefits of Sauerkraut

Amy M Quinton — April 14, 2025 - 9:00am

A new UC Davis study suggests that sauerkraut could help protect your gut, an essential part of overall health.

Dogs Could Help Predict Valley Fever Spread in Humans

Amy M Quinton — April 10, 2025 - 6:06am

Dogs could help predict valley fever spread in humans. A new UC Davis study finds a correlation between occurrence of dog and human disease.

The Rise of Pseudocannabinoids

Andy Fell — April 02, 2025 - 11:07am

Developing pseudocannabinoids, synthetic molecules that mimic the activity of molecules found in cannabis plants, is the goal of research by Professor Mark Mascal in the UC Davis Department of Chemistry. Mascal recently received a $30,000, one-year seed grant, the Dr. Mohsen Najafi Research Award in Medicinal Chemistry, to advance his work.

Holographic 3D Printing With Soundwaves

Andy Fell — March 26, 2025 - 2:50pm

In an operating room, doctors and technicians work on repairing a broken bone. There are no scalpels, no incisions — the skin is not broken.

No, this is not science fiction, but a potential application of a groundbreaking 3D printing method developed by Mohsen Habibi, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Davis.

The Milestones of COVID-19: A Timeline

Jocelyn C Anderson — March 18, 2025 - 9:10am

Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, its effects still pervade our lives. Millions of Americans still wear masks at times, carry hand sanitizer and work from home. We also have a heightened understanding of the role that health care providers, government and public institutions must play during a public health crisis.

Awareness of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Saves Lives

Katherine E Kerlin — March 06, 2025 - 8:57am

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a bacterial infection spread by biting ticks to humans and dogs. Found on every continent except Antarctica, the infectious disease has been spreading since the early 2000s, most notably in Mexico and Brazil. Of the cases reported, more than half of infected people and dogs die.

A paper led by the University of California, Davis, highlights one of the most effective but often missing solutions to surviving this preventable, deadly disease: awareness. Most fatal cases stem from delays in diagnosis and treatment.

3D Genome Structure Guides Sperm Development

Andy Fell — March 03, 2025 - 11:22am

How 3D folding of DNA inside germ cells sets them on the path to become sperm.