University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa scientists have uncovered a direct link between a missing Y chromosome gene and male infertility. Their new research reveals that deleting this single gene in mice not only caused infertility but also disrupted hundreds of other genes vital for healthy sperm. The findings, published August 27 in Cell Death and Differentiation, offer significant implications for understanding reproductive health.

A new international study led by researchers in Canada, Sweden and the U.S., has provided definitive proof that shunt surgery restores mobility and safety in older adults with idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (iNPH). Dr. Mark Hamilton, MD, Director of the Calgary Adult Hydrocephalus Program at at the University of Calgary says the groundbreaking double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, demonstrates that surgical treatment with a shunt (a small tube used to divert cerebrospinal fluid from the brain) produced significant improvements in walking speed and balance after just three months. The benefit to those in the group where the shunt was activated and functioning was so improved that the trial was halted early due to its efficacy. Findings are published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

 

An Indiana University study brings a comprehensive new perspective to a growing body of evidence suggesting that mild to moderate use of prescribed opioid pain medications during pregnancy does not cause an increased risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. The study explores documented associations between prescribed opioid pain medications during pregnancy and the increased risk for the two neurodevelopmental disorders. It concludes that other factors, rather than fetal exposure to opioid pain medications, may explain the increased risk for autism and ADHD in the children of individuals who received opioid prescriptions during pregnancy.

Why are some work teams happier and more productive than others? Because their members agree to interact in ways that promote well-being in themselves and others, says James Ritchie-Dunham, clinical associate professor of strategy at Texas McCombs.

Ritchie-Dunham is co-lead of the Leadership for Flourishing project, an ongoing study of well-being in the workplace across 59 countries, and a lead author for the Global Flourishing Study, an interdisciplinary, five-year initiative to survey over 200,000 people across 22 countries and 1 territory on six continents. The study is now gathering a third wave of data. Nature Portfolio published dozens of papers on the first wave in April.

Based on the first two data sets, Ritchie-Dunham discusses what flourishing looks like on the job and what managers can do to foster it.