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Investigating muscle activity and coactivation with surface electromyography (sEMG) gives insight into pathological muscle function during activities like walking in people with neuromuscular impairments, such as children with cerebral palsy (CP). There is large variation in the amount of coactivation reported during walking in children with CP, possibly due to the inconsistent handling of sEMG and in calculating the coactivation index. The aim of this study was to evaluate how different approaches of handling sEMG may affect the interpretation of muscle activity and coactivation, by looking at both absolute and normalized sEMG. Twenty-three ambulatory children with CP and 11 typically developing (TD) children participated. We conducted a three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA) with concurrent sEMG measurements of tibialis anterior, soleus, gastrocnemius medialis, rectus femoris, and hamstring medialis. They walked barefoot at a self-selected, comfortable speed back and forth a 7-m walkway. The gait cycle extracted from the 3DGA was divided into six phases, and for each phase, root mean square sEMG amplitude was calculated (sEMG-RMS-abs), and also normalized to peak amplitude of the linear envelope (50-ms running RMS window) during the gait cycle (sEMG-RMS-norm). The coactivation index was calculated using sEMG-RMS-abs and sEMG-RMS-norm values and by using two different indices. Differences between TD children’s legs and the affected legs of children with CP were tested with a mixed model. The between-subject muscle activity variability was more evenly distributed using sEMG-RMS-norm; however, potential physiological variability was eliminated as a result of normalization. Differences between groups in one gait phase using sEMG-RMS-abs showed opposite differences in another phase using sEMG-RMS-norm for three of the five muscles investigated. The CP group showed an increased coactivation index in two out of three muscle pairs using sEMG-RMS-abs and in all three muscle pairs using sEMG-RMS-norm. These results were independent of index calculation method. Moreover, the increased coactivation indices could be explained by either reduced agonist activity or increased antagonist activity. Thus, differences in muscle activity and coactivation index between the groups change after normalization. However, because we do not know the truth, we cannot conclude whether to normalize and recommend incorporating both.

Surface electromyography (sEMG) is used to measure muscle activity and may be used clinically to investigate muscle function during activities such as walking in conditions affecting the neuromuscular system (1). In children with cerebral palsy (CP), three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA) with simultaneous sEMG measurements is often conducted to get insight into muscle activity as part of treatment prescriptions and evaluation of treatment effect. Cerebral palsy, the most common cause of physical disability in childhood, is characterized by insufficient motor activity such as reduced muscle strength and poor balance, but also increased motor activity such as spasticity and excessive muscle coactivation (2, 3). Those features of children with CP may impair function in general and gait in particular. Compared to typically mature gait, children with CP have shown deviations in different gait phases and greater physiological variability during walking (4, 5).

Muscle coactivation, defined as simultaneous activity of agonist and antagonist muscles crossing the same joint, is a normal motor control strategy to increase joint stability and coordination (6, 7). During complex tasks, such as walking, coactivation occurs prominently at certain phases during the gait cycle, ensuring stability and allowing efficient walking. Excessive and/or prolonged coactivation, however, may cause inefficient movements by reducing flexibility and adaptability and increasing the loading of the joints, and thus, energy cost (6, 7, 9, 10). Therefore, a main treatment goal for ambulatory children with CP is to make walking easier, through, for example, normalizing altered muscle activity and coactivation (11). However, the role of the increased coactivation in children with CP has been questioned in several studies, and the findings are conflicting (9, 12–14).

A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego is making it easier for researchers from a broad range of backgrounds to understand how different species are evolutionarily related, and support the transformative biological and medical applications that rely on these species trees. The researchers developed a scalable, automated and user-friendly tool called ROADIES that allows scientists to infer species trees directly from raw genome data, with less reliance on the domain expertise and computational resources currently required.

Species trees are critical to solidifying our understanding of how species evolved on a broad scale, but can also help find functional regions of the genome that could serve as drug targets; link physical traits to genomic changes; predict and respond to zoonotic outbreaks; and even guide conservation efforts.

In a new paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on May 2, the researchers, led by UC San Diego electrical and computer engineering professor Yatish Turakhia, showed that ROADIES infers species trees that are comparable in quality with the state-of-the-art studies, but in a fraction of the time and effort. This paper focused on four diverse life forms— , pomace flies, birds and budding yeasts—though ROADIES can be used for any species.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has today (30 April 2025) approved a new under-the-skin injection version of the cancer therapy, nivolumab (Opdivo), offering a quicker administration option for eligible patients.

The subcutaneous formulation of nivolumab can be given as a 3–5-minute injection instead of the 30-or 60-minute intravenous (IV) infusion. Several common cancers can be treated by nivolumab, including lung, bowel, kidney, bladder, oesophageal, skin, and head and neck cancers.


Patient safety is our top priority, which is why I am pleased to confirm the national approval of the new under-the-skin injection version of nivolumab.

This approval marks an important step forward in improving treatment access and reducing the time patients spend in clinics. It has the potential to ease pressures on NHS services, while also giving patients flexibility in their care.

We’re assured that the appropriate regulatory standards of safety, quality, and efficacy for the approval of this new formulation have been met. As with all products, we will keep its safety under close review.

A decade ago, University at Buffalo researchers shed some light on an enduring neuroscience mystery: How exactly does a mutated huntingtin protein (HTT) cause Huntington’s disease?

They found that HTT is something like a traffic controller inside neurons, moving different cargo along neuronal highways called axons in concert with other proteins that are key for cellular function and survival. Reduce the amount of non-mutant HTT and you’ll create the neurological equivalent of traffic jams and roadblocks.

Now, the researchers have learned more about what can control the traffic-controlling HTT.

Thousands of patients will benefit from a new cancer jab for more than a dozen types of the disease, with the NHS the first in Europe to offer the new injection. The health service is rolling out an injectable form of immunotherapy, nivolumab, which means patients can receive their fortnightly or monthly treatment in 5 […]

Patients with certain types of early stage cancer, particularly those affecting the gastrointestinal system, may be able to avoid surgery and be successful

Imagine a world in which free-floating electric vehicles charge wirelessly as they glide down highways, laptops are hundreds of times more powerful, and clean energy flows in limitless supply.

Such a future, experts say, hinges on the development of new superconductors, or materials capable of transmitting electricity with near-perfect efficiency. The problem? All known superconductors—from pure elements like lead, tin, and aluminum to exotic compounds like niobium–titanium—must be subjected to or pressure to function, making them impractical for widespread use. More problematic still, scientists don’t fully understand how these materials work, making it difficult to engineer better versions.

Superconductors have already made their way into MRI machines, particle accelerators, and electromagnetic levitating trains, but they are extraordinarily expensive and finicky. The real game changer, experts say, will be figuring out how to custom-design superconductors that are cheaper and more versatile.

Individuals with retinal degenerative diseases struggle to restore vision due to the inability to regenerate retinal cells. Unlike cold-blooded vertebrates, mammals lack Müller glia (MG)-mediated retinal regeneration, indicating the limited regenerative capacity of mammalian MG. Here, we identify prospero-related homeobox 1 (Prox1) as a key factor restricting this process. Prox1 accumulates in MG of degenerating human and mouse retinas but not in regenerating zebrafish. In mice, Prox1 in MG originates from neighboring retinal neurons via intercellular transfer. Blocking this transfer enables MG reprogramming into retinal progenitor cells in injured mouse retinas. Moreover, adeno-associated viral delivery of an anti-Prox1 antibody, which sequesters extracellular Prox1, promotes retinal neuron regeneration and delays vision loss in a retinitis pigmentosa model. These findings establish Prox1 as a barrier to MG-mediated regeneration and highlight anti-Prox1 therapy as a promising strategy for restoring retinal regeneration in mammals.


Recovery for mammalian retinal degeneration is limited by a lack of Müller glia (MG)-mediated regeneration. Here authors show blocking Prox1 accumulation and intercellular transfer from retinal neurons enables MG reprogramming of retinal progenitor cells, promotes retinal neuron regeneration, and delays vision loss.

Urban rats spread a deadly bacteria as they migrate within cities that can be the source of a potentially life-threatening disease in humans, according to a six-year study by Tufts University researchers and their collaborators that also discovered a novel technique for testing rat kidneys.

Leptospirosis is a disease caused by a type of bacteria often found in rats. It’s spread through their urine into soil, water, or elsewhere in the environment, where it becomes a source of infection and contamination for humans, dogs, and other species. While it’s prevalent worldwide, it’s more common in tropical regions, though a changing climate means it could become more common in colder regions as they warm.

In Boston, leptospirosis persists in local rat populations, and different strains of the bacteria move around the city as groups of rats migrate, according to a new study by Marieke Rosenbaum, M.P.H., D.V.M., assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, along with co-authors at Northern Arizona University (NAU), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, their of a 2018 human leptospirosis case in Boston strongly suggests a link to rats as the source.