BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In 2012, University of Alabama at Birmingham researcher Anath Shalev, M.D., reported that a decades-old blood pressure medication called verapamil completely reversed diabetes in animal models. In 2018, the team had translated these findings into a randomized, controlled, clinical trial, demonstrating significantly improved beta cell function for one year in human subjects with recent onset Type 1 diabetes. By last year, in a small follow-up study, Shalev and colleagues had found that adult Type 1 diabetes patients taking oral verapamil required less daily insulin ...

A new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has examined how T cells of the immune system are affected by weightlessness. The results, which are published in the journal Science Advances, could explain why astronauts’ T cells become less active and less effective at fighting infection. The next steps in the exploration of space are human missions to the moon and to Mars. Space is an extremely hostile environment that poses threats to human health. One such threat is changes to the immune system that occur in astronauts while in space and ...

Ever since the Jerry Lewis telethons began in the 1960s, millions of people have become familiar with an otherwise rare disease called muscular dystrophy (MD). The medical world has learned much over the ensuing years, including that more than 30 closely related disorders exist that can produce the gradual muscle degeneration that steals a child’s ability to walk and eventually disrupts other organ functions. An estimated 250,000 people in the U.S. are living with a muscular dystrophy. While many are living longer lives thanks to improved treatments, no cure has been found. Now an eye-opening study ...

Cilia are thin, eyelash-like extensions on the surface of cells. They perform a wide variety of functions, acting as mechanosensors or chemosensors, and play a crucial role in many signaling pathways. In the last few decades, the organelle has undergone a remarkable, but at the same time sinister, career transformation. It evolved from an organelle whose relevance was unclear to becoming a central player in the pathogenesis of a large group of diseases. These so-called ciliopathies are associated with a wide range of symptoms, including hearing loss, visual impairment, obesity, kidney disease, and mental disability. Different gene mutations impair cilia formation, ...

Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering looked to origami to create new sensors that could someday be employed to detect deformations in organs and also for use in wearables and soft robotics. Their paper, “High-Stretchability and Low-Hysteresis Strain Sensors Using Origami-Inspired 3D Mesostructures,” featured in Science Advances explains how USC researchers Hangbo Zhao, Xinghao Huang, Liangshu Liu, Yung Hsin Lin, Rui Feng, Yiyang Shen, and Yuanning Chang developed “stretchable strain sensors,” ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 25 Aug 2023: Semaglutide improves heart failure-related symptoms and physical function and results in greater weight loss compared with placebo in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and obesity, according to late breaking research presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2023.1 Approximately half of patients with heart failure in the community have HFpEF.2 Most patients with HFpEF are overweight or obese, and growing evidence suggests that obesity and excess adiposity are not simply comorbidities, ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 25 Aug 2023: Blood thinners (anticoagulants) cause bleeding without preventing stroke in patients with atrial high rate episodes (AHRE),  but without electrocardiogram (ECG)-diagnosed atrial fibrillation, according to late breaking research presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2023 and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.1 Anticoagulants prevent strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation but are not effective in those without atrial fibrillation, for example in patients with ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 25 Aug 2023: Colchicine does not significantly reduce perioperative atrial fibrillation (AF) or myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS) in patients undergoing major non-cardiac thoracic surgery, according to late breaking research presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2023.1 Perioperative AF occurs in approximately 10% of patients after major thoracic surgery, while MINS has an incidence of about 20% in the same patient population.2 Patients with perioperative AF and MINS have a poor prognosis.3,4 High levels ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 25 Aug 2023:  The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines on acute coronary syndromes are published online today in European Heart Journal.1 The document covers the management of unstable angina and all types of acute myocardial infarction. “Time is critical in acute coronary syndromes. When an artery supplying the heart with blood becomes blocked, the quicker we open the artery and restore flow, the less damage occurs to the heart muscle,” said Guidelines task force ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 25 Aug 2023:  The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines on cardiomyopathies are published online today in European Heart Journal.1 This is the first international guideline document to include all cardiomyopathy subtypes, and the first time that specific recommendations are made for cardiomyopathies other than hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. “This pioneering document reflects the advances in genetics and cardiac imaging and the advent of new treatments that target specific causes of disease,” said Guidelines task force chairperson Dr. Elena Arbelo of the Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, Spain. “At the ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 25 Aug 2023:  Patients with type 2 diabetes are more than twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) than their healthy peers. Advice to lower that risk is launched today in the 2023 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines for the management of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, published in European Heart Journal.1 “Patients with type 2 diabetes have a two- to four-fold higher risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and peripheral artery disease compared to those without type 2 diabetes and when CVD occurs, the prognosis ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 25 Aug 2023:  Patients with specific cardiac conditions such as valvular heart disease and congenital abnormalities, or those requiring a pacemaker, should practice good dental and skin hygiene to help prevent rare but potentially deadly infections of the heart’s inner lining and valves, according to European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines on infective endocarditis, published online today in European Heart Journal.1 “Infective endocarditis is an uncommon but very serious disease that can present with ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands – 25 Aug 2023:  A focused update of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Heart Failure Guidelines is published online today in European Heart Journal following the results of major new trials that should change the management of patients with heart failure.1 “Heart failure is a fast-moving area of research and exciting new trials are expanding the treatment options for patients,” said Guidelines task force chairperson Professor Theresa McDonagh of King’s College Hospital, London, UK. “This focused update incorporates the latest evidence-based treatments ...

“One can expect that artificial intelligence (AI) will play some role in the future drug development.” BUFFALO, NY- August 25, 2023 – A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 10) on August 17, 2023, entitled, “Cancer drug development yesterday, today and tomorrow.” In this new editorial, researchers Elzbieta Izbicka and Robert T. Streeper from New Frontier Labs discuss the history of cancer drug development and how it has evolved over time. The editorial also highlights the current state of cancer drug development and ...

To discover how light interacts with molecules, the first step is to follow electron dynamics, which evolve at the attosecond timescale. The dynamics of this first step have been called charge migration (CM). CM plays a fundamental role in chemical reactions and biological functions associated with light–matter interaction. For years, visualizing CM at the natural timescale of electrons has been a formidable challenge in ultrafast science due to the ultrafine spatial (angstrom) and ultrafast temporal ...

Younger atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients are most likely to benefit from more personalized, MRI-guided ablation treatments to correct irregular heart rhythms, according to a new artificial intelligence-guided analysis of results from the DECAAF II trial, one of the largest global studies of treatments for heart arrhythmias. Tulane University researchers presented the findings at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2023 in Amsterdam this week. There’s been debate among physicians on whether going beyond traditional ablation treatments provides a benefit to patients. In 2021, the ...

Sophia Antipolis, 25 August 2023:  Competency-based cardiac imaging delivery is needed for effective and efficient patient care, according to a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) statement published today in European Heart Journal, a journal of the ESC.1 All seven ESC subspeciality associations have endorsed the document, namely the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), Association of Cardiovascular Nursing & Allied Professions (ACNAP), Association for Acute CardioVascular Care (ACVC), European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC), European Association ...

Pregnant and recently postpartum women who suffer with mental health disorders may be vulnerable to using cannabis to self-medicate, according to a Rutgers-led study.   In a nationally representative survey, Qiana L. Brown, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Social Work, examined the relationship between mental health disorders, cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) among pregnant and postpartum women in the US. The findings were published online in advance of print in the July 2023 issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.   “Before this study, we ...

A study led by two University of Texas at Arlington public affairs professors, in partnership with city leaders, suggests downtown Arlington events would enjoy increased attendance if there were more parking, shaded areas and Instagram-ready photo opportunities. Respondents to the survey consider downtown Arlington one of the top-three destinations in the city for entertainment. “Downtown is competing with Texas Live! and The Highlands,” said Emily Nwakpuda, assistant professor in UTA’s College of Architecture, ...

Freshwater ecosystems hold significant significance in the context of global biodiversity. These water bodies provide habitat for numerous plant and animal species, and they play a crucial role in maintaining food chains and preserving ecological balance. Mitigation measures including wastewater treatment and hydromorphological restoration have historically shown promise in improving environmental quality and supporting the recovery of freshwater biodiversity. Together with a large international team the study’s first author, Prof. Dr. Peter Haase of the Senckenberg ...

A powerful satellite called XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) is set to provide astronomers with a revolutionary look at the X-ray sky. XRISM, led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency), is scheduled to launch on an H-IIA rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 8:26 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 27 (9:26 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 28, in Japan). JAXA will stream the launch live ...

Endometriosis is a chronic – often painful – illness that only affects women. New research shows potential for shortening the path to diagnosis and treatment. In the years prior to being diagnosed with endometriosis, women with the chronic illness have more contact than average with their GP, private gynaecologist and the hospital service. Researchers analysed 129,696 Danish women's utilisation of the healthcare sector, with particular focus on the 21,616 women who were diagnosed with endometriosis between 2000 and 2017. "We can see that ...

In certain trees, soils can form along branches and can support varied plant and animal life. However, what conditions these ‘canopy soils’ form in, and what kind of biodiversity they support, has been difficult to study. Now, researchers from Utah State University and Imperial College London have surveyed dozens of trees in Costa Rica, mapping the canopy soils to determine where they form and how they might be affected by a changing climate. The results are published in Geoderma. First author Jessica Murray, from Utah State University, said: “We found canopy soils most often form in cool, foggy areas in these tropical forests ...

URBANA, Ill. – The ivory palm tree, also known as tagua, is endemic to the Chocó-Darien region on the Pacific coast of South America. The local population relies on this unique tree for many uses and the tagua fruit, nuts, and leaves provide materials for a range of products. Two studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) explore the ecosystem services provided by tagua in coastal Ecuador. The ivory palm is considered a threatened species as 98% of forest land in western Ecuador has been cleared, although current conservation ...

Kennesaw State University biology professor Brandon Carpenter was inspired to pursue a career in science because of an undergraduate research experience. With a recent grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he’ll provide a similar experience to his students. Carpenter, an assistant professor of cellular and molecular biology who studies neurodevelopmental  disorders and genetic mutations, received a $432,000 grant to continue research that will help uncover the mechanisms that regulate inheritance of ...