An innovative plastic, stronger and stretchier than the current standard type and which can be healed with heat, remembers its shape and partially biodegradable, has been developed by researchers at the University of Tokyo. They created it by adding the molecule polyrotaxane to an epoxy resin vitrimer, a type of plastic. Named VPR, the material can hold its form and has strong internal chemical bonds at low temperatures. However, at temperatures above 150 degrees Celsius, those bonds recombine and the material can be reformed into different shapes. Applying heat and a solvent breaks VPR down into its raw components. Submerging it in seawater ...

rain health in over 50s deteriorated more rapidly during the pandemic, even if they didn’t have COVID-19, according to major new research linking the pandemic to sustained cognitive decline.  Researchers looked at results from computerised brain function tests from more than 3,000 participants of the online PROTECT study, who were aged between 50 and 90 and based in the UK.  The remote study, led by teams at the University of Exeter and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s ...

The introduction of London's Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in 2008 and subsequent Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) from 2019 has significantly improved air quality, benefiting Londoners’ physical and mental health, according to new analysis from the Department of Economics at the University of Bath. A new Institute for Policy Research (IPR) policy brief, presenting research from health economists at the University, indicates that the introduction of the LEZ helped to reduce particulate matter (PM10) in Greater London by 13% between 2008-13, compared to pre-LEZ levels (2003-07). The ULEZ has had an even more substantial impact, ...

In the U.S., someone has a stroke every 40 seconds and dies from it every three minutes and 14 seconds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When it comes to stroke, experts echo the fact that time is brain. Faster treatment translates to better outcomes, and certain treatments, like the clot-busting drug tPA, have a strict time window for administration. “The quicker that we can get the patient to treatment, the quicker we can have a good outcome,” said Dustin LeBlanc, M.D., director of Prehospital Medicine and associate chief medical officer for Emergency Management at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A recent study led by Indiana University School of Medicine in collaboration with the University of Chicago Medicine presents exciting future possibilities for the management of type 1 diabetes and the potential reduction of insulin dependency. The researchers’ findings, published in Cell Reports Medicine, suggest repurposing of the drug α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) may open doors to innovative therapies in the future. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition wherein the body's immune system mistakenly ...

UCF Hires Director of Development and Operations for Virtual Experience Research Accelerator (VERA)   ORLANDO, Nov. 1, 2023 – Ali Haskins Lisle, Ph.D., has been named the Director of Development and Operations for the UCF-led Virtual Experience Research Accelerator (VERA). VERA is a nearly $5 million U.S. National Science Foundation project to develop the first large-scale human-machine system for virtual reality human subjects research, with the goals of affording very large studies, very quickly, with populations that ...

The chance discovery of a note written in a 15th century Hebrew prayer book fills an important gap in the historical Italian earthquake record, offering a brief glimpse of a previously unknown earthquake affecting the Marche region in the central Apennines. Paolo Galli, who found the note in the Apostolic Vatican Library while looking for contemporaneous accounts of another historic Italian earthquake, writes in Seismological Research Letters that the note “not only helps us partially fill a gap in the seismic history ...

For years, if you asked the people working to create new pharmaceutical drugs what they wished for, at the top of their lists would be a way to easily replace a carbon atom with a nitrogen atom in a molecule. But two studies from chemists at the University of Chicago, published in Science and Nature, offer two new methods to address this wish. The findings could make it easier to develop new drugs. “This is the grand-challenge problem that I started my lab to try to solve,” said Mark Levin, ...

Men with high-grade prostate cancer and low prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels have a poor prognosis. The question remains as to whether the chemotherapy drug docetaxel, which increases survival in metastatic prostate cancer, can improve the cure rate in these patients. In a new study, investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, a meta-analysis of five prospective randomized clinical trials (RCTs) found that adding docetaxel to standard-of-care (SOC) treatment was associated with a 70% reduction in death from prostate cancer-specific ...

People living with HIV may face hard choices when balancing their own health needs with caring for a pet, a study led by a University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions researcher finds. For the study, which appears in the journal PLOS ONE, 36% of people with HIV who own pets reported delaying health care, not seeking it or said they expect to do so in the future. Financial and other resource concerns, including not having access to pet sitting or boarding services, are among the leading factors that may contribute to health care barriers among pet owners ...

In recent years, physicians and scientists in parts of Brazil where visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is endemic have seen rising numbers of cases of co-infection by Leishmania infantum and Crithidia, also a protozoan but hitherto believed to be a mosquito parasite that cannot infect humans or other mammals. Accurate diagnosis is hindered by a lack of simple specific tests (more at: https://agencia.fapesp.br/42072 and https://agencia.fapesp.br/31581).  To accelerate and facilitate detection of the pathogens involved, supporting appropriate decisions regarding treatment, researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) have developed a PCR test ...

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 – The American Heart Association will present the 2023 Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Research Goes Red® Award to Zainab Mahmoud, M.D., M.Sc., of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This award will be presented during the opening session of the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 on Saturday, Nov. 11. The meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, ...

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — has named Michael Lepore, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst as the next editor-in-chief of the journal Public Policy & Aging Report, effective January 2024. “I am honored to serve as editor-in-chief of Public Policy & Aging Report, which for nearly 30 years has provided non-partisan analyses of aging-related policy issues,” Lepore said. “This venerable journal has been a mainstay of my training and professional ...

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 — The American Heart Association will present the 2023 Clinical Research Prize to Mary McGrae McDermott, M.D., FAHA, of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. The Clinical Research Prize is awarded annually to physicians or scientists who are advancing clinical science in support of the Association’s mission. Dr. McDermott has dedicated her career to advancing medical knowledge of peripheral artery disease (PAD). She will be recognized during the presidential session on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023 at the Association’s Scientific Sessions ...

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 — The American Heart Association will present its 2023 Population Health Research Prize to Olugbenga “Gbenga” Ogedegbe, M.D., M.P.H., FAHA, of New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. He will be recognized during the presidential session of the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 on Sunday, Nov. 12. The meeting will be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13 and is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. Dr. ...

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 — The American Heart Association will present its 2023 Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award to Marc A. Pfeffer, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award will be recognized during the Presidential Session on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023, at the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023. The meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. The Eugene Braunwald Academic ...

URBANA, Ill. – Cat owners want Kitty to be happy, but providing an abundance of food and snacks can have unintended consequences. Feline obesity is on the rise, impacting the health, longevity, and wellbeing of cats. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at what happens in the digestive system and gut microbiota when cats eat too much. “About 60% of cats in the U.S. are overweight, which can lead to health problems such as diabetes and chronic inflammation. While many studies have investigated feline weight loss, there has been little focus on the opposite process, ...

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 – The American Heart Association will present its 2023 Research Achievement Award to Marlene Rabinovitch, M.D., of Stanford University. The Research Achievement Award will be recognized during the Presidential Session on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023, at the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023. The meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. Throughout her nearly 40-year career as a physician scientist, Dr. Rabinovitch’s research ...

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 — The American Heart Association will present its 2023 Basic Research Prize to Yibin Wang, Ph.D., FAHA, of Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. He will be recognized during the Presidential Session of the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 on Sunday, Nov. 12. The meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. Dr. ...

Sandra Irish, mechanical systems lead structures engineer for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has been selected to receive the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Resnik Challenger Medal Award for her visionary contributions to the development, testing, transport, and launch of NASA’s premier space telescope since 2006. The medal was awarded during the World’s Largest Conference for Women in Engineering and Technology or WE23, which took place Oct. 26-28 in Los Angeles. As an engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for over 40 years, Irish’s mechanical systems expertise has helped ...

Currently, the United States lacks FDA-approved treatments for liver fibrosis, highlighting the critical need to understand the cellular biology and pathways associated with this condition.  In a recent study led by Don Rockey, M.D., the director of the Digestive Disease Research Core Center, and Nour Hijazi, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at the Medical University of South Carolina, significant progress has been made in understanding a pathway contributing to liver fibrosis. Their findings, highlighting a potential novel therapeutic ...

In a world filled with endless connections and constant communication, the relationship between loneliness and aloneness is not always clear. Now, University of Arizona researchers have analyzed that relationship – and found that they are two different things that are not closely correlated. People don't feel lonely until they spend three-quarters of their time alone, the study found. However, when their alone time goes beyond 75%, it becomes difficult for them to avoid feelings of loneliness. Published in the Journal of Research in Personality in September, the study also ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2023 MINNEAPOLIS – People who live in neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status are less likely to receive clot-busting medications or undergo clot-removing procedures after they have a stroke than people who live in neighborhoods with higher socioeconomic status, according to a study published in the November 1, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “These treatments can greatly reduce death and ...

“Our principal component analyses showed a significant relationship between centro-cingulate cholinergic afferent changes and age in our Parkinson disease subjects.” BUFFALO, NY- November 1, 2023 – A new research perspective was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 20, entitled, “Cholinergic centro-cingulate network in Parkinson disease and normal aging.” In their new perspective, researchers Nicolaas I. Bohnen, Sygrid van der ...

The marvels of modern technology – computers that fit in your hand, internet-connected refrigerators, and self-driving cars – are only possible thanks to the magic of materials like silicon. Likewise, the sci-fi gadgets of tomorrow will spring from the exotic new materials scientists are discovering today. Harold Hwang, a physicist at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University, has brought this future closer by sandwiching carefully crafted materials together and seeing what happens where they touch. His experimentation has uncovered a host of compounds with surprising ...