San Diego, CA (October 25, 2024) — IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is an autoimmune kidney disease driven by immune cells that express a protein called CD38 on their surface. A recent Phase 2 trial revealed that felzartamab, an investigational anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, helps to reduce proteinuria and maintain patients’ kidney function. Investigators evaluated the molecular mechanisms underlying felzartamab’s potential efficacy in IgAN. The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2024 October 23– 27. It is hypothesized that CD38+ cells ...

San Diego, CA (October 25, 2024) — Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduce the risk of cardiovascular and kidney outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes, but it is unclear whether their effects differ based on patients’ age. A recent analysis of clinical trial data reveals that the SGLT2 inhibitor canagliflozin benefited patients across all age categories. The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2024 October 23 – 27. The analysis pooled individual participant data from the CANVAS Program and CREDENCE trial and assessed efficacy and safety according to baseline age. ...

The Arctic is warming at three to four times the global average. However, new research suggests the slowing of a key ocean current could reduce projected Arctic warming by up to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. For years, scientists have warned that unchecked Arctic warming could lead to devastating consequences, threatening wildlife and ushering in an era of more frequent and extreme weather events. Amid concerns for these types of outcomes, a study led by UC Riverside offers some limited relief. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined ...

San Diego, CA (October 25, 2024) — A recent analysis reveals that the number of chronic kidney disease (CKD) cases in women around the globe nearly tripled in the past three decades. Also, type 2 diabetes and hypertension were the leading causes of CKD-related deaths in women. The research will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2024 October 23– 27. The analysis drew from the Global Burden of Disease study 2021, a comprehensive effort to quantify health loss across the world over time. The study includes information from 204 countries and territories. From 1990 to 2021, the average annual percentage ...

Ever had an itchy nose or, worse, an unreachable spot on your back that drives you mad? Now imagine an itch that refuses to go away, no matter how hard or long you scratch. That persistent itch, or pruritus, may actually be one of the skin’s first lines of defense against harmful invaders, according to neuroimmunologist Juan Inclan-Rico of the University of Pennsylvania. “It’s inconvenient, it’s annoying, but sensations like pain and itch are crucial. They’re ever-present, especially when it comes to skin infections,” says Inclan-Rico, a postdoctoral researcher in the Herbert Lab at ...

It feels like narcissism is everywhere these days: politics, movies and TV, sports, social media. You might even see signs of it at work, where it can be particularly detrimental. Is it possible to keep a workplace free of destructive, manipulative egotists?  More and more organizations have come to San Francisco State University’s experts in organizational psychology asking for help doing just that. In response, University researchers developed a tool for job interviews to assess narcissistic grandiosity among potential job candidates. San Francisco State Psychology Professors Kevin Eschleman and Chris ...

You have likely not spent much time thinking about the uterus of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. But then, neither have most scientists, even though Drosophila is one of the most thoroughly studied lab animals. Now a team of biologists at the University of California, Davis, has taken the first deep look at the Drosophila uterus and found some surprises, which could have implications not just for understanding insect reproduction and potentially, pest control, but also for understanding fertility in humans.  The work is published Oct. 25 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Drosophila have been a favorite subject for ...

A recent commentary published in The Lancet journal highlights the critical importance of skeletal muscle mass in the context of medically induced weight loss, particularly with the widespread use of GLP-1 receptor agonists. These medications, celebrated for their effectiveness in treating obesity, have raised concerns regarding the potential for substantial muscle loss as part of the weight loss process. Dr. Steven Heymsfield, professor of metabolism and body composition, and Dr. M. Cristina Gonzalez, adjunct and visiting professor in metabolism-body composition, both of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, joined colleagues Dr. Carla Prado of the University ...

NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Urban Future Lab named the winners of its 2024 Future Resilience and Future Solutions prizes, at its 8th annual Urban Future Summit on October 24, 2024 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. Through the generous support of The New York Community Trust, MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), the Urban Future Lab continues to catalyze groundbreaking solutions for the climate crisis and this year, they’ve expanded their focus to include adaptation as a critical piece of the puzzle. After an afternoon of pitches, the jury, comprised of industry experts and ...

DETROIT – A Wayne State University School of Medicine faculty member has been awarded a total of $2.3 million by the National Institute on Aging of the National institutes of Health for two new, concurrent projects that both address questions related to Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive, age-related degenerative brain disease characterized by memory problems, impaired judgment, cognitive issues and changes in personality. Joongkyu Park, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and of neurology, is the principal investigator on “Local protein synthesis ...

CHICAGO, October 22, 2024— The American Heart Association and the Chicago Bears brought cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Girls Flag Football State Finals on Saturday, Oct. 19. More than 150 youth athletes, coaches and league administrators learned lifesaving skills building their confidence and capabilities to respond in the event of a cardiac emergency. According to American Heart Association data, 9 out of every 10 people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die, in part ...

The results of numerous high-impact phase 3 clinical trials that could affect kidney-related medical care will be presented in-person at ASN Kidney Week 2024 October 23–27. Finerenone—a selective non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist—has been shown to have kidney protective effects in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with type 2 diabetes, but its effects on kidney outcomes in patients with heart failure with and without diabetes and/or CKD are not known. To investigate, researchers analyzed data from 6,001 participants enrolled in the FINEARTS-HF trial, a global, randomized ...

About The Study: Among patients hospitalized with acute kidney injury, recommendations from a kidney action team did not significantly reduce the composite outcome of worsening acute kidney injury stage, dialysis, or mortality, despite a higher rate of recommendation implementation in the intervention group than in the usual care group. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, F. Perry Wilson, MD, email francis.p.wilson@yale.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.22718) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

Mammals, including humans, stand out with their distinctively upright posture, a key trait that fueled their spectacular evolutionary success. Yet, the earliest known ancestors of modern mammals more resembled reptiles, with limbs stuck out to their sides in a sprawled posture. The shift from a sprawled stance, like that of lizards, to the upright posture of modern mammals, as in humans, dogs, and horses, marked a pivotal moment in evolution. It involved a major reorganization of limb ...

Researchers in the lab of Michael Sigal at the Max Delbrück Center and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have elucidated the role of the p53 gene in ulcerative colitis. The study, published in Science Advances, suggests a potential new drug target to stop disease progression to cancer.  A team of researchers led by Kimberly Hartl, a graduate student at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology of the Max Delbrück Center (MDC-BIMSB) and Charité – Universitätsmedizin, have shed new light on the role of the p53 tumor suppressor gene ...

Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHF) such as Marburg virus disease have been in the news recently, with more than 60 cases of Marburg confirmed in Rwanda. Although there are currently no cases of Marburg in the United States, and the risk of infection in the U.S. remains low, Mass General Brigham experts have collaborated with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 1 Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Center (RESPTC) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to support frontline healthcare facilities in ensuring that patients who are being evaluated ...

Photos A University of Michigan study of a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo finds that the necessary process of decarbonization is repeating and recreating colonial inequalities.   The researchers argue that human rights abuses associated with contemporary cobalt mining, such as child labor, social displacement and structural marginalization, are new forms of old colonial practices. Their study is published in the journal Cities.   "We show how those colonial practices emerged through the creation of mining companies and through ...

University of Florida Distinguished Professor Christine Schmidt has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. This prestigious honor follows her election earlier this year to the National Academy of Engineering, making her one of the few exceptional individuals to be recognized by both academies. Election to the National Academy of Medicine recognizes outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service in the fields of health and medicine. The Academy announced the names of its 100 new members today during its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Schmidt, the Pruitt Family Endowed Chair in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, was selected ...

What is the “most Canadian” animal? Spoiler: it’s not the beaver, or the moose.   Published today in the journal The Canadian Field-Naturalist, the study from a team of Simon Fraser University researchers ranks, for the first time ever, species of terrestrial vertebrates in Canada by their level of Canadian evolutionary distinctness: the amount of time animals have evolved independently from other Canadian species.   High ranked species have no close national relatives and can embody up to a hundred million years of evolution shared with none other in the country.   The study found that, overall, amphibians ...

This was shown in an international study led by clinical pharmacologist Hiddo L. Heerspink of the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands. This is the first time that it has been shown that this diabetes drug, now best known as a means of losing weight, is also effective for patients with chronic kidney damage. The results of this study have been published in Nature Medicine and presented simultaneously at the annual congress of the American Society of Nephrology. Does a diabetesdrug also work in chronic ...

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have released a comprehensive, 194-page report assessing their decade-long examination of the social and economic impacts that followed the introduction of casino gambling in Massachusetts. UMass Amherst’s SEIGMA (Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts) is believed to be the most comprehensive investigation of casino impacts ever undertaken. The report was presented Thursday to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission during a public meeting. It synthesizes the findings from 55 interim reports and academic publications.  “We wanted to do a comprehensive ...

AUSTIN, Texas — A new lung cancer screening initiative has made significant strides in overcoming barriers to care for low-income, uninsured and minority populations in Central Texas — a critical step toward reducing disparities in lung cancer outcomes. The effort, led by Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin and CommUnityCare Health Centers, implemented a patient-centered approach that includes bilingual support, mailed outreach, and no-cost screening to patients. “Federally Qualified Health Centers like CommUnityCare serve a higher-risk population, making them great places to offer ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a fellowship open to all U.S. students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems. Established in 1991 and currently carrying a $45,000 annual stipend, the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF) program provides outstanding benefits and opportunities, fostering a community of energetic and committed Ph.D. students, alumni, DOE laboratory staff, and other scientists who want to have an impact on the nation while advancing their research.  Fellows ...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), October 25, 2024–After seven months of living and working onboard the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station), astronauts of NASA’s eighth rotational SpaceX crew mission (Crew-8) splashed down safely off the coast of Florida. The mission, which is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, included NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. During their mission on station, ...

The most advanced respirometry chambers in Latin America were inaugurated at the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT campus in Colombia. These are hermetically sealed spaces designed to precisely measure and analyze the concentrations of gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide, produced by animals. This advance is part of the Low-Methane Forages, project led by the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT in collaboration with the CGIAR research centers ILRI and ICARDA and their Germplasm Banks. The project is evaluating thousands of forage ...