WASHINGTON—The number of girls diagnosed with precocious puberty increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to potential risk factors such as increased screen time and less physical activity, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. The number of girls referred to pediatric endocrinologists for precocious puberty has increased significantly over the last two years, potentially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Precocious puberty is when children's bodies begin to change into adult bodies too soon. They start to develop physical changes before the age of 8 such as breasts ...

In an era of unprecedented LGBTQ2+ visibility coupled with incredible backlash, coming out as a sexual minority can be a deeply ambivalent experience, according to new research. In a study published in Theory and Society, sociologists Dr. Amin Ghaziani and Andy Holmes conducted in-depth interviews with 52 adult Vancouverites about their experiences coming out over the last five years. We spoke to Dr. Ghaziani (he/him), professor in the UBC department of sociology and Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities, about the findings. Why were you interested in recent experiences of coming out? Coming out is about sharing your identity with someone, and it’s an ongoing ...

(LOS ANGELES) – August 3, 2023 - Scientists from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) have developed a nanoengineered bioink with improved bonding and cross-linking capabilities for 3D bioprinting of tumor models. A key component of this bioink is Laponite, highly charged, disk-shaped, crystalline nanoparticles. As explained in their recent paper in Biofabrication, these nanoparticles were shown to enhance the biological signaling that occurs in the tumor microenvironment ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A first-of-its-kind study examined 2.2 million news stories shared on Facebook and found that publishers create two very different news environments.   These distinct ecosystems involve low-credibility publishers – those that publish what is sometimes referred to as fake news – versus high-credibility publishers.   Findings showed that while these two types of publishers often pushed out bursts of coverage at the same time – a common feature of news coverage – they were often about different topics, said Kelly Garrett, senior author of the study and professor of communication at The Ohio State University.   “These ...

The Access to Advanced Health Institute Receives $18 Million Award to Develop a Temperature Stable, Single-Dose Chikungunya RNA Vaccine Through a Phase 1 Clinical Trial KEY POINTS: The goal of the award is to develop an effective chikungunya vaccine candidate that can reach endemic areas of the world by using AAHI’s innovative RNA platform technology. The project will demonstrate that classic large-scale manufacturing challenges of live-attenuated vaccines can be overcome by using standard manufacturing equipment and techniques that are easy to tech transfer and scale. The award supports a first-in-human clinical trial of a dried (lyophilized) ...

It’s a mold that causes billions in crop losses every year, infecting berries, tomatoes and most other fruits and vegetables. Now, researchers have found a way to defeat the mold without showering toxic chemicals on the crops.  If you’ve ever seen a fuzzy gray strawberry, you’ve seen gray mold. It affects more than 1,400 different plant species, and there is no real cure for it. Being able to control it may hinge on the discovery of lipid “bubbles” secreted by the ...

Research Highlights: In a retrospective analysis of stroke patients, Black adults who had a stroke due to a severe blockage of a major artery in the brain (intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis) were younger, had higher rates of high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, and had lower physical activity scores compared to non-Black adults. After one year of aggressive, individualized medical management, including lifestyle coaching and regular follow-up care, diastolic blood pressure and physical activity scores improved among Black adults. Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 DALLAS, Aug. 3, 2023 — Significant stroke risk factor disparities ...

Osaka, Japan – Chronic inflammation of the middle ear can cause several problems and complications that can affect a person’s hearing and balance. One such problem is the formation of a cholesteatoma, which is an abnormal collection of cells in the ear that can cause bone erosion if left untreated. In turn, this can cause symptoms such as hearing loss, dizziness, facial paralysis, and even a brain infection. In a study published recently in Nature Communications, researchers from Osaka University have revealed the cause of cholesteatomas, which may help in developing new therapies for patients who are suffering ...

A machine commonly used for pain relief has shown to improve breathing in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea, a clinical trial has found. Results of the TESLA trial, published today in eClinical Medicine by researchers from King’s College London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, shows the potential of a new therapeutic option for patients using a transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) machine. Sleep apnoea affects about 1 billion people worldwide, and millions in the UK. The condition can be frequently associated with snoring; ...

CLEVELAND—What if there was a more effective way to coach and inspire your employees? Athletes? Students? Even your kids? A new study by a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University suggests there is. Their newly published work used neuroimaging to peer into the brains of participants as they responded to two different styles of coaching. The researchers wanted to see what happens in the brain that either helps people grow or causes them to resist change. “You could say it’s about how we get around the problem that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink,” said Anthony “Tony” ...

Canadian vertebrate palaeontologist, Aaron Kilmury, and a team of researchers from the University of Manitoba have published new research in PeerJ Life and Environment, unveiling the first-ever formal description of microvertebrate fossil assemblages from the late Cenomanian to middle Turonian periods in Manitoba, Canada. “One of the most significant findings of this study is that the new microvertebrate material described from Manitoba shares several similarities with microvertebrate assemblages collected ...

Researchers have found that robots can have a ‘U-shaped’ effect on profits: causing profit margins to fall at first, before eventually rising again. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, studied industry data from the UK and 24 other European countries between 1995 and 2017, and found that at low levels of adoption, robots have a negative effect on profit margins. But at higher levels of adoption, robots can help increase profits. According to the researchers, this U-shaped phenomenon is due to the relationship between reducing costs, developing new processes ...

Northern muriquis, which live in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, are one of the most endangered species of monkey in the world. Choosing good mates and rearing thriving offspring are key to the species’ long-term survival. To better understand what goes on in the mating lives of muriquis, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin–Madison turned to the monkeys’ poop to help gain insight into how the primates choose their mates. In a paper published on Aug. 2 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the scientists combined genetic analysis with long-term behavioral observations to better understand the ...

CONTACT: Camille Jewell cjewell@vancomm.com or 202-248-5460   SAN DIEGO—Using a “care hotel” model, which discharges patients to a specialty hospital hotel after smaller surgeries, can lower costs and shorten patients’ time in the hospital, according to a study presented today at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) 20th Annual Meeting.   Rising health care costs pose a significant financial burden across the U.S., especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic Florida ...

CONTACT: Camille Jewell cjewell@vancomm.com or 202-248-5460   SAN DIEGO—A study presented today at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) 20th Annual Meeting noted that mechanical thrombectomy, a standard treatment for adults with a large vessel occlusion, a type of severe ischemic stroke, is also safe and effective for treating children.   A large vessel occlusion is caused by a blood clot that blocks a large vessel, cutting off significant blood flow to the brain. The faster that patients with this kind of stroke receive mechanical thrombectomy, a minimally invasive procedure ...

HAMILTON, ON (August 2, 2023) – Steroids commonly offered to pregnant people with increased risk of preterm birth may be unnecessary and may leadto long-term health issues for the infants, according to new research led by McMaster University.    The research, published in The BMJ on Aug. 2, analyzed data from 1.6 million infants and found approximately 40 per cent of infants with early exposure to corticosteroids – defined as exposure at 34 weeks gestation or earlier – were born at term. The full-term infants had an increased risk of both short and long-term health issues, including neonatal intensive care admission, ...

Two new studies published by The BMJ today examine the potential health risks for infants of giving steroid drugs to women who are at risk of giving birth early.  Taken together, the results highlight the need for doctors to be aware of the potential risks and to exercise caution when considering antenatal steroid treatment. Babies born early (preterm) carry a greater risk of death and serious complications such as breathing difficulties, bleeding into the brain, and infection than babies born at term. These problems tend to be more severe the earlier the baby is born. Corticosteroids are known to help increase the ...

Individuals who have been cured of hepatitis C infection still face a substantially greater risk of death compared with the general population - between 3 and 14 times higher depending on liver disease stage, finds the largest study of its kind published by The BMJ today. Based on data from more than 20,000 patients with a hepatitis C cure, the results show that drug and liver-related causes of death were the main drivers of excess deaths - and highlight the importance of continued support to fully realise the benefits of a hepatitis C cure. Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver which, if left untreated, can cause ...

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have helped confirm the dosing, safety and effectiveness of a drug formulation designed for treating children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The study was published today in The Lancet HIV and reveals a new dispersible formulation and an immediate-release tablet containing three medications - dolutegravir, abacavir and lamivudine - in a single fixed dose combination (FDC) formulation is safe, well tolerated, and effective for treating children with HIV. The dosing based on the concentrations of each medication in the blood was also appropriate. “This is the first FDC containing dolutegravir ...

BOSTON – The thymus gland—which produces immune T cells before birth and during childhood— is often regarded as nonfunctional in adults, and it’s sometimes removed during cardiac surgery for easier access to the heart and major blood vessels. New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine has uncovered evidence that the thymus is in fact critical for adult health generally and for preventing cancer and perhaps autoimmune disease. To determine whether the thymus provides health benefits to adults, the team evaluated the risk of death, cancer, ...

If there’s one thing most office workers can agree on, it’s that they tend to feel less productive toward the end of the day and the end of each work week. Now, a team of researchers at Texas A&M University has found objective evidence of this phenomenon in action. A recent interdisciplinary study at the Texas A&M School of Public Health used a novel method of data collection to show that employees really are less active and more prone to mistakes on afternoons and Fridays, with Friday afternoon representing the lowest point of worker productivity. The ...

Dean Pierce of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a research team led by ORNL’s Alex Plotkowski were honored by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office for development of novel high-performance alloys that can withstand extreme environments.  At this year’s Vehicle Technologies Annual Merit Review, held virtually on June 12, VTO recognized Pierce, an R&D staff scientist in the Physical Sciences Directorate, and the DuAlumin-3D research team under Plotkowski. VTO honored Pierce, a member of ORNL’s Alloy Behavior and Design group, ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A team at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a faster and more comprehensive way of testing personal protective equipment, or PPE. The basic principle: modeling a device to fit the human form and human behavior. When COVID-19 hit, PPE testing became an urgent need. In March 2020, when the country went into lockdown, many people turned to Sandia for PPE testing support. They were trying to bring new masks to the market, provide quality assurance for imported masks and vet cleaning processes for reuse of single-use PPE. “Whether using in-house or commercial filter ...

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power smartphones, electric vehicles and storage for solar and wind energy, among other technologies. They descend from another technology, the lithium-metal battery, that hasn’t been developed or adopted as broadly. There’s a reason for that: While lithium-metal batteries have the potential to hold about double the energy that lithium-ion batteries can, they also present a far greater risk of catching fire or even exploding. Now, a study by members of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA reveals a fundamental discovery that could lead to safer lithium-metal ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. – A new study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers across six different countries found that affective polarization, or the tendency to dislike people who belong to opposing political parties while favoring people from their own political party, is a global bias — not just an American one. The research further indicates that the dislike grows stronger when two people think about political issues the same way but come away with different beliefs about those issues.   For instance, two people from two separate political parties both may think that tax policy and ...