The same type of machine learning methods used to pilot self-driving cars and beat top chess players  could help type-1 diabetes sufferers keep their blood glucose levels in a safe range. Scientists at the University of Bristol have shown that reinforcement learning, a type of machine learning in which a computer program learns to make decisions by trying different actions, significantly outperforms commercial blood glucose controllers in terms of safety and effectiveness. By using offline reinforcement learning, where the algorithm learns from patient records, the researchers improve ...

Insulin production has, for the last 50 or so years, come with some risks to the patient. Even so, the medication is lifesaving for the estimated 537 million adults living with diabetes worldwide, with that number expected to grow. Recent clinical studies show that injection via insulin pens can cause insulin to reach the bloodstream so quickly that hypoglycemia, or blood sugar levels that dip below the healthy range, may result. Automated insulin pumps can deliver precise insulin and minimize this risk but are expensive and available only to a small portion of diabetes patients around the world. Now, a plant-based, oral delivery of proinsulin could address these drawbacks, ...

Staffing levels likely drive the differences in hospitalizations and emergency department visits among nursing homes, the researchers report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Studies show that nursing homes serving high proportions of Black residents may experience poor healthcare outcomes. To better understand the environmental and structural characteristics of nursing homes that may lead to these outcomes, the researchers examined data from 14,121 U.S. nursing homes using multiple ...

By Rebekah Orton Thomas Edison famously tried hundreds of materials and failed thousands of times before discovering that carbonized cotton thread burned long and bright in an incandescent light bulb. Experiments are often time consuming (Edison’s team spent 14 months) and expensive (the winning combination cost about $850,000 in today’s money). Expenses and time increase exponentially when developing the quantum materials that will revolutionize modern electronics and computing. To make quantum material discovery possible, researchers turn to detailed databases as their virtual laboratory. A new database of understudied quantum materials ...

New research shows that polyphenolic compounds, which are commonly found in fruits and vegetables, can be combined with sugar molecules to create potential life-saving drugs. Polyphenols are a class of compounds found in many plant-based foods. Polyphenols help prevent cellular damage in the body and can help to prevent diseases such as cancer or heart disease. However, many of them do not dissolve in water, making it difficult to fully take advantage of their health benefits. Biological Engineering Professor Jixun Zhan and his graduate students Jie Ren and Caleb Barton recently published a comprehensive ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A six-month study of healthy older men demonstrated that daily multivitamin/multimineral supplementation had a positive effect on key nutrition biomarkers. The research led by Oregon State University’s Tory Hagen and Alexander Michels also showed that the changes in nutrition status could have direct connections to cellular function, measured by the oxygen consumption of the study participants’ blood cells. The findings, published in the journal Nutrients, suggest that supplementation may be a key tool to help people stay healthier as they age. “Many older adults take ...

Hundreds of human skulls and mandibles recovered from the Crenshaw site in southwest Arkansas are the remains of ancestors of the Caddo Nation and not foreign enemies, according to a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Collaborating with the Caddo Nation in Oklahoma, researchers at the University of Arkansas and Arkansas Archeological Survey tested lead and strontium isotopes in the teeth of human remains and compared them to ancient animal teeth from several surrounding regions to determine that the 700-year-old human remains were local ...

Many men in northern Europe over the age of 60 suffer from the so-called Viking disease, which means that the fingers lock in a bent position. Now researchers at Karolinska Institutet, together with colleagues, have used data from over 7,000 affected individuals to look for genetic risk factors for the disease. The findings, which have been published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, show that three of the strongest risk factors are inherited from Neanderthals. Up to 30 percent of men in northern Europe over 60 suffer from ...

Three young patients with relapsed T-cell leukaemia have now been treated with base-edited T-cells, as part of a ‘bench-to-bedside’ collaboration between UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH). The data from the NHS clinical trial, published in The New England Journal of Medicine and funded by the MRC, shows how donor CAR T cells were engineered using cutting edge gene editing technology to change single letters of their DNA code so they could fight leukaemia. The experience of using the cells in three patients is shared, and includes 13-year-old Alyssa from Leicester, who last year was the first person in the world to ...

A recent study by researchers at Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, and Scripps Research Institute has discovered fluorescent dye FM 1-43 as an effective and versatile tool to visualize PIEZO2 ion channel activity in mechanosensory neurons. The study, published in Neuron, was led by Dr. Kara Marshall, assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, with Dr. Ardem Patapoutian, Nobel Laureate and professor at Scripps Research Institute. Mechanosensation is the ability ...

BOSTON – Heavy drinking commonly begins in adolescence and is a known risk factor for the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Data from adult clinical trials suggest offering evidence-based medications for AUD to younger adults could promote their engagement in treatment and improve clinical outcomes. But are those medications being used when and where they are needed? In a review of claims data for youths insured by Medicated in 15 U.S. states, a team of researchers found that most youths with a diagnosis of AUD do not receive medications as part of their therapy, despite ...

An international team including a University of Washington scientist has found that the water on one of Saturn’s moons harbors phosphates, a key building block of life. The team led by the Freie Universität Berlin used data from NASA’s Cassini space mission to detect phosphates in particles ejected from the ice-covered global ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Phosphorus, in the form of phosphates, is vital for all life on Earth. It forms the backbone of DNA and is part of cell membranes and bones. The new study, published June 14 in ...

URBANA, Ill. — Conflict is unavoidable in all marriages. When it erupts in families with children, stressed or angry parents may take their pain out on the kids, projecting their anger or withdrawing emotionally or physically. In the worst cases, children’s socioemotional development can suffer. But the way parents, especially fathers, deal with marital conflict can make a difference to kids, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “In the past, marital conflict ...

CHICAGO, June 14, 2023 -- Leaders in health equity have issued an urgent call to address the underrepresentation of U.S. Latinos in Alzheimer's and dementia clinical trials. Their recommendations are outlined in an article published online today by Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions.   “A call to address structural barriers to the representation of Hispanics/Latinos in clinical trials on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: A micro-meso-macro perspective,” was led by first author María P. Aranda, ...

National economies recover significantly faster from shocks when countries are powered by renewable energy sources, according to new research that has profound implications for global energy policy. Researchers from Trinity College Dublin looked for patterns in data from 133 systemic economic crises that affected 98 countries over a 40-year span. And while their analyses show that countries relying on a broader range of energy sources experience longer recovery times, the best predictor of economic recovery was the extent to which a country relied on renewable energy. Underlining the significance of the finding is the fact that while data ...

From protecting biodiversity to ensuring the safety of drinking water, the biochemical makeup of rivers and streams around the United States is critical for human and environmental welfare. Studies have found that human activity and urbanization are driving salinization (increased salt content) of freshwater sources across the country. In excess, salinity can make water undrinkable, increase the cost of treating water, and harm freshwater fish and wildlife. Along with the rise in salinity has also been an increase in alkalinity over time, and past research suggests that salinization may enhance alkalinization. But unlike excess salinity, ...

MINNEAPOLIS – People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are more likely to have a stroke than people without the disease, according to a study published in the June 14, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that IBD causes stroke; it only shows an association. Inflammatory bowel disease causes chronic inflammation of the intestines. It includes Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and unclassified inflammatory bowel disease. The study found that people with IBD were 13% more likely to have a stroke up to ...

For years, research and therapies for allergic asthma have been focused largely on targeting the inflammatory cytokines in the body that react to allergens and cause overproduction of mucus, wheezing and difficulty breathing. Commonly prescribed drugs like Omalizumab, Dupilumab, Mepolizumab and Reslizumab lower or block the various cytokines and antibodies responsible for the asthmatic response, but they work after a patient’s airway inflammation is well underway. Dr. Tigno-Aranjuez wanted to ...

“ACSL4 has been demonstrated to play a pivotal role in both normal physiology as well as in a variety of disease states, including breast and other cancers.” BUFFALO, NY- June 14, 2023 – A new review paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on June 12, 2023, entitled, “ACSL4: biomarker, mediator and target in quadruple negative breast cancer.” Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease for which effective treatment depends on correct categorization of its molecular subtype. ...

New research indicates the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) could be devastating to amphibian biodiversity if introduced to North America. Nature Communications published the findings June 5 from a group of researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, the University of Massachusetts-Boston and Washington State University. “We could see over 80 species of salamanders in the United States and 140 species in North America experience population declines if Bsal is introduced,” said Matt Gray, the lead author and professor of ...

Scientists have created one of the most detailed 3D images of the synapse, the important juncture where neurons communicate with each other through an exchange of chemical signals.  These nanometer scale models will help scientists better understand and study neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s disease and schizophrenia.  The new study appears in the journal PNAS and was authored by a team led by Steve Goldman, MD, PhD, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester and the University of Copenhagen. The findings represent a significant technical achievement ...

ORLANDO, June 14, 2023 — The number of older adults in the U.S. population is growing, expecting to nearly double by 2060, and becoming more diverse with racial and ethnic minority populations projected to increase by 105% by 2040. “As a society, we’re not ready for that,” says Norma Conner, a professor in the University of Central Florida’s College of Nursing. “We need to be cognizant of the large population of older adults that is going to be ours to care for, and we need to have a better understanding that reflects them.” To ...

Responding to rapid advances in artificial intelligence and the urgent need to define its responsible use in health and medicine, Stanford Medicine and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) today announced the launch of RAISE-Health (Responsible AI for Safe and Equitable Health). This pioneering initiative seeks to address critical ethical and safety issues surrounding AI innovation and help others navigate this complex and evolving field. Co-led by Stanford School ...

People with weakened immune systems are at constant risk of infection. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common environmental bacterium, can colonize different body parts, such as the lungs, leading to persistent, chronic infections that can last a lifetime – a common occurrence in people with cystic fibrosis. But the bacteria can sometimes change their behavior and enter the bloodstream, causing chronic localized infections to become acute and potentially fatal. Despite decades of studying the transition in lab environments, how and why the switch happens in humans has remained unknown. However, researchers ...

Researchers at the University of Houston are working to make T-cell immunotherapy safer, developing a tool called CrossDome, which uses a combination of genetic and biochemical information to predict if T-cell immunotherapies might mistakenly attack healthy cells.   T-cell based immunotherapies hold tremendous potential in the fight against cancer and infectious diseases, thanks to their capacity to specifically target diseased cells, including cancer metastasis. Nevertheless, this potential has been tempered with safety concerns regarding ...