May 28, 2024 For more information, contact: Nicole Fawcett, nfawcett@umich.edu     EMBARGOED for release at 6:30 p.m. ET May 28, 2024     Altering cancer treatment dosing could reduce climate impact, study finds Model estimates potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by delivering treatment every 6 weeks   ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Changing how often a popular cancer therapy is delivered would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve environmental impact without decreasing cancer survival, according to a new analysis from researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel ...

Corals play an essential role in ocean ecosystems, and like many organisms, they are under threat from climate change and other human activities. To better protect coral, it’s first necessary to understand them, in particular their reproductive life cycle, which only happens once a year. For the first time, researchers have produced a model for coral spawning, based on various environmental factors. They achieved this by tapping an often overlooked source of aquatic knowledge, an aquarium. Given their branching shapes or waving tendrils, you would be ...

Research led by the University of Plymouth has shown that a new deep learning AI model can identify what happens and when during embryonic development, from video. Published today (Wednesday 29 May) in the Journal of Experimental Biology, the study highlights how the model, known as Dev-ResNet, can identify the occurrence of key functional developmental events in pond snails, including heart function, crawling, hatching and even death. A key innovation in this study is the use of a 3D model that uses changes occurring between frames of the video, and enables the AI to learn from these features, as opposed to the more traditional use of still images. The ...

Primates, including humans, have larger brains than most other mammals, but why? Scientists searching for the answer have long followed a trail pointing to diet—specifically fruit—as the reason for why primates evolved larger brains. A team from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the Smithsonian Institute of Tropical Research tested this idea for the first time—finding that the fruit-diet theory might be out of juice. The researchers used drone imaging, GPS tracking, and fine-scale behavioral analyses to test how four species of fruit-eating mammals solved the same natural foraging puzzle in a Panamanian rainforest. They ...

A new paper published in The Quarterly Review of Biology examines the question of what Darwinism is and how its nonscientific uses relate to the scientific theory of evolution. Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859 as a work in biology. However, in the past century and a half, Darwin’s ideas have impacted a broad range of domains and stimulated scientists and scholars to advance "evolutionary approaches" in domains as diverse as economics, engineering, psychology, and history. The ideas have been used (and abused) to undermine religiously inspired ideas about the origin of humans and their status concerning other species, ...

AUSTIN, Texas — Wifi-enabled washing machines. Voice-controlled microwaves. App-enabled TVs, vacuum cleaners, and even window blinds you can control from the comfort of your couch. Many of the technological features now included in everyday products are useful and accessible. But research has shown that having too many can overwhelm potential buyers, making them less likely to make a purchase. In new research, Wayne Hoyer, marketing professor and James L. Bayless/William S. Farrish Fund Chair for Free Enterprise at Texas McCombs, digs into the phenomenon of “feature creep” and its impact on consumer sentiment. ...

A new study by researchers from Arizona State University and their colleagues highlights a dietary strategy for significant health improvement and weight management. Participants following an intermittent fasting and protein-pacing regimen, which involves evenly spaced protein intake throughout the day, saw better gut health, weight loss and metabolic responses. These benefits were notably greater than those seen with simple calorie restriction. The findings, reported today in the journal Nature ...

AMES, Iowa – A widely found gene in plants has been newly identified as a key transporter of a hormone that influences the size of corn. The discovery offers plant breeders a new tool to develop desirable dwarf varieties that could enhance the crop’s resilience and profitability.  A team of scientists led by Iowa State University spent years working to pinpoint the functions of the gene ZmPILS6. Now, they have been able to characterize it as an important driver of plant size and architecture, a carrier for an auxin hormone that helps govern growth in roots below ground and shoots, or stalks, above ground. Their findings were published in the Proceedings ...

Many primary care clinicians directly receive messages from patients via electronic health records’ portal inboxes. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a rapid uptick in this trend. Data suggests that this additional work is linked to clinician burnout. Penn Family Care, a primary care group at Penn Medicine, instead routed incoming messages to certified medical assistants who had been taught how to distribute each message to the most appropriate physician. There was a 40% decrease in the number of messages going directly to primary care physicians, and both practice and clinician efficiency showed improvement after adopting this team-based care model. Utilizing Medical Assistants ...

Background and Goal: Relational continuity, the ongoing relationship between a patient and a family physician, is linked to better patient care, fewer unnecessary procedures, hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and lower costs, along with higher patient satisfaction. With the rise of part-time practices, patients often see multiple family physicians within the same clinic. This study aimed to explore how continuity in a primary care clinic—separate from individual physician continuity—affects patient ...

Background: Currently, people of Latiné/e/x/o/a, Hispanic, and/or Spanish (LHS) origin make up 19.1% of the population of the U.S. There is great variation in the personal experiences and family backgrounds of LHS individuals, including differences in country of origin, time in the U.S., colonization histories and immigration experiences. Key Argument: This essay considers the importance of recognizing the heterogeneity of lived experiences among LHS populations in the U.S. in a health care context. Why ...

Background and Goal: Family physicians perform a wide range of procedures outside the hospital and tend to be office based. Examples may include surgical procedures such as excisions, suturing, and joint injections. Since the training can vary substantially, the Council of Academic Family Medicine (CAFM)  issued a statement on which procedures they recommend physicians be able to perform competently upon completion of a family medicine residency. The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which family physicians perform CAFM-recommended procedures for Medicare Part B, the outpatient portion ...

Background and Goal: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the U.S. Early detection of the disease through screening can greatly improve the chances of successful treatment and is an essential preventive service in primary care. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted breast cancer screening as many screening programs were temporarily suspended due to personal concerns about exposure to the virus and the burden on the health care system. The goal of this study was to use real-world electronic health records (EHR) across the U.S. to examine the changes in breast cancer screening utilization since the COVID-19 pandemic and how the follow-up screening rates were impacted ...

Background & Goal: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 20% of adult primary care patients identified as lonely, representing a higher prevalence than many diseases commonly seen in primary care such as diabetes. Social isolation and loneliness are increasing over time, which is not only associated with increased health care utilization in primary care patients, but also with increased risk of chronic health conditions. Social isolation is reported to be equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day in terms of premature death. The U.S. Surgeon General recently released an advisory entitled, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” presenting a framework for action ...

Background: Prediabetes, a diagnosis intended to identify high-risk persons and prevent progression to diabetes, has been a topic of ongoing debate, and experts continue to disagree about its screening criteria, interpretation, and implications. Author Stance: An epidemiologist and health services researcher argues that prediabetes is overdiagnosed. A prediabetes diagnosis for patients like herself who are at low risk of developing type 2 diabetes can cause more harm than good. They may experience undue distress, undergo unnecessary consultations and tests, and pay additional health care costs. It may be implied—incorrectly—that ...

A research team designed a standardized process for helping low-income families navigate applications for federal nutrition support programs. Within a brief tablet-based nutrition screener completed at pediatric primary care visits, families were asked if they would like help applying for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. If they did, clinic staff followed up by telephone with application assistance. One limitation of this innovation is that some families were not able to be reached by telephone. Connecting ...

Background: A long-term relationship between a patient and their doctor, known as continuity of care, has seen a decline in recent decades in both the UK and the U.S. This decline has negatively impacted patient and physician health outcomes and  well-being. Editorial Stance: Building on Terrence McDonald and colleagues' research, which distinguishes between the continuity contributions of a practice and an individual clinician, increased physician continuity has been linked to reduced emergency department ...

Background and Goal: Nearly 500,000 children in the U.S. live with serious or life-threatening illnesses. Family caregivers, especially parents, face the challenges of managing complex medical needs, navigating the health system, and advocating for their children. This often leads to psychological distress, depression, and anxiety for caregivers. Understanding the experiences of parents of children with serious illnesses, especially those who are racially and ethnically diverse, remains limited. This study examined the experiences of Somali, Hmong, and Latin American parents in pediatric serious illness care, aiming to identify improvements and reduce disparities in pediatric ...

Background & Goal: Exam table paper is perceived as necessary for hygienic care; however, there is limited evidence for its efficacy. It may not stop disease transmission, and it may create a false sense of cleanliness. The Ontario Guidelines for Prevention & Control of Infection in Healthcare Settings do not endorse exam table paper, but rather recommend cleaning with specific low-level disinfectants (for example, 0.5% accelerated hydrogen peroxide). Additionally, there are negative economic and climate change impacts of using exam table paper. The average clinic seeing ...

Researchers at the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a sustainable and controllable strategy to manipulate interfacial heat transfer, paving the way for improving the performance of eco-friendly cooling in various applications such as electronics, buildings and solar panels. As demand for effective cooling solutions continues to grow due to the rising global temperature, scientists worldwide have been actively exploring energy-saving cooling technologies that are more effective. Compared to active cooling, which entirely depends on energy consumption ...

Background and goal: Medical assistants (MAs) are among the fastest growing occupations within the U.S. primary care workforce, and many practices have expanded the roles and caregiving responsibilities of primary care MAs. However, little is known about organizational factors associated with MA support levels for primary care clinicians (PCCs).  Study Approach: This study analyzed the current ratio of medical assistants (MAs) to primary care clinicians based on responses to the second National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems (NSHOS II), a 52-question survey ...

Asian Americans have been the targets of hate speech for generations, particularly during the COVID pandemic. But new research by the University of California, Davis, suggests that Asian American adolescents experience fewer incidents of hate speech in schools with stronger disciplinary structures and adult support.  A new study looks at hate speech experiences even before COVID, during the period between 2015 and 2019. The article, “Hate Speech Against Asian American Youth: Pre-Pandemic Trends and The Role of School Factors,” was published May 4 in the Journal of Youth and Adolescents. “Although hate against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities ...

Using ancient DNA extracted from the toe bone of a museum specimen, Harvard biologists have sequenced the genome of an extinct, flightless bird called the little bush moa, shedding light into an unknown corner of avian genetic history. Published in Science Advances, the work is the first complete genetic map of the turkey-sized bird whose distant living cousins include the ostrich, emu, and kiwi. It is one of nine known species of moa, all extinct for the last 700 years, that inhabited New Zealand before the late 1200s and the arrival of Polynesian human settlers. “We’re pulling ...

PHILADELPHIA — (May 28, 2024) — The Wistar Institute’s Paul M. Lieberman, Ph.D., and lab team led by senior staff scientist and first author, Samantha Soldan, Ph.D., have demonstrated how B cells infected with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can contribute to a pathogenic, inflammatory phenotype that contributes to multiple sclerosis (MS); the group has also shown how these problematic B cells can be selectively targeted in a way that reduces the damaging autoimmune response of multiple sclerosis. The lab’s findings were published in Nature Microbiology in the paper, “Multiple sclerosis patient derived spontaneous B cells have distinct EBV and ...

Among fathers, heart health was worse for men who became fathers under the age 25 First U.S. multiethnic longitudinal study to analyze cardiovascular health outcomes of fathers Results differed by race and ethnicity subgroups  Age-adjusted rate of death for Black fathers was lower than for nonfathers ‘Fatherhood may be protective for Black men’ CHICAGO --- Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men, and being a father may put men at an even greater risk of poor heart health later in life, reports a new study from scientists at Northwestern University and Ann & ...