Warning letters from Medicare can safely cut prescribing of a powerful but risky antipsychotic, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Researchers used Medicare data to study the effects of the letters on hundreds of thousands of older adults with dementia. They found a significant and lasting reduction in prescribing but no signs of adverse effects on patient health. The findings are published in JAMA Network Open. “Our study shows that low-cost letter interventions can safely reduce antipsychotic prescribing to patients with dementia,” said Adam Sacarny, PhD, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia Mailman School. ...

Key takeaways: A new study led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute examined differences in premature mortality by sexual orientation among a large group of women followed for three decades. Findings show that sexual minority women died much sooner than heterosexual women, with bisexual women having the most pronounced differences. This work highlights the urgent need to address sexual orientation-related inequities in preventable illness, including a focus on the systems and laws that ...

Due to the changing climate, young herring arrive in the Wadden Sea earlier and earlier in spring. That is shown in a new publication by NIOZ ecologists Mark Rademaker, Myron Peck and Anieke van Leeuwen, in this month's journal Global Change Biology. "The fact that we were able to demonstrate this, was only due to very consistently, for more than 60 years, and continuously sampling the fish every spring and every fall with exactly the same fyke every time", Rademaker says. "Recognizing this kind of change requires extreme precision ...

NEW YORK, NY--If mice ever wonder what it’s like to experience the world as a rat, some are now able to live that dream, at least when it comes to the sense of smell.  Researchers led by Columbia University's Kristin Baldwin have created mice with hybrid brains – part mouse, part rat – that sense the odors of the world with their rat neurons.   It is the first time that an animal has been able to use the sensory apparatus of another to sense and respond accurately to the world ...

Following the 2017 siege of Marawi, the Philippines' counter-terrorism efforts have faced an increasingly complex and unpredictable landscape. While authorities have claimed victory, one which garnered global media attention during the peak of ISIS reign in Syria and Iraq, the aftermath of Marawi highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive reassessment of the country's counter-terrorism strategy. A new study, led by experts in security and terrorism studies at the University of Portsmouth, provides a thorough examination of the terrorist ...

(Boston)—Dane Scantling, DO, MPH, FACS, assistant professor of surgery at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been awarded the C. James Carrico, MD, FACS, Faculty Research Fellowship for the Study of Trauma and Critical Care from the American College of Surgeons. The two-year, $80,000 award will support his project, "Improving Equity and Access to Trauma Care for Victims of Firearm Violence."   Firearm violence (FV) rates have risen to levels not seen ...

WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a compact and lightweight single-photon airborne lidar system that can acquire high-resolution 3D images with a low-power laser. This advance could make single-photon lidar practical for air and space applications such as environmental monitoring, 3D terrain mapping and object identification. Single-photon lidar uses single-photon detection techniques to measure the time it takes laser pulses to travel to objects and back. It is particularly useful for airborne applications because it enables highly accurate 3D mapping of terrain and objects even in challenging environments such as dense vegetation or urban areas. “Using single-photon ...

(WASHINGTON, April 25, 2024) – The volume of hematopoietic cell transplants rose among all racial/ethnic groups, but grew faster among African Americans and Hispanics compared with Non-Hispanic white individuals, mirroring changes in population growth rates. Survival after both autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (autoHCT) and allogeneic hematopoietic transplant (alloHCT) improved over time across racial/ethnic groups, though non-Hispanic African Americans still have worse outcomes, according ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Chlamydia and gonorrhea are the two most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States, impacting 2.4 million in 2021, and the number is rising. A recent study of individuals ages 15 to 60 measuring and comparing treatment rates for these STIs has found that nearly one-in-five patients with chlamydia and one-in-four patients with gonorrhea did not receive Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended treatment for their infection. Individuals seen by clinicians in a private healthcare setting were less likely to receive CDC recommended treatment than those seen ...

Plastic is a very complex material that can contain many different chemicals, some of which can be harmful. This is also true for plastic food packaging. “We found as many as 9936 different chemicals in a single plastic product used as food packaging,” said Martin Wagner, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU’s) Department of Biology. Wagner has been working with chemicals in plastic products for several years. He is part of a research group at NTNU that ...

One might think that snow, of all things, is easy to describe: it is cold, white and covers the landscape like a blanket. What else is there to say about it? A lot, according to Mathieu Nguyen. He has just defended his doctoral thesis on the optical properties of snow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Gjøvik. “Snow reflects all wavelengths of light and can have very different colours depending on the conditions and the angle at which light hits it. The age and density ...

HOUSTON – (April 25, 2024) – Diagnosing rare Mendelian disorders is a labor-intensive task, even for experienced geneticists. Investigators at Baylor College of Medicine are trying to make the process more efficient using artificial intelligence. The team developed a machine learning system called AI-MARRVEL (AIM) to help prioritize potentially causative variants for Mendelian disorders. The study is published today in NEJM AI.  Researchers from the Baylor Genetics clinical diagnostic laboratory noted that AIM's module can contribute to predictions ...

Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCRN), a pioneering force in tech-driven workforce solutions and advisory services, in collaboration with Florida Atlantic University's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, released its latest research findings in the fourth annual installment of the Future of Nursing Survey: “Embracing Technology While Preserving Humanity.” Drawing insights from more than 1,100 nursing professionals and students, the study illuminates the intricate interplay between cutting-edge health care technologies and the enduring essence of compassionate care. Survey results reveal a nuanced perspective among nurses toward the integration of Artificial ...

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are widely used in gas turbine engines to obtain elevated working temperatures and improve engine efficiency. The phase transition of the ceramic layer is accompanied by a large volume difference, causing the concentration of thermal stress, eventually leading to TBCs to fall off and fail. Therefore, it is necessary to quantitatively evaluate the magnitude and distribution of thermal stress induced by phase transition in the ceramic layer.   A team of material scientists led ...

A new study published in the journal Animal-Human Interactions reveals that emotional turmoil experienced by dog owners after their pet has been stolen is like that of losing a loved one such as a caregiver losing their child. The findings empirically support the notions that the ‘owner’ or guardian roles and relationships equate to familial relationships and, when faced with the theft of their pet, owners feel a similar sense of disenfranchised grief and ambiguous loss. In the study, some participants felt the loss was more intense ...

The PhRMA Foundation (PhF) awarded $500,000 grants to David G. Armstrong, DPM, MD, PhD, of the University of Southern California and Nino Isakadze, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins University to conduct research using digital health technologies (DHTs) to improve health equity and health outcomes for patients.  Armstrong and Isakadze were selected out of a group of seven researchers awarded $25,000 planning grants in 2023 by the Foundation to develop comprehensive research proposals to study the use of DHTs for advancing patient health, especially in underserved populations.    “Digital ...

Athens, Greece – 25 April 2024:  Women with heart disease are less often treated with cholesterol-lowering drugs than men, according to research presented today at ESC Preventive Cardiology 2024, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 “Cholesterol-lowering drugs save lives and prevent heart attacks, and should be prescribed to all patients with coronary artery disease,” said study author Dr. Nina Johnston of Uppsala University, Sweden. “Unfortunately, our study shows that women are missing out on these essential medications.” Patients with ...

Two of the biggest challenges faced by new and potential electric vehicle (EV) drivers are range anxiety and speed of charging, but these shouldn’t have to be challenges at all. That is according to a study by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and the University of Delaware, USA. Researchers discovered that a change in refuelling mindset, rather than improving the size or performance of the battery, could be the answer to these concerns.   The transition from filling up at a petrol station to recharging your electric vehicle in the most convenient location for you, requires a whole new way ...

In looking up at the sky during these early weeks of spring, you may very well see a flock of birds moving in unison as they migrate north. But how do these creatures fly in such a coordinated and seemingly effortless fashion? Part of the answer lies in precise, and previously unknown, aerodynamic interactions, reports a team of mathematicians in a newly published study. Its breakthrough broadens our understanding of wildlife, including fish, who move in schools, and could have applications in transportation and energy. “This area of research is important since animals are known to take advantage of the flows, such as of air or water, left by other members of ...

The Covid-19 pandemic turned the world upside down. In fighting it, one of our most important weapons was genomic surveillance, based on whole genome sequencing, which collects all the genetic data of a given microorganism. This powerful technology tracked the spread and evolution of the virus, helping to guide public health responses and the development of vaccines and treatments. But genomic surveillance could do much more to reduce the toll of disease and death worldwide than just protect us from Covid-19. Writing in Frontiers in Science, an international collective of clinical and public health microbiologists ...

A new UCLA Health study found certain genetic variants could help explain how long-term pesticide exposure could increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease.  While decades of research have linked pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s disease risk, researchers have sought to explain why some individuals with high exposure develop the disease while others do not.   One longstanding hypothesis has been that susceptibility to the disease is a combination of both environmental and genetic factors.  The new study, published in the journal NPJ Parkinson’s Disease, used genetic data from nearly 800 Central Valley (California) residents with Parkinson’s ...

As the climate changes, animals are doing what they can to adapt.  Researchers from UBC Okanagan—which includes partners from Biodiversity Pathways’ Wildlife Science Centre, the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, the University of Alberta, and Environment and Climate Change Canada—wanted to evaluate why deer densities in the boreal forest are rapidly increasing.  Over the past century, white-tailed deer have greatly expanded their range in North America, explains Melanie Dickie, a doctoral student with UBC Okanagan’s Wildlife Restoration Ecology Lab.  In the boreal forest of Western Canada, ...

Depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are serious concerns for public health. Approximately 280 million people worldwide have depression, while 620 million people have CVD. It has been known since the 1990s that the two diseases are somehow related. For example, people with depression run a greater risk of CVD, while effective early treatment for depression cuts the risk of subsequently developing CVD by half. Conversely, people with CVD tend to have depression as well. For these reasons, the American Heart Association (AHA) advises to monitor teenagers with depression ...

Our bodies are made up of trillions of different cells, each fulfilling their own unique function to keep us alive. How do cells move around inside these extremely complicated systems? How do they know where to go? And how did they get so complicated to begin with? Simple yet profound questions like these are at the heart of curiosity-driven basic research, which focuses on the fundamental principles of natural phenomena. An important example is the process by which cells or organisms move in response to chemical signals in their environment, also known as chemotaxis. A constellation of researchers from three different research units at the Okinawa Institute of Science ...

A nationwide survey of people who were pregnant or trying to become pregnant found that overall 54 percent expressed interest in the RSV vaccine during pregnancy. Perceiving RSV as a serious illness in infants was the strongest predictor of likely vaccination during pregnancy. Likelihood to receive the RSV vaccine during pregnancy was also higher among parents with a child at home already. Findings were published in the journal Pediatrics. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of infection among infants, frequently resulting in hospital or intensive care admission. RSV infection severe enough to require hospitalization has been associated with long-term wheezing ...