Clinicians treating patients who live with or survive serious diseases such as cancer are familiar with the concept of fear of illness recurrence (FIR). FIR has been associated with greater avoidance of illness reminders, including medical appointments, ignoring symptom changes, social withdrawal and increases in anxiety and decreases in quality of life and mood. But as a Concordia research team led by Mark Ellenbogen, a professor in the Department of Psychology, points out in a new study published in the journal BMC Psychiatry, there is little research on FIR ...

The queens in colonies of social insects, such as ants, bees, and wasps, are considered the veritable embodiment of specialization in the animal kingdom. The common perception is that the queen's only task is to lay eggs – and that this attribute is an inherent trait, not influenced by external factors. In contrast, recent research undertaken at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has demonstrated that in certain ant colonies the social environment can play a crucial role in shaping the ...

On Monday, March 11, the College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSAM) held an event to announce the Centers and Institutes in Development (CIDs) at the Auburn University Alumni Center. “I cannot tell you how absolutely excited to see this many COSAM faculty here today,” said Edward E. Thomas, Jr., dean of the college. “These new endeavors will help connect faculty in our college and with other colleges at Auburn to seamlessly collaborate on bigger and bolder research projects.” The alumni center was packed with faculty from all of COSAM’s five departments. “Today, we are here to ...

CLEVELAND—About 32.5 million people in the United States and 500 million globally suffer from the degenerative joint disease known as osteoarthritis (OA), according to the Centers for Disease Control. OA, in which tissues in the joint break down over time, is the most common type of arthritis—especially in older people. The usual treatments target pain-relief, often with prescription opioids or prosthetic surgery, such as knee and hip replacements. Now, backed by an award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health ...

A new investigation into an obscure class of galaxies known as Compact Symmetric Objects, or CSOs, has revealed that these objects are not entirely what they seem. CSOs are active galaxies that host supermassive black holes at their cores. Out of these monstrous black holes spring two jets traveling in opposite directions at nearly the speed of light. But in comparison to other galaxies that boast fierce jets, these jets do not extend out to great distances—they are much more compact. For many decades, astronomers suspected that CSOs were simply young and that their jets would eventually travel out to greater distances.    Now, reporting in three different papers in The ...

Arizona State University’s Mehdi Nikkhah, a biomedical engineer in the School of Biological Health Systems Engineering (SBHSE) and a member of the Personalized Diagnostics Faculty at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, is a pioneer in Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC) technologies. For his outstanding contributions to engineering of biomimetic tissue-on-chip technologies and organoids for disease modeling and regenerative medicine, Nikkhah was inducted as a Fellow into the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering  (AIMBE) on March 25 during the organization’s 2024 annual event in Arlington, Va. AIMBE Fellows represent the top tier of biological ...

A new analysis involving over 13,000 people has found changes to blood vessels in the brain that can increase the risk of stroke and dementia are common in people with a range of heart conditions, regardless of whether they have experienced a stroke. The new research, published today in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, is the most comprehensive systematic review of ‘hidden’ brain changes in people with a range of heart conditions to date. Lead author Dr Zien Zhou from The George Institute for Global Health said that identifying these ...

Imagine a day when joints could heal themselves. At the first inkling of a creaky knee, patients could get a single shot in the joint that would not only stop their cartilage and bone from eroding, but kick start its regrowth. In more advanced cases, that shot might also deliver a biomaterial repair kit to patch holes in tissue. If multiple joints ached, an annual IV infusion could ferry regenerating therapies to all of them at once. This may seem like a dream to the 32.5 million people who suffer from osteoarthritis. ...

On April 8, a total solar eclipse will pass over Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. This JAMA Patient Page describes solar eclipses and how to view them safely. END ...

People who don’t regularly see a primary-care physician, including those from African American and Latinx communities, are more likely to die or need hospitalization from a bout of influenza. They also experience more barriers to vaccine education and care. A new study publishing in the journal NEJM Evidence shows how patient education during an emergency department visit can effectively improve flu-vaccination rates. “In our earlier study, we saw great success in educating patients about the COVID-19 vaccine during their ED visit – brief messaging videos and educational flyers led to significantly higher COVID-19 vaccine acceptance ...

Researchers were able to predict depression severity for white people, but not for Black people using standard language-based computer models to analyze Facebook posts. Words and phrases associated with depression, such as first-person pronouns and negative emotion words, were around three times more predictive of depression severity for white people than for Black people. The study, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is co-authored by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), ...

SAN ANTONIO, March 26, 2024 – Thomas Patterson, MD, and David Gius, MD, PhD, two top physician-scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), have been accepted into the prestigious Association of American Physicians for the advancement of scientific and practical medicine. Patterson is professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and vice chair for clinical research for the Department of Medicine in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, and Gius is associate cancer director of translational research at the Mays Cancer Center and assistant dean of research and ...

When FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Professor Fang Peng was a boy, he saw the power and peril of electricity firsthand. He was in middle school when his remote Chinese hometown first received electric service. His family shared a single portable, 15-watt light bulb attached to a cable. It was his job to replace the bulb. “One night, the bulb went out and I tried to change it in total darkness,” Peng said. “I accidentally stuck my left thumb in the socket and was immediately shocked. I got knocked off balance and down to the dirt floor, trembling as the electricity seared through my body. Luckily, my right ...

Bruce A. Freeman, Irwin Fridovich Distinguished Professor and Chair at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, will introduce Redox Medicine 2024 with a key note talk titled "Small Molecule Electrophiles: Lessons from a Journey through Studying the Redox Chemistry of Nitrogen Oxides to Drug Development”. The 26th International Conference of the Redox Medicine, Redox Medicine 2024, will take place on June 27-28 at Fondation Biermans Lapôtre in Paris, France. Professor Freeman will discuss the generation and actions of nitrogen oxide-derived fatty acid nitroalkenes in the context of ...

PHILADELPHIA – Patients being treated for B-cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) who are part of minority populations may not have equal access to cutting-edge CAR T cell therapies, according to a new analysis led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and published today in NEJM Evidence. CAR T cell therapy is a personalized form of cancer therapy that was pioneered at Penn Medicine and has brought hope to thousands of patients who had otherwise run ...

The beautiful, gnarled, nooked-and-crannied reefs that surround tropical islands serve as a marine refuge and natural buffer against stormy seas. But as the effects of climate change bleach and break down coral reefs around the world, and extreme weather events become more common, coastal communities are left increasingly vulnerable to frequent flooding and erosion.  An MIT team is now hoping to fortify coastlines with “architected” reefs — sustainable, offshore structures engineered to mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs while also providing pockets for fish and other marine ...

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced today that Martine Rothblatt PhD, JD, MBA, Chairperson and CEO of United Therapeutics, and inventor of SiriusXM Satellite Radio, will deliver the keynote address for this year’s graduating medical student class. The UMSOM MD graduation ceremony will take place at the Hippodrome Theatre on Thursday, May 16, 2024. The ceremony will begin at 1:00 pm. Details for faculty members are here. Details for students/guests are here. Dr. Rothblatt is a trailblazing pioneer of several innovations in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and satellite communications. After developing SiriusXM, ...

The ORIGAMI (Optimized Resource Integration and Global Architecture for Mobile Infrastructure for 6G) project is now underway. The project, funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe program, will spearhead architectural innovations for the next generation of 6G mobile networks, to enable innovative applications, new business models, and substantial reductions in energy consumption. By proposing and developing three critical architecture innovations – Global Services Based Architecture (GSBA), Zero Trust Exposure Layer (ZTL), and Continuous Compute ...

New research says the wide variety of skills displayed by people with conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia and autism should be celebrated to help reduce stigma and change society’s expectations. Creativity, resilience and problem-solving are just some of the strengths exhibited and a study is now calling for a change in the way we think about people with neurodevelopmental conditions. Dr Edwin Burns, senior lecturer from the School of Psychology at Swansea University, worked with academics from Edge Hill University on the study and their findings have just been published by ...

Local and state governments have a variety of tools at their disposal to attract businesses or entice them to stay. One is tax relief. Austin, for example, helped lure electric automaker Tesla in part with property tax rebates worth $14 million over 10 years. In a study released today from Texas McCombs, Dean and Accounting Professor Lillian Mills finds that another kind of government aid — cash grants — has a different kind of impact. It helps companies lighten their balance sheets by borrowing less. Corporations ...

TUCSON, Ariz., March 26, 2024 — Critical Path Institute (C-Path) is excited to announce the launch of the Critical Path for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (CPA-1) Consortium. The CPA-1 consortium aims to accelerate drug development for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), a rare disease that affects individuals and families worldwide. This will be achieved by integrating data through C-Path’s Rare Diseases Cures Accelerator–Data Analytics Platform (RDCA-DAP®) and leveraging those data for CPA-1 to collaboratively develop regulatory-grade solutions to continuously address unmet needs in drug development for this condition, including: Generating evidence to ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – When the skeletal remains of a giant ground sloth were first unearthed in 1796, the discovery marked one of the earliest paleontological finds in American history.  The animal, named Megalonyx by Thomas Jefferson in 1799, was the first genus of fossil named from the United States. Thought to have roamed North America during one of the last ice ages, the extinct giant ground sloth was an herbivorous mammal resembling a large bear — at full size, it likely reached nearly 10 feet tall (3 meters) and weighed about as much as a small elephant.  The report made by Jefferson, an avid fossil collector who was known to keep ...

Organisms constantly face the challenge of adapting their behavior to survive in a world full of uncertainties. This ability relies on complex neural circuits in the brain that help them find resources while avoiding danger. Scientists study how these neural circuits change over time to understand better how behaviors emerge. One powerful way to study these changes is through optical imaging techniques that allow researchers to track the activity of individual brain cells. Traditional methods rely on observing the activity of cells directly, ...

“[...] chlorogenic acid appears to be a promising candidate for the management of osteoporosis.” BUFFALO, NY- March 26, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 5, entitled, “Chlorogenic acid prevents ovariectomized-induced bone loss by facilitating osteoblast functions and suppressing osteoclast formation.” Osteoporosis is a common bone disease in ...

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered a protein called SEL1L that plays a critical role in clearing collagen from tissue, and which may be a therapeutic target to help prevent fibrosis, scar tissue that interferes with organ function. The paper, published on Feb. 20 in Nature Communications, provides clues that could lead to drug development for diseases like lung fibrosis which have no therapeutic options currently. Corresponding author, Dr. Michael J. Podolsky, assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, has led a team that searched the human genome for genes involved in the ...