TUCSON, Ariz., March 25, 2024 — Critical Path Institute (C-Path) today announced the formation of a new task force under its Rare Disease Cures Accelerator-Data and Analytics Platform (RDCA-DAP®), dedicated to advancing therapeutic development for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). This initiative brings together leading organizations and experts in a concerted effort to tackle the challenges associated with PSP drug development. PSP is a brain disorder that affects movement, control of walking and balance, speech, swallowing, vision, mood, behavior and thought. The confirmed members of the task force ...

A Simon Fraser University professor is helping make strides towards a “sustainable, intelligent world” by propelling printable sensor technologies. Vincenzo Pecunia, from SFU’s School of Sustainable Energy Engineering, led a team of more than 100 experts from 57 research institutions worldwide in developing a comprehensive roadmap for next-generation printable sensor technologies. By paving the way for everyday objects and environments to acquire sensing capabilities, these technologies could be a game changer in advancing sustainability and enhancing our quality ...

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is providing national leadership in a new collaboration among five national laboratories to accelerate U.S. production of clean hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers.   Hydrogen fuel cells provide power to electric vehicles and buildings using an electrochemical reaction that converts hydrogen and oxygen into heat, water and electricity. The Roll-to-Roll, or R2R, Consortium aims to scale up, speed up and reduce the cost of producing key components ...

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) presents a roundup of five research articles recently published across its six esteemed journals. Widely recognized for fostering innovation and advancing ecological knowledge, ESA’s journals consistently feature innovative and impactful studies. This compilation of papers explores invasive possum management in New Zealand, afforestation on global rangelands, population regulation in large herbivores and more, showcasing the Society’s commitment to promoting cutting-edge research that furthers ...

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Regents Professor Petra Fromme, director of the Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery at Arizona State University, to its College of Fellows. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, an honor reserved only for the top 2% of researchers in these fields. "We welcome Petra's well-earned induction into ...

Each year, bacterial infections claim several million lives worldwide. That is why detecting harmful microorganisms is crucial – not only in the diagnosis of diseases but also, for example, in food production. However, the methods available so far are often time-consuming, require expensive equipment or can only be used by specialists. Moreover, they are often unable to distinguish between active bacteria and their decay products. By contrast, the newly developed method detects only intact bacteria. It makes use of the fact that ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL MARCH 25, 2024 AT 3:00 PM US EST What could cancer teach us about tuberculosis? That’s a question Meenal Datta has been chasing since she was a graduate student. Once the body’s immune system is infected with tuberculosis, it forms granulomas — tight clusters of white blood cells — in an attempt to wall off the infection-causing bacteria in the lungs. But more often than not, granulomas do more harm than good.  Charged with analyzing the similarities between granulomas and tumors, Datta discovered that both are structurally and functionally abnormal. ...

Should you run to the bathroom now? Or can you hold it until you get home? A new implant and associated smartphone app may someday remove the guess work from the equation. Northwestern University researchers have developed a new soft, flexible, battery-free implant that attaches to the bladder wall to sense filling. Then, it wirelessly — and simultaneously — transmits data to a smartphone app, so users can monitor their bladder fullness in real time. The study will be published next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It ...

When scientists and policymakers make tough calls on which areas to prioritize for conservation, biodiversity is often their top consideration. Environments with more diversity support a greater number of species and provide more ecosystem services, making them the obvious choice. There’s just one problem. There are several ways to measure diversity, and each reveals a slightly different, and sometimes conflicting, view of how life interacts in a forest or other ecosystem. In a new study published ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – Pairing cryptocurrency mining – notable for its outsize consumption of carbon-based fuel – with green hydrogen could provide the foundation for wider deployment of renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, according to a new Cornell University study. “Since current cryptocurrency operations now contribute heavily to worldwide carbon emissions, it becomes vital to explore opportunities for harnessing the widespread enthusiasm for cryptocurrency as we move toward a sustainable and a climate-friendly future,” said Fengqi You, professor of energy systems engineering at Cornell. You and doctoral ...

Granular materials, those made up of individual pieces, whether grains of sand or coffee beans or pebbles, are the most abundant form of solid matter on Earth. The way these materials move and react to external forces can determine when landslides or earthquakes happen, as well as more mundane events such as how cereal gets clogged coming out of the box. Yet, analyzing the way these flow events take place and what determines their outcomes has been a real challenge, and most research has been confined to two-dimensional experiments that don’t ...

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of MinJun Kim, Robert C. Womack Endowed Chair Professor in Engineering at Southern Methodist University to its College of Fellows. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, comprised of the top two percent of engineers in these fields. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional ...

A ground-breaking study – the largest of its kind globally – has found children with multiple sclerosis (MS) have better outcomes if treated early and with the same high-efficacy therapies as adults. There are a limited number of therapies approved for children with MS, with only one considered to be of high-efficacy – meaning highly effective. However, a Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) observational study has determined that paediatric patients should be treated with the same high-efficacy ...

WASHINGTON  –  U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) scientists published the Cascaded Variational Quantum Eigensolver (CVQE) algorithm in a recent Physical Review Research article, expected to become a powerful tool to investigate the physical properties in electronic systems. The CVQE algorithm is a variant of the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) algorithm that only requires the execution of a set of quantum circuits once rather than at every iteration during the parameter optimization process, thereby increasing the computational throughput.  “Both algorithms ...

Bengal cats are prized for their appearance; the exotically marbled and spotted coats of these domestic pets make them look like small, sleek jungle cats. But the origin of those coats — assumed to come from the genes of Asian leopard cats that were bred with house cats — turns out to be less exotic. Stanford Medicine researchers, in collaboration with Bengal cat breeders, have discovered that the Bengal cats’ iridescent sheen and leopard-like patterns can be traced to domestic cat genes that were aggressively selected for after the cats were bred with wild cats. “Most ...

More than 1 million people in the United States identify as transgender; however, there is limited research on nutrition-related health outcomes for transgender people. To narrow the research gap, Mason MS, Nutrition student Eli Kalman-Rome investigated common motivations of dietary supplement use in transmasculine people. The study defined transmasculine as people on the transgender and gender-nonbinary spectrum who were assigned female at birth.  Transmasculine people reported a higher use of dietary supplements (65%) compared to the total U.S. population (22.5%), according to the study. 90% of transmasculine participants reported using supplements ...

Research that involves implanting devices into the brains of human volunteers creates a special moral obligation that extends beyond the trial period—an obligation that researchers, device manufacturers, and funders owe to the volunteers. This is the conclusion of two new essays in the Hastings Center Report that launch a series on the ethical and social issues raised by brain research.   The “Neuroscience and Society” series is supported by the Dana Foundation and will be published in open-access format online over the next three years. The series seeks to promote deliberative public engagement about neuroscience, writes Hastings Center senior ...

PHILADELPHIA -- For years, it was harder for Black patients to secure a coveted spot on the national kidney transplant waitlist because a clinical algorithm was making Black patients appear healthier than they were. After a Penn Medicine researcher exposed the problem in 2019—and showed how it exacerbated racial disparities in kidney disease—a national taskforce recommended removing race from the algorithm’s scoring, a move that has quickly been adopted throughout the country in an effort to reduce ...

“[...] the combination of ABT199/venetoclax and Thio enhances the cytotoxicity of (Flu+Clad+Bu) in AML cell lines and leukemia patient-derived cell samples.” BUFFALO, NY- March 25, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 15 on March 14, 2024, entitled, “ABT199/venetoclax synergism with thiotepa enhances the cytotoxicity of fludarabine, cladribine and busulfan in AML cells.” ABT199/venetoclax, an inhibitor of the pro-survival BCL-2 protein, has improved AML treatment. Its efficacy in hematopoietic ...

Research Highlights: A large study of residents in Ningbo, China, a major city of more than 8.2 million residents, found that exposure to more artificial, outdoor, nighttime light was associated with a higher risk of conditions that affect brain health. Excessive exposure to air pollution and artificial, bright light at night were both independently linked to a higher risk of developing cerebrovascular disease and having a stroke. Embargoed until 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET, Monday, March 25, 2024 DALLAS, March 25, 2024 — People continuously ...

Investigators from the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center will discuss the latest breakthroughs and cutting-edge science at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), which attracts more than 20,000 oncology professionals from around the world. The annual meeting will feature more than 40 regular, late-breaking and clinical trial abstracts from UCLA physicians and scientists, who will present their latest work in key areas of translational and basic scientific ...

ITHACA, N.Y. -- By studying individuals who spontaneously clear hepatitis C infections, a team of researchers has identified viable vaccine targets for a disease that infects 70 million worldwide with case numbers increasing every year. It turns out that a quarter of people who become infected with the hepatitis C virus clear the infection on their own without treatment, while the remaining three-quarters of people develop chronic infections that can last for years. The blood-borne disease – which causes liver cirrhosis, liver ...

For centuries, the Cerne Giant, a figure carved into a hillside in Dorset depicting a nude man carrying a club and stretching some 180 feet high, has fascinated locals and visitors to the area. The history of the giant, however, and in particular, its age, has long been a mystery. A new paper in Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies proposes that the Cerne Giant can in fact be dated to the early Middle Ages, and, as a result, its cultural context and significance more clearly understood.   “The Cerne Giant in its Early Medieval Context,” by authors Thomas Morcom and Helen Gittos, acknowledges that previous attempts to date the giant placed ...

25 March 2024: RCSI research has found that venetoclax, a medication currently approved for leukaemia, has benefits for patients with multiple myeloma when used in combination with another drug. This discovery offers a new avenue of treatment options for the currently incurable disease.  Multiple myeloma (MM) is a type of blood cancer that is newly diagnosed in around 400 people in Ireland each year. Despite treatment advances in recent years, it remains incurable. The search for innovative treatment strategies is crucial, particularly for patients whose cancer is resistant to standard care.  In the new study published in Haematologica, researchers at the RCSI Department of ...

Philadelphia, March 25, 2024 – Food insecurity among college students is associated with negative physical and mental health and lower academic performance and graduation rates. A recent research study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, published by Elsevier, investigates why over half of college students eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—the nation’s largest food assistance program—do not apply. Lead study author Suzanna M. Martinez, PhD, MS, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, explained, “In California, ...