Monitoring levels of DNA shed by tumors and circulating in the bloodstream could help doctors accurately assess how gastroesophageal cancers are responding to treatment, and potentially predict future prognosis, suggests a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. The study tracked minimal residual disease (the amount of cancer left following treatment) by analyzing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), showing how these ...

Neuroblastoma is a heterogeneous solid tumor that originates extracranially from neuroblasts. Previous research has demonstrated that miR-492 polymorphisms can contribute to cancer susceptibility. However, their specific involvement in susceptibility to neuroblastoma has yet to be fully clarified. Background and objectives Neuroblastoma is a heterogeneous solid tumor that originates extracranially from neuroblasts. Previous research has demonstrated that miR-492 polymorphisms can contribute to cancer susceptibility. However, their specific involvement in susceptibility to neuroblastoma has yet to be fully clarified. In this study, we focused on miRNA-492, which has been reported to ...

COVID-19 illness may include symptoms such as a sore throat, fever, cough and fatigue. In January, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its most recent guidelines for the use of over the counter (OTC) drugs for COVID-19. Specifically, its guidelines state that most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home while treating symptoms with OTC medicines such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil).  Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- The new Master of Science in Speech and Language Pathology (MS-SLP) program at Binghamton University’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences has achieved a significant milestone toward accreditation by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA). The council recently awarded the program accreditation candidacy for five years, beginning Feb. 1, 2024, and running through Jan. 31, 2029. The decision was based on a thorough review of all candidacy materials for the program, including the application, site visit report and the program’s ...

A huge fraction of global flows of carbon and other nutrients passes through marine microbes, little is known about their causes of death—information that in many cases determines where those nutrients will go. Recent work on microbial death via viral lysis and protistan predation is helping close the gap, but there remains a missing source of microbial mortality. Anne Thompson and colleagues explore the role played by salps, pelagic tunicates that feed by pumping seawater through mucous mesh nets, filtering out and capturing particles such as preferred microbes. Salps send ...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) made a strong showing in this year’s Early Career Collection from the scientific journal Physics of Plasmas. The collection represents the top papers from all areas of plasma physics research authored by people who defended their dissertations less than five years before the journal article was submitted. “The first authors of the pieces in the 2023 Early Career Collection have made a notable contribution to the field of plasma and show significant promise. I look forward to ...

One of the most touted promises of medical artificial intelligence tools is their ability to augment human clinicians’ performance by helping them interpret images such as X-rays and CT scans with greater precision to make more accurate diagnoses. But the benefits of using AI tools on image interpretation appear to vary from clinician to clinician, according to new research led by investigators at Harvard Medical School, working with colleagues at MIT and Stanford.  The study findings suggest that individual clinician differences shape the interaction between human ...

Researchers have shown for the first time that a crucial interface in a protein that drives cancer growth could act as a target for more effective treatments.   The study was led by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Central Laser Facility (CLF) and used advanced laser imaging techniques to identify structural details of a mutated protein which help it to evade drugs that target it.     It is published (19/03/2024) in the journal, Nature Communications and lays the groundwork for future research into ...

The hormone insulin controls many cellular processes and adapts them to the body’s current energy supply. One of the insulin-regulated processes is the quality control of cellular power plants in neurons, Angelika Harbauer and her team at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence discovered. When sufficient energy is available in the body, insulin facilitates the elimination of defective mitochondria. When energy is scarce or when the insulin signal is interrupted, mitochondrial recycling is reduced and cells continue to use their old power plants, even potentially damaged ones. The continued operation of faulty mitochondria could affect ageing ...

  PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Tiny chips may equal a big breakthrough for a team of scientists led by Brown University engineers. Writing in Nature Electronics, the research team describes a novel approach for a wireless communication network that can efficiently transmit, receive and decode data from thousands of microelectronic chips that are each no larger than a grain of salt. The sensor network is designed so the chips can be implanted into the body or integrated into wearable devices. Each submillimeter-sized silicon sensor mimics ...

South San Francisco, Calif. (March 19, 2024) - A new study in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth finds that objective information about risk of preeclampsia could be key to driving patient behavior change and creates motivation among pregnant patients to follow provider recommendations on prevention, even among those who are medication-hesitant.   Key findings include: 91% of the study participants desired predictive testing for preeclampsia 94% reported they would want blood pressure monitoring at home if found to be at high risk  88% reported they would be more motivated to follow their provider’s medication recommendations if at high risk. This finding was consistent ...

NEW ORLEANS, March 19, 2024 — Vapes have often been heralded as a “safer” way to consume either nicotine or cannabis, where legal to do so. But the devices present their own suite of risks that are slowly being revealed as they undergo increasing research and regulation. Now, researchers have discovered that nano-sized toxic metal particles may be present in cannabis vaping liquids even before the vaping device is heated, and the effect is worse in unregulated products. The researchers will present their results today at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2024 is a hybrid meeting being held virtually and in person March ...

NEW ORLEANS, March 19, 2024 — Once thrown away, disposable items such as diapers and sanitary pads can take hundreds of years to decompose, because their absorbent parts and waterproof layers contain plastics and other synthetic polymers. But now, researchers are replacing these materials with porous components made from protein biomass that is often discarded by the food and agricultural industries. These components are sustainable and biodegradable, and could potentially allow future diapers and sanitary pads to be flushed down a toilet or used as ...

NEW ORLEANS, March 19, 2024 — At first glance, Rabih O. Al-Kaysi’s molecular motors look like the microscopic worms you’d see in a drop of pond water. But these wriggling ribbons are not alive; they’re devices made from crystallized molecules that perform coordinated movements when exposed to light. With continued development, Al-Kaysi and colleagues say, their tiny machines could be used by physicians as drug-delivery robots or engineered into arrays that direct the flow of water around submarines. The ...

Researchers have revealed new insights into how the brain processes speech and listening during conversations through advanced investigations using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In a groundbreaking study published in the esteemed journal Cerebral Cortex, researchers compared brain activity in individuals while both speaking and listening during natural conversational situations. Conversational interactions are central to the everyday human experience. During conversation, we use language, together with social, and other cognitive skills to flexibly switch between the roles of speaker and listener. In research on ...

In a new book, experts in a variety of fields explore nocebo effects – how negative expectations concerning health can make a person sick. It is the first time a book has been written on this subject. “I think it’s the idea that words really matter. It’s fascinating that how we communicate can affect the outcome. Communication in health care is perhaps more important than the patient recognises,” says Charlotte Blease, who is a researcher at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health ...

Patients who may have been mis-labelled as allergic to penicillin could be safely offered a dose of the oral antibiotic to demonstrate that they could take it without harm, following a new trial.   In a new study published in the Journal of Infection funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), academics and clinicians ran a study in three UK hospitals to assess the feasibility of non-allergy specialist healthcare professionals delivering direct oral penicillin ‘challenges’, without doing allergy tests, where low risk patients ...

We all know that getting a good night’s sleep is vital for physical and mental health. Yet many people share a bed with a partner who can’t help disturb their sleep. For example through their insomnia, frequently going to the bathroom, snoring, or a tendency to toss and turn in bed. Unsurprisingly, research has shown that poor sleep can lead to increased anger and decreased satisfaction with the relationship. But can we avoid falling in this trap, short of sleeping in separate bedrooms? Yes, if we are naturally good – or learn to be so – at goal disengagement, the mental ...

Osaka, Japan – Organic electronics is a field that has garnered significant interest in academic and industrial circles due to its potential applications in OLEDs and organic solar cells, offering advantages such as lightweight design, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. These devices are made by depositing a thin film of organic molecules onto a substrate that acts as an electrode, and function by controlling the transfer of electrons between the thin film and the substrate. Therefore, understanding electron behavior at the interface between the substrate ...

For decades, people with diabetes have relied on finger pricks to withdraw blood or adhesive microneedles to measure and manage their glucose levels. In addition to being painful, these methods can cause itching, inflammation and infection. Researchers at TMOS, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems, have taken an important step towards eliminating this discomfort. Their RMIT University team has discovered new aspects of glucose’s infrared signature and have used this information to develop a miniaturised optical sensor only 5mm in diameter that could one day be used to provide continuous non-invasive glucose monitoring in diabetes ...

A new study in people undergoing surgery to treat seizures related to epilepsy shows that pauses in speech reveal information about how people’s brains plan and produce speech. Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the study results add to evidence that neighboring brain regions, the inferior frontal gyrus and the motor cortex, play an important role in such planning before words are said aloud. Both are part of the folded top layers of the brain, or cerebral cortex, which has long been known to control the muscle (motor) movements in the throat and mouth needed to produce speech. Less ...

Cancer is characterized by abnormal metabolic processes different from those of normal cells. Therefore, cancer metabolism has been extensively studied to develop effective diagnosis and treatment strategies. Notable achievements of cancer metabolism studies include the discovery of oncometabolites* and the approval of anticancer drugs by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that target enzymes associated with oncometabolites. Approved anticancer drugs such as ‘Tibsovo (active ingredient: ivosidenib)’ and ‘Idhifa (active ingredient: enasidenib)’ ...

Imaging being able to wear your smartphone on your wrist, not as a watch, but literally as a flexible band that surrounds around your arm. How about clothes that charge your gadgets just by wearing them? Recently, a collaborative team led by Professor Jin Kon Kim and Dr. Keon-Woo Kim of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Professor Taesung Kim and M.S./Ph.D. student Hyunho Seok of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), and Professor Hong Chul Moon of University of Seoul (UOS) has brought a step closer to making this realty. This research work was published in Advanced Materials. Mesoporous ...

A five-day course of once-daily inorganic nitrate reduces the risk of a serious complication following a coronary angiogram, in which the dye used causes damage to the kidneys. The clinical trial, led by Queen Mary University of London and funded by Heart Research UK, also showed that the five-day course improves renal outcomes at three months and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at one year compared to placebo.  Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN), also known as contrast associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI), is an uncommon but serious complication following ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE  6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET, March 18, 2024  To coincide with publication in The Gerontologist  Media Contact: Suzanne Leigh (415) 680-5133  Suzanne.Leigh@UCSF.edu   Subscribe to UCSF News     People with dementia and those who care for them should be screened for loneliness, so providers can find ways to keep them socially connected, according to experts at UC San Francisco and Harvard, who made the recommendations after finding that both groups experienced declines in social well-being as the disease progressed.      The patients, whose ...