It’s not exactly what he’s best known for, but Alexander Hamilton helped develop the first national, compulsory health insurance policy in the world: a 1798 taxpayer-financed plan Congress approved to cover sick and disabled seamen.  “The interests of humanity are concerned in it,” Hamilton wrote.  And they still are, as MIT Professor Amy Finkelstein notes in a new book. The U.S. has repeatedly tried to provide medical care for those who need it and cannot afford it. These efforts may have started with Hamilton, but ...

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered a key driver of chronic inflammation that accelerates aging. That finding could let us slow the clock to live longer, healthier lives, and may allow us to prevent age-related conditions such as deadly heart disease and devastating brain disorders that rob us of our faculties. So what drives this harmful inflammation? The answer is improper calcium signaling in the mitochondria of certain immune cells. Mitochondria are the power generators in all cells, ...

**Images available** Nine European countries, including the UK, have today (25 July 2023) joined forces to commit to the construction of the European Solar Telescope (EST) The EST will be the biggest solar telescope ever constructed in Europe and aims to provide unparalleled new insights into the phenomena of space weather The University of Sheffield will lead a consortium of UK universities that will help to develop designs for the construction of the large-aperture solar telescope The first light of the EST is ...

A molecular imaging tool developed by researchers at the University of California’s two nationally ranked medical centers, UCLA and UCSF, helps improve the accuracy of predicting the risk of cancer recurrence in patients with intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer who undergo surgery. The tool, known as prostate-specific membrane antigen PET imaging, or PSMA PET, provides prognostic information before treatment begins that can predict if the patient will have a high risk for the cancer returning after surgery. “In patients ...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which affects an estimated 6.5 million adults in the United States, hits some groups harder than others. Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanic Americans are 1.5 times as likely to develop AD, and African Americans are twice as likely. But scientists know little about the reasons behind these disparities, because the vast majority of AD research has been done with non-Hispanic white people. A new study that reviewed 11,871 research articles on AD brain imaging, led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, has now revealed the extent of ...

Cancer patients saw a significant fall in Covid-related hospitalisations and mortality following the rollout of vaccines in the first panoramic study of its kind.   The research published in Scientific Reports today (Tuesday 25 July) looked at the impact of the global pandemic on case-outcome rates for cancer patients across a 21-month period from November 2020 to August 2022. The team of researchers led by the University of Birmingham found that hospitalisations in the period fell from nearly one in three patients (30.58%) to one in 13 patients (7.45%); and, case-mortality rates fell from more than one in five patients (20.53%) to less than one in 30 patients (3.25%).   Among ...

A new paper in Biology Methods & Protocols, published by Oxford University Press, shows it may be possible to design vaccines that will induce a stronger immune response to infecting pathogens, such as the virus causing COVID-19. In this study, the authors proposed and tested a new bioinformatic approach and tool that allows researchers to select parts of proteins that will elicit a strong immune response. Vaccines developed based on this approach would provide better protection from diseases. The immune system of humans (and other vertebrates) discriminates between self and non-self structures to attack and destroy the latter. T cells are the part of the immune system ...

Adding a flux during the synthesis of oxyhydrides is a promising strategy to obtain a pure, homogenous product, reveal scientists from Tokyo Tech. An SrCl2 flux promoted the melting of a part of reactants and facilitated their diffusion of reactants, which proved to be the key to producing highly pure SrVO2.4H0.6 or Sr3V2O6.2H0.8 perovskite oxyhydrides in high-pressure and high-temperature reactions. These compounds have potential as catalysts and as electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries.      Perovskite oxyhydrides ...

As a bold venture at the forefront of biomedical research, the PULSE project is poised to develop paradigm-changing bioprinting technology for applications in space and on Earth. Awarded nearly 4 million euros by the European Innovation Council’s Pathfinder Open, PULSE emerges from interdisciplinary scientific collaborations and, over five years, will foster technological innovations to improve human health and pave the way for safer and more sustainable space exploration. By combining magnetic and acoustic levitation into an innovative bioprinting platform, PULSE’s device should be capable of achieving unparalleled spatiotemporal control of cell deposition. ...

Philadelphia, July 25, 2023—In the largest study of its kind, researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) used electronic health record (EHR) data from more than 200,000 pediatric patients to describe patterns of pediatric allergies across the United States, validating a population-level pattern of allergy development known as the “allergic march,” in which allergies first present as eczema, followed by food allergies, asthma, and environmental allergies. The ...

In the quest to unravel the underlying mechanisms of natural systems, accurately identifying causal interactions is of paramount importance. Leveraging the advancements in time-series data collection through cutting-edge technologies, computational methods have emerged as powerful tools for inferring causality. However, existing model-free methods have struggled to differentiate between generalized synchrony* and causality, leading to false predictions. On the other hand, model-based methods, while accurate, have been limited by their dependence on specific models, hindering their widespread applicability. *Synchrony ...

In-cell engineering can be a powerful tool for synthesizing functional protein crystals with promising catalytic properties, show researchers at Tokyo Tech. Using genetically modified bacteria as an environmentally friendly synthesis platform, the researchers produced hybrid solid catalysts for artificial photosynthesis. These catalysts exhibit high activity, stability, and durability, highlighting the potential of the proposed innovative approach. Protein crystals, like regular crystals, are well-ordered molecular structures with diverse properties and a huge potential for customization. They can assemble naturally from materials found within cells, which not only greatly reduces the synthesis ...

Can poor sleep and circadian rhythm make chronic pain conditions worse? Edson College Assistant Professor Chung Jung Mun plans to find out through an innovative longitudinal study.  Mun was awarded a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, to explore the possible connection. “There are countless individuals suffering from multiple chronic pain disorders. A person with chronic migraine headaches is also likely to suffer from chronic low back pain. What we’re trying to find ...

A Texas A&M University doctoral student has collaborated with an innovative surgical navigation and robotics company on motion capture research that can potentially improve implant alignment during knee replacement surgeries. Aaron Henry is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Engineering program in the Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering. He worked with Caira Surgical, a surgical navigation and robotic orthopedic surgery company that focuses on simplifying workflows and developing technological ...

A mouse injured on one leg experiences an “awakening” of stem cells in the other leg as if the cells are preparing to heal an injury. Something similar happens in axolotls, which are masters at limb regeneration. Heart injuries in zebrafish can trigger certain changes in far-away organs like the kidney and brain. “In many different organisms, you can see the whole body respond to an injury. But whether or not those responses actually have any function has been unclear,” says Bo Wang, assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford, “So that’s what we’re focusing on.” In ...

Jakarta … San Francisco … Shanghai … Phoenix … Houston. These major cities and others around the globe have many similarities, but they share one particular commonality that is concerning for residents. They are among the global cities most affected by climate change. While each of these cities has proven resilient for centuries, urban planners, community leaders and civil engineers continue to address their many environmental challenges. In preparing for these cities’ future, however, it might be more ...

Most of the earthquakes rumbling under the West’s Great Basin come in surges, clustered together in time and place. Scientists call these seismic groups “swarms,” which are a distinct category from the numerous aftershocks following a big shake, such as the 5.7 magnitude Magna quake of 2020 on the Wasatch Fault. Rather than getting spread out evenly over time, many of these small, often imperceptible quakes strike a region in a short period of time, say a few days or weeks. Central Utah has been the stage for dozens of earthquake swarms that have been recorded over the past 40 years by an ever-expanding network of seismic arrays managed by the University ...

Encouraging Latinx adolescents of Mexican origin to embrace their ethnic pride, cultural values, and connections to their cultural community contributes to positive development and better adjustment during adolescence, a new University of California, Davis, psychology study suggests. Moreover, researchers said, cultural preservation can help Latinx youth cope with adverse life experiences and social threats such as racism and discrimination. The study results were published this month in ...

A Chapman University scientist and his colleagues have determined how the Earth responds as it heats up due to climate change. The scientists say a warming world calls for a new approach in detecting how much carbon dioxide comes out of ecosystems when the temperature changes  — which tells us how well plants and soil can alleviate damage by removing carbon pollution from the atmosphere. The study is the first to find the temperature-carbon dioxide release relationship at the landscape level.  Their ...

An international team of scientists from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and the Water Research Group from the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management at the North-West University in South Africa have discovered a new species of marine cryptofauna in the Florida Keys. Cryptofauna are the tiny, hidden, organisms that make up the majority of biodiversity in the ocean. The roughly three-millimeter-long isopod is one of only 15 species from the genus Gnathia currently known in the region. The newly discovered species, Gnathia jimmybuffetti, which is a member of a group of crustaceans called gnathiid isopods, were collected ...

PORTLAND, Ore. – Researchers in the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy have developed a drug delivery system that shows promise for greatly enhancing the efficacy of the medicine given to women with the life-threatening condition of ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the lining of the uterus. Olena Taratula of the OSU College of Pharmacy, and Maureen Baldwin and Leslie Myatt of Oregon Health & Science University led a team that used a mouse model to show ...

At first glance, Canada appears to have responded adequately to the covid-19 emergency, but beneath the surface lie major pandemic failures, warns a series of articles published by The BMJ today. The BMJ Canada Covid Series provides a critical analysis of what worked and what didn’t in Canada’s covid-19 response and calls for a national independent  review to learn lessons and ensure accountability for the past and future preparedness. The articles, written by leading clinicians and researchers representing 13 institutions across Canada, highlight long-standing weaknesses ...

Self-reported data from lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) patients shows these groups have poorer health outcomes compared to those who identify as heterosexual, but bisexual people disproportionally experience the worst outcomes in England.    These new findings, published today in the peer-reviewed journal The Journal of Sex Research, indicate that bisexual people face additional health disparities within an already marginalised community.    Experts, from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Anglia Ruskin University who led the analysis of more than 835,000 adults in England, suggests the disparities could result from unique prejudice and discrimination ...

Davis, CA – Mother-daughter duo Jennifer Canvasser and Leslie Napolitano have published Forever Our Little One, a storybook for bereaved families. Jennifer is the executive director of the Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) Society, which she founded after her son Micah tragically died from complications of NEC. Leslie is an artist and illustrator who helped care for her grandson Micah during his time in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. Jennifer wrote the storybook for families ...

Irvine, Calif., July 24, 2023 – Reducing waste is one way to help combat hunger around the world, but stricter control over food loss and waste does not lead to better environmental outcomes, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Colorado Boulder. In a paper published recently in Nature Food, the scientists stress that curbing food spoilage increases the amount of produce in markets, which leads to lower costs. Cheaper food encourages people to buy and eat more, offsetting the lowering of greenhouse gas ...