Waltham — January 3, 2024 — Chronic pain affects approximately 60% of people living with traumatic brain injury (TBI), even up to 30 years after injury, according to new research published in The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (JHTR), the official journal of the Brain Injury Association of America. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.  "This is the first study to examine the experience of chronic pain in a large TBI sample this far post-injury," explain Cynthia Harrison-Felix, PhD, FACRM, Co-Project Director of the TBI Model System ...

A groundbreaking study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine provides new insights into the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and its associated health impacts. Researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine led by David Gozal, M.D., M.B.A., Ph.D. (Hon), vice president of health affairs at Marshall University and dean of the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, explored innovative therapeutic strategies that could greatly advance the understanding and management of OSA-related ...

Seismic events that coincided with sudden drops in pressure within the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines in September 2022 alerted the world to the rupture of pipelines in the western Baltic Sea. The suspected act of sabotage, which reportedly used explosive charges to rupture the pipelines, is still under investigation by multiple countries. A new study published in The Seismic Record provides further evidence that the Nord Stream seismic signals came from a complex source. The signals lasted longer than would be expected from a single explosive source, the ...

For children, the world is full of surprises. Adults, on the other hand, are much more difficult to surprise. And there are complex processes behind this apparently straightforward state of affairs. Researchers at the University of Basel have been using mice to decode how reactions to the unexpected develop in the growing brain. Babies love playing peekaboo, continuing to react even on the tenth sudden appearance of their partner in the game. Recognizing the unexpected is an important cognitive ability. After all, new can also mean dangerous. The exact way in which surprises are processed in the brain changes as we grow, however: unusual ...

ANN ARBOR—Because same-sex sexual behavior does not result in offspring, evolutionary biologists have long wondered how the genes associated with this behavior have persisted in the human genome, and whether they will remain in the future. A new University of Michigan-led study, scheduled for publication Jan. 3 in the journal Science Advances, suggests that part of the explanation—specifically for male bisexuals—has to do with risk-taking behavior. The U-M researchers analyzed data from more than 450,000 participants of European ancestry in the United Kingdom's Biobank database of genetic and health information. Participants responded to a questionnaire ...

Researchers have created a new brain imaging method that allows mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs) to be diagnosed, even when existing imaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) don’t show any structural abnormalities. The technique involves loading gadolinium, a standard MRI contrast agent, into hydrogel-based micropatches that are attached to immune cells called macrophages. mTBIs cause inflammation in the brain, which produces signals that attract macrophages to migrate there. Coupling the gadolinium contrast agent to these cells enables MRI to reveal ...

Weill Cornell Medicine researchers received a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program to validate a new blood test for the early detection of breast cancer. Researchers are evaluating Syantra DX Breast Cancer (Syantra Inc.), an experimental diagnostic test that detects specific biomarkers in blood associated with breast cancer. The test uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to determine whether a patient is positive for cancer as soon as detectable by mammogram or possibly earlier, and before symptoms arise. “This new liquid biopsy, ...

Scientists have created a new treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) that shrank brain lesions by 56% and significantly reduced local inflammation levels in pigs. The new approach leverages macrophages, a type of white blood cell that can dial inflammation up or down in the body in response to infection and injury. The team created disc-shaped microparticles called “backpacks” containing anti-inflammatory molecules, then attached them directly to the macrophages. These molecules kept the cells in an anti-inflammatory state ...

MADISON – Like mail carriers who manage to deliver their parcels through snow, rain, heat and gloom, a critical group of mammalian proteins helps cells function properly even under less-than-ideal conditions. Using state-of-the-art cell imaging and genome editing technology, University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists have begun to unravel how this collection of proteins performs its essential service. The discovery could eventually help researchers better understand and develop new treatments for diseases like cancer, diabetes and those that cause immune dysfunction. Led by Anjon Audhya, a professor in the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, the research team sought ...

“[...] we were able to confirm the functional role of three genes (MANBA, TNFRSF13B and EEF1A1) in the IgG galactosylation pathway [...]” BUFFALO, NY- January 3, 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 15, Issue 24, entitled, “Mapping of the gene network that regulates glycan clock of ageing.” Glycans are an essential structural component of immunoglobulin G (IgG) that modulate its structure and function. However, regulatory mechanisms behind this complex posttranslational ...

DURHAM, N.C. – If you have a deep-seated, nagging worry over dropping your phone in molten lava, you’re in luck. A research team led by materials scientists at Duke University has developed a method for rapidly discovering a new class of materials with heat and electronic tolerances so rugged that they that could enable devices to function at lava-like temperatures above several thousands of degrees Fahrenheit. Harder than steel and stable in chemically corrosive environments, these materials ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Care for patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related squamous cell cancers of the oropharynx (an area in back of the throat) is shifting toward community cancer centers, but patients treated in this setting may be less likely to survive, according to new research by investigators from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Head and Neck Cancer Center.  The study, published Jan. 3 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, raises concerns about the quality of care that patients with this type of head and neck cancer receive outside of academic medical centers. Patients treated ...

INDIANAPOLIS—A beta blocker typically used to treat heart problems, hemangioma, migraines and anxiety could be a new therapeutic for patients with sickle cell disease. Researchers led by Ankit A. Desai, MD, associate professor of medicine at the Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center (KCVRC) at Indiana University School of Medicine, have been awarded a $3 million grant by the U.S. Department of Defense to evaluate the efficacy of this drug. Patients with sickle cell disease, a red blood ...

Cleveland Clinic and the University of Western Ontario have been awarded a $4.9 million grant from Helmsley Charitable Trust to build a consortium to develop clinical trial outcome tools for patients with Crohn's disease and permanent ileostomy. A permanent ileostomy is a surgical procedure to divert stool from the intestine after removing part of or the whole colon. The new Endpoint Development for Ostomy Clinical Trial (EndO-trial) Consortium seeks to develop more effective drugs for patients with Crohn's disease who have undergone ...

Chlorophyll plays a pivotal role in photosynthesis, which is why plants have evolved to have high chlorophyll levels in their leaves. However, making this pigment is expensive because plants invest a significant portion of the available nitrogen in both chlorophyll and the special proteins that bind it. As a result, nitrogen is unavailable for other processes. In a new study, researchers reduced the chlorophyll levels in leaves to see if the plant would invest the nitrogen saved into other process that might improve nutritional quality. Over the past few decades, researchers ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- When water vapor meets metal, the resulting corrosion can lead to mechanical problems that harm a machine’s performance. Through a process called passivation, it also can form a thin inert layer that acts as a barrier against further deterioration. Either way, the exact chemical reaction is not well understood on an atomic level, but that is changing thanks to a technique called environmental transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which allows researchers to directly view molecules interacting ...

New research from the University of Warwick reveals that words like 'sex' endure in our language in a ‘survival of the fittest’ way, similar to natural selection. Whilst the recent announcement of Word of the Year explores new words, like ‘rizz’ or ‘situationship’, Professor Thomas Hills’ research delves into why some words survive in our modern linguistic landscape, while others don’t. The study concludes that words with the strongest lasting power are: Words acquired earlier in life Words associated with things people can see ...

NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences and Sarah Lawrence College today announced the launch of a master’s program in genome health analysis (GHA). Building on the strengths of both institutions, the new program will focus on analyses of patient genomes, the complete sets of genetic information in human cells. New tools have dramatically increased the amount and quality of genomic data available on each patient, but the field is constrained by the small number of experts trained to use and apply ...

A new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus finds that older adult drivers who are recently diagnosed with migraines are three times as likely to experience a motor vehicle crash. Older adult drivers who reported having ever had migraines in the past were no more likely to have a motor vehicle crash than those without migraines. Additionally, study results, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, explored the relationships medications commonly prescribed for migraine management have with increased crash risk. “Migraine headaches affect ...

BOSTON – Preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy—which are characterized by high blood pressure with or without organ dysfunction during the second half of pregnancy—carry considerable short- and long-term risks for both the mother and child. Treatment options (other than expedited delivery) remain limited. A team led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Broad Institute recently identified several proteins with strong evidence of causal or protective roles for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, which could provide clues into how the conditions arise and how they might be prevented or treated. In the study, which ...

INFORMS Journal Marketing Science Study Key Takeaways: Crowdsourcing generates thousands of ideas for new products. AI can immediately help screen out bad ideas and narrow the field to the best ones in crowdsourcing to improve efficiency. Ultimately, AI could identify the best ideas or even design good ideas.   BALTIMORE, MD, January 3, 2024 – New research has found a way to leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to more efficiently screen out bad ideas to focus on only good ideas in the crowdsourcing process within ideation. More specifically, the research has arrived at a simple model ...

Consider the cornea if you will – and most people won’t unless they’re having a problem. It is the transparent front surface of the eye which allows vision by focusing light as it enters. The cornea is densely packed with multi-tasking nerves that mediate pain, blink reflexes and tear production, all indispensable tasks in the proper maintenance of ocular surface health. Because it is highly innervated, meaning it has a lot of nerve connections, the cornea is a key area for understanding sensory functions.    But ...

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester find that microglia—the brain’s immune cells—can trigger cognitive deficits after radiation exposure and may be a key target for preventing these symptoms. These findings, out today in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Biophysics, build on previous research showing that after radiation exposure microglia damage synapses, the connections between neurons that are important for cognitive ...

Mount Sinai researchers have shown for the first time that a person’s beliefs related to drugs can influence their own brain activity and behavioral responses in a way comparable to the dose-dependent effects of pharmacology. The implications of the study, which directly focused on beliefs about nicotine, are profound. They range from elucidating how the neural mechanisms underlying beliefs may play a key role in addiction, to optimizing pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments by leveraging the power of human beliefs. The study was published in the journal Nature Mental Health. “Beliefs can have a powerful influence on our behavior, ...

Ear infections are a common childhood experience, but a new study suggests parents should take these infections seriously to preserve their children’s language development. That’s because each ear infection can potentially impair hearing with fluid building up behind the eardrum. New research from University of Florida scientists reveals that when ear infections become chronic, this repeated, temporary hearing loss can lead to deficits in auditory processing and language development in children years later. “Ear ...