Imagine sitting out in the sun, reading a digital screen as thin as paper, but seeing the same image quality as if you were indoors. Thanks to research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, it could soon be a reality. A new type of reflective screen - sometimes described as 'electronic paper' - offers optimal colour display, while using ambient light to keep energy consumption to a minimum. Traditional digital screens use a backlight to illuminate the text or images displayed upon them. This is fine indoors, but we've all experienced the difficulties of viewing such screens in bright sunshine. Reflective screens, however, attempt to use the ambient light, mimicking the way our eyes ...

Researchers have identified a specialized protein that appears to help prevent tumor cells from entering the bloodstream and spreading to other parts of the body. "We have discovered that this protein, TRPM7, senses the pressure of fluid flowing in the circulation and stops the cells from spreading through the vascular system," said Kaustav Bera, a Johns Hopkins University PhD candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering and a lead author of the study, which was done with colleagues at the University of Alberta and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. "We found that metastatic tumor cells have markedly reduced levels of this sensor protein, and that is why they ...

Men over 60 with low-risk prostate cancer could spend ten years with no active treatment, have a better sex life as a result, yet still be very unlikely to die from the disease, new research has found. The findings come from two new studies looking at 'active surveillance' of prostate cancer - when the disease is closely monitored but not treated - presented at the European Association of Urology congress, EAU21, today. The first uses data from Sweden's National Prostate Cancer Register, which has information on virtually every man diagnosed with the disease in that country since 1998 - 23,649 of whom went on active surveillance. ...

Care homes need to be vigilant for outbreaks of COVID-19, even after residents have received two doses of the vaccine, according to new research being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held online this year. Long-term care facilities, such as care homes with elderly residents with multiple underlying conditions, are at high risk of COVID-19 outbreaks and many vaccination campaigns have initially focused on care home residents and the staff looking after them. An outbreak in a French care home, however, raises questions about how effective the vaccine is in the elderly. Martin Martinot, of ...

COVID-19 outbreaks in French nursing homes almost certainly started in staff - and none of measures put in place stopped the virus from taking hold, new research being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held online this year, shows. Residents of long-term care facilities represent a small fraction of the general population but account for a disproportionate number of SARS-CoV-2-related deaths in many countries. In France, 5,203 outbreaks (of 1 case or more) were reported in nursing homes during the first wave of COVID-19. In the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, there were 651 outbreaks, 3,885 residents had confirmed COVID-19 infection and 1,772 ...

The flu vaccine may provide vital protection against COVID-19, new research being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held online this year, concludes. An analysis of patient data from around the world strongly suggests that the annual flu shot reduces the risk of stroke, sepsis and DVT in patients with COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 who had been vaccinated against flu were also less likely to visit the emergency department and be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Immunising the world against COVID-19 is a daunting challenge and, although production and distribution of vaccines increases daily, some countries are not expected to vaccinate large numbers of their population ...

A vaccine to protect against infection with hepatitis C could be in use within 5 years, says Professor Sir Michael Houghton, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology along with three other scientists for discovering the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 1989. Sir Michael will discuss the development of a vaccine in a special presentation at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held online this year. Up to 2 million new HCV infections occur every year around the world, with an estimated 70 million carriers of the virus globally, most of whom are not diagnosed. The virus is estimated to cause some 400,000 deaths annually. Many infected with the virus go on to develop liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. "While the advent of ...

Water-jet nozzles in electric toilets--commonly used in Japan and other parts of Asia--may be reservoirs for multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRP) in hospitals, increasing the risk of dangerous germ transmission among patients, according to new research being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held online this year. "This is the first report of hospital transmissions associated with electric toilets and could have major implications for infection control," says Dr Itaru Nakamura from Tokyo Medical University Hospital ...

New research presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) taking place online (9-12 July) shows that covering high-touch (the most regularly touched) surfaces in hospitals with silver-impregnated foil could significantly reduce levels of contamination by clinically important bacterial pathogens. The study by Professor Andreas Widmer and colleagues at the University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland, evaluated the antimicrobial effectiveness of a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foil containing an integrated silver-based agent containing 2% silver ions. The hospital environment has increasingly been recognised as having critical importance when formulating infection control measures ...

Obese patients with a form of advanced prostate cancer survive longer than overweight and normal weight patients, new research has found. The study, presented today at the European Association of Urology congress, EAU21, followed more than 1500 patients over three years. Patients classed as obese - with a BMI over 30 - had a ten percent higher survival rate than thinner patients over 36 months. Although obesity is usually associated with an increased risk of death from many cancers and some other chronic diseases, there is some evidence in a few cancers of a survival advantage for patients with high body mass index. ...

Being immersed in a stunning 'virtual' Icelandic landscape can reduce the pain caused by uncomfortable medical procedures, new research has found. The study compared patients with and without virtual reality (VR) headsets having rigid cystoscopies, where a rigid telescope is inserted through the urethra into the bladder. The research is being presented today at the European Association of Urology congress, EAU21. Diagnosing and treating bladder cancer usually requires checking the bladder through a cystoscopy, which is perceived by patients as unpleasant and painful. Some patients avoid follow-up and as a result suffer uncontrolled and irreversible development of the disease. It is possible to have a flexible cystoscopy, which is less painful, ...

A new class of drug successfully targets treatment-resistant prostate cancers and prolongs the life of patients. The treatment delivers beta radiation directly to tumour cells, is well tolerated by patients and keeps them alive for longer than standard care, found a phase 3 trial to be presented at the European Association of Urology congress, EAU21, today. Despite progress in medicine in recent years, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer remains untreatable and fatal. The new treatment, known as Lu-PSMA-617, takes a new approach, targeting a molecule called PSMA, which is known to be increased on the surfaces of the tumour cells, destroying them and their surrounding microenvironment. Professor Johann de Bono, Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at The ...

Using an existing drug for late-stage kidney cancer at an earlier stage of the disease could reduce the risk of cancer recurring by a third, according to new research. The findings from the Phase III trial are presented today at the European Association of Urology congress (EAU21). There is a high risk of kidney cancer returning, following surgery to remove tumours, but there is currently no treatment to help prevent this. The KEYNOTE study involved just under 1000 patients with kidney cancer who had undergone surgery. Half of them were given the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, or pembro, and the other half a placebo. Pembro is used to treat a number of cancers, including late-stage kidney cancer, where the disease has spread to ...

Researchers in Belgium report on the case of a 90-year-old woman who was simultaneously infected with two different variants of concern (VOCs) of COVID-19, in a Case Report being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held online this year. On March 3 2021, the woman, whose medical history was unremarkable, was admitted to the OLV Hospital in the Belgian city of Aalst after a spate of falls. She tested positive for COVID-19 on the same day. She lived alone and received nursing care at home, and had not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Initially, there were no ...

New research being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held online this year, reveals raw dog food to be a major source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making it an international public health risk. With some of the multidrug-resistant bacteria in raw dog food identical to those found in hospital patients in several different European countries, the researchers say the trend for feeding dogs raw food may be fuelling the spread of antibiotic resistant-bacteria. Drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 700,000 people a year globally and, with the figure projected to rise to 10 million ...

The dangerous mcr-1 gene, which provides resistance to the last-resort antibiotic colistin, has been found in four healthy humans and two pet dogs. In two cases, both dog and owner were harbouring the gene, according to new research being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held online this year. Since first being reported in China in 2015, the mcr-1 gene has been found in various people and animals around the world. It confers resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort used to treat infections from some bacteria resistant to all other antibiotics. The nightmare scenario that could emerge is mcr-1 combining with already drug-resistant bacteria ...

Nashville, Tenn. (3:24 p.m. EDT--July 10, 2021)--Approximately 12 percent of patients who underwent shoulder stabilization surgery experience arthritis in the shoulder joint within a seven-year period, according to research presented today at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine-Arthroscopy Association of North America Combined 2021 Annual Meeting. "While arthroscopic stabilization for posterior glenohumeral instability has shown excellent success preventing recurrent instability and allowing return to sport, eventual progression to glenohumeral arthritis ...

Nashville, Tenn. (July 10 2021--2:25 EDT)--Patients undergoing hip arthroscopy with high-grade cartilage damage do not see as positive results compared with patients with lower grade cartilage damage, according to research reported today at the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine- Arthroscopy Association of North America Combined 2021 Annual Meeting. The research was presented by Dominic Carreira, MD, of Peachtree Orthopedics in Atlanta, Ga. Dr. Carreira and his colleagues sought to determine what the impact of acetabular cartilage damage on outcomes following primary repair of acetabular labral tears. When articular cartilage is damaged, joint ...

Nashville, Tenn. (1:35 p.m. EDT--July 10, 2021) -- Use of a biodegradable balloon spacer during massive rotator cuff tear surgery produced similar outcomes when compared to partial rotator cuff repair for patients with massive rotator cuff tears (MRCTs) at 24-month follow up, with potential for early improvement, according to research presented today at the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine - Arthroscopy Association of North America Combined 2021 Annual Meeting. Despite various treatment options, the successful management of irreparable, MRCTs remains challenging. Implantation of a biodegradable subacromial balloon spacer has gained considerable interest for the treatment of MCRTs due to its potential to recenter the humeral ...

"Topological defects" are formed when the symmetry of a magnetic material is disrupted. Domain walls (DWs) are a type of topological defect that separates regions of different magnetic orientations. A widely studied phenomenon, the manipulation of these defects has potential applications in high-performance memory storage devices, energy processing devices, and quantum computing. Recently, the possibility of other topological defects embedded in or combined with DWs has gained attention for their potential applications in different fields of physics. Some examples of these "defects within defects" ...

Supplementing testosterone significantly reduces heart attacks and strokes in men with unnaturally low levels of the hormone, according to new research presented at the European Association of Urology congress today. The ten-year study involved over 800 men from Germany and Qatar with testosterone deficiency, whose family history, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes or weight put them at high risk of heart attack or stroke. Only men with testosterone levels below normal, who also displayed symptoms of low testosterone, such as low mood, decreased appetite, depression, erectile dysfunction, loss of libido or weight gain, were included in the research. Just ...

Outpatient antibiotic prescribing fell by almost 4% a year between 2011 and 2018, according to a study of prescribing patterns in the largest integrated health care system in the USA, being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held online this year. Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities play a large role in the provision of outpatient care across the USA, providing care to over 9 million Veterans at more than 1,200 outpatient clinics. The researchers speculate that the downward trend may be related to the antibiotic stewardship programmes widely implemented across the Veterans ...

New research presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) taking place online (9-12 July), suggests that three commonly prescribed classes of drugs that are not themselves antibiotics--proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), beta-blockers and antimetabolites--could lead to antibiotic resistant infections caused by bacteria from the Enterobacteriaceae family. These antibiotic resistant infections are in turn linked to longer hospital stays and potentially greater risk of death. The observational study underscores the importance of commonly used non-antimicrobial drugs (NAMDs) as a risk factor for antibiotic resistance, researchers say. Bacteria are thought to develop antibiotic resistance largely due to repeated exposure through over-prescribing, ...

*Note: this paper is being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) and is being published in The Lancet Public Health. Please credit both the congress and the journal in your stories* New research from Switzerland presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), held online this year, shows that people living in poorer neighbourhoods were less likely to be tested for COVID-19 but more likely to test positive, be hospitalised, or die, compared with those in more wealthy areas. The study is by Professor ...

A new study (the ATOMIC2 trial), presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) and published simultaneously in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, shows the antimicrobial drug azithromycin - already approved for use in multiple infections - does not prevent mild COVID-19 cases progressing to hospitalisation or death. The study, by Dr Timothy Hinks, John Radcliffe Hospital and University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues, shows that azithromycin should not be used as a treatment for COVID-19 and all countries must stop using it for this purpose, to prevent resistance developing to azithromycin in other infections. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has not only started a rush to develop new treatments, but also investigations ...