Genetic variants linked to a rare form of bicuspid aortic valve disease that affects young adults and can lead to dangerous and potentially life-threatening aortic complications have been identified by researchers at UTHealth Houston. The study was published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics. “We previously found that young individuals who present due to early onset thoracic aortic dissections are more likely to have bicuspid aortic valves and more likely to have rare variants in bicuspid aortic valve-associated genes,” said Siddharth Prakash, MD, PhD, co-principal investigator of the study and associate professor of medical ...

A research paper by scientists at Beijing Institute of Technology proposed a universal system for remote signal output control using infrared signals. The new research paper, published on Jul. 05 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, proposed a system that integrates high-precision digital-to-analog converters capable of generating customized waveform electrical stimulation signals within defined ranges. This enhances the accuracy of locomotion control in cyborg insects while maintaining real-time control and dynamic parameter adjustment. The proposed system is verified by experiments. The integration of electronic stimulation devices with insects in ...

A study on vaping behaviour among Australian high school students has found those who reported severe depressive symptoms were over twice as likely to have tried e-cigarettes, compared to those reporting no depressive symptoms. Data showed overall higher e-cigarette use among those with poorer mental health, including severe depressive symptoms, moderate and high stress, and low wellbeing.  The findings show a critical need for effective mental health support at the same time as vaping prevention during early adolescence -- when these issues first emerge. The researchers surveyed over ...

Korean researchers are pushing for a new AI-based policy intelligence research project that can assist the public decision-making and policy execution of domestic and foreign local governments. Electronics and Communications Research Institute (ETRI) announced on July 1 that they have decided to establish a cooperative system with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)1) to conduct further research regarding the development of an AI policy intelligence system that can assist public policy decision-making. 1) International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA): An independent international research institute located ...

About The Study: Pulmonary vein isolation resulted in a statistically significant and clinically important decrease in atrial fibrillation burden at 6 months, with substantial improvements in symptoms and quality of life, compared with a sham procedure. Corresponding Authors: To contact the corresponding authors, email Rick A. Veasey, MD, (rick.veasey@nhs.net) and Rajdip Dulai, MBBS, (rajdip.dulai.21@ucl.ac.uk) To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.17921) Editor’s ...

About The Study: At the lesion level, very intensive lipid-lowering therapy induced substantially greater percent atheroma volume regression than described in previous vessel-level analyses. Compared with statin therapy alone, alirocumab treatment was associated with greater enlargement of the lesion minimum lumen area and more frequent transition of presumably high-risk plaque phenotypes into more stable, less lipid-rich plaque phenotypes.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lorenz ...

Alternative splicing is a genetic process where different segments of genes are removed, and the remaining pieces are joined together during transcription to messenger RNA (mRNA). This mechanism increases the diversity of proteins that can be generated from genes, by assembling sections of genetic code into different combinations. This is believed to enhance biological complexity by allowing genes to produce different versions of proteins, or protein isoforms, for many different uses. New research from the University of Chicago suggests that alternative splicing may have an even greater influence on biology than just by creating new protein isoforms. The ...

Cities in the Global South are more exposed to extreme heat because they lack cooling green spaces, new research shows. The study found that Global South cities have just 70% of the “cooling capacity” provided by urban greenery in the Global North. With temperatures rising, combined with the “urban heat island” effects that make cities hotter than rural areas, heat-related illness and death in cities are becoming more common. Urban green spaces can help reduce this risk, cooling down outdoor environments and providing vital refuges. The research – led by an international team including Nanjing, Exeter, Aarhus and North Carolina State universities – ...

Securing the world's water supply is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Research at Stockholm University is now presenting an alternative method for quantifying the global risk of water scarcity. Results indicate higher risks to water supply than previously expected if accounting for the environmental conditions and governability where rain is produced. The common idea of global water supply is rain falling on the earth's surface and then stored in aquifers, lakes, and rivers. This idea is usually used to assess water security and the risk of water scarcity. However, a new study published in Nature Water shows how the water risks are dependent on governance ...

Nowadays, there’s lots of buzz about spectacular new medical treatments such as personalised cancer therapy with modified immune cells or antibodies. Such treatments, however, are very complex and expensive and so find only limited application. Most medical therapies are still based on small chemical compounds that can be produced in large quantities and thus at low cost. Billions of new molecules in just a few weeks The bottleneck in the development of new molecular therapies is the limited number of new active ...

White women are paid up to eight times more for their eggs than Black women in the US, according to data uncovered by the author of a new book which exposes the lesser-known ramifications of egg donation. Eggonomics by Diane M. Tober reveals statistics and stories which illuminate the rarely-told, complex realities of egg donation, and airs personal accounts of disturbing power imbalances within the industry.  She takes a microscope to the industry across the globe, but in particular in the U.S. and Spain. Donor disparities Tober finds ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Wearable, long-term continuous heart monitors helped identify 52% more cases of atrial fibrillation compared to usual care, but that did not lead to a reduction in hospitalizations due to stroke, according to a study led by the Duke Clinical Research Institute.   The findings, reported Sept. 1 at the European Society of Cardiology meeting and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, provide inconclusive data about whether atrial fibrillation screening lowers stroke rates. The COVID pandemic led to an early halt of the study before fully enrolling, so it did not ...

Singapore, 2 September 2024 – In a new study, clinician-scientists and researchers from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) have demonstrated the use of exosomes to successfully target squamous cell cancer tumours that are usually resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Their research is the first where exosomes have been applied to target TKI-resistant cancers in Singapore. The findings were published in the journal Developmental Cell last month. Epidermal growth factor receptor, also known as EGFR, is a biomarker ...

Finerenone reduced the composite of total first and recurrent heart failure (HF) events (hospitalizations for HF or urgent HF visits) and cardiovascular death in patients with HF and mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction, according to an international clinical trial led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. Heart failure events and cardiovascular death were less common in the finerenone group than in the placebo group. Overall, the rate of serious adverse events was similar across the groups, but rates of hyperkalemia—elevated levels of potassium in the blood—were higher for the ...

The SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin confers kidney-protective benefits and can therefore be given safely and effectively to patients when they are hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (MI), a Mount Sinai-led global team of researchers has shown. The team, led by Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, MBA, Director of the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and the Dr. Valentin Fuster Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, performed a secondary analysis of the results from a worldwide trial known as EMPACT-MI. They also demonstrated that empagliflozin can consistently reduce heart failure events ...

About The Study: For atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery prophylaxis, supplementation only when serum potassium concentration fell below 3.6 mEq/L was noninferior to the current widespread practice of supplementing potassium to maintain a serum potassium concentration greater than or equal to 4.5 mEq/L. The lower threshold of supplementation was not associated with any increase in dysrhythmias or adverse clinical outcomes. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Benjamin O’Brien, MD, PhD, email Ben.OBrien@dhzc-charite.de. To ...

About The Study: Among Black African adults with uncontrolled hypertension, a low-dose triple-pill protocol achieved better blood pressure lowering and control with good tolerability compared with the standard-care protocol. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Anthony Rodgers, PhD, email arodgers@georgeinstitute.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.18080) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, ...

Research supported by the National Institutes of Health has found that measuring two types of fat in the bloodstream along with C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, can predict a woman’s risk for cardiovascular disease decades later. These findings, presented as late-breaking research at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2024, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “We can’t treat what we don’t measure, and we hope these findings move the field closer to identifying even earlier ways to detect and prevent heart disease,” ...

KEY TAKEAWAYS Brigham researchers assessed data from more than 27,000 participants in the Women’s Health Study who were followed for 30 years. An initial, one-time measure of three biological markers—hsCRP, LDL-cholesterol and lipoprotein(a)—in their blood predicted their risk of major cardiovascular events over the following decades. The findings support universal screening for inflammation and lipoprotein(a) in addition to cholesterol, as well as earlier, aggressive use of targeted interventions, particularly among women for whom cardiovascular disease remains ...

Patients with heart failure, a condition affecting more than 60 million worldwide, are four times more likely to receive the optimal combination of medications after 12 weeks of digital consultations. Researchers from five Dutch hospitals, coordinated by Amsterdam UMC, found that the use of digital consults improved care while maintaining patient satisfaction. These results are published today in Nature Medicine and simultaneously presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Cardiology.   "During the COVID-pandemic almost all of our patients were suddenly digital consult patients and, to be honest, this worked well but there were also ...

Tokyo, Japan – A research team led by Professor Kotohiro Nomura from Tokyo Metropolitan University has developed a method for the depolymerization of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) using alcohols and an inexpensive, readily available iron trichloride catalyst. This method can be applied to the selective chemical recycling of both textile and plastic waste mixtures. Plastic waste is a significant environmental issue that requires urgent attention. However, the rate of plastic reuse (material recycling) remains low, particularly in the case of chemical recycling into raw materials, a process known as chemical recycling. Polyesters, which ...

A new species of Antarctic dragonfish, Akarotaxis gouldae or Banded Dragonfish, has been discovered in waters off the western Antarctic Peninsula by researchers at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). The species, named in honor of the recently decommissioned Antarctic research and supply vessel (ARSV) Laurence M. Gould and its crew, exemplifies both the unknown biodiversity and fragile state of the Antarctic ecosystem. Described in the journal Zootaxa, Akarotaxis gouldae was initially identified through genetic analysis. Larval specimens collected off the coast of Antarctica while trawling for zooplankton ...

At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, governments and health care centers across the country faced a difficult but important question: Should health care workers be required to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine? It was an economic quandary as much as an ethical one. Vaccine mandates could cause reductions in staff, either from workers missing time due to recovery from the vaccine or from opting to seek employment elsewhere. Additionally, health care workers are highly educated on the value of vaccines and had seen ...

AMHERST, Mass. -- New research from the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in collaboration with the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation, is helping to identify barriers to physical activity in nurses. Published in PLOS ONE, the study reports that the key factors influencing exercise include intrinsic motivation, certain types of social support, certain demographic identifiers and the use of health-tracking technology.    Nursing is a notoriously exhausting career, marked by irregular and long shifts and high physical demands. At the same time, prior studies show that about half ...

Auburn University’s Department of Physics has been awarded two significant National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, marking a major step toward transforming physics education across all levels—from introductory courses to graduate studies. The grants, led by Assistant Professor Eric Burkholder, a specialist in Physics Education Research, aim to close the gap between traditional physics instruction and the complex problem-solving skills needed for real-world scientific challenges. The cornerstone of these projects is the recognition that traditional methods of teaching physics—while ...