With the National Eye Institute reporting that about 11 million older adults in the U.S. endure a condition that leads to progressive blindness, known as age-related macular degeneration, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers are starting to understand what goes wrong in the disease, in order to develop new therapies to treat it. Using human tissue and mice in their new study, published on June 23 in Nature Communications, they showed that the process which removes the eye's old, damaged light sensors is disrupted in macular degeneration. Although more than 50 genes have been ...

Digital trial replicated and expanded upon results of traditional clinical trials Developing virtual patient populations can speed up trials process A study involving virtual rather than real patients was as effective as traditional clinical trials in evaluating a medical device used to treat brain aneurysms, according to new research. The findings are proof of concept for what are called in-silico trials, where instead of recruiting people to a real-life clinical trial, researchers build digital simulations of patient groups, loosely akin to the way virtual populations are built in The Sims ...

Research led by scientists at the University of Bristol has shed new light on how the kidneys of the one-humped Arabian camel play an important role in helping it to cope with extremes. In a new paper published today in the journal Communications Biology, they have studied the response of the camel's kidneys to dehydration and rapid rehydration stresses. Camelus dromedarius is the most important livestock animal in the arid and semi-arid regions of North and East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, and continues to provide basic needs to millions of people. Thought to have been domesticated 3,000 to 6,000 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula, the camel has been used ...

SILVER SPRING, Md.-- Although Americans spend billions on them, published research shows a lack of strong evidence that dietary supplements and alternative therapies help adults lose weight, according to a new study published in Obesity, the flagship journal of The Obesity Society (TOS). There are hundreds of weight-loss supplements like green tea extract, chitosan, guar gum and conjugated linoleic acid, and an estimated 34% of Americans who are trying to lose weight have used one. For the study, researchers completed a comprehensive review of 315 existing clinical trials of weight loss supplements and therapies, and most of the studies showed the supplements did not produce weight loss among users. "Our findings are important ...

PHILADELPHIA - Patients with colon cancer enrolled in the U.S. military's universal health care system experienced improved survival compared with patients in the general population, according to results published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Colorectal cancer has the third highest death rate out of all cancers in the U.S. Therefore, it is highly important to improve survival of patients with colon cancer," said study author Craig D. Shriver, MD, FACS, FSSO, retired U.S. Army colonel and professor and director of the Murtha Cancer Center Research ...

Viral mutations during the COVID-19 pandemic could cause the SARS-CoV-2 virus to become more dangerous. A new study published in END ...

Women who currently use hormonal contraceptives face more than a 2-fold higher risk of developing glaucoma, according to an analysis of electronic medical records for women aged 15-45 years from 2008 to 2018. The END ...

Chronic psychosocial stress--which involves a pathway called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis)--may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease. A new review published in END ...

Boston, MA - Using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) methodology to analyze whole-genome sequencing data of SARS-CoV-2 mutations and COVID-19 mortality data can identify highly pathogenic variants of the virus that should be flagged for containment, according to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MIT researchers. Using this biostatistical methodology, the researchers pinpointed a mutation in the variant known as P.1, or Gamma, as being linked to increased mortality and, potentially, greater transmissibility, higher infection rates, and increased pathogenicity before the P.1 variant had been identified. The team's methodology is ...

As the saying goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But what's the key to growing a quality apple? Apple trees need access to important nutrients, which come from the soil. However, soil is quite different from orchard to orchard. Gregory Peck studies how sustainable orchard practices can improve the availability of nutrients. The research was recently shared in Soil Science Society of America Journal, a publication of the Soil Science Society of America. Farmers are becoming more aware of the environmental impacts of different orchard management practices. "Apple growers are interested in developing ...

A new UC Riverside study finds geckos are fierce hunters whether or not their tails are attached to their bodies. Geckos and other lizards can distract predators by quickly dropping their tails. The tail vertebrae are perforated, making it easier to disconnect them without any formation of scar tissue or loss of blood. Though this ability can keep lizards from being eaten, the maneuver is performed at a cost. "Other studies have documented the negative effects of tail loss on lizards' ability to run, jump, mate, and reproduce," said UCR biologist Marina Vollin, lead author of the ...

UJ researchers take a novel step to change hydrogenation into a safe, low energy process. They use a very stable three phase emulsion to transform a toxic waste product into valuable feedstock. The process does not need flammable, compressed hydrogen gas. The emulsion catalysis hydrogenates nitrobenzene efficiently at room temperature to output aniline. Aniline is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The bi-metallic hydrogenation catalyst is fully recovered afterwards. Without hydrogenation, it would not be possible to manufacture many of ...

Cities must become fully car-free in order to be liveable in the future, according to the UCL experts behind a new modelling report looking at urban car use. The experts have called for a shift in collective behaviour to reduce the number of private cars in cities. Globally, the number of cars produced is increasing faster than the population; 80m cars were produced in 2019, while the population increased by 78m. The researchers said future city planning must include a focus on reducing dependence on cars, promoting fewer and shorter trips and encouraging walking and cycling as primary modes of local transport. Public transport should be encouraged for longer journeys, the researchers argued, and cars should only be used for emergencies or special occasions. ...

If you listen to songbirds, you will recognize repeated melodies or phrases. Each phrase is made up of distinct sounds, strung together. A study from researchers at McGill University has found that the song phrases of many songbird species follow patterns that are similar to those used in human speech. At least in some respects. The songbirds the researchers studied, like humans---no matter what language they speak---tend to use shorter elements (whether these are words or sounds) when they are putting together longer phrases. Linguists speculate that this pattern, known as Menzerath's Law, may make communication more efficient by making things easier to understand or say. But the McGill team suggest ...

New York, NY--June 22, 2021--Because corporations and governments rely on computers and the internet to run everything from the electric grid, healthcare, and water systems, computer security is extremely important to all of us. It is increasingly being breached: Numerous security hacks just this past month include the Colonial Pipeline security breach and the JBS Foods ransomware attacks where hackers took over the organization's computer systems and demanded payment to unlock and release it back to the owners. The White House is strongly urging companies to take ransomware threats seriously and update their systems to protect themselves. Yet these attacks continue to threaten all of us on an almost daily basis. Columbia Engineering researchers ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Communities surrounding the Salton Sea, the inland body of water straddling California's Riverside and Imperial counties, show high rates of asthma due, possibly, to high aerosol dust levels resulting from the sea shrinking over time. Scientists suspect, however, the Salton Sea plays an additional role in pulmonary health. A University of California, Riverside study performed on mice has found Salton Sea aerosol turns on nonallergic inflammation genes and may also promote lung inflammation. For comparison, aerosolized fungal allergen (Alternaria) -- a common household fungal allergen -- produces an allergic inflammation in the lungs of mice. "Our ...

A group of health care leaders, including a University of Massachusetts Amherst nurse innovator, has published a national call to action to prevent non-ventilator-associated, hospital-acquired pneumonia (NVHAP). This call to action was developed by a joint task force of key national healthcare stakeholders, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Veterans Health Administration, The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the American Dental Association, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, Oral Health Nursing Education and Practice, Teaching Oral-Systemic Health and academia. In a commentary paper published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology (ICHE), the joint ...

In a first-of-its-kind study in the world conducted at Tel Aviv University, researchers found that water generated from the air in the heart of an urban area, the city of Tel Aviv, complied with all of the strict drinking water standards set both by the State of Israel and by the World Health Organization. The researchers examined the quality of the water produced from the water vapor in the urban atmosphere, which is characterized by industry and massive construction, and found that it was suitable for drinking. The test was performed using a dedicated facility of the Israeli company Watergen, which partnered in the study. The study was conducted by a team of experts from the hydrochemistry laboratory at the Porter ...

As you drive down the highway, you may notice an increasing number of hybrid and electric vehicles. Alternative energy automobiles are on the rise contributing to the global effort to reduce carbon emissions. As we move together down this road, researchers are looking to determine new solutions to this ongoing problem. Dr. Muzammil Arshad, instructional assistant professor for the Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering at Texas A&M University, and a team of multidisciplinary student researchers conducted a study to analyze the performance of hydrogen-enriched fuel on spark engine performance and efficiency. This solution could make significant contributions to helping automobiles ...

Engineers at Duke University have devised a system for manipulating particles approaching the miniscule 2.5 nanometer diameter of DNA using sound-induced electric fields. Dubbed "acoustoelectronic nanotweezers," the approach provides a label-free, dynamically controllable method of moving and trapping nanoparticles over a large area. The technology holds promise for applications in the fields ranging from condensed matter physics to biomedicine. The research appears online on June 22 in Nature Communications. Precisely controlling nanoparticles is a crucial ...

Until recently, data on criminal victimization did not include information on the status--immigrant or citizen--of respondents. In a recent study, researchers used new data that include respondents' status to explore the association between citizenship status and risk of victimization. They found that for many, a person's foreign-born status, but not their acquired U.S. citizenship, protects against criminal victimization. The study, by researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) at College Park and the Pennsylvania State University (PSU), is forthcoming in Criminology, a publication of the American Society of Criminology. "Understanding how patterns of victimization vary ...

New Orleans, LA - An analysis conducted by a group of investigators including Tamara Bradford, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, found that children and adolescents with Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) initially treated with intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) plus glucocorticoids had a lower risk of new or persistent cardiovascular dysfunction than IVIG alone. The research was part of the Overcoming COVID-19 Study, a nationwide collaboration of physicians at pediatric hospitals and the Centers for Disease ...

HOUSTON - (June 22, 2021) - We can't detect them yet, but radio signals from distant solar systems could provide valuable information about the characteristics of their planets. A paper by Rice University scientists describes a way to better determine which exoplanets are most likely to produce detectable signals based on magnetosphere activity on exoplanets' previously discounted nightsides. The study by Rice alumnus Anthony Sciola, who earned his Ph.D. this spring and was mentored by co-author and space plasma physicist Frank Toffoletto, shows that while radio emissions from the daysides of exoplanets appear to max out during high solar activity, those that emerge from the nightside are likely to add significantly to the signal. This interests the exoplanet ...

New research examined the effect of different parenting styles during adolescence on crime among African American men. The study found that parenting styles characterized by little behavioral control placed youth at significant risk for adult crime, even though some of those styles included high levels of nurturance. In contrast, youth whose parents monitored them, were consistent in their parenting, and had high levels of behavioral control were at lowest risk for adult crime. The study, by researchers at the University of Georgia and Mississippi State University, is forthcoming in Criminology, a publication of the American Society of Criminology. "We examined parenting styles rather than parenting ...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Sunday church service in Amish country is more than just belting out hymns, reading Bible passages and returning home an hour later to catch a football game or nap. It's an all-day affair: A host family welcomes church members - between 20 to 40 families - into their home to worship and have fellowship with one another from morning to night. Church is a biweekly activity; each gathering takes place in a member's home and is a key ritual in the Amish community which values in-person communication. New research from West Virginia University sociologists suggests this face-to-face interaction, coupled with a distrust ...