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Medicine 2023-11-01

Dr. Olugbenga Ogedegbe to receive the 2023 Population Health Research Prize

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 — The American Heart Association will present its 2023 Population Health Research Prize to Olugbenga “Gbenga” Ogedegbe, M.D., M.P.H., FAHA, of New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. He will be recognized during the presidential session of the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 on Sunday, Nov. 12. The meeting will be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13 and is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. Dr. ...
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Science 2023-11-01

Dr. Marc A. Pfeffer to be receive the 2023 Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 — The American Heart Association will present its 2023 Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award to Marc A. Pfeffer, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award will be recognized during the Presidential Session on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023, at the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023. The meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. The Eugene Braunwald Academic ...
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What happens when cats get fat? Scientists weigh in
Science 2023-11-01

What happens when cats get fat? Scientists weigh in

URBANA, Ill. – Cat owners want Kitty to be happy, but providing an abundance of food and snacks can have unintended consequences. Feline obesity is on the rise, impacting the health, longevity, and wellbeing of cats. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at what happens in the digestive system and gut microbiota when cats eat too much. “About 60% of cats in the U.S. are overweight, which can lead to health problems such as diabetes and chronic inflammation. While many studies have investigated feline weight loss, there has been little focus on the opposite process, ...
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Science 2023-11-01

Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch to receive the 2023 Research Achievement Award

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 – The American Heart Association will present its 2023 Research Achievement Award to Marlene Rabinovitch, M.D., of Stanford University. The Research Achievement Award will be recognized during the Presidential Session on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023, at the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023. The meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. Throughout her nearly 40-year career as a physician scientist, Dr. Rabinovitch’s research ...
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Science 2023-11-01

Dr. Yibin Wang of Duke-NUS to receive the 2023 Basic Research Prize

DALLAS, Nov. 1, 2023 — The American Heart Association will present its 2023 Basic Research Prize to Yibin Wang, Ph.D., FAHA, of Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore and Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. He will be recognized during the Presidential Session of the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 on Sunday, Nov. 12. The meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 13, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. Dr. ...
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NASA’s Sandra Irish wins 2023 Society of Women Engineers Award
Space 2023-11-01

NASA’s Sandra Irish wins 2023 Society of Women Engineers Award

Sandra Irish, mechanical systems lead structures engineer for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has been selected to receive the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Resnik Challenger Medal Award for her visionary contributions to the development, testing, transport, and launch of NASA’s premier space telescope since 2006. The medal was awarded during the World’s Largest Conference for Women in Engineering and Technology or WE23, which took place Oct. 26-28 in Los Angeles. As an engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for over 40 years, Irish’s mechanical systems expertise has helped ...
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From soft tissue to stiff leather: Understanding the role of paxillin in liver fibrosis
Science 2023-11-01

From soft tissue to stiff leather: Understanding the role of paxillin in liver fibrosis

Currently, the United States lacks FDA-approved treatments for liver fibrosis, highlighting the critical need to understand the cellular biology and pathways associated with this condition.  In a recent study led by Don Rockey, M.D., the director of the Digestive Disease Research Core Center, and Nour Hijazi, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at the Medical University of South Carolina, significant progress has been made in understanding a pathway contributing to liver fibrosis. Their findings, highlighting a potential novel therapeutic ...
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Science 2023-11-01

UArizona researchers examine the relationship between loneliness and being alone

In a world filled with endless connections and constant communication, the relationship between loneliness and aloneness is not always clear. Now, University of Arizona researchers have analyzed that relationship – and found that they are two different things that are not closely correlated. People don't feel lonely until they spend three-quarters of their time alone, the study found. However, when their alone time goes beyond 75%, it becomes difficult for them to avoid feelings of loneliness. Published in the Journal of Research in Personality in September, the study also ...
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Science 2023-11-01

Does your neighborhood affect your care after a stroke?

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2023 MINNEAPOLIS – People who live in neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status are less likely to receive clot-busting medications or undergo clot-removing procedures after they have a stroke than people who live in neighborhoods with higher socioeconomic status, according to a study published in the November 1, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “These treatments can greatly reduce death and ...
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Parkinson disease and normal aging
Medicine 2023-11-01

Parkinson disease and normal aging

“Our principal component analyses showed a significant relationship between centro-cingulate cholinergic afferent changes and age in our Parkinson disease subjects.” BUFFALO, NY- November 1, 2023 – A new research perspective was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 20, entitled, “Cholinergic centro-cingulate network in Parkinson disease and normal aging.” In their new perspective, researchers Nicolaas I. Bohnen, Sygrid van der ...
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Engineering 2023-11-01

Harold Hwang awarded 2024 McGroddy Prize for discovering exotic new materials

The marvels of modern technology – computers that fit in your hand, internet-connected refrigerators, and self-driving cars – are only possible thanks to the magic of materials like silicon. Likewise, the sci-fi gadgets of tomorrow will spring from the exotic new materials scientists are discovering today. Harold Hwang, a physicist at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University, has brought this future closer by sandwiching carefully crafted materials together and seeing what happens where they touch. His experimentation has uncovered a host of compounds with surprising ...
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University of Cincinnati study: Strawberry consumption may reduce dementia risk for middle-aged individuals
Medicine 2023-11-01

University of Cincinnati study: Strawberry consumption may reduce dementia risk for middle-aged individuals

New research from the University of Cincinnati found that daily strawberry consumption could help reduce the risk of dementia for certain middle-aged populations. The research was recently published in the journal Nutrients. Research background In 2022, UC’s Robert Krikorian, PhD, and his team published research that found adding blueberries to the daily diets of certain middle-aged populations may lower the chances of developing late-life dementia. He said the current research into strawberries is an extension to the blueberry research. “Both strawberries and blueberries contain antioxidants called anthocyanins, ...
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Medicine 2023-11-01

November issues of American Psychiatric Association journals cover new insights in psychotic disorders, barriers to addiction treatment, bipolar disorder treatment, and more

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 1, 2023 — The latest issues of three American Psychiatric Association journals, The American Journal of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services and Focus, are now available online. The November issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry provides insights into psychotic disorders, such as the altered neurodevelopment and early symptom presentation associated with the risk of developing schizophrenia; racial and ethnic disparities in diagnosis of psychotic episodes; and predictors of first psychotic episodes and its treatment. Highlights include: A Functional Connectome-Based Neural Signature ...
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Markey Cancer Center study provides valuable insights into drivers of cancer risk
Medicine 2023-11-01

Markey Cancer Center study provides valuable insights into drivers of cancer risk

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 31, 2023) — As people age, the DNA in their cells begins to accumulate genetic mutations. Mosaic chromosomal alterations (mCAs), a category of mutations acquired in blood cells, are linked with a 10-fold increased risk of developing blood cancer.   mCAs hold promise as a tool to identify people at high risk of developing certain cancers and diseases, but they have not yet been studied among a large, diverse cohort of people – a critical step required before such testing can be developed.   University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researcher Yasminka A. Jakubek, ...
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New NIH research looks at life satisfaction in pandemic-era teens with mental health histories
Medicine 2023-11-01

New NIH research looks at life satisfaction in pandemic-era teens with mental health histories

Collaborative ECHO Cohort research led by Phillip Sherlock, PhD; Maxwell Mansolf, PhD; and Courtney Blackwell, PhD of Northwestern University investigates the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on adolescents’ mental health. The findings suggest that some teens with a history of depression, anxiety, autism, and ADHD experienced more severe impacts than those without. This research, titled “Life Satisfaction for Adolescents with Developmental and Behavioral Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” is published in Pediatric Research. Although researchers ...
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Giant dinosaur carcasses might have been important food sources for Jurassic predators
Earth Science 2023-11-01

Giant dinosaur carcasses might have been important food sources for Jurassic predators

Carnivorous dinosaurs might have evolved to take advantage of giant carcasses, according to a study published November 1, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Cameron Pahl and Luis Ruedas of Portland State University, Oregon and colleagues. Carnivorous dinosaurs lived in ecosystems rich with both living and dead prey. The authors hypothesize that giant carcasses, like those of sauropod dinosaurs, might have provided a major source of food for large carnivores. To test this hypothesis, the researchers created an agent-based model, a simplified virtual simulation of a dinosaur ecosystem. This model was based on the ancient fauna of the Jurassic-aged ...
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Game performance of immigrant NBA players might suffer in context of far-right political support
Social Science 2023-11-01

Game performance of immigrant NBA players might suffer in context of far-right political support

During the 2020-2021 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which took place during Donald Trump’s failed bid at re-election, immigrant players for teams in regions with stronger far-right political sentiments were more likely to make game errors—highlighting the possible detrimental effects of such views on immigrant workplace performance. Benjamin Korman and Florian Kunze of the University of Konstanz, Germany, present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on November 1. Prior research ...
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Gulf War Illness significantly reduces white blood cells’ ability to make energy
Medicine 2023-11-01

Gulf War Illness significantly reduces white blood cells’ ability to make energy

DURHAM, N.C.— A new Duke University-led study finds that Gulf War Illness (GWI), which affects approximately 250,000 U.S. veterans, significantly reduces their white blood cells’ ability to make energy and creates a measurable biochemical difference in veterans who have the disease. “Historically, GWI has been diagnosed based on a veteran’s self-reported symptoms, such as exercise-induced fatigue, indigestion, dizziness, insomnia, or memory problems. There’s been no objective biochemical or molecular measurements doctors could use to diagnose it,” said Joel Meyer, professor of environmental genomics ...
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Wistar scientists engineer new NK cell engaging immunotherapy approaches to target and potentially treat recalcitrant ovarian cancer
Medicine 2023-11-01

Wistar scientists engineer new NK cell engaging immunotherapy approaches to target and potentially treat recalcitrant ovarian cancer

PHILADELPHIA—(Nov. 1, 2023)—The Wistar Institute’s David B. Weiner, Ph.D., executive vice president, director of the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center (VIC) and W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research, and collaborators, have engineered novel monoclonal antibodies that engage Natural Killer cells through a unique surface receptor that activates the immune system to fight against cancer.  In their publication titled, “Siglec-7 glyco-immune binding MAbs or NK ...
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Medicine 2023-11-01

PLOS Complex Systems and PLOS Mental Health now open for submissions!

SAN FRANCISCO —The Public Library of Science (PLOS) is pleased to announce that PLOS Complex Systems and PLOS Mental Health are now open for submissions. Both journals have a strong community of editors who will represent the full diversity of the research communities we aim to serve. PLOS Mental Health is an inclusive journal led by Editors-in-Chief Charlene Sunkel and Rochelle Burgess, working alongside staff Executive Editor Karli Montague-Cardoso and in collaboration with a diverse Editorial Board. The journal is seeking research that addresses challenges and gaps in the field of mental health research, ...
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The remains of an ancient planet lie deep within Earth
Space 2023-11-01

The remains of an ancient planet lie deep within Earth

In the 1980s, geophysicists made a startling discovery: two continent-sized blobs of unusual material were found deep near the center of the Earth, one beneath the African continent and one beneath the Pacific Ocean. Each blob is twice the size of the Moon and likely composed of different proportions of elements than the mantle surrounding it. Where did these strange blobs—formally known as large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs)—come from? A new study led by Caltech researchers suggests that they are remnants of an ancient planet that violently collided with Earth billions of years ago in the same giant impact that created ...
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New twist on optical tweezers
Physics 2023-11-01

New twist on optical tweezers

Optical tweezers manipulate tiny things like cells and nanoparticles using lasers. While they might sound like tractor beams from science fiction, the fact is their development garnered scientists a Nobel Prize in 2018.  Scientists have now used supercomputers to make optical tweezers safer to use on living cells with applications to cancer therapy, environmental monitoring, and more. “We believe our research is one significant step closer towards the industrialization of optical tweezers in biological applications, specifically in both selective cellular surgery and targeted drug delivery,” ...
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Stigma felt by opioid-dependent moms impacts the health care received by their babies
Medicine 2023-11-01

Stigma felt by opioid-dependent moms impacts the health care received by their babies

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The rate of opioid use among pregnant women in the United States quadrupled between 1999 and 2014 and continues to rise — an alarming trend that researchers from the University of Missouri and University of Iowa say has exposed the stigma felt by opioid-dependent mothers and how their shame has negatively impacted the health care received by their infants. Jamie Morton led a study, which was a metasynthesis of existing literature on the topic, as a doctoral student at the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. She said the findings can help ensure health care providers, family ...
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Environment 2023-11-01

The ringed seals in Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland are special

Exploring Arctic nature can be difficult. Harsh conditions and great distances are significant challenges when researchers want to coax secrets out of nature.   However, a research project, led by Greenlandic and Danish researchers, has now succeeded in describing a new type of ringed seal that lives in the Icefjord near Ilulissat in West Greenland; a unique natural area on the UNESCO World Heritage List.   The results have just been published in the renowned scientific journal Molecular Ecology.   A small population Over ...
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NRL ISS Mission seeks new bioinspired materials
Engineering 2023-11-01

NRL ISS Mission seeks new bioinspired materials

WASHINGTON  –  The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Melanized Microbes for Multiple Uses in Space Project, or MELSP, will use the International Space Station (ISS) to search for production of melanin variants and other useful biomaterials that can have applications both on Earth and in space. The mission is scheduled to launch in early November 2023.   Melanin is described as a group of biopolymers responsible for various biological functions, including pigmentation of skin, hair, and iris of the eyes, which helps protect body ...
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