A new method to analyse the blood thinning drug Heparin has been developed that can pinpoint contaminants more accurately and quickly, providing greater quality control and safety. An interdisciplinary team from the University of Nottingham's Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine have used the latest chemical imaging technology to identify contaminants in Heparin at the nanoscale, a discovery that manufacturers could use to improve the quality and safety of this widely used anticoagulant drug. The research has been published in Communications Chemistry. Heparin is naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan ...

ATS 2021, New York, NY - The use of e-cigarettes is associated with wheezing and shortness of breath in young adults and adolescents, even in those who don't smoke cigarettes or marijuana, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference. Alayna P. Tackett, PhD, assistant professor of preventive medicine, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a web-based survey of 2,931 adolescents and young adults (average age: 18.9) with questions on the use of e-cigarettes, cigarettes and cannabis, along with self-reported asthma diagnosis and respiratory symptoms, over the previous 30 days. The survey was fielded between August 6 and 30, 2020 among a national convenience sample of youth and young ...

ATS 2021, New York, NY - Individuals with asthma who live in redlined neighborhoods have worse lung function than those in locales that excluded Black people and benefited from decades of inequitable wealth accumulation at the expense of Black communities in the United States, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference. Alexander Schuyler, MD/PhD candidate, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Sally Wenzel, MD, director, Asthma & Environmental Lung Health Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, sought to examine the connection between residence in historically ...

Session: TP16 Abstract Presentation Time: Available On-Demand; 8 a.m. EDT, Friday, May 14, 2021 ATS 2021, New York, NY - While vaping is thought to be a safer alternative to smoking, teens and adults who use e-cigarettes have increased odds of developing asthma and having asthma attacks, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference. Teresa To, PhD, senior scientist in the Child Health Evaluative Sciences program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), and colleagues sought to determine whether youth and young adults ...

Session: TP91 Abstract Presentation Time: On Demand; 8 a.m. EDT, Friday, May 14, 2021 ATS 2021, New York, NY - Having genetic risk variants in the ABO gene might significantly increase the chances of developing COVID-19, and other genes may also increase COVID-19 risk, according to research presented at the ATS 2021 International Conference. Much about COVID-19 remains a medical mystery, including whether certain genes place individuals at greater risk of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. Ana Hernandez Cordero, PhD, postdoctoral fellow with the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, University of British Columbia, and colleagues used integrative genomics combined with proteomics to identify ...

The mysteries of sexual attraction just became a little less mysterious - at least for moths. A team of six American and European research groups including Tufts University has discovered which gene expressed in the brain of the male European corn borer moth controls his preference for the sex pheromone produced by females. This complements a previous study on the gene expressed in the female pheromone gland that dictates the type of blend she emits to attract males. The study was reported today in Nature Communications. The implications go beyond ...

3D-printable gels with improved and highly controlled properties can be created by merging micro- and nano-sized networks of the same materials harnessed from seaweed, according to new research from North Carolina State University. The findings could have applications in biomedical materials - think of biological scaffolds for growing cells - and soft robotics. Described in the journal Nature Communications, the findings show that these water-based gels - called homocomposite hydrogels - are both strong and flexible. They are composed of alginates - chemical compounds found in seaweed and algae that are commonly used as thickening agents and in wound ...

Scientists at UCL have identified a new immunotherapy to combat the hepatitis B virus (HBV), the most common cause of liver cancer in the world. Each year, globally, chronic HBV causes an estimated 880,000 deaths from liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma/liver cancer (HCC). The pioneering study used immune cells isolated directly from patient liver and tumour tissue, to show that targeting acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT), an enzyme that helps to manage cholesterol levels in cells*, was highly effective at boosting immune ...

Researchers at the University of Bristol found that plant eaters diversified quickly after mass extinctions to eat different kinds of plants, and the ones that were able to chew harsher materials, which reflected the drying conditions of the late Triassic, became the most successful. These tougher herbivores included some of the first dinosaurs. Following the largest mass extinction of all time, the end-Permian mass extinction, ecosystems rebuilt from scratch during Triassic times, from 252-201 million years ago paving the way for new species, and many new kinds of plants and animals emerged. In a new study published in Nature Communications and led by Dr Suresh Singh of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, fresh ...

A new study led by University of Liverpool researchers has confirmed that children with cystic fibrosis (CF) in the US have better lung function than UK children with the disease. The study suggests that differences do not appear to be explained by early growth or nutrition, but could be linked to differences in the use of early treatments. This long-term analysis follows a 2015 study comparing UK and CF populations in the year 2010, which first highlighted potential differences in lung function. CF is a serious, multi-organ inherited disease characterised by pulmonary infections and progressively declining lung function. Most people ...

Osaka, Japan - Scientists from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University used machine learning methods to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio in data collected when tiny spheres are passed through microscopic nanopores cut into silicon substrates. This work may lead to much more sensitive data collection when sequencing DNA or detecting small concentrations of pathogens. Miniaturization has opened the possibility for a wide range of diagnostic tools, such as point-of-care detection of diseases, to be performed quickly and with very small samples. For example, unknown particles can be analyzed by passing ...

The primary cilium, an antenna-like subcellular structure ('organelle') protruding from the outside of many types of vertebrate cells, has an important but previously overlooked role in guiding the growth of lymphatic vessels, shows a new study. The authors show for the first time that mouse and human lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) - which make up the inner and outer lining of lymphatic vessels - use primary cilia. They find that LEC primary cilia may direct the growth of a functional lymphatic network, not only during prenatal development, but also throughout life during inflammation and wound healing and in response to cancer. They show that mice in which the formation of primary cilia in LECs is prevented develop lymphatic ...

Bethesda, MD (May 14, 2021) -- Daily probiotic use was associated with fewer upper respiratory symptoms in overweight and older people, according to a study that suggests a potential role for probiotics in preventing respiratory infections. The study was selected for presentation at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2021. "This is not necessarily the most intuitive idea, that putting bacteria into your gut might reduce your risk of respiratory infection," said Benjamin Mullish, MD, a lead researcher on the study and clinical lecturer in the Division of Digestive Diseases, Imperial College London, England, "but it's further ...

Bethesda, MD (May 14, 2021) -- Despite the fact that certain racial and ethnic minorities get pancreatic cancer more often, are diagnosed at a younger age and die sooner, clinical trials fail to include representative proportions of non-White patients at every phase of study, according to research that was selected for presentation at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2021. "We see disparities in representation across all kinds of clinical trials, so we were not surprised to see that it also occurs in pancreatic cancer trials. But hopefully we can make a change in that arena in the future," said Kelly Herremans, MD, lead researcher on the study and surgical research fellow at the University ...

Bethesda, MD (May 14, 2021) -- Combining minimally invasive endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) with the diabetes drug semaglutide can provide additional significant weight loss for patients who are not candidates for invasive weight-loss surgery, according to research that was selected for presentation at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2021. "As the worldwide obesity rate continues to climb, so do the number of people seeking bariatric surgery to treat their condition," said Anna Carolina Hoff, MD, lead researcher on the study and founder and clinical director of Angioskope Brazil, São José dos Campos. "Surgical procedures are some of the most successful ways to help patients lose weight, but they ...

Bethesda, MD (May 14, 2021) -- Inpatient consults for alcohol-related gastrointestinal (GI) and liver diseases have surged since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained elevated, according to research selected for presentation at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2021. The proportion of patients that required inpatient endoscopic interventions for their alcohol-related GI and liver diseases has also increased, highlighting an apparent worsening trend in the severity of disease. "When we went into lockdown, many people experienced significant negative ...

Monash University researchers have validated a way to successfully detect a diverse range of bacteria (pathogens) that cause diarrhoeal disease in informal settlements. Better protection from disease for people living in communities facing water, sanitation and hygiene challenges is essential, as microbes that cause gastrointestinal disease (enteropathogens) are responsible for 1.4 million deaths per year, predominantly in children under five, and cause impaired nutrition and development. However, it is highly challenging to effectively monitor their spread due to the sheer number of pathogens and sources involved. Numerous enteropathogens cause diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal diseases, spanning viruses, bacteria, amoeba, and worms, each with distinct characteristics. Moreover, ...

Researchers from Monash University, Queensland University of Technology, and Capital University of Economics and Business published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the effects of imaginative product displays in retail stores on customers' purchase behavior. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "Gimmicky or Effective? The Effects of Imaginative Displays on Customers' Purchase Behavior" and is authored by Hean Tat Keh, Di Wang, and Li Yan. Imaginative displays are constructed using multiple units of the same product in a novel, yet aesthetically appealing, form. Results from six ...

People with healthier heart structure and function appear to have better cognitive abilities, including increased capacity to solve logic problems and faster reaction times, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London and the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at University of Oxford. Dr Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, BHF Clinical Research Training Fellow at Queen Mary University of London said: "Heart disease and dementia are important and growing public health problems, particularly in ageing populations. "We already knew that patients with heart disease were more likely to have dementia, and vice versa, but we've now shown that these links between heart and brain health are also present in healthy people. We demonstrated for the ...

Sophia Antipolis, 14 May 2021: Nearly one in four patients with heart failure is depressed or anxious, according to a study published during this week's Heart Failure Awareness Days. Patients with heart failure were 20% more likely to develop these mental health issues during the five years after diagnosis compared to those with cancer. The findings are published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 "The treatment of mental illnesses in cancer patients - psycho-oncology - is long-established but similar services ...

Higher levels of ozone from air pollution are linked to an increased risk of developing fibroids among Black American women according to a large study published today (Friday) in Human Reproduction [1], one of the world's leading reproductive medicine journals. Fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in and around the womb. They are diagnosed in 25-30% of pre-menopausal women, but the true incidence is thought to be between 70-80%. Many fibroids do not cause symptoms but when they do, they are one of the main reasons women are admitted to hospital for inpatient care. Symptoms can include heavy or painful periods, stomach and back pain, constipation, frequent need to urinate, and pain or discomfort during sex. In some ...

The need to evacuate an intensive care unit (ICU) or operating theatre complex during a fire or other emergency is a rare event but one potentially fraught with difficulty: not only is there a risk that patients may come to significant harm but also that staff may be injured and unable to work. Therefore, the Association of Anaesthetists and the Intensive Care Society are today publishing new 2021 guidelines regarding fire safety and emergency evacuation of ICUs and operating theatres in Anaesthesia (a journal of the Association of Anaesthetists). These guidelines ...

LA JOLLA, CA--A family of proteins that sense mechanical force--and enable our sense of touch and many other important bodily functions--also are essential for proper root growth in some plants, according to a study led by scientists at Scripps Research and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The discovery, published in the END ...

According to data from a cohort of adult and pediatric patients with antibody deficiencies, patients that often fail to make protective immune responses to infections and vaccinations showed robust T-cell activity and humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins. The new study, led by researchers at Children's National Hospital, is the first to demonstrate a robust T-cell response against SARS-CoV-2 in immunocompromised patients. "If T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 are indeed protective, then it could suggest that adoptive T-cell immunotherapy might benefit more profoundly immunocompromised patients," said Michael Keller, M.D., director of the Translational Research Laboratory in the ...

Scientists at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and their colleagues from the University of Graz & the Kanzelhöhe Observatory (Austria) and the ESA European Space Operations Centre developed a method and software called RESONANCE to predict the solar radio flux activity for 1-24 months ahead. RESONANCE will serve to improve the specification of satellite orbits, re-entry services, modeling of space debris evolution, and collision avoidance maneuvers. The research results were published in the high-profile Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. Since the launch of Sputnik, the Earth's first artificial satellite, in ...