LEAWOOD, Kansas—Articles appearing in an Annals of Family Medicine special supplement published yesterday contain observations, insights, and ideas for advancing health care equity, promoting interprofessional collaboration, transforming education, and improving primary care practices. The supplement, titled, “Advancing Primary Care through Research, Education and Practice: Work of the Health Resources and Services Administration–Supported Academic Units for Primary Care Training and Enhancement,” highlights activities of six HRSA-funded academic units for primary care training enhancement. ...

Not all pollution comes from people. When global temperatures increase by 4 degrees Celsius, harmful plant emissions and dust will also increase by as much as 14 percent, according to new UC Riverside research. The research does not account for a simultaneous increase in human-made sources of air pollution, which has already been predicted by other studies.  “We are not looking at human emissions of air pollution, because we can change what we emit,” said James Gomez, UCR doctoral student and lead author of the study. “We can ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) has long been inspired by the human brain. This approach proved highly successful: AI boasts impressive achievements – from diagnosing medical conditions to composing poetry. Still, the original model continues to outperform machines in many ways. This is why, for example, we can ‘prove our humanity’ with trivial image tests online. What if instead of trying to make AI more brain-like, we went straight to the source?  Scientists across multiple disciplines ...

The word ‘evolution’ may bring to mind dusty dinosaur bones, but it impacts our health every day. For example, even though antibiotics were invented only a century ago, the evolution of antibiotic resistance is already a major concern. The rise in modern health problems such as obesity can also be traced back to evolutionary principles.    An article published in Frontiers in Science demonstrates how applying an evolutionary perspective to medicine can inspire new ways of preventing and treating disease.   “Evolutionary medicine holds promise to transform our understanding of why we get sick ...

Researchers from the Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, described the symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae which science has largely overlooked until now. The coexistence of algae and corticioid basidiomycetes, which are common in temperate forests, has been given a new name: alcobiosis. Jan Vondrák of the Department of Taxonomy, Institute of Botany, and the first author of the study says “Years ago, during field trips, we were repeatedly puzzled to find a layer of green algae where some of the fungal coatings on wood or bark (so-called corticioid fungi) are disturbed. We discovered that this is a ...

The new results will help to follow patients with a bad prognosis more closely, and to move towards more personalized treatments. Mercedes Robledo, co-lead author, has been studying pheochromocytomas since 1996 and leads the CNIO group that has identified 5 of the 22 genes associated with these rare tumors.  The research analyzes an "exceptionally high" number of samples, something very difficult in rare diseases and achieved thanks to the collaboration of centers from countries all over the world. Pheochromocytoma is a rare tumor, with an ...

A new machine learning model can predict traffic activity in different zones of cities. To do so, a Complexity Science Hub researcher used data from a main car-sharing company in Italy as a proxy for overall city traffic. Understanding how different urban zones interact can help avoid traffic jams, for example, and enable targeted responses of policy makers - such as local expansion of public transportation.   Understanding people's mobility patterns will be central to improving urban traffic flow. “As populations grow in urban areas, this knowledge can help policymakers design and implement effective transportation ...

Depression is more widespread among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) youth than heterosexual, cisgender youth, making parental support more important for these adolescents. A new study released in Child Development by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin looks at parental social support and psychological control in relation to depressive symptoms for LGBTQ youth in the United States. Psychological control attempts to intrude into the psychological and emotional development of the child (e.g., thinking processes, self-expression, emotions, and attachment to parents). Although ...

SUTD to Launch South-east Asia’s First O-RAN Open Testing and Integration Centre (OTIC) Announced at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona (MWC) 2023, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will launch a new O-RAN[1] Asia & Pacific Open Testing and Integration Centre (OTIC) in Singapore. As part of Singapore’s S$70 million Future Communications R&D Programme (FCP) supported by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the National Research Foundation, Singapore (NRF), the Asia & Pacific OTIC in Singapore ...

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar metals, which got their name because they typically occur at low concentrations (between 0.5 and 67 parts per million) within the Earth’s crust. Because they are indispensable in modern technology such as light emitting diodes, mobile phones, electromotors, wind turbines, hard disks, cameras, magnets, and low-energy lightbulbs, the demand for them has increased steadily over the past few decades, and is predicted to rise further by 2030. As ...

A “biocomputer” powered by human brain cells could be developed within our lifetime, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers who expect such technology to exponentially expand the capabilities of modern computing and create novel fields of study. The team outlines their plan for “organoid intelligence” today in the journal Frontiers in Science. “Computing and artificial intelligence have been driving the technology revolution but they are reaching a ceiling,” said Thomas Hartung, a professor of environmental health sciences at ...

Amongst healthcare professionals, the feeling of being supported in the workplace can protect them against adverse mental health and burnout, according to a new study published in CMAJ Open by researchers at Queen Mary University of London and medical staff at various hospitals across the UK. CoPE-HCP study was designed, during the early part of COVID-19 pandemic, when there was great concern for the mental health of healthcare professionals with no scientifically-proven mitigating strategies to reduce that impact. Funded by Barts Charity, this new longitudinal study found that feeling unsupported ...

LA JOLLA, CA—A clinical trial carried out at Scripps Research has shown that apremilast, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of psoriasis, cuts alcohol intake by more than half in people with severe alcohol use disorder (AUD). Collaborators at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and other institutions also showed that, in mice, apremilast boosts activity in an area of the brain known to be involved in AUD. The research was published online ahead of ...

LA JOLLA, CA—The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has awarded scientists at Scripps Research a $10 million grant to study the cellular and molecular changes in the brain that underlie alcohol use disorder (AUD). The grant will fund the Scripps Research Alcohol Research Center (TSRI-ARC) for five years, carrying the research into its 50th year of consecutive NIAAA funding—first beginning in 1977. “A lot of exciting things have happened in the AUD field over the last 45 years, and the center has been at the forefront of many of them,” ...

New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]) is the first study to show that childhood obesity is associated with an increased risk of four of the five recently proposed subtypes of adult-onset diabetes. The study is by Yuxia Wei, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues. In 2018, a ground-breaking study identified five novel subtypes of adult-onset diabetes: severe autoimmune diabetes (SAID, including type 1 diabetes and latent autoimmune diabetes in adults [LADA]) and four ...

Nature has remained in balance for a long time, but climate change due to modern human activities is disrupting the balance of the natural system. The disruption makes it more difficult for humans – who must work with nature to survive – to predict the future. Moreover, developing countries with limited understanding and preparation for climate change are more vulnerable to climate change-driven social and economic damage. Recently, a research team from POSTECH corrected the biases of future regional climate model projection data to ...

Eliminating animal milk alone from the diet of adults with eosinophilic esophagitis, or EoE, is as effective at treating the disease as eliminating animal milk plus five other common foods, a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health has found. For people with EoE whose disease remains active after they forgo animal milk, a more restrictive diet may help them achieve remission, according to the researchers. These findings were published today in the journal The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.  “Diet-based therapy for eosinophilic esophagitis will be much ...

Are our pets leaking information about us? Pet and animal-related apps are creating cybersecurity risks to their owners, new research has shown.         While being able to trace your cat and dog may be an attractive benefit to many pet owners as it can provide peace of mind, allowing a third party to track your movements may be much less attractive. Computer scientists at Newcastle University and Royal Holloway, University of London have exposed multiple security and privacy issues by evaluating 40 popular Android apps for pets and other companion animals as well as farm animals. The results show that several of these apps ...

Leading environmental health experts have called for a comprehensive review of the UK's fire safety regulations, with a focus on the environmental and health risks of current chemical flame retardants. The health dangers of substances meant to improve fire safety have prompted experts to demand a range of new measures to reduce risk. Flame retardants are widely used to slow down or stop the spread of fire. They are used regularly in a range of products – from sofas and textiles, to building materials. However, hundreds of studies have reported on the adverse effects of these chemicals, many of which are bioaccumulative and have been linked ...

Loneliness can often contribute to depression in expectant and new mothers, finds a new review of evidence led by UCL researchers. The researchers say people working with expectant mothers, such as in antenatal classes or consultations, should be aware of the importance of loneliness and the value of encouraging new mothers to develop and maintain good social connections. The findings suggest that increased support from family and healthcare professionals can be helpful in reducing the mental health impacts of loneliness. Published in BMC Psychiatry, the meta-synthesis (an evidence review using a systematic ...

Maternal obesity alters the structure of the placenta (a vital organ that nourishes the baby during pregnancy) more than gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM; a condition is diagnosed by poor glucose control in pregnancy). The new insight, published in The Journal of Physiology, enhances understanding about the mechanisms underlying poor pregnancy outcomes and the subsequent greater risk of poor neonatal and offspring health. The identification of specific changes in the placenta could lead to the potential development ...

Australia’s rarest bird of prey - the red goshawk - is facing extinction, with Cape York Peninsula now the only place in Queensland known to support breeding populations. PhD candidate Chris MacColl from The University of Queensland’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences led the research project that made the discovery and was shocked by the hawk’s dwindling numbers. “Over four decades the red goshawk has lost a third of its historical range, which ...

Representatives from the City of El Centro, El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC), and UC San Diego Health today announced a strategic and operational plan to stabilize and financially bolster ECRMC, as well as the greater network of Imperial County hospitals. Under the proposed 12- to 18-month plan, UC San Diego Health will assume full day-to-day operational, clinical and financial management of ECRMC while Preston Hollow Community Capital (PHCC), the majority bondholder for ECRMC, will provide financial and other resources to ECRMC for ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. (Feb. 28, 2023) – A tiny worm called the C. elegans is enabling scientists to explore the emerging theory that Parkinson’s disease starts in the gut. Key to the condition known to produce uncontrollable shaking, but also characterized by cognitive problems and gastrointestinal distresses like constipation, is a sticky, toxic form of the protein alpha-synuclein, which literally gums up the works of our neurons and kills them. Although it may seem counterintuitive, there is evidence from science labs like Neuroscientist Danielle Mor’s, PhD, that the toxic protein aggregates in the neurons ...

Gentrification doesn’t erase drug crime and gun violence. Instead, research from West Virginia University economist Zachary Porreca shows that when one urban block becomes upwardly mobile, organized criminal activity surges outward to surrounding blocks, escalating the violence in the process. Porreca, a WVU doctoral student in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, analyzed 2011-2020 data on shootings and real estate across various Philadelphia neighborhoods. His paper presenting the findings, published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, is one of the first of its kind to study the impact of gentrification ...