HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced the launch of Texas Health Equity Alliance for Breast Cancer (THEAL), a community-wide health care initiative to reduce breast cancer disparities in the Houston area, particularly for Black women.  THEAL builds upon the expertise of MD Anderson’s Department of Health Disparities Research in addressing the determinants of cancer disparities while leveraging the cancer prevention and control platform’s experience in leading cross-sector collaboratives ...

“The Queen’s Gambit” miniseries portrayed the life of a fictional chess prodigy, Beth Harmon, who is continuously underestimated in male-dominated competitions. A team of New York University psychology researchers has now found some “real-life” evidence of what Harmon faced as a younger player: Parents and coaches of youth chess players peg the highest potential rating of girl players to be lower than that of boy players. Moreover, the study’s authors, who included Jennifer Shahade, a two-time US Women’s Chess champion, found ...

Young female chess players often face gender bias both in the male-dominated chess world and among parents and mentors who believe girls have less potential to succeed in chess than boys, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.   “It’s disheartening to see young female players’ potential downgraded, even by the people who are closest to them, like their parents and coaches,” said lead researcher Sophie Arnold, a doctoral student at New York University.  The study, which was published online in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, presents what the researchers say is the first large-scale ...

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [October 5, 2023] — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)—a non-profit alliance of leading cancer centers across the United States—has released a follow-up survey on the ongoing chemotherapy shortages: 72% of the centers surveyed continue to experience a shortage of carboplatin and 59% are still seeing a shortage of cisplatin. Overall, 86% of centers surveyed reported experiencing a shortage of at least one type of anti-cancer drug. View the updated survey results at NCCN.org/platinum-update. The NCCN Best Practices Committee originally shared survey results ...

NEW YORK, NY and SANTA BARBARA, CA – The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) and the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research are pleased to announce the 2023 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR Research Grants for Junior Faculty recipients. The Research Grant for Junior Faculty provides an early career investigator with up to $150,000 for one to two ...

Pireco Co., Ltd., a student-led venture company of UNIST, has accomplished a remarkable feat in establishing an international standard for their multi-biometrics identification solution designed for companion animals. This groundbreaking solution simplifies the process of accurately identifying and registering companion animals by simply scanning the distinctive patterns of ridges and creases on their noses using smartphones. The advent of this pioneering technology sets the stage for global registration ...

Researchers from Concordia University and Northwestern University published a new Journal of Marketing study that presents the Comparative Method of Valuation as a more accurate way to measure customers’ willingness to pay for a product or service. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “Measuring Willingness to Pay: A Comparative Method of Valuation” and is authored by Sharlene He, Eric T. Anderson, and Derek D. Rucker. At the grocery store, a customer may be willing to pay $18 for a bottle of Riesling when comparing it to a $15 bottle ...

The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology today announced that the Alliance Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) determined that the phase III AMBASSADOR (A031501) trial met one of its dual primary endpoints of disease-free survival (DFS) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with localized muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma (MIUC) and locally advanced urothelial carcinoma. At a pre-specified interim analysis review, pembrolizumab demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful ...

One treatment each of two psychedelic drugs lowered depression and anxiety and improved cognitive functioning in a sample of U.S. special operations forces veterans who sought care at a clinic in Mexico, according to a new analysis of the participants’ charts. The treatment included a combination of ibogaine hydrochloride, derived from the West African shrub iboga, and 5-MeO-DMT, a psychedelic substance secreted by the Colorado River toad. Both are designated as Schedule I drugs under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. In addition to relieving symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ...

HOUSTON – (Oct. 5, 2023) – An interdisciplinary team of Rice University scientists has won a $1.9 million National Science Foundation grant for research on materials that could serve as the basis for next-generation energy-efficient computing devices. The team ⎯ led by Kaiyuan Yang and including co-investigators Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Yimo Han, Douglas Natelson, Shengxi Huang and Lane Martin ⎯ will focus on multiferroics, materials with distinctive electric and magnetic properties that carry “transformative technological potential,” ...

AMES, Iowa – The foundation of a house remains, the basement ripped open and exposed, with the rest of the house blown away. A brick-veneered bank building partially caved in. A collapsed high school gym. Gravestones knocked over. Debris piercing a building.   Partha Sarkar kept hitting next, scrolling through the photo evidence of the destruction he gathered and assessed the day after an EF5 tornado ripped through Parkersburg on May 25, 2008.   Then Sarkar, professor and interim chair of aerospace engineering at Iowa State University, opened a photo showing a house ...

Acoels have been found to host a wide diversity of symbiotic, photosynthetic microalgae. Animals and plants need energy. Some animals get energy by eating other animals, and many plants harvest the energy in sunlight through photosynthesis. However, in the ocean, there exists a remarkable group of small, worm-like animals called acoels that do both—some acoels form relationships (symbiosis) with single-celled, photosynthetic microalgae. A study by Assistant Professor Kevin Wakeman and his undergraduate student, Siratee Riewluang, at Hokkaido University, Japan, has shed some light on the biodiversity underpinning symbiotic relationships between acoels and microalgae. ...

Bumblebees have a remarkably successful method for fighting off Asian hornets, new research shows. When attacked, buff-tailed bumblebees drop to the ground – taking the hornets down with them. This either causes the hornet to lose its grip, or the bee raises its sting and tussles until the hornet gives up. University of Exeter scientists witnessed over 120 such attacks, and were stunned to find that bumblebees fought off the hornets every time. Despite this, they found bumblebee colonies had reduced growth rates in ...

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has conceived of and launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) fellowship in just two months — record speed — to support leaders in Congress as they craft legislation, in particular policies related to emerging opportunities and challenges with AI. Capitol Hill’s surging interest in AI policy follows the public release of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. The STPF Rapid Response Cohort in AI operates under the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships (STPF) program and is part of the 51st class of 276 scientists and engineers placed across ...

A new paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, for the first time provides a comprehensive set of genomic resources for pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, that researchers believe will be integral for protecting these threatened mammals. Pangolins, which are found in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, are the only mammals covered in scales. They are trafficked at record numbers for their meat and supposed medicinal properties. The animals are also at risk due to widespread deforestation of their native habitats. Pangolins are made up of eight surviving species ...

Eating more plant-based meals is better for our health and better for the planet. But cultural preferences are significant barriers to reducing meat consumption - especially for men, who are underrepresented among vegans and vegetarians. Studies have found that eating meat is associated with masculinity, and that gender stereotypes label plant-based diets as suitable for women but not men. So is it possible to change the perception of plant-based food with marketing, and convince men to eat more of it? “Men might be less inclined to consume vegan food due to the need to perform gender,” said Alma Scholz, lead author of a new study published in Frontiers in Communication. ...

A research team led by Dr. Ho Sang Jung of the Department of Nano-Bio Convergence at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, in collaboration with the KOTITI Testing & Research Institute, has developed the world's first technology to rapidly and highly sensitively detect microplastics(MPs) in the field, which are well known to cause human and genetic toxicity through environmental pollution and the food chain. The on-site applicable MPs detection technology developed ...

Osaka, Japan – As organizations work to reduce their energy consumption and associated carbon emissions, one area that remains to be optimized is indoor heating and cooling. In fact, HVAC – which stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning – represents, on average, about 40% of a building’s total energy use. Methods that conserve electricity while still providing a comfortable indoor environment for workers could make a significant difference in the fight against climate change. Now, researchers from Osaka University have demonstrated significant energy savings through the application of a new, AI-driven algorithm ...

A new study conducted by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center suggests that enhanced infection prevention and control (IPC) measures implemented to address the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a significant decrease in many healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and a reduction in respiratory viral infections (RVIs). The findings, published today in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), provide some of the first evidence that strict pandemic-related IPC interventions reduced HAI rates among vulnerable patient populations. “Previous, large-scale ...

New research by RMIT University and Northern Health has examined Australia’s Long COVID services, guidelines and public health information, compared with international standards. The researchers found Australia lacking in several categories, including early investigation, accessibility and availability of trustworthy public health information, and adequate multidisciplinary Long COVID services to meet demand. Dean of RMIT’s School of Health and Biomedical Sciences and co-author on the paper, Professor Catherine Itsiopoulos, warned that this problem will only worsen over time. “Long ...

As Streptococcus A cases continue to be prevalent in Queensland and internationally, a new nasal vaccine could provide long-term protection from the deadly bacteria. Associate Professor Manisha Pandey, Professor Michael Good, and their team from Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics, are leading the development of a Strep A vaccine which is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials in Canada and quickly advancing to Phase 2 efficacy trials. The team’s new preclinical research, recently published in Nature Communications, shows an experimental liposome-based vaccine approach incorporating a conserved M-protein epitope from Strep A and an immunostimulatory glycolipid (3D(6-acyl) ...

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 5, 2023 – Researchers at Mays Cancer Center at The University of Texas Health Science at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) have identified protein markers that could signal for early development of metastatic lung cancer, providing possibilities for new treatment. The findings already have led to a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health that will pave the way for a clinical trial next year for patients with advanced lung cancer. The research is detailed in a new article in Cell Reports, ...

London mayor Sadiq Khan’s efforts to expand the capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) as part of a push to reduce air pollution and improve health, is politically courageous and an example for mayors around the world, says the World Health Organization’s environment, climate change and health director, Maria Neira. In an exclusive interview for The BMJ’s climate issue, Neira says she is tired of listening to politicians speak on climate change as if they didn't have the power to ...

Researchers have conducted trials using a software capable of detecting intricate details of emotions that remain hidden to the human eye. The software, which uses an ‘artificial net’ to map key features of the face, can evaluate the intensities of multiple different facial expressions simultaneously. The University of Bristol and Manchester Metropolitan University team worked with Bristol’s Children of the 90s study participants to see how well computational methods could capture authentic human emotions amidst everyday ...

The Keck School of Medicine of USC has received $2 million from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to further augment its newly launched cGMP Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility designed to advance early-stage research into clinically viable cell and gene therapies. To expedite the translation of these therapies from the lab to the clinic, the facility needs advanced technological know-how, streamlined operations and strict protocols for developing and testing these products, all of which ...