The press release
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Medicine3 Oct 2023

AI combines chest X-rays with patient data to improve diagnosis

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A new artificial intelligence (AI) model combines imaging information with clinical patient data to improve diagnostic performance on chest X-rays, according to a study published in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Clinicians consider both imaging and non-imaging data when diagnosing diseases. However, current AI-based approaches are tailored to solve tasks with only one type of data at a time. Transformer-based neural networks, a relatively new class of AI models, have the ability to combine imaging and ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Large NIH grant supports CRISPR-based gene therapy development for brain diseases

A two-phase NIH grant will fund research into a new CRISPR-based gene therapy platform that will target genetic brain diseases like Angelman syndrome and H1-4 (HIST1H1E) syndrome. A roughly $40 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant awarded to Yale School of Medicine will support the development of a gene-editing platform technology capable of reaching the human brain. The innovative new genome-editing technology, which was developed from the first phase from NIH Common Fund Somatic Cell Genome Editing (SCGE) program, could potentially lead to treatments or cures for many neurogenetic diseases. Neurogenetic disorders ...

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Space3 Oct 2023

Bursts of star formation explain mysterious brightness at cosmic dawn

When scientists viewed the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) first images of the universe’s earliest galaxies, they were shocked. The young galaxies appeared too bright, too massive and too mature to have formed so soon after the Big Bang. It would be like an infant growing into an adult within just a couple years. The startling discovery even caused some physicists to question the standard model of cosmology, wondering whether or not it should be upended. Using new simulations, a Northwestern University-led ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Van Andel Institute scientist awarded $2.9 million to tackle insulin resistance, a driver of Type 2 diabetes

Van Andel Institute’s Nick Burton, Ph.D., has earned a five-year, nearly $2.9 million New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health Common Fund to find new ways to fix or prevent insulin resistance, a key driver of Type 2 diabetes. Although manageable with treatment, there currently is no way to repair the underlying mechanisms that cause the disease. Furthermore, it remains unclear why some people are more prone to Type 2 diabetes while others are resistant. To find a solution, Burton ...

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Science3 Oct 2023

SwRI study suggests large mound structures on Kuiper belt object Arrokoth may have common origin

SAN ANTONIO — October 3, 2023 —A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Planetary Scientist and Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern posits that the large, approximately 5-kilometer-long mounds that dominate the appearance of the larger lobe of the pristine Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth are similar enough to suggest a common origin. The SwRI study suggests that these “building blocks” could guide further work on planetesimal formational models. Stern presented these findings this week ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Marine chemical biologist Mandë Holford wins prestigious National Institutes of Health Pioneer Award for Venom Research

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2023 — Mandë Holford, a professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry departments at Hunter College and The City University of New York Graduate Center (CUNY Graduate Center), has won a National Institutes of Health Common Fund Pioneer Award for her trailblazing research exploring the therapeutic opportunities and properties of venoms from cephalopods and other marine mollusks. Holford received one of eight Pioneer Awards granted in 2023, which will total more than $47.7 million over five years. This is the first time a CUNY ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Synthetic peptide could reduce vascular problems associated with COVID-ARDS

AUGUSTA, Ga. (Oct. 4, 2022) – A synthetic peptide developed by researchers at the Medical College of Georgia could help reduce vascular problems associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome in COVID-19. In severe cases, COVID-19 is associated with the syndrome, which happens when fluid builds up in the tiny, elastic air sacs in the lungs, keeping them from filling with enough air and keeping oxygen from reaching the bloodstream. “These are the people who get the sickest from ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Cardiology compensation and production remain relatively stable year-over-year

MedAxiom, the premier source for cardiovascular organizational performance solutions, has released its 2023 Cardiovascular Provider Compensation and Production Survey Report that includes data from the largest number of providers since its debut. The report features a foreword from MedAxiom President and CEO Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, FACC, on the consistency of year-over-year data from 2021 to 2022, the importance of a robust pool of data to form the foundation of the report, and the application of data as a strategic planning tool. 2023 Report Highlights: Compensation and production ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Optimizing continuous-variable functions with quantum annealing

Quantum annealing (QA) is a cutting-edge algorithm that leverages the unique properties of quantum computing to tackle complex combinatorial optimization problems (a class of mathematical problems dealing with discrete-variable functions). Quantum computers use the rules of quantum physics to solve such problems potentially faster than classical computers. In essence, they can explore multiple solutions to a problem simultaneously, giving them a significant speed advantage for certain tasks over classical computers. In particular, QA harnesses the phenomenon of “quantum ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

City of Hope opens first U.S. multicenter clinical trial for robotic single-port mastectomies for breast cancer patients

LOS ANGELES — City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, is opening a multicenter clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of robotic-assisted, single-incision mastectomies. The minimally invasive procedure, which preserves the nipple and leaves only a small hidden scar on the side of the body, could potentially lead to significant improvements for breast surgery. “City of Hope is once again taking the lead in investigating innovations, treatments and therapies that are making big leaps forward for patients with cancer. We’re participating ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Emerging drug discovery ecosystems in Virginia

Oak Brook, IL – A Special Issue of SLAS Discovery, Emerging Drug Discovery Ecosystems, is new for September. Volume 28, Issue 6 features three perspectives, one original research article and one protocol that align with the Virginia Drug Discovery Consortium (VaDDC) and its efforts to enhance and promote drug discovery and development in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Perspective An acute respiratory distress syndrome drug development collaboration stimulated by the Virginia Drug Discovery Consortium This ...

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Social Science3 Oct 2023

Socioeconomic status and power outages

Communities with more socioeconomic vulnerability experience longer-duration power outages than more advantaged communities, according to a study. Research has shown that environmental disasters hit economically and socially vulnerable communities hardest. Scott Ganz and colleagues assessed the unequal impacts caused by the procedures electric utilities follow to restore power to customers after extreme-weather related outages. Using data from eight Atlantic hurricanes that made landfall between January 2017 and October 2020, which knocked out power for a total of over 15 million customers in 588 counties in the Southeast, the authors find ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Broad Clinical Labs established to expand clinical services

The Genomics Platform at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has been one of the world’s leading academic genome sequencing centers since the days of the Human Genome Project. For the last decade, these services have included clinical sequencing and other molecular assays through its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Clinical Research Sequencing Platform. Now renamed Broad Clinical Labs (BCL), the lab is poised to further accelerate the power of ’omics technologies in clinical research, screening, and diagnostics. BCL supports large-scale projects for which results need to be generated under a clinical quality system, such as analyses for clinical trials, biobank profiling, ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Bioengineering breakthrough increases DNA detection sensitivity by 100 times

UMass Amherst researchers have pushed forward the boundaries of biomedical engineering one hundredfold with a new method for DNA detection with unprecedented sensitivity. “DNA detection is in the center of bioengineering,” says Jinglei Ping, lead author of the paper that appeared in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ping is an assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, an adjunct assistant professor in biomedical engineering and affiliated with the Center for Personalized Health Monitoring of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences. “Everyone ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Type 2 diabetes diagnosis at age 30 can reduce life expectancy by up to 14 years

An individual diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 30 years could see their life expectancy fall by as much as 14 years, an international team of researchers has warned. Even people who do not develop the condition until later in life – with a diagnosis at age 50 years – could see their life expectancy fall by up to six years, an analysis of data from 19 high-income countries found. The researchers say the findings, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, highlight the urgent need to ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

New $81million NIH grant will help U.S. answer urgent need for better dementia care

Watching a loved one suffer the slow decline of dementia is hard enough. But trying to find care for them that’s high-quality, safe, available and affordable is nearly as difficult, as millions of American families have found out the hard way in recent years. That lack of options stems from a combination of workforce shortages, payment policies and a lack of consistency in dementia care delivery and regulation, according to experts from the University of Michigan and the University of California, San Francisco and their colleagues. Now, fueled by new five-year funding expected to total $81 million from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging or ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Humans inherit artificial intelligence biases

New research by the psychologists Lucía Vicente and Helena Matute from Deusto University in Bilbao, Spain, provides evidence that people can inherit artificial intelligence biases (systematic errors in AI outputs) in their decisions. The astonishing results achieved by artificial intelligence systems, which can, for example, hold a conversation as a human does, have given this technology an image of high reliability. More and more professional fields are implementing AI-based tools to support the decision-making of specialists to minimise errors in their decisions. However, this technology is not without risks due to biases in AI results. ...

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Science3 Oct 2023

Globally, consumption of sugary drinks increased at least 16% since 1990

The decision to reach for a sugary beverage is heavily influenced by where you live, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy researchers report in a new study published October 3 in the journal Nature Communications. While an analysis of the Global Dietary Database for the years 1990, 2005, and 2018 found overall consumption of sweetened drinks increased—by nearly 16% worldwide over the 28-year period studied—regional intake widely varied. Sugary drinks are a public health concern because they have been widely associated ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Electronic sensor the size of a single molecule a potential game-changer

Australian researchers have developed a molecular-sized, more efficient version of a widely used electronic sensor, in a breakthrough that could bring widespread benefits. Piezoresistors are commonly used to detect vibrations in electronics and automobiles, such as in smart phones for counting steps, and for airbag deployment in cars. They are also used in medical devices such as implantable pressure sensors, as well as in aviation and space travel. In a nationwide initiative, researchers led by Dr Nadim Darwish from Curtin University, Professor Jeffrey ...

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Environment3 Oct 2023

Controlled burns help prevent wildfires; Climate change is limiting their use

Key takeaways Rising temperatures will cut the number of days when conditions favor prescribed fires by 17% on average across the Western U.S., mostly in spring and summer. Winter, however, will see a net 4% increase in the number of favorable days. Implementing controlled burns in the West will require changes to policy and the availability of firefighters. ​​​​​​ Prescribed fires, sometimes called controlled burns, are one of the most common tools for preventing catastrophic wildfires in the Western United States. Lit by highly trained firefighters, they help clear away excess dry plant matter that might otherwise ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Pregnant women offered new hope for safe and effective gestational diabetes treatment

Researchers at University of Galway have taken a significant step forward in the management of gestational diabetes mellitus after a clinical trial involving pregnant women provided new hope for expectant mothers suffering the condition. The findings from the trial are being published in JAMA: the Journal of American Medical Association. Gestational diabetes is a global health issue affecting almost 3 million pregnant women worldwide every year. It is a condition characterised by elevated blood sugar levels during pregnancy, posing increased health risks for both mothers and their babies. Professor Fidelma Dunne, Professor of Medicine ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Early metformin in gestational diabetes

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial, early treatment with metformin was not superior to placebo for the composite primary outcome of insulin initiation or a fasting glucose level of 5.1 mmol/L or greater at gestation weeks 32 or 38. Prespecified secondary outcome data support further investigation of metformin in larger clinical trials. Authors: Fidelma Dunne, Ph.D., of the University of Galway in Galway, Ireland, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Tirzepatide vs insulin lispro added to basal insulin in type 2 diabetes

About The Study: In people with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes treated with basal insulin in this randomized clinical trial with 1,428 participants, weekly tirzepatide compared with prandial insulin as an additional treatment with insulin glargine demonstrated reductions in HbA1c and body weight with less hypoglycemia. Authors: Julio Rosenstock, M.D., of Velocity Clinical Research at Medical City in Dallas, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...

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Environment3 Oct 2023

New biobanking partnership safeguards the genetic diversity of America’s endangered species

San Francisco, CA - The nonprofit Revive & Restore announces a groundbreaking new initiative to biobank U.S. endangered species, in partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. This multi-institution collaboration is the first systematic biobanking pipeline for U.S. threatened and endangered species. The initiative will protect genetic diversity for current and future recovery efforts. "This is about creating a legacy of America’s natural history before it is lost and provides an important resource to enhance species recovery efforts now and in the future,” said Ryan Phelan, Executive Director of Revive & ...

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Medicine3 Oct 2023

Eating disorders increased during pandemic in female adolescents and adults

Emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions for eating disorders increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in adolescents aged 10–17 years, as did ED visits among young adults and older adults, according to new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.221318. Using ICES data, researchers compared observed and expected rates of ED visits and hospitalizations for eating disorders before (Jan. 1, 2017, to Feb. 29, 2020) and during the pandemic (Mar. 1, 2020, to Aug. 31, 2022) in adolescents (10–17 years), young adults (18–26 years), adults (27–40 years) ...

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