Health systems science is an emerging field that focuses on how care is delivered, how health professionals collaborate, and how the health system can improve patient care and health care delivery. The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM) is a leader in both its education and its research in health systems science. Both are evident in two recently awarded grants from the American Medical Association to study ways to enhance health systems science education, one at the medical education ...

In a new study published on 26 July 2023, in the journal Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, researchers from Harbin Institute of Technology, have developed a novel double Z-scheme photocatalyst, called the molecularly imprinted TiO2@Fe2O3@g-C3N4 (MFTC) composite, that selectively removes SMX from water. Traditional photocatalytic methods have faced challenges with selectivity, often causing the indiscriminate degradation of organic pollutants and coexisting contaminants at high concentrations. However, the MFTC composite was purposefully designed to overcome this limitation by incorporating molecularly imprinted sites on its surface. These specialized ...

About The Study: The findings of this study of 44,000 low-income, working-age adults suggest that the direct cost of providing public health insurance to immigrants is less than that for the U.S. born, and immigrants’ health care utilization, upon coverage, remains comparatively modest, thus refuting the notion that providing insurance to immigrants imposes a heavy fiscal burden.  Authors: Felix M. Muchomba, Ph.D., of the State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.34008) Editor’s ...

· How two sisters’ misfortune led to discovery · Findings open a new avenue for therapies · Drugs need to target neuron synapses before neurons degenerate   CHICAGO --- A new Northwestern Medicine study challenges a common belief in what triggers Parkinson’s disease. Degeneration of dopaminergic neurons is widely accepted as the first event that leads to Parkinson’s. But the new study suggests that a dysfunction in the neuron’s synapses — the tiny gap across which a neuron can send an impulse to another neuron — leads to deficits in dopamine and precedes the neurodegeneration. Parkinson’s disease ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bsheal.2023.07.003   Monkeypox (mpox) is a zoonotic disease caused by the mpox virus (MPXV) that has been primarily limited to Central and West African nations since its discovery. The recent spread of the West African lineage of MPXV in historically unaffected countries has raised concerns for global public health. Despite a significant decrease in global mpox cases, there is still a risk of a global resurgence. This study reports the first local case of mpox caused by an imported case in the Chinese mainland. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnosed the two ...

https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/ZOONOSES-2023-0016 Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. Members of the genus, Klebsiella, are becoming increasingly challenging to control due to the recent convergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) and hypervirulent (hv) phenotypes in some species of concern to One Health . This article provides an introduction to this bacterial genus in the hospital and other settings, update Klebsiella taxonomy, and comment on recent findings describing the prevalence of Klebsiella species in the food chain, a hitherto infrequently recognised ecologic niche. The paper also ...

Customers showing up even when they were sick, not agreeing with the restrictions, and many new tasks for staff. These are factors that contributed to heavier workloads and tougher work environments in pharmacies during the pandemic, a study reveals. The scientific study, published in the journal Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy, was conducted by researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Åbo Akademi University. The data consists of a questionnaire that was distributed to all ...

Home-delivery services perpetually compete for the consumer’s attention not only through advertisements but also through methods that reduce basket decision time or make new suggestions. Current research on the topic focuses on optimizing delivery schedules and minimizing costs. However, neither the insufficiency of home delivery options for some cities nor the bigger problem of high carbon emissions due to the abundance of it, are resolved. A new study conducted by Koç University Industrial Engineering Department professor Barış Yıldız takes a fresh perspective ...

About The Study: Receiving at least two doses of wild-type BNT162b2 vaccine (Pfizer) was associated with a reduced risk of COVID-19 emergency department or urgent care and outpatient visits in children younger than five years. The risk of SARS-CoV-2 encounters appeared lower for those with two versus three doses of BNT162b2, albeit with wide CIs, which is likely due to more immune-evasive Omicron sublineages (e.g., BQ.1-related and XBB-related strains) becoming dominant by the time young children received their third dose and longer median time since dose three compared with dose two. Authors: Sara Y. Tartof, Ph.D., M.P.H., of ...

New analysis of pilot studies on night shift naps conducted from 2012 to 2018 revealed the ideal snoozing strategy that might help counteract drowsiness and fatigue during a 16-hour overnight duty. The findings can also benefit new parents. Reanalysis of data showed that when staying up all night, scheduling two nap sessions — a 90-minute one followed by a quick 30-minute shut-eye later — is the optimal choice over a single 120-minute snooze in putting off drowsiness and fatigue. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. “A 90-minute nap to maintain long-term performance and a ...

CHICAGO — Anesthesiology researchers are responsible for some of medicine’s most significant advances, from the Apgar score that tests a newborn’s health to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). But the number of medical residents in the anesthesiology physician-scientist (researcher) pipeline trails other specialties, particularly among women, according to findings of the Anesthesia Research Council (ARC), published in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia. Out of eleven medical specialties, anesthesiology ranked eighth both for the percentage of entering residents ...

PHILADELPHIA—For his work discovering the basis for hemoglobin gene switching and applying those insights to develop a therapy for sickle cell disease and other blood diseases, the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania awarded Stuart Orkin, MD the third Elaine Redding Brinster Prize in Science or Medicine. Orkin’s research advanced the understanding of how the fetal hemoglobin gene— the main oxygen carrier protein in the human fetus—is silenced in adults. He also developed a therapy that re-activates the fetal gene for adult hemoglobin gene defects, which cause ...

CORNING, N.Y. | Corning Incorporated | September 15, 2023 - Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) today announced the launch of Corning® Videodrop, an optical technology that applies the principles of interferometric microscopy to quantify the size and concentration of nanoparticles. The latest addition to the company’s growing suite of bioprocessing technology, Videodrop can analyze a solution in less than 60 seconds, and requires only a single 5-10 µl drop of sample material for testing. The technology is capable of collecting a physical titer of viral vectors such as lentivirus, ...

Soft inflatable robots have emerged as a promising paradigm for applications that require inherent safety and adaptability. However, the integration of sensing and control systems in these robots has posed significant challenges without compromising their softness, form factor, or capabilities. Addressing this obstacle, a research team jointly led by Professor Jiyun Kim (Department of New Material Engineering, UNIST) and Professor Jonbum Bae (Department of Mechanical Engineering, UNIST) has developed groundbreaking “soft valve” technology—an all-in-one solution that integrates sensors and control valves while maintaining complete softness. Traditionally, ...

You are what you eat, according to the adage. But it’s not just the body that’s impacted. According to research from UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, living in a disadvantaged neighborhood can affect food choices, weight gain and even the microstructure of the brain. The study, appearing in Communications Medicine, a Nature journal, finds poor quality of available foods, increased intake of calories from foods high in trans-fatty acids, and environments that do not foster physical activity, all prevalent in disadvantaged neighborhoods, disrupt the flexibility ...

Osaka, Japan – The gene editing technique CRISPR/Cas9 has allowed researchers to make precise and impactful changes to an organism’s DNA to fix mutations that cause genetic disease. However, the CRISPR/Cas9 method can also result in unintended DNA mutations that may have negative effects. Recently, researchers in Japan have developed a new gene editing technique that is as effective as CRISPR/Cas9 while  significantly reducing these unintended mutations. In a new study published in Nature ...

Volume 2 of the series on Solved Problems in Transport Phenomena is out. This unique compendium covers energy transfer at the microscopic and macroscopic levels in a format that does not overwhelm students with a large repertoire of problems. It uses clear highlights and easy-to-follow concept presentations to help students grasp the methodology in problem solving. Solved Problems in Transport Phenomena: Energy Transfer shows the students how to tackle a problem related to heat transfer as if they were going to solve it for the first time in their lives. A balanced approach ...

A quarter of people are undoing the benefits of healthy meals with unhealthy snacks, which increases the risk of strokes and cardiovascular disease. The findings, published today in the European Journal of Nutrition by researchers from the School of Life Course & Population Sciences and ZOE, details the snacking habits of 854 people from the ZOE PREDICT study. Researchers found that half of the participants do not match the healthiness of their meals to their snacks and vice versa. This difference has a negative effect on health measures, such as blood sugar and fat levels, and addressing this could be a simple diet strategy to improve ...

In the frigid waters surrounding Antarctica, an unusual seasonal cycle occurs. During winter, from March to October, the sun barely rises. As seawater freezes it rejects salts, creating pockets of extra-salty brine where microbes live in winter. In summer, the sea ice melts under constant daylight, producing warmer, fresher water at the surface. This remote ecosystem is home to much of the Southern Ocean’s photosynthetic life. A new University of Washington study provides the first measurements of how sea-ice algae and other single-celled life adjust to these seasonal rhythms, offering clues to what might happen as ...

Ground-nesting birds called lapwings use the shape of their nests and surroundings to hide from predators, new research shows. Many ground-nesting species are in decline due to changes in land management and high populations of predators, such as foxes and crows. Conservation projects can fail because too many eggs and chicks are eaten. The new study, led by the University of Exeter, assessed the visibility of lapwing nests in terms of cover (also called “occlusion”) and camouflage using models that simulate the vision and viewing angles of various predators. The findings showed that despite nesting in open fields, lapwings can hide their eggs ...

The review, conducted jointly with researchers from Oxford University, the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, and the Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton, included seven randomised controlled trials involving 2,464 women or couples who had been trying to conceive. Each month there is a narrow window for successful conception due to the limited lifespan of the sperm and egg, which begins from around five days before ovulation (egg release) and lasts until several hours afterwards. The period of a woman’s cycle can be identified by different methods, including urine ovulation tests (dipstick ...

A major new study has revealed that American teenagers are more likely than any other nationality to brag about their math ability. Research using data from 40,000 15-year-olds from nine English-speaking nations internationally found those in North America were the most likely to exaggerate their mathematical knowledge, while those in Ireland and Scotland were least likely to do so. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, used responses from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), in which participants took a two-hour maths test alongside a ...

Women could be opting to have unnecessary surgery to avoid breast cancer, after being told they are at high risk from genetic test results which do not take family history into account.  The authors of new research led by the University of Exeter have warned that women who discover,  outside of a clinical setting, that they carry a disease-causing variant in one of the BRCA genes (BRCA1 or BRCA2) may be told their risk of breast cancer is 60-80 per cent. In fact, the risk could be less than 20 per cent if they do not have a close relative with the condition.  The warning has emerged in a paper published today in the Lancet journal eClinical Medicine. Until recently, women who ...

LISLE, Ill. (September 14, 2023) — The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill., announced it will receive $15 million in federal funding from the U.S. Forest Service through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to expand and improve the tree canopy in disadvantaged communities throughout Illinois. The funding is part of a historic $1 billion investment to boost the nation’s urban tree cover in communities nationwide. The federal grant funding the Arboretum will receive is the largest award in Illinois, the largest award to a public garden in the country and a historic sum for the nonprofit tree-focused organization.  The U.S. ...

A team of scientists with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has investigated the behavior of hafnium oxide, or hafnia, because of its potential for use in novel semiconductor applications. Materials such as hafnia exhibit ferroelectricity, which means that they are capable of extended data storage even when power is disconnected and that they might be used in the development of new, so-called nonvolatile memory technologies. Innovative nonvolatile memory applications will pave the way for the creation of bigger and faster computer systems by alleviating the heat generated from the continual ...