Milan, Italy: Babies and young children with more mature communities of bacteria present in their gut are less likely to develop allergy-related wheezing or asthma, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1].   These communities of bacteria, known as microbiota, develop in the human body during the early years of life and are involved in processes that are helpful to the body, such as synthesising vitamins and boosting the immune system, or occasionally unhelpful, such as the role they play ...

About The Study: Among individuals with uncontrolled hypertension in this randomized clinical trial that included 200 participants, use of lorundrostat was effective at lowering blood pressure compared with placebo, which will require further confirmatory studies. Authors: Steven E. Nissen, M.D., of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 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/jama.2023.16029) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional ...

[Singapore -- 10:35 a.m. SGT--September 10, 2023] - The combination of benmelstobart, anlotinib, and chemotherapy demonstrated significant benefits compared to placebo and chemotherapy in terms of median progression-free survival and overall survival for patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer. The research was presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Singapore. Extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer is a challenging malignancy to treat, ...

[Singapore -- 10:35 a.m. SGT--September 10, 2023] -- Identifying and analyzing volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma showed promise as a screening method for MPM, according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Singapore. Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a challenging disease with limited treatment options and a poor prognosis. To improve ...

[Singapore -- 10:35 a.m. SGT--September 10, 2023) -- The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on Lung Cancer 2023 in Singapore is set to witness a monumental breakthrough in the field of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment. Research findings from the CheckMate 227 trial will be presented, shedding light on the extraordinary six-year survival and quality of life benefits associated with first-line nivolumab + ipilimumab therapy. CheckMate 227 Part 1 showed that a combination ...

[Singapore -- 10:35 a.m. SGT--September 10, 2023] — The oral, selective KRAS G12C inhibitor  The oral, selective KRAS G12C inhibitor  KRAS-G12C inhibitor adagrasib demonstrated durable clinical activity, with a median overall survival of 14.1 months and approximately one in three patients alive at two years, according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Singapore.   KRAS-G12C mutations occur in approximately 14% of patients with NSCLC. The KRYSTAL-1 study, a multi-cohort Phase 1/2 trial, evaluated adagrasib as a monotherapy or in combination for patients with KRAS-G12C-mutated ...

[Singapore -- 10:35 a.m. SGT--September 10, 2023) –The stigma that patients face when diagnosed with lung cancer is associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes, including distress and isolation, delayed help-seeking, and concerns about the quality of care, according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Singapore. The study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Nathan Harrison, a behavioral scientist and PhD student ...

Milan, Italy: The colour of the phlegm from patients with the lung disease bronchiectasis can indicate the degree of inflammation in their lungs and predict their future outcomes, according to new research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1].   The study of nearly 20,000 patients from 31 countries is the first time that the colour of phlegm (also known as sputum) has been shown to provide clinically relevant information that reflects prognoses and, therefore, can aid decisions about ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have shown that the protein Musashi-2 (Msi2) plays a key role in the regulation of mass and metabolic processes in skeletal muscle. They studied mice with the Msi2 gene knocked out and found reduced muscle mass due to fewer type 2a muscle fibers. Myoglobin and mitochondria were also reduced. Type 2a fibers respond sensitively to training and illnesses; insights into their regulation will prove valuable in new therapies.   Skeletal muscle fibers are truly fascinating in how responsive they are. With training, we can significantly improve muscle mass, strength and endurance. On the other hand, with age or extended ...

One radiologist supported by AI detected more cases of breast cancer in screening mammography than two radiologists working together, reports the ScreenTrustCAD study from Karolinska Institutet in The Lancet Digital Health. The researchers say that AI is now ready to be implemented in breast cancer screening. For over 30 years, screening mammography has been an important key in reducing breast cancer mortality rates. However, challenges include a lack of radiologists and that not all cancers are detected. Several retrospective studies have shown that artificial ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — In a randomized trial, published in The Lancet Oncology, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers uncover evidence supporting a shorter treatment time for breast cancer patients. The study compared two separate dosing schedules of pencil-beam scanning proton therapy, the most advanced type of proton therapy known for its precision in targeting cancer cells while preserving healthy tissue to reduce the risk of side effects. Survival rates for breast cancer continue to improve due to advances in diagnosis and treatment, leading to increasing emphasis on reducing the long-term ...

A University of Texas at Arlington hydrologist’s study in the Nature journal Scientific Data provides the first-ever global estimate of human destruction of natural floodplains. The study can help guide future development in a way that can restore and conserve vital floodplain habitats that are critical to wildlife, water quality and reducing flood risk for people. Adnan Rajib, a UT Arlington assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, was the lead author on the published study, “Human Alterations of the Global Floodplains.” His doctoral student, Qianjin Zheng, played a significant ...

Images Researchers at Michigan State University have shown that table salt outperforms other expensive catalysts being explored for the chemical recycling of polyolefin polymers, which account for 60% of plastic waste.   The research, published in the journal Advanced Sustainable Systems, shows that sodium chloride could provide a safe, inexpensive and reusable way to make plastics more recyclable.   The team also showed that table salt and other catalysts could be used in the recycling of metallized plastic films — like ...

FINDINGS In a recent study led by Lei Jiang, Ph.D., an assistant professor of molecular and cellular endocrinology, a team of researchers from City of Hope and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, found a potential new target for treating patients with metastatic cancer. Their findings were published in the August 29 issue of the journal Cell Reports.  The goal of the team’s study was to elucidate the role of reductive carboxylation in redox metabolism, a process believed to be important for metastatic cancer. Reductive carboxylation is best known as a metabolic pathway that provides a molecule called acetyl-CoA so that it can be turned into lipids, which ...

A three-year, $3.4 million grant to investigate how Alzheimer’s disease is connected to multiple chronic diseases has been awarded to UTHealth Houston researchers by the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. To study this, a team led by Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD, principal investigator and professor and chair in the Department of Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence with McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston, will build risk trajectory maps for patients using clinical data and electronic health records. Specifically, they will develop electronic health records ...

September 8, 2023 – SwiftPharma, a Belgium-based manufacturer, and the Population Council, a global nonprofit research organization, have signed a Manufacturing Master Service Agreement for the plant-based manufacture of Griffithsin to further the Council’s development of a Griffithsin fast-dissolving vaginal insert for protection against HIV.     The Population Council has been developing a non-antiretroviral HIV-prevention method containing Griffithsin (GRFT) in a fast-dissolving insert (FDI). This Griffithsin FDI is an on-demand, user-controlled, portable prevention technology in early development ...

Safety-net hospitals have a common mission to provide care for Medicaid beneficiaries and those who are uninsured, but there’s no universal definition for these hospitals—complicating efforts to allocate funding. In a new analysis published in JAMA Network Open and led by researchers at the NYU School of Global Public Health, the research team looked at five established definitions for safety-net hospitals and found that different criteria captured varying hospitals and characteristics. As a result, when the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) use one definition ...

The world saw another year full of extreme weather events resulting from climate change in 2022, from intense storms to soaring temperatures and rising sea levels. Antarctica was no exception, according to new research published this week.    In the 33rd annual State of the Climate report, an international assessment of the global climate published Sept. 6 in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, CU Boulder researchers report that the planet’s coldest and driest continent experienced both an unprecedented heatwave and extreme precipitation last year.  “My hope is that the public starts to see both the fragility and complexity of these ...

There’s a rhythm to developing life. Growing from a tiny cell cluster into an adult organism takes precise timing and control. The right genes must turn on at the right time, for the right duration, and in the correct order. Losing the rhythm can lead to diseases like cancer. So, what keeps every gene on beat? Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Christopher Hammell has found that in the worm C. elegans, this genetic orchestra has no single conductor. Instead, a quartet of molecules works in concert to time each developmental stage. Hammell says this process shares some similarities with the circadian clocks that control human ...

Sleep-Wake Therapy Gives New Hope for Teens with Depression  Promoting healthy sleep in teen night owls brings adolescents’ biology and school demands in alignment.  School systems aren’t built for kids who fall asleep and wake up late, the so-called “night owls,” which may help explain why this group of teens is more prone to depression.  Now, researchers at UC San Francisco have found a way to help these kids adjust to their natural sleep-cycle rhythms while still fulfilling their school responsibilities. The findings are a welcome sign for adolescents with ...

Our world is changing, and warming temperatures will alter our natural ecosystems. Some of these changes will be straightforward, like animal ranges creeping northward as they strive to maintain their ideal temperatures. But other changes will be more complicated, as warming sets off complex chain reactions that reverberate through these systems. An important process in ecosystems is the decomposition of plant litter, in which dead plant material is broken down by animals, fungi, and microbes, making its nutrients accessible to the next generation of plants. How quickly this breakdown happens — the decomposition ...

Baltimore – A team of four data scientists from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, was named today as one of 32 winners of the Tools Competition, one of the largest education technology (edtech) competitions in the world that awarded more than $4 million to winners this year.  The team was a winner in the DARPA AI Tools for Adult Learning opportunity, which sought artificial intelligence-powered tools to help adults learn complex topics necessary for the current and future national security workforce (e.g., AI engineering ...

In work published in Science Advances, a team of researchers have determined a new pressure scale, which is critical for understanding the Earth’s composition. Using x-rays from a uniquely powerful spectrometer at RIKEN’s SPring-8 Center they avoided some of the large approximations of previous work, discovering that the previous scale overestimated pressure by more than 20% at 230 gigapascals (2.3 million atmospheres) - a pressure reached in Earth’s core. This is similar to someone running a marathon that they thought was 42 kilometers, but finding they had only really run 34 kilometers. While 20% might seem like a modest correction, it has big implications.  An accurate ...

The EurekAlert! Fellowships for International Science Reporters are back and now accepting applications from early-career Latin American science journalists. Two fellows will be selected to receive travel funding from EurekAlert! to attend the 2024 AAAS Annual Meeting, taking place February 15-17, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. Learn more about who is eligible and how to apply on our website. The application deadline is October 5, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. US Eastern Time. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) ...

A new study published today shows the number of sexual partners we have changes as we age – and there are some surprising results.  Researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA), in collaboration with King’s College London and University College London, surveyed more than 5,000 people aged 18 years and older during the 2022 mpox (previously known as “monkeypox”) outbreak.   The team wanted to better understand how sexual behaviours change with age, so that mathematical models of sexually transmitted infections can be made more accurate. Key findings included in the paper, published today ...