Statement Highlights: There are a variety of interrelated social and structural factors that contribute to differences in cardiovascular health among Asian Americans, and these factors are likely different within individual Asian ethnic subgroups. Asian Americans and Asian immigrants are quite diverse and comprise many ethnic groups.  Social determinants, such as immigration-related factors, discrimination, socioeconomic status, English proficiency and cultural beliefs, may influence health behaviors, access to health care and the ability ...

Researchers from the Kind Group have gained new insights into the mechanism behind the spatial organization of DNA within the cells of early embryos. When an embryo is first formed after fertilization, each cell has the potential to become any cell type of the body. The researchers have studied the spatial organization of DNA that is so particular to these early developmental stages. The paper was published in Nature Genetics on September 16th, 2024.  Every cell in our body contains the same DNA. ...

A recent study conducted by researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and Fudan University has revealed a significant association between socioeconomic status (SES) inequality and the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Published in Health Data Science, the study highlights how a healthy lifestyle can mitigate some of the risks associated with low SES.   Socioeconomic disparities have long been a concern in various health outcomes. This study, led ...

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a gel inspired by cow slime for patients suffering from disc herniation. By adding the mucin gel immediately after surgery, it is possible to create a protective barrier around the discs to prevent the immune system from attacking their nucleus pulposus. This keeps the discs intact and reduces the risk of further damage. “This new approach offers hope for those suffering from back pain caused by disc herniation and may prevent further damage after removing ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Developing friendships is often seen as a natural part of childhood but it may be easier for some kids than others. And many parents worry about their children’s friendships, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, with one in five saying their child ages six to 12 has no friends or not enough friends. Ninety percent of parents believe their child would like to make new friends. “Friendships can play a significant role in children’s overall health and development, emotional well-being, ...

Can artificial intelligence (AI) help reduce deaths in hospital? An AI-based system was able to reduce risk of unexpected deaths by identifying hospitalized patients at high risk of deteriorating health, found new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.240132. Rapid deterioration among hospitalized patients is the primary cause of unplanned admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Previous research has attempted to use technology to identify these patients, but evidence is mixed about the application of prediction tools to ...

People who eat more ultra-processed foods (UPF) are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but this risk can be lowered by consuming less processed foods instead, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL. The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe in collaboration with experts at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, investigated the relationship between the degree of food processing and type 2 diabetes risk, including which kinds of UPF were most high-risk. The team analysed UPF intake and health outcomes for 311,892 individuals from eight European countries over 10.9 years on average, during which time 14,236 people developed type 2 ...

RESEARCH SUMMARY Study Title: SOLARIS (Alliance A021703): A multicenter double-blind phase III randomized clinical trial of vitamin D combined with standard chemotherapy plus bevacizumab in patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer. Publication: European Society for Medical Oncology 2024 Abstract LBA26 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute authors: Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, Nadine McCleary, MD, MPH, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, MD, MPH Summary: A double-blind randomized phase 3 clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers and conducted across several hundred cancer centers in the U.S. tested the addition of high-dose ...

Long-term data from a landmark international trial show about half of patients with metastatic melanoma treated with a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors survive cancer-free for 10 years or more, according to a new report from Weill Cornell Medicine and Dana-Farber Cancer Center investigators and their colleagues. The 10-year follow-up study, published Sept. 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine, will bring the phase 3 CheckMate 067 trial to a close. The trial, which followed 945 patients treated at 137 sites in 21 countries, demonstrated that combining ...

A new study allays fears that rerouting flights to avoid forming climate-warming contrails could result in inadvertently making climate warming worse.  Researchers from Sorbonne Universite and the University of Reading found that for most flights that form contrails in the North Atlantic, the climate benefit of avoiding the contrail outweighs the extra carbon dioxide emitted from flying a different route.   Contrail avoidance requires comparing the climate impacts of carbon dioxide and contrails, called CO2 equivalence. Different methods have been proposed, and the choice of which has been largely political. Scientists feared that some choices ...

Young patients can safely breastfeed without increasing the risk of cancer recurrence or new cancer in the opposite breast Telephone-based intervention can successfully prompt patients who are overweight to exercise more, lowering their weight BARCELONA, SPAIN – Three studies led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have encouraging implications for patients with breast cancer. Two studies focus on breastfeeding after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. The studies found it was safe and feasible for young patients carrying specific genetic variations to breastfeed without raising their risk of a cancer recurrence or a cancer in the other breast, and that it was safe ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept 10, 2024) –Menopausal women are at greater risk of insulin resistance as a result of declining estrogen levels. Previous studies evaluating the potential benefits of hormone therapy on insulin resistance have produced mixed results. However, a new meta-analysis of 17 different randomized, controlled trials suggests hormone therapy can be beneficial. Results of the meta-analysis will be presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society in Chicago September 10-14.   Insulin resistance can occur in men or women, but menopausal women are at ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – New research co-led by Cornell University examines thousands of years of Arctic sled dog ancestry and reveals when and how Siberian and Alaskan sled dogs’ DNA mixed. “There was a real concern from Siberian breeders – who were mostly racing their dogs – that they were sending out their dogs’ DNA samples for analysis, more for the context of health traits, and they were getting breed ancestry information back that said their dog was not 100% Siberian husky,” said Heather Huson, a former ...

ABSTRACT: 1476O  BARCELONA, Spain ― Treatment with a combination of haloperidol and lorazepam reduced symptoms of agitated delirium, a common end-of-life condition for patients with advanced cancers, compared with haloperidol alone, according to a new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings were presented today at the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.   Agitated delirium occurs when a patient’s brain function begins to deteriorate as their cancer advances, resulting in many patients beginning to behave aggressively or abnormally. Although the use of medication ...

Boston, MA and Rolle, Switzerland, September 14, 2024 – SOPHiA GENETICS (Nasdaq: SOPH), a cloud-native healthcare technology company and a leader in data-driven medicine, will unveil new research at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024. The study, conducted in collaboration with AstraZeneca, leverages advanced AI-driven techniques to identify subgroups of stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who could most benefit from the addition of tremelimumab to durvalumab and chemotherapy. The research is a retrospective, multimodal analysis of the POSEIDON Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT03164616). This trial originally demonstrated that the combination of tremelimumab, ...

Bile acids are essential signaling molecules derived from cholesterol metabolism in the liver and are crucial for the digestion and absorption of fats. These molecules undergo further modification in the intestines by the gut microbiome. However, disruptions in bile flow, a condition known as cholestasis, can lead to the pathological accumulation of hydrophobic BAs in the liver and bloodstream. This accumulation not only exacerbates liver damage but also induces significant disturbances in cellular processes. The review focuses on recent developments in understanding how BAs contribute to liver injury by affecting mitochondrial function, endoplasmic reticulum ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have made strides forward in realizing industrial conversion of bicarbonate solution made from captured carbon to a formate solution, a green fuel. Their new electrochemical cell, with a porous membrane layer in between the electrodes, overcomes major issues suffered in reactive carbon capture (RCC) and achieves performances rivaling energy-hungry gas-fed methods. Processes like theirs directly add value to waste streams and are key to realizing net zero emissions.   Carbon capture technology ...

Lakes can tip the scales from healthy to potential environmental hazard quickly when they become eutrophic. In this state, an abundance of nutrients accelerates algae growth, which then crowd the water’s surface and block light from reaching organisms below. Without light, they can’t make oxygen and life in the water begins to die off. Luckily, researchers can monitor inland lakes for eutrophication with remote sensing technologies; however, those technologies could be adjusted to make more accurate assessments, according to researchers based in China. The team published their evaluation of the technologies, as well as recommended paths ...

While planting trees may seem like an easy win to combat climate change, planted forests often encroach on natural forests, wetlands, and grasslands. This can reduce biodiversity, disturb the natural environment, and disrupt carbon and water cycling. While there has been a global increase in forest cover, it’s hard to know if this forest is the regeneration and growth of natural forests or if it is planting new trees. Accurately mapping these forests with remote sensing technology could help. However, comprehensive maps of planted forests and natural forests are lacking even though it is possible to distinguish planted forests and natural forests on satellite images ...

CHICAGO—September 13, 2024—The College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology has been awarded the prestigious Zero Energy Design Designation (ZEDD) from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for it Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture programs. This recognition highlights the college’s commitment to sustainability, carbon neutrality, and zero-energy design practices in a world of escalating extreme weather and climate change.  The ...

HOUSTON – (Sept. 13, 2024) – Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has notoriously struggled to create consistent images, often getting details like fingers and facial symmetry wrong. Moreover, these models can completely fail when prompted to generate images at different image sizes and resolutions. Rice University computer scientists’ new method of generating images with pre-trained diffusion models ⎯ a class of generative AI models that “learn” by adding layer after layer of random noise to the images they are trained on and then generate new images by removing the added noise ⎯ could help correct ...

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established a pandemic preparedness research network to conduct research on high-priority pathogens most likely to threaten human health with the goal of developing effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. Currently, many of the diseases caused by these pathogens have no available vaccines or therapeutics, and investing in this research is key to preparing for potential public health crises—both in the United States and around the world. NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) expects to commit approximately ...

University of Virginia professor Mathews Jacob has secured a $3.9 million grant to advance his innovative research on detecting Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages. Jacob, who specializes in electrical and computer engineering, is teaming up with researchers from the University of Iowa and the University of California-San Francisco to push the boundaries of imaging technology that tracks the brain’s metabolic changes — offering a fresh perspective on studying neurodegenerative disorders. Their focus is on advancing magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). Unlike standard MRI, which primarily highlights structural changes, ...

Flowers like hibiscus use an invisible blueprint established very early in petal formation that dictates the size of their bullseyes – a crucial pre-pattern that can significantly impact their ability to attract pollinating bees.   The study, by researchers at the University of Cambridge’s Sainsbury Laboratory also found that bees prefer larger bullseyes over smaller ones and fly 25% faster between artificial flower discs with larger bullseyes – potentially boosting efficiency for both bees and blossoms.  Patterns on the flowers of plants guide insects, like bees, to the centre of the flower, where nectar and pollen await, ...

Men are three times more likely than women to commit traffic violations while driving and to be involved in accidents. Moreover, they are more likely to create situations on the road that are highly dangerous to others. Men are also twice as likely to drive under the influence and nearly one-third more likely to receive a prison sentence for reckless driving. Perhaps it comes down to cultural norms and the different attitudes men and women have toward driving. These are the conclusions reached by Anton Kazun, Assistant Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, and Research Assistant Mikhail Belov. There is a stereotype that women are worse driver than men; female drivers are ...