1. Experts say it’s not yet time to take off masks in the health care setting Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-1190 URL goes live when the embargo lifts A new commentary from infectious disease experts at George Washington University School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says for patient safety, masking should continue in health care settings. This message conflicts with a recent commentary from authors from 8 U.S. institutions suggesting that the time for universal masking is over. The commentary is published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Masking has been a controversial ...

New University of Colorado Boulder research shows the number of farms globally will shrink in half as the size of the average existing farms doubles by the end of the 21st century, posing significant risks to the world’s food systems. Published today in the journal Nature Sustainability, the study is the first to track the number and size of farms year-over-year, from the 1960s and projecting through 2100. The study shows that even rural, farm-dependent communities in Africa and Asia will experience a drop in the number of operating farms. “We see a turning point from widespread farm creation to widespread consolidation on a global level, and that's ...

Drugs approved in the US require “substantial evidence” that they are effective. But an investigation by The BMJ into the recent approval of the antibiotic Recarbrio from Merck suggests that these standards are being bypassed. Peter Doshi, senior editor at The BMJ, describes how US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists had serious doubts about Recarbrio - a product 40 times more expensive than an existing generic alternative - but the agency approved it anyway. Did the FDA break its own rules in approving this antibiotic, and what does this case tell us about problems within the agency, he asks?  Recarbrio is a combination therapy made up ...

Two years of heavy exposure to TCE, a liquid chemical that lingers in the air, water and soil, may increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease by 70%.    Previous research has linked TCE, or trichloroethylene, to certain cancers, but a new study publishing in JAMA Neurology on May 15, 2023, is believed to be the first large-scale study to demonstrate its association with Parkinson’s.      TCE has been used for industrial and commercial purposes for nearly 100 years, and was used ...

Researchers from The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have measured the extent to which a bone fracture can lead to early death, and created a publicly available tool that doctors and patients can use to calculate risk.  The research, ‘Skeletal Age’ for mapping the impact of fracture on mortality has just been published in the prestigious scientific journal, eLife. In the study of more than 1.6 million adults, the scientists found that a bone fracture was associated with a loss of one to ...

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers studying clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), a blood condition that may increase the risk of blood cancer, discovered that obesity was strongly associated with the condition. Their findings were recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.  CHIP is a condition where blood cells accumulate genetic mutations, increasing the risk of developing blood cancer. Although CHIP is common in aging, the risk factors that contribute to the condition are poorly understood.     “Our study’s results showed being overweight ...

The study is led by Xiaojun Han (School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology).   With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, environmental problems became increasingly serious. Dye wastewater is considered to be one of the biggest challenges due to its high toxicity. Organic dyes have mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic properties, and threaten the health and life of humans while hindering plant photosynthesis, which brings risks to the ecosystem. Traditional organic pollutant treatment ...

As more people use cannabis for recreational purposes, attitudes towards the drug have changed. For example, research has shown that dispensaries often recommend cannabis – also referred to as marijuana – to pregnant women to ease pregnancy symptoms, especially morning sickness. There is a growing body of literature attesting to poor child outcomes if cannabinoids are consumed during pregnancy. The exact effects on the developing fetus, however, remain unclear. Researchers in the US have now examined how timing of cannabis exposure during pregnancy impacts fetal development. “We show that even when marijuana use occurred only ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL SUNDAY 14 MAY 2023 AT 00:01 CET Severe hot flashes after menopause increase metabolic syndrome risk in women Women who experience more severe hot flashes after menopause are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure, according to research presented at the 25th European Congress of Endocrinology in Istanbul. The findings of this long-term study highlight the importance of using hormone replacement therapy for menopause in these women. Metabolic syndrome is a group of three or more ...

CLEVELAND—Irregularities in the body’s genetic coding to make proteins are linked to cancerous tumors. But most genetic material contains elements whose function isn’t clear. Could abnormalities in non-coding material also impact a person’s health, or even be linked to cancers as well? A new study by researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine suggests that the non-coding genetic molecules also play a key role in health and disease, including tumor development. More specifically, ...

DETROIT (May 15, 2023) – Henry Ford Health Interventional cardiologists William O’Neill, M.D., and Khaldoon Alaswad, M.D., took a page out of the medical history books by performing a new coronary bypass procedure replicated from one not used in decades to treat a patient living with crippling angina ― a severe symptom of coronary artery disease. Retired painting contractor Fred Casciano, 60, from Traverse City, became the first patient anywhere to receive the life-changing transcatheter procedure on April 12 at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The procedure was re-engineered from an operation first developed in the 1950s. “This new ...

The more, the better “TomoTwin paves the way for automated identification and localization of proteins directly in their cellular environment, expanding the potential of cryo-ET,” says Gavin Rice, co-first author of the publication. Cryo-ET has the potential to decipher how biomolecules work within a cell and, by that, to unveil the basis of life and the origin of diseases. In a cryo-ET experiment, scientists use a transmission electron microscope to obtain 3D images, called tomograms, of the cellular volume containing complex biomolecules. To gain a more detailed image of ...

A clinical trial of an experimental universal influenza vaccine developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC), part of the National Institutes of Health, has begun enrolling volunteers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. This Phase 1 trial will test the experimental vaccine, known as H1ssF-3928 mRNA-LNP, for safety and its ability to induce an immune response. The trial will enroll up to 50 healthy volunteers aged ...

TUCSON, Arizona — University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers are taking the foot off the brake in their quest to improve opioid therapy while decreasing its side effects.  Led by John Streicher, PhD, a Department of Pharmacology associate professor in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson and a member of the UArizona Health Sciences Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center, the researchers have expanded upon their previous research focused on one specific protein – heat shock protein 90 – and its role in opioid receptor activation and pain relief. Their prior investigations have ...

Dr. Laura Moyer ’99 ’02G ’05 PhD, manager of metallography, light optical microscopy, and X-ray diffraction at Lehigh University, has been elected as a Fellow of ASM International, the leading association of engineers and scientists in the field of materials science. The honor recognizes Moyer’s “outstanding leadership and technical contributions to the education of personnel in both manufacturing and academia,” benefitting the field of materials science and engineering. The ...

Researchers have developed a new smaller, lighter design for space-based imaging spectrometers with high spectral resolution. These high-dispersion imaging spectrometers could be used onboard spacecraft or satellites to study the Earth’s atmosphere or the atmospheres of other planets. James P. McGuire, Jr. from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will present the new research at the Optica Design and Fabrication Conference, which will take place 04 – 08 June 2023 in Quebec City, Canada.  “This spectrometer provides the same measurement capabilities as conventional designs, but at one tenth the ...

DARIEN, IL – Four individuals have been selected as the 2023 Sleep Research Society award recipients for their outstanding contributions to the SRS, sleep and circadian science, and public health. They will be recognized Monday, June 5, during the plenary session of the SLEEP 2023 annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Indianapolis.    “The SRS awards recognize the highest achievements by sleep and circadian scientists whose work supports our mission to cultivate knowledge in the field and to optimize health and well-being,” said SRS President Namni Goel. “I congratulate these leaders ...

A team of physicists has discovered a new role for a specific type of turbulence—a finding that sheds light on fluid flows ranging from the Earth’s liquid core to boiling water.  The research, which appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, centered on turbulent convection—the movement of fluid when heated from below. “Our experiments reveal intricate movements between a free-moving body and thermal convective flows,” says Jun Zhang, a professor of mathematics and physics at New York University and NYU Shanghai, the paper’s senior author. The study, which also included Kaizhe Wang, a researcher ...

Phosphatases of regenerating liver (PRLs) are a family of enigmatic proteins involved in cell growth and metabolism present in various species. From humans to fruit flies, they play a unique role in the growth of cancerous tumours and the spread of cancer throughout the body. New research emerging from McGill University is contributing to what is known about PRLs, which could potentially become an important tool in the development of cancer-fighting treatments.   Led by Kalle Gehring, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and founding director of the McGill Centre for Structural Biology, the researchers focused on unravelling the mystery around PRLs. “It's ...

Athletes from less affluent countries need more education on health to prevent injuries during hard training. But, paradoxically, more knowledge can also increase the risk of injury if there is no access to medically trained expertise. This is the conclusion of researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, in a new study on inequality in athletics. “There were astronomical differences in support resources between juniors from different parts of the world. European competitors had entire medical teams and computer-based analysis programs ...

The National Virtual Climate Laboratory (NVCL), a comprehensive web portal for climate science projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program, is now available. The NVCL is a portal for those who have a stake in the climate crisis, such as researchers, students, faculty, and other interested organizations. Portal users will be able to find a wide range of national laboratory experts, programs, projects, activities, ...

LEBANON, NH— Advanced or metastatic estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer is commonly treated with drugs that block the estrogen receptor. However, estrogens that stimulate the receptor can also be effective.  Building on their previous studies, researchers at Dartmouth Cancer Center recently concluded a Phase II clinical trial aimed to test the efficacy of alternating between estrogen stimulation and estrogen deprivation in patients with metastatic ER+ breast cancer, and to identify tumor characteristics that predict who might benefit from this strategy. The results, newly published ahead of print in Clinical ...

Oxytocin, the so-called “love hormone,” plays a key role in the process of how a young zebra finch learns to sing by imitating its elders, suggests a new study by neuroscientists at Emory University. Scientific Reports published the findings, which add to the understanding of the neurochemistry of social learning. “We found that the oxytocin system is involved from an early age in male zebra finches learning song,” says Natalie Pilgeram, first author of the study and an Emory PhD candidate in psychology. “It’s basic science that may lead to insights into the ...

Resistance to antibiotics is a problem that alarms the medical and scientific community. Bacteria resistant to three different classes of antibiotics, known as multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria, are far from rare. Some are even resistant to all currently available treatments and are known as pan-drug resistant (PDR). They are associated with dangerous infections and listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as priority pathogens for drug development with maximum urgency. An article published in a special issue of the journal Antibiotics highlights a compound with antibacterial activity that presented promising ...

Post-secondary education (PSE) has a potential for improving the IQ of adults with mild intellectual disability (ID), according to a new Bar-Ilan University study.  The study examined the impact of PSE on students with mild ID who study in a university-based program, known as the Empowerment Project, at the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Education.  The study sample included 24 participants, divided into 12 students with ID who participate in the Empowerment Project and 12 adults with ID with the same background, who did not participate. The results were published in the European Journal of Special Needs Education. The findings revealed significant IQ improvement ...