WINSTON-SALEM, NC – MAY 15, 2023 – The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) will make history this month when the first bioprinted solid tissue constructs soar to the International Space Station (ISS) on board the next all private astronaut mission by commercial space leader Axiom Space. The Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch by Houston-based Axiom Space is launching from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The crew will conduct extensive scientific research experiments including WFIRM’s vascularized tissue research – which won first place in the NASA Vascular Tissue Challenge in 2021. Liver ...

While a visit to the great outdoors is a common prescription for reducing screen use, a pioneering new study finds that time outdoors doesn’t always reduce smartphone screentime. The new research, which tracked smartphone activity of 700 study participants for two years, reveals that participants’ smartphone activity actually increased during visits to city parks and other urban green spaces. With smartphone use rising worldwide, the study clearly identifies a powerful way to reduce screen time: participants who visited nature reserves or forests saw significant declines in screentime over the first three hours, ...

BALTIMORE, Md. (May 15, 2023) – More than 100 genes linked to the risk of schizophrenia seem to cause illness because of their role in the placenta rather than in the developing brain, according to a new study led by the Lieber Institute for Brain Development. Scientists had generally assumed for over a century that genes for schizophrenia risk were principally, if not exclusively, about the brain. But the latest research, just published in Nature Communications, found that the placenta plays a much more significant role in developing illness than previously known. “The secret of the genetics of schizophrenia has been hiding in plain ...

Statement Highlights: In a review of the latest research, few stroke studies addressed racist policies, such as residential segregation, or social determinants of health, such as neighborhood deprivation, walkability or security; food availability; economic stability; education quality; or employment and health insurance, all of which play a role in stroke incidence, care and outcomes. The statement summarizes research on interventions to address racial and ethnic disparities in stroke care and outcomes. Additional research is needed to determine ...

The light pollution caused by coastal cities can trick coral reefs into spawning outside of the optimum times when they would normally reproduce, a new study has found. Coral broadcast spawning events – in which lunar cycles trigger the release of eggs on certain nights of the year – are critical to the maintenance and recovery of reefs following mass bleaching and other similar events. However, using a combination of light pollution data and spawning observations, researchers were able to show for the first time that ...

LA JOLLA, CALIF. – May 15, 2023 – Researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys and the Chinese University of Hong Kong have developed a computational approach to predict whether a person with type 2 diabetes will develop kidney disease, a frequent and dangerous complication of diabetes. Their results, published in Nature Communications, could help doctors prevent or better manage kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes. “This study provides a glimpse into the powerful future of predictive diagnostics,” says co-senior author Kevin Yip, Ph.D., a professor and director of Bioinformatics ...

Cribs, strollers and other infant and child equipment can be expensive and most families in a new national poll agree that it’s wasteful to buy these items new when they’re needed for such a short time. But while half of parents say they have used pre-owned equipment for babies and young children, two in three acknowledge that it’s difficult to always know whether it’s safe for their child, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. “Used child essentials ...

Managing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors may play a role in preserving physical function during the aging process, according to new research published today by The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.   “Approximately 10% of older adults have muscle weakness and diminished physical function that leads to adverse health outcomes and physical disability,” said lead author Dr. Shivani Sahni.  “Since loss of physical function contributes to reduced mobility, disability, institutionalization, and mortality, management of CVD risk factors can help preserve physical function with age,” ...

PRESS RELEASE  EMBARGOED TO 15 MAY 2023  Contact: Victoria Withy Head of Marketing, Communications and Membership E: victoria.withy@ese-hormones.org M: +44 (0) 7761 800855   Today, 15 May 2023, the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE), the European Hormone and Metabolism Foundation (ESE Foundation) and other partners are marking the second European Hormone Day.  European Hormone Day brings together all those with an interest in endocrine health and disease to promote a better understanding of the role of hormones and encourage a collective call for change about ...

Fukuoka, Japan—Researchers from Kyushu University and Asahi Kasei Corporation have developed a new way to estimate the age of microplastics found in the upper oceans. The method involves a combination of analyzing plastic oxidation levels with environmental factors such as UV exposure and ambient temperature. The team applied their new method to estimate the age of microplastics found in nearshore and offshore sites in the North Pacific Ocean. They found that the age of microplastics in nearshore regions ranged from 0 to 5 years old, whereas microplastics from offshore regions ranged from 1 to 3 years old. Their ...

A new engineering study has been commissioned by the European Space Agency (under PECS, the Program for European Cooperating States), to prove the reliability of meta-optical elements for space use in a collaboration between the ESA, Bulgarian start-up company LaboraXpert and TMOS, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems. In the first study of its kind, it will determine whether meta-optical components can withstand the pressures of space launch and prolonged exposure to the space environment. TMOS Centre Director Prof. Dragomir Neshev says, “The demand for Earth observation data is growing, yet the industry still faces the ...

Mice with a defected human gene responsible for a rare genetic disease, called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, have been developed for the first time. The achievement, presented at the 25th European Congress of Endocrinology, may help to develop new therapies for people with the most common type of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of inherited conditions, which affects about 1 in 15,000 births. In the most common form, called 21-hydroxylase deficiency, mutations in the CYP21A2 gene cause the adrenal glands ...

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major greenhouse gas emitted through various types of human activities. In an effort to decrease humanity’s carbon footprint, scientists and policymakers across the globe are continuously trying to explore new methods for reducing atmospheric CO2 emissions and converting them into useful forms. In this regard, the electrochemical method of reducing CO­2 to other carbonaceous forms like carbon monoxide, alcohols and hydrocarbon has gained considerable attention. Against this ...

Hot flashes, night sweats and sleep disturbances are common symptoms of menopause that can affect health, quality of life and work productivity. A new review published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.221438 recommends menopausal hormone therapy, historically known as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), as first-line treatment in people without risk factors. Menopausal symptoms may occur up to 10 years before the last menstrual period and can last more than 10 years, with negative effects for many people. "Menopause and perimenopause can be associated with distressing ...

Engineers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a new way to program robots to help people with dementia locate medicine, glasses, phones and other objects they need but have lost.  And while the initial focus is on assisting a specific group of people, the technology could someday be used by anyone who has searched high and low for something they’ve misplaced. “The long-term impact of this is really exciting,” said Dr. Ali Ayub, a post-doctoral fellow in electrical and computer engineering. “A user can be involved not just with a companion robot but a personalized ...

**Note: the release below is a special early release from the European Congress on Obesity (ECO, Dublin, 17-20 May). Please credit the conference if you use this story** New research to be presented at this coming week’s European Congress on Obesity in Dublin, Ireland (17-20 May) and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that both the metabolically healthy and unhealthy ‘forms’ of obesity are associated with an increased risk of various obesity-related cancers, with the relationship stronger in metabolically unhealthy obesity. The study is by Dr Ming Sun, Lund University, Malmö, ...

The hormone oxytocin is important for social interaction and to control emotions. A deficiency of this hormone has previously been assumed in various diseases such as autism, but has never been proven. Now, for the first time, researchers from the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Basel have succeeded in demonstrating a deficiency of oxytocin in patients with a deficiency of vasopressin caused by a disease of the pituitary gland. This finding could be key to developing new therapeutic approaches. The hormones oxytocin and vasopressin are produced in the same area of the brain ...

Nearly 2 percent of the U.S. population reported cocaine use in 2020, and the highly addictive substance was involved in nearly one in five overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control.  In Virginia, the number of cocaine-related overdoses has been increasing since 2013, with 968 fatal overdoses in 2022, according to preliminary data from the Virginia Department of Health, a 20 percent increase over 2021. Of those, four in five included fentanyl — prescription, illicit or analog — a driving force behind the fatalities. Researchers at the ...

In a recently published commentary, UK HealthCare physicians call for standard-of-care treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) among patients who are incarcerated. The viewpoint article by Anna-Maria South, M.D., Laura Fanucchi, M.D., and Michelle Lofwall, M.D., published in JAMA April 24 highlights the barriers to initiating medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among people who are incarcerated. For patients with opioid use disorder, medications such as buprenorphine and methadone are considered by the medical community as standard of care treatments, as they alleviate withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings and pain, ...

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated fear of childbirth among pregnant people in the U.S., according to a new Dartmouth study. The researchers were particularly interested in understanding, from a U.S. context, which factors predict childbirth fear and how the pandemic has affected this fear and birth outcomes. The findings are published in Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. "Our results showed really high rates of childbirth fear in our sample," says first author Zaneta Thayer '08, an associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth. "Since there's no pre-pandemic U.S. data, we cannot compare our data to that context but we know that ...

A team of neuroscientists at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has identified changes in the activity of brain cells known as pyramidal neurons, which contribute to drug seeking in a preclinical model of opioid use disorder. After access to heroin was stopped, these neurons became more excitable. The activity of these neurons was restored to normal by blocking the enzyme protein kinase A (PKA). Inhibiting this enzyme also reduced opioid-seeking behavior. Jacqueline McGinty, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience, and Saurabh Kokane, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in McGinty’s laboratory, recently published their team’s findings in the Journal of Neuroscience. The risk ...

High levels of the stress hormone cortisol during the third trimester of pregnancy may improve speech and language skills in the first 3 years of a child’s life, according to research presented at the 25th European Congress of Endocrinology in Istanbul. The findings help researchers further understand the role cortisol plays in both fetal and child development. Language development during early childhood can indicate how well a baby’s nervous system was developed in the womb. Prenatal exposure to cortisol – a steroid hormone that helps the body respond to ...

Anabolic steroids not only can cause serious side effects during use, such as heart failure and depression, but can continue being harmful years after stopping, according to two studies presented at the 25th European Congress of Endocrinology in Istanbul. These studies, supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, were carried out by researchers from the Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet who investigated the impact of anabolic steroids in former users. Anabolic steroids – synthetic hormones ...

Long COVID risk has been found to increase with low levels of vitamin D, according to research presented at the 25th European Congress of Endocrinology in Istanbul. The findings suggest that individuals should have their vitamin D levels checked after COVID-19. Also known as post COVID-19 syndrome, long COVID is a new condition in which the effects of COVID-19 last for more than 12 weeks after contracting the initial infection. Studies have shown that it affects 50-70% of patients previously hospitalised for COVID-19, yet very little is known about the condition. One risk factor for worse outcomes for hospitalised COVID-19 patients, such as intubation and mechanical ventilation ...

May 12, 2023 — Accelerated schedules for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can be offered to patients experiencing treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD), a group of clinician–researchers and neuroscientists have concluded. The group cautions that such treatment should be proposed only after detailed discussion with patients about acceleration being an alternate form of rTMS scheduling, with documentation of informed consent. The recommendations are published in a ...