Chicago (May 2, 2023) — Researchers created organoids from cancer cells to reduce the need for trial and error in identifying effective cancer treatments in one of many cancer studies scheduled for presentation this week at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2023. Below are summaries of three studies scheduled for DDW, their embargo times and presentation times at the meeting in Chicago May 6-9. Personalized drug screening in patient-derived organoids of biliary tract cancer and its clinical application Chemotherapy is often the only treatment option for biliary tract cancer, which is usually found at a late stage, making it one of the most lethal ...

Those with post-viral fatigue after suffering from COVID-19 benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy, resulting in less fatigue and concentration problems. Lead researcher, Hans Knoop, Professor of Medical Psychology at Amsterdam UMC found that “After behavioural therapy, patients not only had less symptoms but also functioned better both physically and socially. Those improvements were still present even after six months.” Today, research from Amsterdam UMC, RadboudUMC and three other hospitals is published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. After a COVID-19 infection, a substantial number of patients report persisting symptoms. This is often known as long-COVID or ...

The biofilm-forming bacteria E. coli adheres firmly to hydrophobic and hydrophilic protein-adsorbing self-assembling monolayers (SAMs) and weakly to hydrophilic protein-resisting SAMs, uncovered a recent study by Tokyo Tech researchers. These findings on how surface chemistry can influence the adhesion of bacterial cells and, in turn, biofilm formation could open doors to bacteria-resistant surfaces and antibiofouling coatings for biomedical and industrial devices. Bacterial biofilms are like a double-edged sword. On one hand, they have proven valuable ...

Should healthy people be screened to help reduce their risk of fragility fractures? A new interactive online Fragility Fracture Decision Aid for shared decision-making can help clinicians and patients visualize their individual risk of fracture and the potential benefits and harms of preventive treatment. The decision aid is part of a new guideline https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.221219 from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care on screening to prevent fragility fractures. The guideline, ...

CHICAGO (May 7, 2023) — Children and adolescents face greater risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) when exposed to antibiotics or a Western diet at early ages, or when their family has higher socioeconomic status, according to a study being presented today at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2023. “Pediatric IBD cases are rising globally, and approximately 1 in 4 of all IBD cases are now diagnosed before age 21,” said Nisha Thacker, the study’s lead author and a gastrointestinal dietitian. A unique concern about pediatric IBD is the impact that the inflammation has on a child’s growth and the progression of puberty, ...

Women who have suffered domestic abuse may have a higher risk of developing atopic diseases including asthma, new research has found.   Published today in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, the research led by the University of Birmingham found that in analysis of patient records, there were a significantly larger percentage of women who had atopic diseases and had a history of being exposed to domestic abuse and violence compared to those who hadn’t.   Dr Joht Singh Chandan from the University of Birmingham and corresponding author of the study said:   “After adjusting for possible cofounders, ...

What: Twelve people with persistent neurological symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection were intensely studied at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and were found to have differences in their immune cell profiles and autonomic dysfunction. These data inform future studies to help explain persistent neurological symptoms in Long COVID. The findings, published in Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, may lead to better diagnoses and new treatments. People with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), which includes Long COVID, have a wide range of symptoms, including fatigue, ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The immune system has a biological telecommunications system — small proteins known as interleukins that send signals among the leukocyte white blood cells to control their defense against infections or nascent cancer. Interleukin-6, or IL-6, is one of these key mediators of inflammation, and it can, as needed, provoke the immune system into attack against pathogens. However, imbalances of IL-6 — too much or too little — can cause disease, even in the absence of infection. Excess IL-6 is central to the pathogenesis of inflammatory reactions like ...

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have proposed a hypothesis for why insects are so rare in marine environments. They previously showed that insects evolved a unique chemical mechanism to harden their shells which uses molecular oxygen and an enzyme called multicopper oxidase-2 (MCO2). Now, they argue that this gives them a disadvantage in the sea, while it confers advantages that help them on land, placing MCO2 at the heart of insect eco-evolution. Insects are some of the most successful organisms on the planet. ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Newly developed “smart” coatings for surgical orthopedic implants can monitor strain on the devices to provide early warning of implant failures while killing infection-causing bacteria, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report. The coatings integrate flexible sensors with a nanostructured antibacterial surface inspired by the wings of dragonflies and cicadas. In a new study in the journal Science Advances, a multidisciplinary team of researchers found the coatings prevented infection in live mice and mapped strain in commercial implants applied to sheep spines to warn of various implant or healing failures.  “This ...

SAN CARLOS, California – A new publication in the May issue of Nature Aging by researchers from Integrated Biosciences, a biotechnology company combining synthetic biology and machine learning to target aging, demonstrates the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to discover novel senolytic compounds, a class of small molecules under intense study for their ability to suppress age-related processes such as fibrosis, inflammation and cancer. The paper, “Discovering small-molecule senolytics with deep neural networks,” authored in collaboration with ...

Finding a full-time faculty job can be a daunting challenge for doctoral graduates. University of Cincinnati anthropologist Kathleen Grogan says postdoctoral researchers can benefit from having peers review their applications. She learned this herself while working as a postdoctoral researcher. She realized that she and other postdocs routinely solicited feedback in an online messaging app dedicated to aspiring scientists. “I was on the job market and wanted people with broad scientific expertise to look at my stuff,” said Grogan, an assistant professor in UC’s College ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 5, 2023) — The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center has been recognized by the National Pancreas Foundation (NPF) as an approved NPF Center of Excellence. The designation is awarded after a rigorous audit review to determine that an institution's focus is on multidisciplinary treatment of pancreatic cancer, treating the “whole patient” with a focus on the best possible outcomes and an improved quality of life. “We are honored to receive the NPF designation, which highlight’s Markey’s commitment to multidisciplinary ...

Researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory captured one of the fastest movements of a molecule called ferricyanide for the first time by combining two ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy techniques. They think their approach could help map more complex chemical reactions like oxygen transportation in blood cells or hydrogen production using artificial photosynthesis. The research team from SLAC, Stanford and other institutions started with what is now a fairly standard technique: They zapped a mixture of ferricyanide and water with an ultraviolet laser and bright X-rays generated by the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser. ...

Providing defendants with legal counsel during their initial bail hearing decreases use of monetary bail and pretrial detention, without increasing the likelihood that defendants fail to appear at the subsequent preliminary hearing, according to a new RAND Corporation study.   Researchers found that having legal counsel at bail hearings increased the probability of being released without monetary bail by 21% and reduced the probability that an individual was in jail three days after their bail hearing by 10%.   The analysis, based on a field experiment in Pittsburgh where public defenders were assigned to a limited number of initial bail hearings, is ...

New Haven, Conn. — When new COVID-19 vaccines were first administered two years ago, public health officials found an increase in cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, particularly among young males who had been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines. It was unclear, however, what exactly was causing this reaction. In a new study, Yale scientists have identified the immune signature of these heart inflammation cases. These findings, published May 5 in the journal Science Immunology, rule out some of the theorized causes of the heart inflammation and suggest potential ways to further ...

East Hanover, NJ – May 5, 2023 –Declines in the April job numbers for people with disabilities raise concerns about the future of the job market, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – semi-monthly update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). To assess whether this change signals a slowing of job gains for people with disabilities, nTIDE experts will look closely at the direction of next month’s employment indicators.                                                                                                                        Month-to-Month ...

“AL amyloidosis is a fatal disease and systemic therapy is required to prevent deposition of amyloid in other organs and prevent progressive organ failure.” BUFFALO, NY- May 5, 2023 – A new review paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on April 26, 2023, entitled, “Systemic AL amyloidosis: current approach and future direction.” In this review, researchers Maroun Bou Zerdan, Lewis Nasr, Farhan Khalid, Sabine Allam, Youssef Bouferraa, Saba Batool, Muhammad Tayyeb, Shubham Adroja, Mahinbanu Mammadii, Faiz Anwer, Shahzad Raza, and Chakra P. Chaulagain from SUNY Upstate Medical University, University of Texas MD Anderson ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can drive cars, monitor and adjust the temperature in your home, and chat with you online. AI could help public health officials, community workers, and clinics efficiently direct and allocate resources and better target interventions to improve health outcomes during disasters and public health emergencies.  “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a need for new approaches to resource allocation during public health crises—approaches that simultaneously serve our society’s most vulnerable communities, improve our overall health and well-being, and maximize impact,” ...

Des Plaines, IL — There are unlimited opportunities for career growth in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system and this option should be recognized by medical students considering emergency medicine as a potential career, and by emergency medicine residents as well. This is the message of a perspective piece titled, The hidden jewel of emergency medicine careers: Why it's time to explore the VA. The piece introduces the April 2023 special issue of Academic ...

  The Alliance Board of Directors has elected Evanthia Galanis, MD, as Group Chair-Elect of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology at the 2023 Alliance Spring Virtual Group Meeting on May 5. Dr. Galanis will take office in November 2023 and will serve a six-year term.“I’m honored to be elected to serve as Group Chair of the Alliance,” Dr. Galanis said. “I am excited to lead an organization whose mission is to reduce the impact of cancer by uniting a broad community of scientists and clinicians who are committed to the prevention and treatment ...

DENVER — (MAY 5, 2023) For the past two decades, there has been a major resurgence in progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), (also known as black lung) among coal miners, leading researchers from National Jewish Health and across the country to examine what job duties might be putting them at risk. Current federal regulations require routine monitoring of dust levels in specific “high risk” jobs in underground coal mines, mainly jobs near the coal seam where coal is mined from surrounding rock. During the study, crystalline silica, a component of coal mine dust, was found in the lungs of coal miners whose jobs had not been targeted for exposure monitoring based on current ...

Football players who have had repetitive head trauma and concussion are at heightened risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an irreversible condition that leads to dementia. But not every case of cognitive decline means CTE, as illustrated by a new case study published by researchers from Mass General Brigham in Current Sports Medicine Reports. In the publication, Adam Tenforde, MD, a physician in Mass General Brigham’s Sports medicine program and medical director of the Spaulding National Running Center, co-authored a study that described the case ...

By Suhtling Wong | May 1, 2023 11:19 am Bacteria naturally adapt to various environmental stimuli and as they mutate, these changes can make them resistant to drugs that would kill or slow their growth. In a recent article published in PLoS Genetics, UCF College of Medicine microbiologist Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno uncovers the evolutionary origins of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria. His studies on the bacterium that causes ...

Led by Jizhong Zhou, Ph.D., the director of the Institute for Environmental Genomics at the University of Oklahoma, an international research team conducted a long term experiment that found that climate warming reduced the diversity of and significantly altered the community structure of soil archaea. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Climate Change. At the microbiological level, life can be described as belonging to one of three kingdoms – how species are described in relation to one another. Eukarya contains complex organisms like animals and ...