Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have developed a breath test that measures how well patients with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) respond to receiving liver or combined liver and kidney transplantation. Researchers also used the test to assess the severity of the disease in people and help determine if they would benefit from surgical or experimental genomic therapies that target the liver. The study results were published in Genetics in Medicine. Scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) led the project team, with collaborators from the National ...

Rates of prolonged visits for pediatric mental health emergency department (ED) visits increased over a decade, in contrast to non-mental health visits for which visit times remained stable, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. From 2005-2015, rates of ED visits lasting over six hours for children presenting for mental health issues jumped from 16 percent to nearly 25 percent, while rates of visits lasting over 12 hours increased from 5 percent to nearly 13 percent. "The trend of increasingly long ED visits for pediatric mental health problems likely represents worsening access to essential mental health services. This is concerning, especially since during the COVID-19 pandemic we are seeing substantially more children coming ...

BATON ROUGE, La. (March 2021) - Without restoration efforts in coastal Louisiana, marshes in the state could lose half of their current ability to store carbon in the soil over a period of 50 years, according to a new paper published in American Geophysical Union Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences. "This reduction in capacity could significantly alter the global carbon budget, given that Louisiana's marsh soils account for between 5 and 21 percent of the global soil carbon storage in tidally influenced wetlands," said Melissa Baustian, lead author and coastal ecologist at The Water Institute of the Gulf. The article, "Long-term carbon sinks in marsh soils of coastal Louisiana are at risk to wetland loss" ...

A new study shows a correlation between the end of solar cycles and a switch from El Nino to La Nina conditions in the Pacific Ocean, suggesting that solar variability can drive seasonal weather variability on Earth. If the connection outlined in the journal Earth and Space Science holds up, it could significantly improve the predictability of the largest El Nino and La Nina events, which have a number of seasonal climate effects over land. For example, the southern United States tends to be warmer and drier during a La Nina, while the northern U.S. tends to be colder ...

PULLMAN, Wash. - The ability to control your own behavior, known as executive function, might not exist all in your head. A new theory proposes that it develops with many influences from outside the mind. The theory, detailed in Perspectives on Psychological Science, draws on dynamic systems theory which originated in mathematics and physics and has been used to describe complex organizing phenomena like cloud formation and flying patterns of birds. Now, a research team led by Washington State University human development assistant professor Sammy Perone is applying ...

Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have shown that skeletal muscle satellite cells, key players in muscle repair, proliferate better in low glucose environments. This is contrary to conventional wisdom that says mammalian cells fare better when there is more sugar to fuel their activities. Because ultra-low glucose environments do not allow other cell types to proliferate, the team could produce pure cultures of satellite cells, potentially a significant boost for biomedical research. Healthy muscles are an important part of a healthy life. With the wear and tear of everyday use, our muscles continuously repair themselves to keep them in top condition. In recent years, scientists have begun to understand how muscle repair ...

The neurons in our nervous system "talk" to each other by sending and receiving chemical messages called neurotransmitters. This communication is facilitated by cell membrane proteins called receptors, which pick up neurotransmitters and relay them across cells. In a recent study published in Nature Communications, scientists from Japan report their findings on the dynamics of receptors, which can enable understanding of the processes of memory formation and learning. The regulation of receptor movement and localization within the neuron is important for synaptic plasticity, an important process in the central nervous system. A specific type of ...

DEPRIVATION among society at large is 'driving' Covid-19 disparities among minority ethnic groups - predominantly South Asian and Black African or Caribbean populations - and could be considered the main cause of disproportionate infection rates, hospitalisation and deaths experienced by these populations, according to new analysis from the University of Leicester. The study, supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) comes a day after a government-commissioned review concluded race and racism have become less important factors in explaining social disparities in the UK. Researchers at the University of Leicester used UK Biobank data of 407,830 South Asian, Black ...

Waiting for your turn can be frustrating, especially when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations. But prioritizing who receives the limited supply of vaccines available saves lives and reduces spread of infection, according to a study published today in the journal PNAS from the University of California, Davis. While there is mostly universal agreement that older people should be prioritized, debates are currently underway about prioritizing a variety of other groups. Still others argue against targeting at all. "Prioritization has benefits because people differ in at least two key ways -- their risk of infection and the likelihood of serious consequences from infection," said senior author ...

Within southeast Michigan's Middle Eastern and North African community, those who worry about deportation or believe they've been treated unfairly are likely to face more adverse conditions associated with poor health, including food insecurity and financial distress. The MENA people who face several of these barriers are also more likely to report chronic illness and mental health issues as well as worse overall health. That's according to a new study by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the Arab Community Center for ...

Washington, April 2, 2021--The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will release a new PISA report on student growth mindset on Thursday, April 8 at 5:00 a.m. ET, followed by a press conference held in collaboration with the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Yidan Prize Foundation at 10:30 a.m. ET. The new report "Sky's the limit: Growth mindset, students, and schools in PISA" provides analyses on student growth mindset, a concept much discussed in the current field of psychology. Growth mindset is the belief that someone's ability and intelligence can be developed over time. PISA collected international ...

BOSTON - New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) provides insights on why people with red hair exhibit altered sensitivity to certain kinds of pain. The findings are published in Science Advances. In people with red hair (as in numerous other species of animals with red fur), the pigment-producing cells of the skin--called melanocytes--contain a variant form of the melanocortin 1 receptor. This receptor sits on the cell surface, and if it becomes activated by circulating hormones called melanocortins, it causes the melanocyte to switch from generating yellow/red melanin pigment to producing brown/black melanin pigment. Earlier work by David E. Fisher, MD, PhD, director of the Mass General Cancer Center's ...

PHILADELPHIA - A team led by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has identified nine potential new COVID-19 treatments, including three that are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating other diseases. The team, whose findings were published in Cell Reports, screened thousands of existing drugs and drug-like molecules for their ability to inhibit the replication of the COVID-19-causing coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. In contrast to many prior studies, the screens tested the molecules for anti-coronaviral activity in a variety of cell types, including human airway-lining cells that are similar to the ones principally affected in COVID-19. Of ...

A new Veterans Affairs study finds that combat experience is associated with a higher risk of alcohol use to cope with PTSD symptoms. But the connection is weaker when accounting for the severity of the PTSD. The findings appeared online in the Journal of Dual Diagnosis in March 2021. In an observational study of more than 11,000 men with at least one traumatic experience, the researchers found that those with combat experience were much more likely than those without to report drinking alcohol to cope with PTSD. The diversity of traumatic experiences, the severity of PTSD, and diagnoses ...

Aquaculture--the farming of fish, shellfish, and other aquatic animals for food--has reached unprecedented levels of growth in recent years, but largely without consideration of its impact on individual animals, finds a new analysis by a team of researchers. "The scale of modern aquaculture is immense and still growing," says Becca Franks, a research scientist at New York University's Department of Environmental Studies and the lead author of the paper, which appears in the journal Science Advances. "Yet we know so little about the animals that we are putting into mass production, ...

ANN ARBOR--We are made of stardust, the saying goes, and a pair of studies including University of Michigan research finds that may be more true than we previously thought. The first study, led by U-M researcher END ...

WEHI researchers have discovered a key differentiation process that provides an essential immune function in helping to control cancer and infectious diseases. The research, published in Science Immunology, is the first to show a new factor - DC-SCRIPT - is required for the function a particular type of dendritic cell - called cDC1 - that is essential in controlling the immune response to infection. Led by WEHI Professor Stephen Nutt, Dr Michael Chopin and Mr Shengbo Zhang, it defines the role for a new regulatory protein - DC-SCRIPT - in producing dendritic cells. At a glance WEHI researchers have uncovered a key step in the formation of a particular type of dendritic cell - called cDC1 - in controlling ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- If you walk with your spouse or partner on a regular basis, you might want to speed up. Or tell them to. A new study by Purdue University nursing, health and kinesiology, and human development and family studies researchers shows that couples often decreased their speed when walking together. Speed further decreased if they were holding hands. The study looked at walking times and gait speeds of 141 individuals from 72 couples. The participants ranged from age 25-79 and were in numerous settings, including clear or obstacle-filled pathways, walking together, walking together holding hands and walking individually. "In our study, we focused on couples because partners in committed relationships often provide essential support ...

Wearing a face mask can protect yourself and others from Covid-19, but the type of material and how many fabric layers used can significantly affect exposure risk, finds a study from the Georgia Institute of Technology. The study measured the filtration efficiency of submicron particles passing through a variety of different materials. For comparison, a human hair is about 50 microns in diameter while 1 millimeter is 1,000 microns in size. "A submicron particle can stay in the air for hours and days, depending on the ventilation, so if you have a room that is not ventilated or poorly ventilated then these small particles can stay there for a very long period of time," said Nga Lee (Sally) Ng, associate professor and Tanner Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering ...

New research led by investigators from Boston Medical Center and Grady Memorial Hospital demonstrates the significant decline in hospitalizations for neurological emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) - bleeding in the space between the brain and the tissue covering the brain - hospitalizations declined 22.5 percent during the study period, which is consistent with the other reported decreases in emergencies such as stroke or heart attacks. Published in Stroke & Vascular Neurology, the study compares subarachnoid hemorrhage hospital admissions for the months following throughout the initial COVID surge, in hospitals that bore ...

In a new study, researchers identify three clinical COVID-19 phenotypes, reflecting patient populations with different comorbidities, complications and clinical outcomes. The three phenotypes are described in a paper published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE 1st authors Elizabeth Lusczek and Nicholas Ingraham of University of Minnesota Medical School, US, and colleagues. COVID-19 has infected more than 18 million people and led to more than 700,000 deaths around the world. Emergency department presentation varies widely, suggesting that distinct clinical phenotypes exist and, importantly, that these distinct phenotypic presentations may respond differently ...

HOUSTON - (April 2, 2021) - Understanding what drives food choices can help high-volume food service operations like universities reduce waste, according to a new study. Researchers have concluded that food waste in places like university cafeterias is driven by how much people put on their plates, how familiar they are with what's on the menu and how much they like - or don't like - what they're served. Food waste has been studied often in households, but not so often in institutional settings like university dining commons. What drives food choices in these "all-you-care-to-eat" facilities is different because diners don't perceive personal financial penalty if they leave food on their plates. Published in the journal Foods, "Food Choice and Waste in University Dining Commons ...

A personalized tumor cell vaccine strategy targeting Myc oncogenes combined with checkpoint therapy creates an effective immune response that bypasses antigen selection and immune privilege, according to a pre-clinical study for neuroblastoma and melanoma. The neuroblastoma model showed a 75% cure with long-term survival, researchers at Children's National Hospital found. Myc is a family of regulator genes and proto-oncogenes that help manage cell growth and differentiation in the body. When Myc mutates to an oncogene, it can promote cancer cell growth. The Myc oncogenes are ...

James McKerrow, MD, PhD, dean of the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego, has long studied neglected tropical diseases -- chronic and disabling parasitic infections that primarily affect poor and underserved communities in developing nations. They're called "neglected" because there is little financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop therapies for them. One of these neglected diseases is Chagas disease, the leading cause of heart failure in Latin America, which is spread by "kissing bugs" carrying the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. These parasites produce an enzyme called cruzain that helps ...

A novel mechanism has been identified that might explain why a rare mutation is associated with familial Alzheimer's disease in a new study by investigators at the University of Chicago. The paper, published on April 2 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, characterizes a mutation located in a genetic region that was not previously thought be pathogenic, upending assumptions about what kinds of mutations can be associated with Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's, a neurodegenerative disease that currently affects more than 6 million Americans, has ...