In fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, it's not just the vaccines that require complicated cold supply chains and refrigerated storage. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests -- often considered the "gold standard" of testing -- also have enzymes and reagents that need to be frozen. Northwestern University researchers have discovered that commercially available PCR tests can withstand the freeze-drying process, making them shelf-stable for up to 30 days and 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), without sacrificing sensitivity and accuracy. The researchers ...

In 2007, the American housing boom ended, and there was heightened risk of a housing crisis. Private securitizers withdrew from purchasing high-risk mortgages, while government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, dramatically increased their acquisitions of risky mortgages. By 2008, the agencies reversed course, decreasing their high-risk acquisitions. In a new article, an economist proposes a scenario in which large lenders temporarily boost high-risk activity at the end of a boom. According to her model, lenders with many outstanding mortgages have incentives to extend risky credit to prop up housing prices, which lessens the losses on their outstanding portfolio of mortgages. As the bust continues, lenders slowly wind down their mortgage exposure. The ...

BOSTON - The cost of cancer care in United States was an estimated $183 billion in 2015 and is projected to rise by 30 percent by 2030, according to the American Cancer Society. While private and government insurance may cover much of the cost of care, even patients with insurance can struggle to pay for office visit co-payments, prescription medications or other cancer-related expenses. Yet limited data describes how financial hardship impacts patient behavior and how that in turn may impact patient health. In a new study designed to provide a more comprehensive picture of how a diverse cohort of gynecologic cancer patients are affected by financial distress -- also called "financial toxicity" in acknowledgment of the health ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- When two similar atomic layers with mismatching lattice constants -- the constant distance between a layer's unit cells -- and/or orientation are stacked together, the resulting bilayer can exhibit a moiré pattern and form a moiré superlattice. Moiré patterns are interference patterns that typically arise when one object with a repetitive pattern is placed over another with a similar pattern. Moiré superlattices, formed by atomic layers, can exhibit fascinating phenomena not found in the individual layers, opening the door to technological revolutions in many areas, including electricity transmission, information engineering, and ...

White men who had a Black neighbor when they were growing up are more likely to be Democrats and less likely to be Republican, an influence that can last several decades later. That's according to a Harvard study published Friday in Science Advances that takes individual level data from 650,000 Americans recorded in the 1940 U.S. Census. Using machine learning, the analysis links those records to contemporary voter files to see if there are correlations between having a Black neighbor as a child and political views later in life. The paper includes only men because the common practice of surname changes at marriage made it difficult to accurately track women. The scientists found that those 650,000 white men who had a Black neighbor growing up are believed to be more likely ...

There is no question that the pandemic has been immensely stressful for health care workers, especially for those on the frontline of patient care. Yet, even before the pandemic, the regular demands of many health care industry jobs put these workers at risk for burnout. Now, a new study from the University of Georgia suggests that investing in more physical activity programming could mitigate the effects of stress and improve worker mental and emotional health. Tackling burnout in health care is critical to ensuring patient safety, said lead author Marilyn ...

(Boston)-- Prevalence rates of opioid use disorder (OUD) have increased dramatically, accompanied by a surge of overdose deaths--nearly 50,000 in the U.S. in 2019. While opioid dependence has been extensively studied in preclinical models, an understanding of the biological alterations that occur in the brains of people who chronically use opioids and who are diagnosed with OUD remains limited. To address this issue, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have conducted the largest transcriptomic (the study of all the RNA molecules within a cell) study to date using postmortem ...

People with end-stage renal disease often undergo hemodialysis, a life-sustaining blood-filtering treatment. To make the process as fast and efficient as possible, many people have "hemodialysis grafts" surgically implanted. These grafts are like bypasses, connecting a vein to a major artery, making it easier to access blood and ensuring the same blood doesn't get filtered twice. But the grafts have a notorious problem: Clots tend to form where the graft is attached to the vein. For the person undergoing dialysis, this means not only a break from treatment, but also surgery to remove the graft and then surgery to implant another. A multidisciplinary team from Washington University School of Medicine ...

Scientists know that developing cells in a healthy embryo will transform into a variety of cell types that will make up the different organ systems in the human body, a process known as cell differentiation. But they don't know how the cells do it. A Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) study in Cell Reports led by Stephen Duncan, D.Phil., examines how an endodermal cell - a type of developing cell - becomes a liver cell and not some other type of cell. Duncan and his team found that the development of naive cells into differentiated liver cells ...

Researchers have developed a new approach to gene therapy that leans on the common pain reliever acetaminophen to force a variety of genetic diseases into remission. A paper published in Science Translational Medicine describes how the novel technique successfully treated the blood-clotting disorder hemophilia and the debilitating metabolic disease known as phenylketonuria, or PKU, in mice. The approach uses a benign lentivirus to both correct disease-causing mutations and to insert a new gene that makes liver cells immune to the potentially toxic effects of acetaminophen. The latter ...

CINCINNATI--The disease is so rare and complex that its acronym is hard to pronounce. But for infants unlucky enough to be born with this lung disease, the outcome is usually fatal. The disease is called alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of the pulmonary veins (ACDMPV). Research indicates the disease is linked to mutations in the FOXF1 gene. Worldwide, medical experts have documented about 200 cases, but an unknown number of infants may have died without the condition ever being diagnosed, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. The disease is caused by genetic variations that prevent proper blood vessel formation in the lungs. Within ...

Los Alamos, N.M., June 10, 2021 - For the first time, the boundary of the heliosphere has been mapped, giving scientists a better understanding of how solar and interstellar winds interact. Video link: https://youtu.be/w__vzNXSFoI "Physics models have theorized this boundary for years," said Dan Reisenfeld, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and lead author on the paper, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal today. "But this is the first time we've actually been able to measure it and make a three-dimensional map of it." The heliosphere is a bubble created by the solar wind, a stream ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- An international research team has described a new species of Oculudentavis, providing further evidence that the animal first identified as a hummingbird-sized dinosaur was actually a lizard. The new species, named Oculudentavis naga in honor of the Naga people of Myanmar and India, is represented by a partial skeleton that includes a complete skull, exquisitely preserved in amber with visible scales and soft tissue. The specimen is in the same genus as Oculudentavis khaungraae, whose original description as the smallest known bird was retracted last year. The two fossils were found in the same area and are about 99 million years ...

What The Study Did: The results suggest assisted living residents experienced increased mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic consistent with increases observed among nursing home residents. Authors: Kali S. Thomas, Ph.D., of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13411) Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional ...

What The Study Did: Researchers examined the association between the amount of ultra-processed food consumed by children and their weight in early adulthood. Authors: Kiara Chang, Ph.D., of Imperial College London, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.1573) Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support. INFORMATION: Media advisory: ...

What The Study Did: Differences by sex and race/ethnicity in suicidal thoughts and nonfatal suicide attempts among U.S. adolescents over the last three decades were assessed in this survey study. Authors: Yunyu Xiao, Ph.D., of Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13513) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including ...

Diseases that affect tubular structures in the body, such as the gastrointestinal (GI) system, vasculature and airway, present a unique challenge for delivering local treatments. Vertically oriented organs, such as the esophagus, and labyrinthine structures, such as the intestine, are difficult to coat with therapeutics, and in many cases, patients are instead prescribed systemic drugs that can have immunosuppressive effects. To improve drug delivery for diseases that affect tubular organs, like eosinophilic esophagitis and inflammatory bowel disease, ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of folding and cutting paper to create three-dimensional structures, MIT engineers and their collaborators have designed a new type of stent that could be used to deliver drugs to the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, or other tubular organs in the body. The stents are coated in a smooth layer of plastic etched with small "needles" that pop up when the tube is stretched, allowing the needles to penetrate tissue and deliver a payload of drug-containing microparticles. Those drugs are then released over an extended period of time after the stent is removed. This kind of localized drug delivery could make it easier ...

Like amyloid plaque, the genetic variant APOE4 has long been associated with Alzheimer's disease, but still little is known about the role the gene plays in the disease process. Now, a new study published in END ...

A non-contact laser imaging system could help doctors diagnose and treat eye diseases that cause blindness much earlier than is now possible. The new technology, developed by engineering researchers at the University of Waterloo, is designed to detect telltale signs of major blinding diseases in retinal blood and tissue that typically go unseen until it is too late. With current testing methods, diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma--which have no symptoms in their early stages--are usually diagnosed only after vision is irreversibly affected. "We're optimistic that our technology, by providing functional details of the eye such as oxygen saturation and oxygen metabolism, may be able to play a critical role in early ...

PULLMAN, Wash. - Most consumers care about the technology and the ingredients used to make their microwavable dinners and other shelf ready meals, according to a new study led by Washington State University researchers. The study found that many consumers are willing to pay a premium for ready-to-eat meals with a 'clean label' showing few ingredients. They are also more willing to fork out their hard-earned cash when they know their processed foods are made with a new technology that helps limit the number of additives and preservatives commonly found in most ...

Advancements in wearable technology are reshaping the way we live, work and play, and also how healthcare is delivered and received. Wearables that have weaved their way into everyday life include smart watches and wireless earphones, while in the healthcare setting, common devices include wearable injectors, electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring patches, listening aids, and more. A major pain point facing the use of these wearables is the issue of keeping these devices properly and conveniently powered. As the number of wearables one uses increases, the need to charge multiple ...

Neurons, nerve cells in the brain, are central players in brain function. However, a key role for glia, long considered support cells, is emerging. A research group at the University of Basel has now discovered two new types of glial cells in the brain, by unleashing adult stem cells from their quiescent state. These new types of glia may play an important role in brain plasticity and repair. The brain is malleable well into adulthood. Brain plasticity is not only due to the formation of new nerve connections. Stem cells present in the adult brain also ...

Moreover, they identified a correlation between the progression of the disease and certain corpuscles in the cell nuclei. They published their report in the journal Acta Neuropathological Communications on 13 April 2021. Aggregates seem to have a function Affecting over 50 million people, Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and primarily occurs in people over the age of 65. The pathology of the disease in the brain is mainly characterised by two factors: beta-amyloid plaques outside the nerve cells and tau proteins. The tau protein stabilises tube-like structures (microtubules) inside cells, which are relevant ...

With Oskar Aszmann and his team at the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, MedUni Vienna has long been regarded as a world leader in bionic limb reconstruction. It was only last year that the world's first fully integrated bionic arm prosthesis was developed at MedUni Vienna. This is ready-to-use and is described as "Plug and Play". Although all bionic aids have so far been used in humans, the technique known as osseointegration (direct skeletal attachment) has now been used for the very first time in a bearded vulture - the creature was given a new foot. A paper on this ground-breaking procedure has been published today (Friday) in the prestigious Journal Scientific Reports. In large birds such as vultures, the loss of limbs results in the ...