BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham polymer and radionuclide chemists report what they say "may represent a major step forward in microcapsule drug delivery systems." The UAB microcapsules -- labeled with radioactive zirconium-89 -- are the first example of hollow polymer capsules capable of long-term, multiday positron emission tomography, or PET, imaging in vivo. In previous work, UAB researchers showed that the hollow capsules could be filled with a potent dose of the cancer drug doxorubicin, which could then be released by therapeutic ultrasound that ruptures the microcapsules. PET imaging with zirconium-89 -- which has a half-life of 3.3 days -- allowed the capsules to be traced in test mice up to seven days. The major ...

NASA-funded research on the 11 largest freshwater lakes in the world coupled field and satellite observations to provide a new understanding of how large bodies of water fix carbon, as well as how a changing climate and lakes interact. Scientists at the Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) studied the five Laurentian Great Lakes bordering the U.S. and Canada; the three African Great Lakes, Tanganyika, Victoria and Malawi; Lake Baikal in Russia; and Great Bear and Great Slave lakes in Canada. These 11 lakes hold more than 50% of the surface freshwater that millions of people and countless other creatures rely on, underscoring the importance of understanding how they are being altered by climate change and other factors. The two Canadian lakes ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- In the dark waters of Lake Superior, a fish species adapted to regain a genetic trait that may have helped its ancient ancestors see in the ocean, a study finds. The research focuses on kiyis, which inhabit Lake Superior at depths of about 80 to over 200 meters deep. These fish, known to scientists as "Coregonus kiyi," belong to a group of closely related salmonids known as ciscoes. In contrast to three other Lake Superior ciscoes that dwell and feed in shallower regions of water, the kiyis are far more likely to carry a version of the rhodopsin gene that probably improves vision in dim "blue-shifted" waters, ...

Curtin University researchers have uncovered a method of making silicon, found commonly in electronics such as phones, cameras and computers, at room temperature. The new technique works by replacing extreme heat with electrical currents to produce the same chemical reaction that turns silica into silicon at a reduced economic and environmental cost. Lead researcher, PhD candidate Song Zhang from Curtin's School of Molecular and Life Sciences said that while the team's discovery was made at the nanoscale, it defines a way of replacing thermochemical processes with electrochemical processes, which ...

With the recent explosive demand for data storage, ranging from data centers to various smart and connected devices, the need for higher-capacity and more compact memory devices is constantly increasing. As a result, semiconductor devices are now moving from 2D to 3D. The 3D-NAND flash memory is the most commercially successful 3D semiconductor device today, and its demand for supporting our data-driven world is now growing exponentially. The scaling law for 3D devices is achieved by stacking more and more semiconductor layers, well above 100 layers, in a more reliable way. As each layer thickness corresponds to the effective channel length, accurate characterization and control of layer-by-layer thickness is critical. To date, ...

Giant ambush-predator worms, possible ancestors of the 'bobbit worm', may have colonized the seafloor of the Eurasian continent around 20 million years ago. The findings, based on the reconstruction of large, L-shaped burrows from layers of seafloor dating back to the Miocene (23 million to 5.3 million years ago) of northeast Taiwan, are reported in Scientific Reports this week. Ludvig Löwemark and colleagues reconstructed a new trace fossil, which they name Pennichnus formosae, using 319 specimens preserved within layers of seafloor formed during the Miocene era across northeast Taiwan. Trace fossils are geological features such as burrows, track marks and plant root cavities preserved ...

BOSTON - Four years after patients with melanoma were treated with a personalized cancer vaccine, the immune response kindled by the vaccine remains robust and effective in keeping cancer cells under control, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard report in a new study. The findings, published online today by the journal Nature Medicine, demonstrate the staying power of the immune response generated by the vaccine, known as NeoVax, which works by targeting specific proteins on each patient's tumor cells. The researchers found that, nearly four ...

While it has been reported that opioid overdose deaths have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study looking at data in Philadelphia showed that this hardship has been overwhelmingly suffered by Black individuals. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania analyzed the period of time after the city's stay-at-home order was announced in 2020 and showed that, compared to the year before, the number of fatal overdoses suffered by Black individuals spiked by more than 50 percent. At the same time, the rate for white individuals actually fell by 31 percent over the same period. This research ...

PORTLAND, OR - A first-of-its-kind randomized clinical trial found that patients with pancreatic cancer didn't live any longer than expected after receiving pre-operative chemotherapy from either of the two standard regimens, according to trial results published in JAMA Oncology. While the trial findings did not show a direct patient benefit, they do show that it's possible to safely administer chemotherapy prior to pancreatic cancer surgery. They also pave the way for better treatment testing for this notorious killer. With no symptoms in the early stages, and few effective therapies, pancreatic cancer is the fourth-most deadly cancer type in the United ...

What The Study Did: This study monitored suicide-related internet search rates during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and researchers report searches for suicide decreased during that time. Although this study cannot independently confirm that changes in search rates were caused by changes in population-level suicide rates, it showed that COVID-19 may have been inversely associated with population suicide trends between March and July 2020. Authors: John W. Ayers, Ph.D., M.A., of theUniversity of California San Diego, 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.2020.34261) Editor's ...

What The Study Did: Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in human corneas was examined in this study. Authors: Maria Casagrande, M.D., of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany, 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/jamaophthalmol.2020.6339) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and 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: The full article is linked to this news release. Embed ...

What The Study Did: Researchers assembled suicide death data for people 10 and older from January 2015 through May 2020 in this observational study and they report stable rates of suicide deaths during the COVID-19 stay-at-home advisory in Massachusetts, a finding that paralleles others following ecological disasters. Authors: Jeremy Samuel Faust, M.D., M.S., of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, 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.2020.34273) Editor's ...

What The Study Did: This study estimated the frequency of reported forgone medical care because of the COVID-19 pandemic from March to mid-July 2020, including missed doses of prescription medications, forgone preventive and other general medical care, mental health care and elective surgeries, as well as reasons for forgoing care. Authors: Kelly E. Anderson, M.P.P., of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, 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.2020.34882) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support ...

What The Study Did: Associations of the COVID-19 pandemic with overdoses among racial/ethnic groups in Philadelphia are described in this observational study. Authors: Utsha G. Khatri, M.D., of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, 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.2020.34878) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and 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: The full ...

What The Study Did: An increase in pediatric cases of alcohol-based hand sanitizer eye exposure was assessed in this study, which also described the severity of ocular lesions and their management. Authors: Gilles C. Martin, M.D., M.Sc., of theRothschild Foundation Hospital in Paris, 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/jamaophthalmol.2020.6346) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and ...

What The Study Did: The cases of two children with eye injuries after unintentional contact between alcohol-based hand rubs and the eye are described in this observation. Authors: Sonam Yangzes, M.S., of the Grewal Eye Institute in Chandigarh, India, 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/jamaophthalmol.2020.6351) Editor's Note: 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 ...

What The Study Did: Researchers demonstrate a technique of tracheostomy that minimizes aerosolization risks while creating a tight seal around the tracheostomy tube. Authors: Oluwafunmilola T. Okuyemi, M.D., M.S.C.I., of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine, 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/jamaoto.2020.4432) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, ...

What The Study Did: A large health insurance database in Taiwan was used to investigate whether obstructive sleep apnea is a risk factor in male infertility and if treatment for sleep apnea is associated with risk. Authors: Ping-Ying Chang, M.D., Ph.D., and Wu-Chien Chien, Ph.D., of the National Defense Medical Center in Taipei, Taiwan, are the corresponding authors. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.31846) Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional ...

HOUSTON - (Jan. 21, 2021) - Where did Earth's nitrogen come from? Rice University scientists show one primordial source of the indispensable building block for life was close to home. The isotopic signatures of nitrogen in iron meteorites reveal that Earth likely gathered its nitrogen not only from the region beyond Jupiter's orbit but also from the dust in the inner protoplanetary disk. Nitrogen is a volatile element that, like carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, makes life on Earth possible. Knowing its source offers clues to not only how rocky planets formed in the inner part of ...

What The Study Did: This randomized clinical trial compares the effects of three doses of bamlanivimab monotherapy (700 vs 2,800 vs 7,000 mg) vs combination bamlanivimab and etesevimab vs placebo on change in day 11 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 viral load in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. Authors: Daniel M. Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., of Eli Lilly and Company 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/jama.2021.0202) Editor's Note: The articles includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

A research team from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) has joined forces with French researchers from the Institute of Chemistry and Processes for Energy, Environment and Health (ICPEES), a CNRS-University of Strasbourg joint research lab, to pave the way towards the production of green hydrogen. This international team has developed new sunlight-photosensitive-nanostructured electrodes. The results of their research were published in the November 2020 issue of the journal of Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. An Energy Transition Vector Hydrogen is being considered by several countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a key player in the transition towards decarbonized ...

CHICAGO (January 21, 2021): A multimodal pain regimen (MMPR) designed to minimize opioid exposure and relieve acute pain associated with traumatic injury kept patient self-reported pain scores low while also reducing the daily and total amount of opioid drugs given to trauma patients. Results from the first study of its kind to evaluate an MMPR in a rigorous, randomized controlled trial are published online as an "article in press" by the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in advance of print. "Opioids should not be considered the pillar of treatment for acute pain after injury," said lead study author John A. Harvin, MD, FACS, an associate professor for the department of surgery, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) ...

What The Study Did: This JAMA Insights review provides clinical details of anaphylactic reactions reported to and verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the first week of use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. Authors: Tom Shimabukuro, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., of the CDC in Atlanta, 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/jama.2021.0600) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author ...

A new study from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC, Spain) and the National Oceanography Centre brings unprecedented insights into the environmental constraints and climatic events that controlled the formation of these reefs. The results of this research will help understand how cold-water coral reefs can react to the effects caused by the present-day climate change. Similar to tropical coral reefs, cold-water coral reefs are incredible hotspots of biodiversity, with the difference that they do not rely on symbiosis with microscopic algae, and therefore can be found in the dark and deep waters of our oceans. Despite their uniqueness and key functional role in the ocean, they are still partially ...

Breast cancer investigators in the Lambe Institute at NUI Galway have collaborated on a pivotal international study into breast cancer risk which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine today (Wednesday, 20 January). The results of the study have identified that there are nine specific genes associated with breast cancer risk. Contributing authors Professor Michael Kerin, Chair of Surgery at NUI Galway, Director of the Cancer Managed Clinical Academic Network for Saolta University Health Care Group, along with Dr Nicola Miller, Lecturer in NUI Galway's School of Medicine, have directed the Breast Cancer in Galway Genetics Study (BIGGS) since 2008. DNA samples, which have been collected from 2,000 Irish ...