The BioRescue consortium develops and applies new technological approaches as a last straw for saving critically endangered species such as the northern white rhinoceros. Advanced Assisted Reproductive Technologies (aART) push the boundaries of what can be done to create new offspring. Consequently, new ethical questions regarding the application of these tools arise and need to be answered, and relevant animal welfare issues to be addressed. In order to ensure that the ethical risk assessment matches the technological breakthrough with aART, the BioRescue ...

Despite guidelines promoting outpatient management of patients with low-risk pulmonary embolism (PE), few patients are currently discharged home from hospital emergency departments in the United States. That is the conclusion of a study titled Outpatient Management of Patients Following Diagnosis of Acute Pulmonary Embolism, published in the March 2021 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). The retrospective cohort study of more than 61,000 patients treated at 740 acute care United States emergency departments during a two-year period sought to determine disposition practices and subsequent health care utilization in patients with acute PE. According to the findings, ...

A study co-authored by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that telehealth consults among privately insured working-age patients accounted for almost 24 percent of outpatient consults with health care providers during the early phase of the pandemic, March to June 2020, up from less than 0.3 percent during the same period in 2019. The dramatic shift occurred as many medical practices halted or curtailed in-person office hours and patients stayed away from doctor's offices out of fear of transmission during the early months of the pandemic. At the same time, insurance companies and the federal government relaxed policies around telehealth to meet demand for remote medical consults ...

Most people relate cholesterol to heart health, but it is also a critical component in the growth and spread of brain cancer. VCU Massey Cancer Center researcher Suyun Huang, Ph.D., recently discovered how cholesterol becomes dysregulated in brain cancer cells and showed that the gene responsible for it could be a target for future drugs. The mean survival of patients with the most common and aggressive type of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is 14 months. The need to find new, effective treatments is urgent and has driven Huang, a member of the Cancer Biology research program at Massey, to detail ...

Some 40% of critically ill patients who undergo tracheal intubation to support their breathing suffer a life-threatening complication, research from National University of Ireland Galway has revealed. The study, published today in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, involved 2,964 critically ill men and women. It was carried out across 29 countries from 1 October 2018 to 31 July 2019 to determine the risk of adverse events arising from the invasive procedure. John Laffey, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at NUI Galway and Consultant in ...

HOUSTON - (March 23, 2021) - Fish that dine on corals may pay it forward with poop. It's an unexpected twist on coral reef symbiosis, said Rice University marine biologist Adrienne Correa, whose lab discovered coral predator feces are jam-packed with living symbiotic algae that corals depend on for survival. The discovery confirms that poop from coral-eating fish is an important environmental source of symbiotic dinoflagellate algae on coral reefs. Correa said coral-eating predators are typically thought of as biting and weakening reef structures, thereby generating hiding spaces for other organisms and, ultimately, beach sand. In contrast, grazing fish that crop down bushy algae get the limelight for helping reefs maintain healthy coral ...

Hummingbird hawkmoths are small insects that hover in the air like hummingbirds when drinking nectar from flowers. Dr. Anna Stöckl from the Biocentre of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, is studying the visual performance of these insects. Dr. Stöckl and her doctoral student Ronja Bigge now present their latest findings in the journal Current Biology. "To control their flight, hummingbird hawkmoths rely on optic flow in the lower half of their visual field," Ronja Bigge explains. Optic flow is the relative motion that the surrounding image casts on the animals' retinas when they fly. We experience this phenomenon ourselves when travelling by train ...

DETROIT (March, 23, 2021) - Henry Ford physician, John Craig, M.D., is leading an international research effort to improve the multidisciplinary collaboration between otolaryngologists and dental providers around the globe when it comes to diagnosing odontogenic sinusitis (ODS). ODS is an infectious condition of the paranasal sinuses that can occur from either dental infection or dental procedures involving the upper jaw. There are multiple ways that infection can spread from the teeth to sinuses, and in more severe scenarios, to the eye, brain, or rest of the body. It has been shown that the various clinicians ...

Rural America is running short on physicians. This worries health experts who have linked limited access to primary care providers to major gaps in health outcomes for rural communities. Addressing this issue is complicated, but new research from the University of Georgia suggests that understanding geographic trends in medical school applicants could help project where the future physician workforce is likely to practice. Knowing a medical student's hometown is an important piece of the puzzle, said study author Donglan "Stacy" Zhang, because geography is known to predict where many new doctors choose to practice. "More than 60% of doctors choose their practice location in ...

The Bale Mountains in south-central Ethiopia are considered to be one of the most unique centers of endemism, with an extraordinary number of plants and animals that can only be found there. Numerous species are already known from this Afromontane high-elevation plateau, making it a biodiversity hotspot, but ongoing research continues to reveal the presence of so far unknown and undescribed organisms. Zoologists END ...

WASHINGTON--Exposure in the womb to a drug used to prevent miscarriage appears to raise the offspring's cancer risk decades later, especially for colorectal and prostate cancers, researchers have found. They will present the results of their new study Tuesday at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting. Some adult children of women who received the drug, hydroxyprogesterone caproate (OHPC or 17-OHPC), during pregnancy in the 1950s and 1960s are now experiencing more than twice the odds of cancer, said the study's lead researcher, Caitlin Murphy, Ph.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. OHPC is a synthetic progestogen hormone that was ...

By comparing the genetic diversity of butterflies in North America, researchers reporting in the journal iScience on March 23 found that the array of different evolutionary distinct groups of butterflies is particularly high in the deserts of Mexico and the southwestern United States. This may be an outcome of actively changing conditions in the Desert Southwest and more generally in the western portion of the continent. "When you think of desert, you don't automatically jump to butterflies, but our results showed that this area is actually a really important hotspot for butterflies, even if it isn't for plants," says co-first author Chandra Earl, who recently received her PhD from the University of Florida. "Just because butterflies are closely tied to their host plants doesn't ...

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2021 -- 5G, or the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, is touted as having finally arrived for ultrafast download speeds, an end to dropped calls and buffering, and greater connectivity to advance autonomous vehicle development, remote surgery, and the Internet of Things. In truth, 5G technology adoption is still in its early stages, according to Michael Hill, technical director of Skyworks Solutions, a California-based advanced-semiconductor company. In their paper, published in Applied Physics Letters, by AIP Publishing, Hill and his colleagues provide an overview on nascent 5G ...

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2021 -- Scientists have been working for the past year to find ways to curb the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though it is outside their typical realm of study, physicists have been playing an important role in many aspects of research about the pandemic and its impact on people. Particle physicists' keen understanding of gas handling systems positioned them at the forefront for pioneering low-cost, mass-producible ventilators to help address the worldwide shortage. Led by Cristian Galbiati, professor of physics at Princeton University and the Gran Sasso Science Institute, an international, interdisciplinary team called the Mechanical Ventilator Milano ...

Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that current evidence is insufficient to make a recommendation about screening for hearing loss in asymptomatic adults 50 and older. Nearly 16% of U.S. adults 18 and over report difficulty hearing. Hearing loss has been associated with an increased risk of falls, hospitalizations, social isolation and cognitive decline. The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services and this recommendation is similar to its 2012 statement. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2021.2566) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including ...

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2021 -- According to the National Institutes of Health, respiratory viruses are the most frequent cause of disease and death in humans, a fact highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the potential to cause severe disease, over 70% of viral infections remain asymptomatic. Animal models have been used widely to understand how these viruses infect the host and how the host responds to prevent infection and onset of diseases. Data based on animal models, however, does not always apply well to humans, given the variability ...

What The Study Did: Employees of a health care system were surveyed on the eve of vaccine distribution to encourage them to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, assess their intentions to do so and understand reasons for hesitancy. Authors: Michelle N. Meyer, Ph.D., J.D., Center for Translational Bioethics and Health Care Policy at the Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pennsylvania, 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.2021.5344) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including ...

What The Study Did: This study of working-age people enrolled in private health plans from March 2019 through June 2020 documented patterns of care at the onset of COVID-19. Authors: Jonathan P. Weiner, Dr.P.H., 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.2021.2618) Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, ...

What The Study Did: Researchers investigated representation of Black Americans in clinical trials of cardiovascular drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2006 and 2020. Authors: Jiarui Li, M.D., of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, China, 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.2021.2640) 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 ...

CABI-led Plantwise plant clinics can help promote more sustainable ways to fight crop pests and diseases in Rwanda and Zambia - such as the fall armyworm - with the judicial use of pesticides within Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plans. Dr Justice Tambo, lead author of the study published in the journal Food Policy, surveyed 1,474 farm households in Rwanda and Zambia and found that although farmers who visit plant clinics show a higher probability of opting for pesticides for pest control, they do not use them intensively and are more likely to adopt safer and more sustainable alternatives. The scientists, which include researchers ...

Denver--March 26, 2021---A lymph node collection kit can help surgeons attain compete resection and improve long-term survival after curative-intent lung cancer surgery, according to a study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology Clinical and Research Reports. The journal is published by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Surgical resection is the most important curative treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). With successful implementation of lung cancer screening programs, the proportion of patients with NSCLC who undergo surgery is likely to increase significantly. "However, poor surgical quality reduces the survival benefit of curative-intent surgery and suboptimal ...

The discovery of the material graphene, which consists of only one layer of carbon atoms, was the starting signal for a global race: Today, so-called "2D materials" are produced, made of different types of atoms. Atomically thin layers that often have very special material properties not found in conventional, thicker materials. Now another chapter is being added to this field of research: If two such 2D layers are stacked at the right angle, even more new possibilities arise. The way in which the atoms of the two layers interact creates intricate geometric patterns, and these patterns have a decisive impact on the material properties, as a research team from TU Wien and the University of Texas ...

The possibly oldest cephalopods in the earth's history stem from the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland (Canada). They were discovered by earth scientists from Heidelberg University. The 522 million-year-old fossils could turn out to be the first known form of these highly evolved invertebrate organisms, whose living descendants today include species such as the cuttlefish, octopus and nautilus. In that case, the find would indicate that the cephalopods evolved about 30 million years earlier than has been assumed. "If they should actually be cephalopods, we would have to backdate the origin of cephalopods into the early Cambrian period," says Dr Anne Hildenbrand ...

Russian scientists have proposed a new algorithm for automatic decoding and interpreting the decoder weights, which can be used both in brain-computer interfaces and in fundamental research. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Neural Engineering. Brain-computer interfaces are needed to create robotic prostheses and neuroimplants, rehabilitation simulators, and devices that can be controlled by the power of thought. These devices help people who have suffered a stroke or physical injury to move (in the case of a robotic chair or prostheses), communicate, use a computer, and operate household appliances. In addition, in combination with machine learning methods, neural interfaces ...

In the hours after we die, certain cells in the human brain are still active. Some cells even increase their activity and grow to gargantuan proportions, according to new research from the University of Illinois Chicago. In a newly published study in the journal Scientific Reports, the UIC researchers analyzed gene expression in fresh brain tissue -- which was collected during routine brain surgery -- at multiple times after removal to simulate the post-mortem interval and death. They found that gene expression in some cells actually increased after death. These 'zombie genes' -- those that increased expression after the post-mortem interval -- were specific to one type of cell: inflammatory cells called ...