Key takeaways Heart transplants offered to more patients with serious disease: A study of 323 pediatric heart transplants over 36 years at the University of Florida found that in recent years, more infants with serious congenital heart disease were offered heart transplants, but they had improved outcomes compared to patients in previous decades. Improved long-term survival: Despite extending the procedure to younger patients with more serious heart problems, 5-year survival improved from 70.7% in previous years to 83% in recent ...

A new study from a University of Chicago scientist suggests there may be a layer of surprisingly fluid rock ringing the Earth, at the very bottom of the upper mantle. The finding was made by measuring the lingering movement registered by GPS sensors on islands in the wake of a deep earthquake in the Pacific Ocean near Fiji. Published Feb. 22 in Nature, the study demonstrates a new method to measure the fluidity of the Earth’s mantle. “Even though the mantle makes up the largest part of Earth, there’s ...

New research from North Carolina State University sheds light on how electric fields can be used to alter the thermal properties of ferroelectric materials, allowing engineers to manipulate the flow of heat through the materials. Ferroelectric materials are used in a wide variety of applications, from ultrasound devices to memory storage technologies. “Our work here is a significant advance because we worked with large sample sizes and provide detailed information on the relationship between the type of electric field being applied to the ferroelectric material and the thermal response in the material,” says Jun Liu, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace ...

Researchers report on the safety of a gene therapy to treat the common autosomal recessive hereditary disorder alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency in a new article in the peer-reviewed journal Human Gene Therapy. Click here to read the article now. In ATT deficiency, neutrophil proteases destroy the lung parenchyma, the portion of the lungs involved in gas exchange. The result is a high risk for the early onset of emphysema. Ronald Crystal, MD, from Weill Cornell Medicine, and coauthors, have developed an adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotype 8-based gene ...

(Boston)—Immigration status, immigration vulnerability and understanding of immigration-related legal options are critical components of safety, access to public benefits and wellness for many immigrants/migrants. While immigration status is increasingly recognized as an independent social determinant of health, understanding best practices for health care systems that might mitigate the health disparities that result from unequal health care access dictated by immigration status is just beginning to be studied. In an effort to better understand best practices, researchers from Boston University ...

A new report, coauthored by several major pharmaceutical companies, reviews the current state of sterile oligonucleotide drug product processing. The article, which provides recommendations to aid in the evaluation and development of terminal sterilization processes, is published in the peer-reviewed journal Nucleic Acid Therapeutics. Click here to read the article. All marketed oligonucleotide products are delivered as sterile preparations for parenteral delivery. The two most common methods for sterilizing parenteral ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nuclear physicists have found a way to peer inside the deepest recesses of atomic nuclei, according to a new study.  The finding was made possible using the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, which is capable of colliding gold ions at near light-speed. It led to the discovery of a new kind of quantum entanglement.  The term quantum entanglement describes an invisible link that connects distant objects; no matter how far away they are in space, they affect each ...

Why is "junk DNA" not deleted from the original genome over millions of years of evolution? A new model offers an explanation for the huge variety of sizes of DNA in nature Unlike "junk email" that is immediately deleted from the email box, "junk DNA" continues to exist in living creatures in nature such as bacteria, insects, and even mammals such as humans, alongside the original genome and thus the genome grows throughout evolution. The researchers' explanation: the "junk DNA" hides in functional areas, thus deletions are likely to damage the functional ...

San Antonio – Feb. 22, 2023 – Southwest Research Institute and ITS Texas are inviting college students and young professionals to participate in the inaugural Future Leaders Program at the 2023 ITS America Conference & Expo April 24-27 in Grapevine, Texas. The new program is designed to inspire the next generation of leaders in the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) industry through a variety of activities at the ITS America Conference & Expo, which takes place this year at the Gaylord Texan Resort. Participants can attend education sessions and training and network with ITS professionals, exhibitors, sponsors and technology providers. “The ...

A research paper by scientists at the Beijing Institute of Technology proposed an automated manipulation method for transporting microparticles actuated by optoelectronic tweezers (OETS). The new research paper, published in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, developed a dynamic control framework for synchronously discretized manipulation of multiple microparticles. Differentiated motion decisions are formulated for each micro target based on the corresponding state and environmental information in real time, so that all controlled targets can reach their goal positions safely and accurately. The motion of microparticle is controlled through dynamic modulation ...

New research from the University of Missouri School of Medicine has established a link between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. The research highlights the need for health professionals to evaluate and treat associated psychiatric co-morbidities in IBS patients to improve their overall health and quality of life. IBS is a chronic disorder of the stomach and intestines affecting up to 15 percent of the population. It causes cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. This study looked at more than 1.2 million IBS patient hospitalizations from 4,000 U.S. hospitals over a three-year ...

Mistletoe extract has been widely used to support cancer therapy and improve quality of life, but there has been a lack of clinical trials and data to support its use. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center completed what is believed to be the first phase I trial of intravenous Helixor M in the U.S. aimed at determining dosing for subsequent clinical trials and to evaluate safety. The findings from the small study were reported online Feb. 9 in Cancer Research Communications. The trial’s ...

PATERSON, N.J.—The first-ever casebook on ultrasound-guided vascular access procedures offers practical solutions to complex bedside challenges with an emphasis on improving patient safety. Now available from Springer Publishing, the casebook features 50 chapters highlighting clinical challenges and evidence-based solutions for everything from peripheral to tunneled central lines in neonatal, pediatric, and adult patient populations. Ultrasound-Guided Vascular Access: Practical Solutions to Bedside Clinical Challenges is coauthored by vascular access expert Matthew D. Ostroff, MSN, APN, and world-renowned cardiac surgeon Mark Connolly, MD, ...

Like an old man suddenly aware the world has moved on without him, the conifer tree native to lower elevations of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range finds itself in an unrecognizable climate. A new Stanford-led study reveals that about a fifth of all Sierra Nevada conifer forests – emblems of Western wilderness – are a “mismatch” for their regions’ warming weather. The paper, to be published Feb. 28 in PNAS Nexus, highlights how such “zombie forests” are temporarily cheating death, likely to be replaced with tree species ...

Researchers from Boston College, Georgetown University, American University, Texas A&M University, and Colorado State University published a new Journal of Marketing article that challenges the entrenched belief that financial vulnerability only affects low-income consumers. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “Beyond Income: Dynamic Consumer Financial Vulnerability” and is authored by Linda Court Salisbury, Gergana Y. Nenkov, Simon J. Blanchard, Ronald Paul Hill, Alexander L. Brown, and Kelly D. Martin. Even pre-pandemic, many U.S. workers lived ...

For his contributions to the field of regeneration, Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado receives the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science. The Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science is a $100,000 prize awarded annually by the Vilcek Foundation as part of its prizes program.  Awarded annually since 2006, the Vilcek Foundation prizes recognize and celebrate immigrant contributions to scientific research and discovery, and to artistic and cultural advancement in the United States. The prizes provide direct support to individual immigrant scientists and artists and help to raise greater public awareness of the value of immigration ...

People are occasionally exposed to potentially harmful substances in the environment or through their diets or habits. For example, a compound found in cigarette and industrial smoke, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), is known to damage DNA. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have mapped these effects — down to the single-nucleotide level — for the first time in human lung cells after BaP exposure. They say that this technique could help predict exposures that lead to cancers. When BaP gets into a person’s body and is metabolized, it can turn into a new compound, or metabolite, that irreversibly attaches to one ...

Although many measures are in place to prevent contamination, pollutants, such as mercury and lead, can still end up in the environment. Sensing them often requires complicated processes, but what if you could detect them with the tap of a fingertip? Researchers reporting in ACS Nano have developed a self-powered nanosensor that can discover small amounts of mercury ions and immediately report the result. Watch a video of the nanosensor in action here. Mercury in its Hg2+ form can be harmful if consumed through contaminated water or food, so researchers have developed various mercury sensors. One ...

SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 22, 2023) — In a new study, researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) link obesity with 21 Alzheimer’s disease-related genes, providing a potential mechanistic explanation for why Alzheimer’s is sometimes more frequent among adults who experienced obesity in midlife. The findings from 5,619 participants of the Framingham Heart Study were published Feb. 22 in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. The research team analyzed 74 Alzheimer’s-related genes from Framingham ...

Mount Sinai researchers have published a study in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association that sheds new light on the role of DNA methylation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study found that DNA methylation has a profound impact on gene and protein co-expression networks associated with AD and could lead to the discovery of new neuropathological processes and molecular mechanisms for developing novel treatments for the disease. The study was conducted using a novel analytical approach to quantify the impact of DNA methylation on gene and protein expression and a large ...

DUBLIN, Ohio, Feb. 22, 2023 -- Today, Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) released its 2023 Biosimilars Report: Tracking market expansion and sustainability amidst a shifting industry, a publication that highlights provider perceptions, utilization and the latest market trends of biosimilars. The report assesses new and changing perspectives regarding some of the most disruptive biosimilars launched in the areas of immunology and ophthalmology, noting a growing familiarity of the medications among rheumatologists with 76% reporting being very familiar with the products, a 43% jump year-over-year. The research also reports high familiarity among gastroenterologists (81%) compared to ophthalmologists ...

East Africa’s iconic rangelands - under threat from climate change and human activity - have the potential to recover from repeated environmental shocks and degradation, a new study has concluded. Covering 47% of the Earth’s land surface, rangelands are home to one third of the global population, many of whom are pastoralists who depend on the savannahs to meet their daily need for shelter, water and food. But because rangelands develop in semi-arid areas and are primarily used for grazing, they are highly vulnerable to changes in rainfall and human pressures. As part of the study, published ...

ROCKVILLE, Md.— A new Slovenian population-scaled, school-based study shows that by providing additional physical education lessons to young children is effective in preventing childhood obesity, according to findings published in Obesity, The Obesity Society’s (TOS) flagship journal. “Our results show the importance of sustainable, long-lasting, physical activity programs set in schools for children’s health at both the individual and the population level. While this study analysed only the effectiveness of such program for obesity prevention, physical activity programs are likely to benefit ...

Inducing labour, in a low-risk pregnancy, can have long-term consequences on the child's cognitive development. Research from the Amsterdam UMC shows this based on pregnancy data and school performance at age 12 of 226,684 Dutch children. These results are published today in the journal AOGS.   By combining pregnancy data from the Dutch perinatal registration with data on school performance from Statistics Netherlands, researchers from Amsterdam UMC were able to study the potential effects of induced labour on school performance in low-risk pregnancies.  "We saw a small yet significant reduction in test scores for children born after ...

Acute low back pain is a common cause of disability. An analysis in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research examined which non-opioid drugs are best for treating this condition. The analysis, which included all randomized controlled trials published to date (18 studies with 3,478 patients), showed that muscle relaxants and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) could effectively and rapidly reduce symptoms. The combination of NSAIDs and paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) was associated with a greater improvement than NSAIDs alone. “This is a first step towards the optimization of the management of acute low back ...