Since the onset of the CRISPR genetic editing revolution, scientists have been working to leverage the technology in the development of gene drives that target pathogen-spreading mosquitoes such as Anopheles and Aedes species, which spread malaria, dengue and other life-threatening diseases. Much less genetic engineering has been devoted to Culex genus mosquitoes, which spread devastating afflictions stemming from West Nile virus--the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States--as well as other viruses such as the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and the pathogen causing avian malaria, a threat to ...

DALLAS - May 28, 2021 - A study of gene activity in the brain's hippocampus, led by UT Southwestern researchers, has identified marked differences between the region's anterior and posterior portions. The END ...

East Hanover, NJ. May 28, 2021. A team of researchers has shown that physical intervention plans that included exoskeleton-assisted walking helped people with spinal cord injury evacuate more efficiently and improved the consistency of their stool. This finding was reported in Journal of Clinical Medicine on March 2, 2021, in the article "The Effect of Exoskeletal-Assisted Walking on Spinal Cord Injury Bowel Function: Results from a Randomized Trial and Comparison to Other Physical Interventions" (doi: 10.3390/jcm10050964). The authors are Peter H. Gorman, MD, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Gail F. Forrest, PhD, of Kessler Foundation's Tim and Caroline Reynolds Center for Spinal Stimulation, Dr. William Scott, of VA Maryland Healthcare System, ...

Neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy have had some treatment success with deep brain stimulation, but those require surgical device implantation. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new brain stimulation technique using focused ultrasound that is able to turn specific types of neurons in the brain on and off and precisely control motor activity without surgical device implantation. The team, led by Hong Chen, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and of radiation oncology at the School of Medicine, is the first to provide direct evidence showing noninvasive, cell-type-specific ...

Corals are in trouble. All across the globe the diverse and dynamic ecosystems are taking huge hits year after year. The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its coral since 1995. Scientists are seeing similar declines in reefs from Hawai'i to the Florida Keys and across the Indo-Pacific region. The widespread decline is fueled in part by climate-driven heatwaves that induce coral bleaching -- the breakdown of the relationship between shallow-water coral and the symbiotic algae they rely upon for nutrients. Climate change is a clear and present danger to the persistence of coral reefs, and global reductions in carbon emissions is ...

East Hanover, NJ. May 28, 2021. A team of multiple sclerosis (MS) experts at Kessler Foundation led the first pilot randomized controlled trial of robotic-exoskeleton assisted exercise rehabilitation (REAER) effects on mobility, cognition, and brain connectivity in people with substantial MS-related disability. Their results showed that REAER is likely an effective intervention, and is a promising therapy for improving the lives of those with MS. The article, "A pilot randomized controlled trial of robotic exoskeleton-assisted exercise rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis," (doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2021.102936) was published on April 4, 2021, by Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. It is available open access at https://www.msard-journal.com/article/S2211-0348(21)00203-0/fulltext. The ...

Adults with cerebral palsy are more likely to experience the debilitating pains of musculoskeletal disorders, but they receive significantly less physical therapy for those ailments, according to a recent study. The findings, published in Disability & Health, analyzed four years of Medicare service claims from community-living older adults with and without cerebral palsy who had one or more ambulatory claims for a musculoskeletal diagnosis. Fewer than one-third of general population patients utilized physical therapy. Those with cerebral palsy, despite having greater risk of secondary comorbid conditions, received even less physical therapy. "The results are staggering, but they support our hypothesis that people with cerebral palsy receive inequitable health care," says Mark ...

Climate change will make outbreaks of West Nile virus more likely in the UK within the next 20-30 years, scientists say. West Nile virus is spread by mosquitoes and has no vaccine. Most people have no symptoms, but it can cause serious neurological disease. Scientists from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS) and the University of Glasgow developed a new model to determine the risk of a West Nile virus outbreak in the UK. They found the risk is low for the next two to three decades, but will increase as temperatures ...

The drug diABZI -- which activates the body's innate immune response -- was highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19 in mice that were infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings, published this month in Science Immunology, suggest that diABZI could also treat other respiratory coronaviruses. "Few drugs have been identified as game-changers in blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection. This paper is the first to show that activating an early immune response therapeutically with a single dose is a promising strategy for controlling the virus, including the South African variant ...

What The Study Did: Rates of antispike antibody response to a messenger RNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in Israeli patients with cancer who are undergoing systemic treatment compared with healthy controls were evaluated in this study. Authors: Salomon M. Stemmer, M.D., of the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel, 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/jamaoncol.2021.2155) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, ...

What The Study Did: This study evaluates whether there are differences in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and antibody levels in patients with cancer compared with health care workers in Japan. Authors: Tatsuya Yoshida, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo, 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/jamaoncol.2021.2159) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see ...

What The Study Did: Socioeconomic disparities in respiratory health over the past six decades in the United States are described in this study. Authors: Adam W. Gaffney, M.D., of the Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 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/jamainternmed.2021.2441) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts 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 support. #  #  ...

What The Study Did: Study results suggest that reinfections are rare events and that patients who have recovered from COVID-19 have a lower risk of reinfection. However, the observation ended before SARS-CoV-2 variants began to spread, and it is unknown how well natural immunity to the wild-type virus will protect against variants. . Authors: Nicola Mumoli, M.D., of the Ospedale Fornaroli in Magenta, Italy, 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/jamainternmed.2021.2959) Editor's ...

What The Study Did: This survey study examined the associations of having an incarcerated immediate or extended family member with perceived well-being and change in projected life expectancy among adults in the United States. Authors: Ram Sundaresh, M.D., M.S., of the University of California, Los Angeles, 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.2021.11821) Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict ...

What The Study Did: Researchers estimated the extent Medicare Part B medical services would have been subject to prior authorization under private insurance coverage policies and calculated the associated spending. Authors: Aaron L. Schwartz, M.D., Ph.D., of 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/jamahealthforum.2021.0859) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author ...

What The Study Did: Researchers examined social connectedness among Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors: Wesley John Talcott, M.D., M.B.A., the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, 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/jamainternmed.2021.2348) 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 support. INFORMATION: Media advisory: The full study is linked to this news release. Embed this link to provide your readers free ...

As hospitals, insurance companies and policy makers seek to improve healthcare quality and reduce rising medical costs, one important metric used to assess clinicians hinges on how patients feel about their healthcare experience. Many healthcare providers and policy makers fear that increased pressure to please patients -- and ensure high satisfaction ratings as a result -- could lead to overuse of low-value care that doesn't provide any clinical benefit while unnecessarily ratcheting up medical bills. But new research from the University of Chicago and Harvard Medical School may alleviate some of those concerns. The study, published May 28 in END ...

New research results for patients with breast and HPV-associated throat cancers are the highlights among 23 presentations by ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group researchers at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, occurring virtually June 4-8. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded these studies. Breast Cancer Platinum chemotherapy fails in phase III trial for triple-negative breast cancer, basal-like subtype Abstract 605: About 80% of triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) are a subtype called 'basal-like.' ...

Your immune system is always busy fighting incoming threats. It consists of a system of cells, and when there is a shortage of cells, it affects the performance of the immune system. This is seen in e.g. cancer patients following chemotherapy. This is because chemotherapy targets all the cells in your body, including the stem cells in your bone marrow, which were meant to develop into new immune cells. This means that the immune system then lacks cells to fight new infections. There are drugs that can harvest stem cells from the bone marrow, so that they can be returned to the patients after treatment. They then develop into new immune cells, enabling the body to once again fight incoming threats. But previously, we lacked ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - If you've watched a slasher movie, you've probably been exposed to the final girl trope - a closing scene of a white, suburban teenage girl who triumphed over a threatening monster and lived to tell the tale. But her story doesn't stop there - in some ways, a whole new life, overshadowed by trauma, has only just begun, Ohio State University graduate student Morgan Podraza posits in an article published in the journal Horror Studies. Consider actor Jamie Lee Curtis' depiction of Laurie Strode in the Halloween film released in 2018, 40 years after her friends were murdered by Michael Myers on Halloween night. ...

East Hanover, NJ. May 28, 2021. An international team of multiple sclerosis (MS) experts has identified four under-researched areas that are critical to advancing symptom management for progressive MS, recommending interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists, clinicians, industry leaders, and those with progressive MS. Their call to action was published in Multiple Sclerosis Journal on March 15, 2021, in the article "Prioritizing progressive MS rehabilitation research: A call from the International Progressive MS Alliance" (doi: 10.1177/1352458521999970). The Alliance was represented ...

The findings have been published in "Science", the renowned journal. The world market for electroceramics is in the region of 25 billion euros a year. These very small components are often not even perceived in daily life. A smartphone alone contains 600 capacitors, 3 trillion - that's 3000 billion - of which are manufactured every year. The way many electroceramics function is not based on current flow through the material, but on small charge dislocations, called polarisation, over fractions of an atomic diameter. About a quarter of the electroceramics produced in the world link this polarisation to an extension of the material, ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Developing new ultrathin metal electrodes has allowed researchers to create semitransparent perovskite solar cells that are highly efficient and can be coupled with traditional silicon cells to greatly boost the performance of both devices, said an international team of scientists. The research represents a step toward developing completely transparent solar cells. "Transparent solar cells could someday find a place on windows in homes and office buildings, generating electricity from sunlight that would otherwise be wasted," said Kai Wang, assistant research professor ...

As the cleanest renewable energy, hydrogen energy has attracted special attention in the research. Yet the commercialization of traditional proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), which consume hydrogen and produce electricity, is seriously restricted due to the chemical reaction of PEMFCs cathode largely relies on expensive platinum-based catalysts. A solution is to change the acidic electrolyte of PEMFCs to alkaline. Such fuel cells are called anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), and they allow for the use of cheaper metal elements like Co, Ni or Mn to design electrocatalysts. The research team led by Prof. GAO Minrui from University of Science and Technology ...

During the era of commercial whaling, fin whales were hunted so intensively that only a small percentage of the population in the Southern Hemisphere survived, and even today, marine biologists know little about the life of the world's second-largest whale. That makes the findings of researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute for Sea Fisheries, which show that a large number of the baleen whales regularly frequent the krill-rich waters surrounding Elephant Island, all the more welcome. Evidence for this is provided by underwater sound ...