BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A national, University at Buffalo-led study on genes in pediatric cardiomyopathy demonstrates strong evidence for routine genetic screening in children with the disease. The study, published April 28 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, revealed wide variation in screening, with some centers conducting routine genetic testing and others conducting none. Conducted at 14 centers, the National Institutes of Health-funded study of 152 children with cardiomyopathy found that only half had undergone genetic screening. Of those who hadn't undergone screening, 21% were found to have a genetic cause for the ...

Under normal, healthy circulatory conditions, the von Willebrand Factor (vWF) keeps to itself. The large and mysterious glycoprotein moves through the blood, balled up tightly, its reaction sites unexposed. But when significant bleeding occurs, it springs into action, initiating the clotting process. When it works properly, vWF helps stop bleeding and saves lives. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 60,000 to 100,000 Americans die each year from thrombosis, a disorder characterized by too much clotting. Blood clots can trigger a stroke or heart attack. According ...

Today at the Microbiology Society's Annual Conference, Yang Liu, researcher at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, will discuss a new technique to trap and recover microplastics. The method uses bacterial biofilms, a sticky substance created by micro-organisms, to trap microplastic particles. The biofilm is then processed and dispersed, releasing the microplastic particles for processing and recycling. Liu and colleagues used the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa to capture microplastics in a bioreactor. This species of bacteria is found in all environments and has previously been shown to colonise microplastics in the environment. P. aeruginosa biofilms ...

Research shows that children who experience puberty earlier than their peers are more likely to begin drinking alcohol at a young age and early alcohol exposure is also known to be related to alcohol dependence later in life. Specifically, adolescents who mature early are two to three times more likely to drink than other youth. In addition, early maturing girls are two to three times more likely to drink until intoxication and three times as likely to have an alcohol use disorder. A new study examined why early developing 14-year-old adolescents are more likely to drink alcohol compared to those whose pubertal development is on-time or late. The findings show these adolescents are more likely to have ...

Frequent use of exemptions may undermine public health protections of oil and gas setback policies, according to a new study led by researchers at the research institute PSE Healthy Energy, Harvard University, and Nicholas Institute for Environmental Solutions at Duke University. The study, published April 28, 2021 in Energy Policy, is the first to assess the effectiveness of distance-based setback regulations for unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) or "fracking." "Setback regulations are commonly employed to protect public health, so we wanted to test if they're effective in practice," said lead author Drew Michanowicz, DrPH, ...

In a new nationwide poll, the GeneSight® Mental Health Monitor found that 83% of people with depression agree that life would be easier if others could understand their depression. Yet, most people who have not experienced depression may not be able to understand the challenges, including its treatment. "Depression is one of the most misunderstood disorders. When people misinterpret patients with depression as 'lazy' or 'dramatic,' they are vastly underestimating and misunderstanding the debilitating symptoms of major depressive disorder," said Mark Pollack, M.D., chief medical officer for the GeneSight test at Myriad ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Parents of teens who went through puberty early may be more lenient when it comes to letting them consume alcohol, according to a new Penn State study. But the researchers said that even if adolescents appear more mature, drinking alcohol is still not safe for them. Rebecca Bucci, a PhD candidate in criminology at Penn State, said the study -- published today (April 28) in Child Development -- aimed to discover why adolescents who go through puberty early are more likely than their peers to drink alcohol. "A surprising proportion of parents in our study allowed their early-developing children to drink alcohol at the age of 14 -- in fact, ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (April 28, 2021)--Hot flashes are a hallmark of the menopause transition. Yet, they don't strike with the same frequency or severity for all women. A new study suggests that some of the same genetic factors that affect a woman's reproductive life cycle may also help predict her likelihood of having bothersome hot flashes. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Despite multiple studies on the subject, questions still remain as to why some women are more affected than others by hot flashes and night sweats during the menopause transition. Genetics may be one reason, ...

Whether you hanker for a hard hit of caffeine or favour the frothiness of a milky cappuccino, your regular coffee order could be telling you more about your cardio health than you think. In a world first study of 390,435 people, University of South Australia researchers found causal genetic evidence that cardio health - as reflected in blood pressure and heart rate - influences coffee consumption. Conducted in partnership with the SAHMRI, the team found that people with high blood pressure, angina, and arrythmia were more likely to drink less coffee, decaffeinated coffee or avoid coffee altogether compared to those without such symptoms, and that this was based on genetics. Lead researcher ...

CHARGE syndrome is a rare genetic disorder affecting about 1 in 10,000 newborns. It can lead to neurological and behavioural disorders for which no treatment is currently available. Dr. Kessen Patten and his team, from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) have just discovered a compound that could alleviate these symptoms. The results of their research were published in the journal EMBO Reports. Understanding Neurological Disorders First described in 1979, CHARGE syndrome is caused by mutations in the CHD7 gene and is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity, seizures and autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Patten's research team studied the ...

Washington State University researchers have shown the fundamental mechanisms that allow tiny pieces of plastic bags and foam packaging at the nanoscale to move through the environment. The researchers found that a silica surface such as sand has little effect on slowing down the movement of the plastics, but that natural organic matter resulting from decomposition of plant and animal remains can either temporarily or permanently trap the nanoscale plastic particles, depending on the type of plastics. The work, published in the journal Water Research, could help researchers develop better ways to filter out and clean up pervasive plastics from the environment. The researchers include Indranil Chowdhury, assistant professor in WSU's Department of Civil and Environmental ...

Over recent decades, community-based environmental monitoring (often called "citizen science") has exploded in popularity, aided both by smartphones and rapid gains in computing power that make the analysis of large data sets far easier. Publishing in BioScience, handling editors Rick Bonney, of Cornell University, Finn Danielsen, of the Nordic Foundation for Development and Ecology, and colleagues share a special section that highlights numerous community-based monitoring programs currently underway. They also describe the potential for such efforts to advance the scientific enterprise well into the future and make recommendations for best practices and future directions. In an article ...

Experiencing bullying and forms of aggression in late adolescence and early adulthood is linked to a marked increase in the likelihood of having daydreams or fantasies about hurting or killing people, according to a new study. While research has shown that significant numbers of people fantasise about inflicting harm*, little is known about the processes behind such "violent ideations". A team led by a University of Cambridge professor tracked the self-reported thoughts and experiences of 1,465 young people from schools across the Swiss city of Zurich at the ages of 15, 17 and 20. Researchers gathered data on whether violent thoughts had occurred in the last 30 days, and the types of bullying or aggression experienced over the last 12 months. They used questionnaires ...

The foraging behaviour of seabirds is dramatically affected by turbulence caused by natural coastal features and manmade ocean structures, new research has shown. In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists from the UK and Germany used drones to provide a synchronised bird's eye view of what seabirds see and how their behaviour changes depending on the movement of tidal flows beneath them. The research focused on the wake of a tidal turbine structure set in a tidal channel - Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland - that has previously been identified as a foraging hotspot for terns. Through a combination of drone tracking and advanced statistical modelling, it showed that terns were more likely to actively forage over ...

One in four people experience mild, short lived systemic side effects after receiving either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine, with headache, fatigue and tenderness the most common symptoms. Most side effects peaked within the first 24 hours following vaccination and usually lasted 1-2 days. The study published today in the Lancet Infectious Diseases is the first large scale study to compare the two vaccines and investigate the prevalence of mild side effects of the UK's vaccination programme. The analysis by researchers from King's College London of data from ...

For the first time, researchers have systematically analysed social and clinical factors associated with psychiatric hospital admission of children and adolescents, finding nearly one-quarter (23.6%) were admitted involuntarily. The study was published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. Researchers also found that children and adolescents who were involuntarily hospitalised were nearly three times more likely to belong to a Black rather than a white ethnic group than those hospitalised voluntarily and more likely to have a diagnosis of psychosis, substance misuse, or intellectual disability. Involuntary hospitalisation is a legal procedure used to compel an individual to ...

Neurons result from a highly complex and unique series of cell divisions. For example, in fruit flies, the process starts with stem cells that divide into mother cells (progenitor cells), that then divide into precursor cells that eventually become neurons. A team of the University of Michigan (U-M), spearheaded by Nigel Michki, a graduate student, and Assistant Professor Dawen Cai in the departments of Biophysics (LS&A) and Cell and Developmental Biology at the Medical School, identified many genes that are important in fruit flies' neuron development, and that had never been described before in that context. Since many genes are conserved across species such as between fruit flies (Drosophila), mice, and humans, what is learnt in flies can also serve as a model to better ...

DALLAS - April 27, 2021 - Researchers with the Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern have identified a new protein implicated in cell death that provides a potential therapeutic target that could prevent or delay the progress of neurodegenerative diseases following a stroke. Scientists from the departments of pathology, neurology, biochemistry, and pharmacology at UTSW have identified and named AIF3, an alternate form of the apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), a protein that is critical for maintaining normal mitochondrial function. Once released from mitochondria, AIF triggers processes that induce a type of programmed cell death. In a END ...

Isaac Newton may have met his match. For centuries, engineers have relied on physical laws -- developed by Newton and others -- to understand the stresses and strains on the materials they work with. But solving those equations can be a computational slog, especially for complex materials. MIT researchers have developed a technique to quickly determine certain properties of a material, like stress and strain, based on an image of the material showing its internal structure. The approach could one day eliminate the need for arduous physics-based calculations, instead relying on computer vision and machine learning to generate estimates in real time. The researchers say the advance could enable faster design prototyping and material ...

Des Plaines, IL - In a randomized, double-blind trial of patients with acute undifferentiated agitation in the emergency department, droperidol was more effective for sedation and was associated with fewer episodes of respiratory depression than lorazepam or either dose of ziprasidone. This is the conclusion of END ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Having grown up poor in a rural village in Zimbabwe, Wilson Majee saw firsthand as a child the lack of educational opportunities that were easily accessible and how that impacted the youth in his village. Now an associate professor in the University of Missouri School of Health Professions, Majee researches the challenges facing disadvantaged, rural youth. He found in a recent study that young people who are disengaged from their communities are much more likely to participate in risky behaviors such as substance abuse, particularly in rural areas that lack educational opportunities. For the study, Majee spoke with youth in rural South Africa about the factors contributing to drug abuse for the NEET population, which stands ...

A promising new concept published by an interdisciplinary research team in "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS) paves the way for major advances in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Their new technique could significantly simplify hyperpolarized MRI, which developed around 20 years ago for observing metabolic processes in the body. The proposal involves the hyperpolarization of the metabolic product fumarate using parahydrogen and the subsequent purification of the metabolite. "This technique would not only be simpler, but also much cheaper than the previous procedure," said leader of the project Dr. James Eills, a member of the research team of Professor Dmitry Budker at Johannes Gutenberg ...

African waters have been contributing to the global supply of fish for years, with three of the four most productive marine ecosystems in the world near the continent. African countries' Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) contributed over 6 million metric tons of fish to the world's food supply, supporting food security and livelihood in the continent, while generating $15 billion to the African gross domestic product in 2011. Every sovereign state has an EEZ, an area of ocean adjacent to their shores in which they have special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources. Industrial fleets from countries around the world have been increasingly fishing in African waters, but with climate change ...

The risk of developing atherosclerosis - a narrowing of the arteries as cholesterol plaque builds up, leading to obstruction of blood flow - is higher for people with autoimmune rheumatic diseases than for the general population. As a result, they are more likely to have heart attacks and other cardiovascular disorders.  The good news, according to a new study published in Rheumatology, is that regular exercise is a powerful weapon against vascular dysfunction in these patients. In the article, researchers working in Brazil and the United Kingdom report the results of a systematic review of the scientific literature on the subject. The review, which ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--April 27, 2021--In the 40-some years since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, scientists have learned a lot about the virus, the disease, and ways to treat it. But one thing they still don't completely understand is which exact cells are most susceptible to HIV infection. Without this knowledge, it is difficult to envision targeting these cells to protect the millions of people who encounter the virus for the first time every year, or the infected people in which infection will likely rebound if they go off therapy. Scientists have known for a long time that the virus homes in on so-called memory ...