CHICAGO (January 30, 2021) -- Women are significantly less likely than men to undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) using guideline-recommended approaches, which may result in worse outcomes after surgery, according to a scientific presentation at the 57th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. "This study highlights key differences between women and men in surgical techniques used for CABG and reveals opportunities to improve outcomes in women," said Oliver K. Jawitz, MD, from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Using the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database--which contains records of nearly all CABG procedures performed in the US--Dr. Jawitz and colleagues from Duke and The Johns Hopkins University ...

CHICAGO (January 30, 2021) -- The most deadly global health crisis in a century has resulted in a substantial decline in overall heart surgery volume and an unexplained increase in deaths after coronary artery bypass grafting, according to late-breaking research presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. "This study was a true herculean analysis and tour de force that showed the COVID effect on adult cardiac surgery volume, trends, and outcomes," said Tom C. Nguyen, MD, from the University of California San Francisco. "The pandemic has changed the world as we know it, causing a dramatic drop in adult cardiac surgery volume and worsening patient outcomes." Dr. Nguyen and colleagues queried the STS Adult ...

(Singapore--January 30, 2021 11:00 p.m. SPT/January 30, 2021 10:00 a.m. EST)-- Nivolumab monotherapy is an effective treatment option for relapsed malignant mesothelioma (MM), according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer World Conference on Lung Cancer. Malignant mesothelioma is an intractable cancer, and no phase III trial has yet shown an improvement in overall survival following the standard first line chemotherapy doublet comprising pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin since it was licensed in 2004. Professor Dean Fennell, chair of Thoracic Medical Oncology at the University of Leicester in collaboration with Professor Gareth Griffiths and his team at the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit, University of Southampton, ...

(Singapore--January 30, 2021 11:00 p.m. SPT/January 30, 2021 10:00 a.m. EST)-- A phase III study examining whether messenger (m)RNA expression correlated with sensitivity or resistance to chemotherapy did not confer a statistically significant advantage in overall survival for patients with resected stage II-III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer World Conference on Lung Cancer. Lung cancer researchers and clinicians have sought methods to improve chemotherapy's modest 5% overall survival rate for patients with NSCLC. Dr. Silvia Novello, professor of medical oncology at the University of Torino at ...

(Singapore--January 30, 2021 11:00 p.m. SPT/January 30, 2021 10:00 a.m. EST)-- Primary analysis of the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium (LCMC) 3 study revealed that neoadjuvant atezolizumab prior to lung cancer surgery was well tolerated by patients and met its primary endpoint of 20% major pathologic response rate, according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's World Conference on Lung Cancer. Dr. Jay M. Lee, chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, today reported on results from a study of 181 patients with stage IB to IIIB non-small cell lung ...

(Singapore--January 30, 2021 11:00 p.m. SPT/January 30, 2021 10:00 a.m. EST)-- A study presented today by researchers with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan confirmed the effectiveness of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening in a pre-defined, never-smoker, high-risk population. The research was presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2021 World Conference on Lung Cancer. In Taiwan, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality, and 53% of those have died of lung cancer were never-smokers. The National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLCST) and NELSON Trials demonstrated that the use of low-dose CT is effective for lung cancer screening; however, ...

(Singapore--4:45 p.m. SPT/3:45 a.m. EST January 30, 2021--Using a host immune classifier (HIC) test for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may provide better predictors of treatment response and improve outcomes, according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer Singapore. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer care in patients with advanced stage aNSCLC, but better predictors of treatment response are still needed to guide treatment decisions for patients diagnosed with NSCLC, according to Dr. Wallace Akerley, of Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah. HIC (Host Immune Classifier) is a serum proteomic measure of inflammation. ...

Nagoya University researchers and colleagues have revealed that colorectal cancer tissues contain at least two types of fibroblasts (a type of cells found in connective tissue), namely, cancer-promoting fibroblasts and cancer-restraining fibroblasts, and that the balance between them is largely involved in the progression of colorectal cancer. Their findings, recently published in the journal Gastroenterology, suggest that artificially altering the balance between the two types of cells could curb the spread of colorectal cancer tumors, which may become an effective strategy for preventing cancer progression. Cancer tissues comprise both cancer cells and non-malignant cells such as fibroblasts. Previous studies have suggested that the proliferation of fibroblasts ...

(Singapore--January 29, 2021 9:35 a.m. SPT/January 28, 2021 8:35 p.m. EST)--Two radiation oncology trials presented at the IALSC World Conference on Lung Cancer Singapore highlight how some researchers are exploring use of higher radiation boost doses to only PET-positive regions in locally-advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A previous large RTOG phase III trial revealed that the unform delivery of a high dose to the entire tumor led to poorer survival. In one study, Prof. Feng-Ming (Spring) Kong, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, in Cleveland, Ohio presented the results of a multicenter trial which aimed to ...

(Singapore Embargoed for 7:23pm EST on January 29, 2021 to coincide with publication in the Journal of Clinical Oncology) -- Adding ipilimumab to pembrolizumab does not improve efficacy and is associated with greater toxicity than pembrolizumab alone as first-line therapy for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for patients with a PD-L1 tumor proportion score of greater than or equal to 50% and no targetable EGFR or ALK aberrations, according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's World Conference on Lung Cancer. The research was presented ...

New research led by Carnegie Mellon University Assistant Professor of Physics Shiladitya Banerjee demonstrates how certain types of bacteria can adapt to long-term exposure to antibiotics by changing their shape. The work was published this month in the journal Nature Physics. Adaptation is a fundamental biological process driving organisms to change their traits and behavior to better fit their environment, whether it be the famed diversity of finches observed by pioneering biologist Charles Darwin or the many varieties of bacteria that humans coexist with. While antibiotics have long helped people prevent and cure bacterial infections, many species of bacteria have increasingly been able to adapt to ...

School closures during COVID-19 have decreased access to school meals, which is likely to increase the risk for food insecurity among children in Maryland, according to a new report issued by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). The number of meals served to school-age children during the first three months of the pandemic dropped by 58 percent, compared to the number of free or reduced-price meals served the previous spring. As a result, thousands of children across the state were placed at increased risk of food insecurity, with many likely experiencing the health ramifications ...

Boulder, Colo., USA: GSA's dynamic online journal, Geosphere, posts articles online regularly. Topics for articles posted for Geosphere this month include feldspar recycling in Yosemite National Park; the Ragged Mountain Fault, Alaska; the Khao Khwang Fold and Thrust Belt, Thailand; the northern Sierra Nevada; and the Queen Charlotte Fault. Feldspar recycling across magma mush bodies during the voluminous Half Dome and Cathedral Peak stages of the Tuolumne intrusive complex, Yosemite National Park, California, USA Louis F. Oppenheim; Valbone Memeti; Calvin G. Barnes; Melissa Chambers; Joachim Krause ... Abstract: Incremental pluton growth can produce sheeted complexes with no magma-magma interaction or large, dynamic magma bodies communicating via crystal and melt exchanges, depending ...

Washington, DC — Blood pressure that remains elevated over of time — known as chronic hypertension — has been linked to heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. Recent research has shown that persistent high blood pressure may also increase the risk for stroke and overall mortality. Yet, only about 1 in 4 adults with chronic hypertension have their condition under control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a new study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting™, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh will unveil findings that suggest that women who develop high blood pressure during pregnancy and who continue ...

News reports indicate COVID-19 vaccines are not getting out soon enough nor in adequate supplies to most regions, but there may be a larger underlying problem than shortages. A University of California, Davis, study found that more than a third of people nationwide are either unlikely or at least hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them. The results are from public polling of more than 800 English-speaking adults nationwide in a study published online earlier this month in the journal Vaccine. "Our research indicates that vaccine uptake will be suboptimal ... with 14.8 percent of respondents being unlikely to get vaccinated ...

WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- The most powerful substance in the human brain for neuronal communication is glutamate. It is by far the most abundant, and it's implicated in all kinds of operations. Among the most amazing is the slow restructuring of neural networks due to learning and memory acquisition, a process called synaptic plasticity. Glutamate is also of deep clinical interest: After stroke or brain injury and in neurodegenerative disease, glutamate can accumulate to toxic levels outside of neurons and damage or kill them. Shigeki Watanabe of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, a familiar face at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) as a faculty member and researcher, is hot on the ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- When we step on the car brake upon seeing a red traffic light ahead, a sequence of events unfolds in the brain at lightning speed. The image of the traffic light is transferred from our eyes to the visual cortex, which, in turn, communicates to the premotor cortex -- a section of the brain involved in preparing and executing limb movements. A signal is then sent to our foot to step on the brake. However, brain region that helps the body go from "seeing" to "stepping" is still a mystery, frustrating neuroscientists and psychologists. To unpack this "black box," a team of neuroscientists at the University of California, Riverside, has ...

A new report combining forecasting and expert prediction data, predicts that 125,000 lives could be saved by the end of 2021 if 50% or more of the U.S. population initiated COVID vaccination by March 1, 2021. "Meta and consensus forecast of COVID-19 targets," developed by Thomas McAndrew, a computational scientist and faculty member at Lehigh University's College of Health, and colleagues, incorporates data from experts and trained forecasters, combining their predictions into a single consensus forecast. In addition McAndrew and his team produce a metaforecast, which is a combination of an ensemble of computational models and their consensus forecast. In addition to predictions related to the impact of vaccinations, ...

Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed a proton trap that makes organic electronic ion pumps more precise when delivering drugs. The new technique may reduce drug side effects, and in the long term, ion pumps may help patients with symptoms of neurological diseases for which effective treatments are not available. The results have been published in Science Advances. Approximately 6% of the world's population suffer from neurological diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and chronic pain. However, currently available drug delivery methods - mainly tablets and injections - place the drug in locations where it is not required. This can lead to side effects ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- In many ways, our brain and our digestive tract are deeply connected. Feeling nervous may lead to physical pain in the stomach, while hunger signals from the gut make us feel irritable. Recent studies have even suggested that the bacteria living in our gut can influence some neurological diseases. Modeling these complex interactions in animals such as mice is difficult to do, because their physiology is very different from humans'. To help researchers better understa nd the gut-brain axis, MIT researchers have developed an "organs-on-a-chip" system that replicates interactions between the brain, liver, and colon. Using that system, the researchers were able to model the influence that microbes living in the gut have on both healthy brain tissue and tissue samples derived ...

An international team of researchers produced islands of amorphous, non-crystalline material inside a class of new metal alloys known as high-entropy alloys. This discovery opens the door to applications in everything from landing gears, to pipelines, to automobiles. The new materials could make these lighter, safer, and more energy efficient. The team, which includes researchers from the University of California San Diego and Berkeley, as well as Carnegie Mellon University and University of Oxford, details their findings in the Jan. 29 issue of Science Advances. "These present ...

In 2017, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to three scientists who uncovered the molecular mechanisms that control the circadian rhythm, otherwise known as the "wake-sleep" cycle. To carry out their work, the scientists used the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, making this the sixth Nobel to be awarded to research involving it. Fruitful fruit flies Life scientists have been using Drosophila for over a century now. First proposed by entomologist Charles W. Woodworth as a model organism, its use in research was pioneered by geneticist Thomas H. Morgan who ran his famous ...

As any cook knows, some liquids mix well with each other, but others do not. For example, when a tablespoon of vinegar is poured into water, a brief stir suffices to thoroughly combine the two liquids. However, a tablespoon of oil poured into water will coalesce into droplets that no amount of stirring can dissolve. The physics that governs the mixing of liquids is not limited to mixing bowls; it also affects the behavior of things inside cells. It's been known for several years that some proteins behave like liquids, and that some liquid-like proteins don't mix together. However, very little is known about how these liquid-like proteins behave on cellular surfaces. "The separation between two liquids that won't mix, like oil and water, is known as ...

January 29, 2021 -- A study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia University Irving Medical Center has found that Medicaid expansion in 2014 in New York State was associated with a statistically significant reduction in severe maternal morbidity in low-income women during delivery hospitalizations compared with high-income women. The decrease was even more pronounced in racial and ethnic minority women than in White women. Until now there was little research on the link between ACA Medicaid expansion and maternal health outcomes. The findings are published online in the journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society, Anesthesia & Analgesia. "Our findings indicate that the 2014 ...

LA JOLLA--(January 29, 2021) As scientists learn more about the microorganisms that colonize the body--collectively called the microbiota--one area of intense interest is the effect that these microbes can have on the brain. A new study led by Salk Institute scientists has identified a strain of E. coli bacteria that, when living in the guts of female mice, causes them to neglect their offspring. The findings, published January 29, 2021, in the journal Science Advances, show a direct link between a particular microbe and maternal behavior. Although the research was done in mice, it adds to the growing body of science demonstrating that microbes in the gut are important for brain health and can affect development and behavior. "To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration ...