PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new analysis revealed the frequency of potentially lethal substances, such as fentanyl and xylazine, in counterfeit pills that had been circulating in Rhode Island’s illicit drug supply. Study author Dr. Rachel Wightman, an associate professor of epidemiology and emergency medicine at Brown University, said the analysis provides important information about the composition of counterfeit pills, which are designed to replicate legitimate pharmaceutical pills but often lead to adverse health effects. “The level of detail found in our analysis can help inform treatment conversations and improve patient care,” ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Researchers have discovered a protein marker to help identify cells able to repopulate in patients with damaged blood vessels. Their findings, recently published in Circulation, could lead to new therapies for people with endothelial dysfunction, a type of disorder that contributes to coronary artery disease that may occlude with plaque and lack ability to carry sufficient blood into the heart tissue causing a heart attack. “This study is the first to establish that a single, prospective marker identifies vascular clonal repopulating endothelial cells ...

As part of the University of Colorado Department of Medicine’s annual Research Day, held on April 23, faculty member Christine Swanson, MD, MCR, described her National Institutes of Health-funded clinical research on whether adequate sleep can help prevent osteoporosis.  “Osteoporosis can occur for many reasons such as hormonal changes, aging, and lifestyle factors,” said Swanson, an associate professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes. “But some patients I ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — LyoWave Inc., a high-tech startup, is commercializing innovative microwave heating technologies developed at Purdue University that improve upon traditional lyophilization — or the process of freeze-drying perishable products — by increasing speed, cost-effectiveness and product throughput. CEO and co-founder Drew Strongrich said LyoWave’s microwave energy innovations open new possibilities for a variety of products. “Our technology overcomes the historic issues associated with microwave systems such as nonuniform heating, poor ...

Cheers erupted from a crowd gathered at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus on April 19 as leaders at the CU School of Medicine and the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) signed an educational partnership agreement, a historic moment that will open a breadth of opportunities for both institutions. “This is a very happy occasion for us and formalizes something that we always seek to have, which is a mutually beneficial partnership with colleagues in the state,” said John J. Reilly Jr., MD, dean ...

“The independent research groups, led by Prof. Scott W. Lowe and Christina Curtis,respectively, have uncovered a similar definitive pathway in the progression of gastric cancer (GC) initiated with loss of the TP53 gene, representing a milstone in understanding the early stages of this deadly disease”. Dr. Zhaocai Zhou, head of a GC laboratory from Fudan University, stated.“Their study offers detailed insights into how genetic changes drive the transformation from preneoplastic conditions to full-blown cancer. Their findings revealed that loss of TP53 is not merely a common genetic anomaly but a pivotal event that propels ...

A recent review article provides critical insights into the management of acute agitation in reproductive-age females and during pregnancy within the emergency departments (EDs). The study emphasizes the importance of considering the safety of psychotropic medications in this demographic population, given the potential risks to both the patient and the fetus. Agitation in the emergency department is not uncommon and can stem from various causes, including psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, and other medical ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (May 7, 2024) ― More Americans suffer from chronic pain than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. Yet, a shortage of pain medicine specialists persists, causing many pain sufferers to seek care in primary care settings.   Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have found that an innovative tele-mentoring program can help address reliance on opioids in the management of pain, with potential benefits for patients, families and communities.  Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) is an innovative educational and mentoring model where ...

A study has outlined the critical needs and essential technologies for a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation to augment satellite navigation systems, significantly improving the Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services. This research specifically targets the diverse demands of different users for LEO augmented GNSS, the possible contribution of LEOs to PNT performances, and the key technologies referring to the LEO-based navigation augmentation system. The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), including the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), are the most widely used in providing PNT services. However, GNSS signals from geostationary orbit (GEO), inclined ...

Earthquakes are the most dramatic and noteworthy results of tectonic plate movement. They are often destructive and deadly, or at the very least physically felt — they’re literally groundbreaking geological events. However not all tectonic movement results in effects that humans can perceive. Slow slip events occur when pent up tectonic forces are released over the course of a few days or months, like an earthquake unfolding in slow motion. The more gradual movement means people won’t feel the earth shaking beneath their feet and buildings won’t collapse. But the lack of destruction does not make slow slip events less scientifically ...

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2024 – As much as we might not want to think about it, mucus is everywhere in our bodies. It coats our airways and our digestive systems and serves as a first line of defense against pathogens, a habitat for our microbiomes, and a conveyor belt for our insides to keep everything moving smoothly. The front-line role of mucus means it is often the site of the first symptoms of infection or disease. Understanding how mucus changes, and what it changes in response to, can help diagnose illnesses and develop treatments. Designing a study to measure the physical properties of mucus, however, is nothing to sneeze at. In APL Bioengineering, by AIP Publishing, ...

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2024 – Understanding how cancerous cells spread from a primary tumor is important for any number of reasons, including determining the aggressiveness of the disease itself. The movement of cells into the extracellular matrix (ECM) of neighboring tissue is an essential step in cancer progression that directly correlates to the onset of metastasis. In APL Bioengineering, by AIP Publishing, a team of researchers from Germany and Spain used a breast cancer cell line panel and primary tumor explants from breast and cervical cancer patients to ...

About The Study: Substantial geographic disparities in cancer clinical trials availability exist throughout the United States, with the most socially vulnerable counties being far less likely to have any trial and having only a fraction of trials available, a disparity that has worsened over time.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rishi Robert Sekar, M.D., M.S., email rsekar@med.umich.edu.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.10162) Editor’s Note: Please ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that symptoms are prevalent years after young childhood cancer survivors’ initial cancer diagnosis, and interventions to reduce caregiver anxiety and neighborhood adversity and improve resilience may alleviate symptom burden.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, I-Chan Huang, Ph.D., email i-chan.huang@stjude.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/   (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.10145) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...

Macquarie University researchers have debunked a 75-year-old theory about how humans determine where sounds are coming from, and it could unlock the secret to creating a next generation of more adaptable and efficient hearing devices ranging from hearing aids to smartphones. In the 1940s, an engineering model was developed to explain how humans can locate a sound source based on differences of just a few tens of millionths of a second in when the sound reaches each ear. This model worked on the theory that we must ...

The transition from the African Humid Period (AHP) to dry conditions in North Africa is the clearest example of climate tipping points in recent geological history. They occur when small perturbations trigger a large, non-linear response in the system and shift the climate to a different future state, usually with dramatic consequences for the biosphere. That was also the case in North Africa, where the grasslands, forests, and lakes favored by humans disappeared, causing them to retreat to areas like the mountains, oases, and the Nile Delta. This ...

WESTMINSTER, Colorado –  7 May 2024 – An article in the latest issue of Invasive Plant Science and Management provides new insights on a northern hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) subspecies (lithuanica) and its establishment outside the Connecticut River. Considered among the “world’s worst” aquatic weeds, northern hydrilla hinders recreational activities by forming dense canopies. If unchecked, it has the potential to displace native species and host a bacterium that produces ...

UCSF-led study finds artificial intelligence is as good as a physician at prioritizing which patients need to be seen first.  Emergency departments nationwide are overcrowded and overtaxed, but a new study suggests artificial intelligence (AI) could one day help prioritize which patients need treatment most urgently.  Using anonymized records of 251,000 adult emergency department (ED) visits, researchers at UC San Francisco evaluated how well an AI model was able to extract symptoms from patients’ ...

NEW YORK, NY -  May 7, 2024 – On World Asthma Day 2024 the message is clear: "Asthma Education Empowers." The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), of which the American Thoracic Society is a founding member, stresses the crucial role of education in empowering people with asthma to manage their condition effectively and to know when to seek medical assistance. FIRS also urges health care professionals to enhance their awareness of the preventable morbidity and mortality from asthma and of the published evidence on effective asthma management, so they are equipped to provide reliable information and optimal treatment for their patients.  Asthma ...

A growing number of states and territories in the United States have legalized medical and recreational cannabis use. As such, recreational cannabis has been associated with a lower perception of risk of harm in the general U.S. population. However, in women of childbearing age, evidence has shown that cannabis use may increase the risk of adverse reproductive and perinatal health outcomes. Furthermore, research on the perception of risk from using cannabis among vulnerable populations such as those with disabilities is lacking. Using data from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, researchers from Florida ...

Some of the final work of a late University of Virginia School of Medicine scientist has opened the door for life-saving new treatments for solid cancer tumors, including breast cancer, lung cancer and melanoma. Prior to his sudden death in 2016, John Herr, PhD, had been collaborating with UVA Cancer Center’s Craig L. Slingluff Jr., MD, to investigate the possibility that a discovery from Herr’s lab could help treat cancer. Eight years of research has borne that idea out: Herr’s research into the SAS1B protein could lead to “broad and profound” new treatments ...

SAN ANTONIO — May 7, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has helped determine the viability of pressure relief valves for liquid natural gas tanks in the event of a train derailment for the Federal Rail Administration (FRA). The report from the FRA shows that a study conducted by SwRI demonstrates that the pressure relief valves work as designed to prevent overpressurization and explosion if a derailment occurs. “The pressure relief valves on tanks that transport liquid ...

The air inside all personal vehicles is polluted with harmful flame retardants—including those known or suspected to cause cancer—according to a new peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Science & Technology. Car manufacturers add these chemicals to seat foam and other materials to meet an outdated federal flammability standard with no proven fire-safety benefit. “Our research found that interior materials release harmful chemicals into the cabin air of our cars,” said lead author Rebecca ...

Jonah Berger and Olivier Toubia used natural language processing to understand what drives academic success. The authors analyzed over 20,000 college application essays from a large public university that attracts students from a range of racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds and found that the semantic volume of the writing, or how much ground an application essay covered predicted college performance, as measured by grade point average. Essays that covered more semantic ground predicted higher grades. Similarly, essays with smaller conceptual jumps between successive parts of ...

A study finds that most engineering PhD graduates will never secure a tenure-track faculty position. Over the past 50 years, the number of full-time faculty positions in US universities has steadily declined while production of science and engineering PhD graduates has nearly doubled. Siddhartha Roy and colleagues analyzed data on PhD graduates and tenure-track and tenured faculty members across all engineering disciplines from 2006–2021. The average annual likelihood of securing a tenure-track faculty position in engineering during this 16-year period was 12.4%. The likelihood of securing a tenure-track faculty position was 18.5% in ...