A new Cochrane review has found that taking zinc may help to reduce the duration of common cold symptoms by about two days, but the evidence is not conclusive and potential benefits must be balanced against side-effects. Since the 1980s, zinc products have been marketed as treatments for the common cold and are particularly popular in the USA. Zinc is an essential mineral naturally found in many foods and plays a role in immune function. Most people in high-income countries get enough zinc through their diets, although aging and some chronic diseases may lead to deficiency. The theory behind zinc-based lozenges, sprays and syrups is that the zinc may interfere ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS – Neuropathy, the nerve damage that causes pain and numbness in the feet and hands and can eventually lead to falls, infection and even amputation, is very common and underdiagnosed, according to a study published in the May 8, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “More than one-third of people with neuropathy experience sharp, prickling or shock-like pain, which increases their rates of depression and decreases quality of life,” said study author Melissa ...

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) today announced two special honorands for its Bicentennial Commencement celebrations. Astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman ’97 will return to RPI as the Bicentennial Commencement Speaker, and Emily Warren Roebling, who led the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge to completion, will receive a posthumous honorary degree, the first to be awarded in the history of RPI. Reid Wiseman ’97 Reid Wiseman ’97, decorated naval aviator, test pilot, and commander of the Artemis II mission — which will ...

AURORA, Colo. (May 8, 2024) – Young people with diabetes may have a significantly higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life, according to a new study by researchers in the Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. In the study, published this week in the journal Endocrines, scientists showed the presence of specific blood biomarkers indicating early signs of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s ...

Many parents ponder why one of their children seems more emotionally troubled than the others. A new study in the United Kingdom reveals a possible basis for those differences.  Adolescents who view their households as more unstructured, disorganized, or hectic than their siblings develop more mental health and behavioral problems in early adulthood, according to the study. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. In research tracking ...

A group of researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine led an investigation that offers new insight into the causes of spina bifida, the most common structural disorder of the human nervous system. Work of the group, led by Keng Ioi Vong, Ph.D., and Sangmoon Lee, M.D. Ph.D., both from the laboratory of Joseph G. Gleeson, M.D., at the UC San Diego School of Medicine Department of Neurosciences and the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine, reveals the first link between spina bifida and a common chromosomal microdeletion ...

The eventual prevalence of a piece of misinformation may depend on its topic and the country in which it spreads, with notable differences between the UK, Germany, France and Italy, according to a study published May 8, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Fabiana Zollo from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy, and colleagues. This finding suggests that policies to combat misinformation and polarization may need to be context-specific in order to be effective, the authors say. Researchers analyzed ...

Pacific Oyster density has increased up to 32-fold across a decade in some California waters, and coincides with summer seawater temperature increases of 2-4°C ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0302935 Article Title: Intra-decadal increase in globally-spread Magallana gigas in southern California estuaries Author Countries: USA Funding: “Funding was provided by CSU Fullerton and via subcontracts with Merkel & Associates, Inc. and Port of San Diego to DCZ. Funders had no involvement in the study design or data collection process.” The funders had no role in study design, data collection ...

The EU could mitigate climate change equivalent to 13% of its agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by planting cover crops on bare soil before maize ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0302139 Article Title: Cover crops support the climate change mitigation potential of agroecosystems Author Countries: Germany Funding: The research was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the Project "CATCHY", project number: 031B1060C. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision ...

May 8, 2024—(BRONX, NY)—Researchers at the National Cancer Institute-designated Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC) have shown that a breakthrough therapy for treating blood cancers can be adapted to treat solid tumors—an advance that could transform cancer treatment. The promising findings, reported today in Science Advances, involve CAR-T cell therapy, which supercharges the immune system to identify and attack cancer cells. “CAR-T cell therapy has revolutionized ...

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) today released a new clinical guideline for effectively managing individuals diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The guideline reiterates the importance of collaborative decision-making with patients who have HCM and provides updated recommendations for the most effective treatment pathways for adult and pediatric patients. HCM is an inherited cardiac condition most often caused by a gene mutation that makes the heart muscle too thick (hypertrophy), which impairs its ability to adequately pump blood throughout ...

When scientists look for an earthquake’s cause, their search often starts underground. As centuries of seismic studies have made clear, it’s the collision of tectonic plates and the movement of subsurface faults and fissures that primarily trigger a temblor.  But MIT scientists have now found that certain weather events may also play a role in setting off some quakes.  In a study appearing today in Science Advances, the researchers report that episodes of heavy snowfall and rain likely contributed to ...

New USC research shows that iron serves as a gas pedal driving certain immune cells that cause inflammation in the lungs during an allergic asthma attack – and blocking or limiting iron may reduce the severity of symptoms. During an attack, immune cells known as group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) can become overactive, causing excessive inflammation and a tightening of the airways, making it difficult to breath. However, the underlying biology is poorly understood. Now, researchers from the Keck School ...

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that leads to disrupted glucose metabolism. It requires lifelong insulin therapy. The Global Platform for the Prevention of Autoimmune Diabetes (GPPAD) collaborates within a European network to develop new methods to prevent this condition which is, to date incurable. AVAnT1A is GPPAD's third intervention study. It will investigate whether vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in the first year of life can protect children who have an increased genetic risk for type 1 diabetes from developing the condition. The study is supported by funding from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley ...

Another ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) treatment trial is open as part of the ComboMATCH precision medicine study platform. ComboMATCH-E5 is evaluating treatment for patients with KRAS G12C-mutated advanced solid tumors with two different targeted drugs given together. The two drugs include the KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib and panitumumab, a human monoclonal antibody antagonist specific to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Each drug is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as single-agent therapy for particular cancer types.    "Given the preclinical data demonstrating EGFR over-dependency ...

Poultry production and processing is a $10 billion industry in Tennessee, with more investment expected. To support the future of the industry, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is investing in the construction of a state-of-the-art, next generation poultry research and education facility at its Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Spring Hill. On Thursday, May 2, nearly 100 state and local officials and members of the poultry production and processing industry joined university officials to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the new project. Four commercial-size (54’ ...

Lugano, Switzerland, 8 May 2024 – ESMO Breast Cancer 2024 will be held in Berlin, Germany, between 15-17 May where the latest research in breast cancer will be presented. Participants from all over the world are expected to come to Berlin to listen to renowned experts presenting key innovative areas – including new agents, molecular and functional diagnostics, biomarkers and cutting-edge research applications – and providing perspectives on how transformative new data can find a clear path to the clinic.   The congress can be attended in person and online.  The scientific programme is ...

Each year, the American Association for the Advancement of Science elects distinguished scientists, engineers and innovators to become AAAS Fellows. Seven faculty members from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, were awarded this lifetime honor as members of the recently announced 2023 class of AAAS Fellows. Elected faculty are Rigoberto Advincula, Takeshi Egami, Heidi Goodrich-Blair, Sergei Kalinin, Keith Kline, Anthony Mezzacappa and Michela Taufer. They represent a wide range of disciplines across the College of Arts and Sciences, the UT Institute of Agriculture and the Tickle College of Engineering. They join a distinguished group of UT faculty who have been elected AAAS ...

New research shows human activity is significantly altering the ways in which marine organisms are preserved, with lasting effects that can both improve and impair the fossil record.   “We are not only changing the environment; we’re also changing the nature of the record that archives this information,” said Michal Kowalewski, the Thompson chair of invertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. “These changes can be both good and bad. On one hand, human activities ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $160 million to advance President Biden’s vision to secure the future of American leadership in semiconductor innovation by implementing a key provision in the historic CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C. §19331), Microelectronics Research for Energy Innovation. This funding will support the formation of Microelectronics Science Research Centers (MSRCs) focused on energy efficiency and extreme environments. For ...

  INRS professor recognized for international research and mentoring efforts in nanotechnology.     Federico Rosei, a professor at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in materials science and nanotechnology, has been appointed Materials Research Society (MRS) Fellow 2024 for “his leadership in the nanomaterials synthesis and characterization and his sustained international efforts in service, mentoring and outreach in the field.” He thus becomes the first researcher in Quebec and the third ...

Boronic acid has been used in organic chemistry for decades, even though it is not present in any organism. ‘It gives rise to different chemical reactions than those we find in nature,’ explains Gerard Roelfes, Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry & Catalysis at the University of Groningen. His group created an enzyme with boronic acid at its reactive centre and then used directed evolution to make it more selective and to improve its catalytic power. Furthermore, enzymatic reactions are more sustainable than classical chemical reactions, as they take place at low temperatures and without toxic solvents. The study was presented online in the journal ...

Local decision-makers looking for ways to reduce the impact of heat waves on their communities have a valuable new capability at their disposal: a new study on vegetation resilience. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory completed a study of how well vegetation survived extreme heat events in both urban and rural communities across the country in recent years. The analysis informs pathways for climate mitigation, including ways to reduce the effect of urban heat islands. Vegetation such as trees provide a valuable cooling effect, shading surfaces and deflecting solar radiation while releasing ...

CHICAGO – The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2024 will take place Saturday, October 19, through Tuesday, October 22, in San Francisco and will feature opportunities for members of the media to learn about the latest evidence-based practices and research in surgery and healthcare.   This year’s Clinical Congress will once again be a hybrid event, allowing reporters to cover the conference onsite or virtually.  Clinical Congress is one of the world’s largest educational meetings for surgeons, ...

Janelia Senior Group Leader Gerry Rubin and Cori Bargmann of The Rockefeller University have been jointly awarded the 2024 Gruber Neuroscience Prize for their pioneering work in elucidating the organization of neural circuits in behavior and developing new genetic tools to advance the field of neuroscience. The Gruber Neuroscience Prize, established in 2004, honors scientists for major discoveries that have advanced the understanding of the nervous system. The prize is part of the Gruber International Prize Program, hosted by the Gruber Foundation, which honors individuals in the fields of ...