By Beth Miller Pulse oximeters send light through a clip attached to a finger to measure oxygen levels in the blood noninvasively. Although the technology has been used for decades — and was heavily used during the COVID-19 pandemic — there is increasing evidence that it has a major flaw: it may provide inaccurate readings in individuals with more melanin pigment in their skin. The problem is so pervasive that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently met to find new ways to better evaluate the accuracy and performance of the devices in patients with more pigmented skin. Christine O’Brien, assistant professor of biomedical ...

Children’s literature became a distinct category during the Progressive Era in the United States, largely through the work of professional “book women” like children’s librarians, publishers, and teachers. In a chapter in a new book, researchers examine one of the first attempts to formalize a selection of existing literature into a canon of children’s books, the 1882 pamphlet Books for the Young by Caroline M. Hewins. They also analyze the books selected by Hewins, with a focus on books designated for boys only and for girls only. The ...

Another decline in net farm income is projected for the Show-Me State, according to the Spring 2024 Missouri Farm Income Outlook released by the University of Missouri’s Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center (RaFF). The report offers a state-level glimpse at projected farm financial indicators, including farm receipts, production expenses and other components that affect net farm income. Projections from the report suggest that declining market receipts and lower crop prices play a role in the estimated $0.8 billion decrease in net farm income for 2024. “Although decreased production expenses offer some relief, reduced livestock inventories ...

Our muscles are nature’s perfect actuators — devices that turn energy into motion. For their size, muscle fibers are more powerful and precise than most synthetic actuators. They can even heal from damage and grow stronger with exercise.  For these reasons, engineers are exploring ways to power robots with natural muscles. They’ve demonstrated a handful of “biohybrid” robots that use muscle-based actuators to power artificial skeletons that walk, swim, pump, and grip. But for every bot, there’s a very different build, and no general blueprint for how to get the most out of muscles ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Couples feel more understood and cared for when their partners show positive support skills – and it’s evidenced by levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body – according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.  A team of Binghamton University researchers including Professor of Psychology Richard Mattson conducted a study of 191 heterosexual married couples to find out if better communication skills while giving and receiving social support led to lower cortisol levels ...

For heart attack patients, treating only the coronary artery that caused the infarction works just as well as preventive balloon dilation of the other coronary arteries, according to a new large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and others. The results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Heart attack is a common disease with risks of serious complications. It has long been unclear what the best strategy is for treating narrowings in coronary arteries separate from the specific vessel that caused the infarction. A new large Swedish study has investigated ...

A new study introduces the Hybrid Global Annual 1-km International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) Land Cover Maps for the period 2000-2020. This innovative dataset, free to access, marks a significant step forward in global land cover mapping, addressing longstanding issues of disagreement and incompatible classification systems among existing land cover products. Global land cover data, essential for environmental research, are plagued by inconsistencies across different datasets, complicating global change studies. The diversity in classification systems and methodologies challenges the creation of a unified, accurate land ...

As telehealth visits become more prevalent, physicians can sometimes struggle to help patients effectively demonstrate a musculoskeletal exam through a screen. At the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, one physician found a way to help pediatric patients demonstrate different joint movements using a Barbie doll. While on telehealth appointments with patients, Alecia Daunter, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatric rehabilitation medicine at U-M Health, found that verbally ...

Half of all patients discharged from hospital after a heart attack are treated with beta-blockers unnecessarily. This is according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "I am convinced that this will influence future practice", says Tomas Jernberg, Professor at Karolinska Institutet and lead researcher of the study. Today, when patients are discharged from hospitals after an acute heart attack, they are regularly treated with beta-blocker drugs such as metoprolol and bisoprolol. Now new research shows that about half of them do not benefit from the treatment and should not receive it at all. ...

Save the Date for the 15th World Mitochondria Society Annua Meeting on October 29-31, 2024, at DoubleTree by Hilton Berlin Ku’damm, Berlin, Germany. The WMS is pleased to announce the participation of two distinguished keynote speakers for the Targeting Mitochondria 2024 conference in Berlin this October.   Keynote Speaker of Day 1: Prof. Eric Schon Professor Eric Schon from Columbia University, USA will deliver a presentation titled "Mitochondria in Alzheimer disease: it's not what you think". Prof. Schon challenges the conventional understanding ...

ABSTRACT CT013 SAN DIEGO ― Combining the KRAS G12C inhibitor adagrasib with the anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab demonstrated promising anti-tumor effects in patients with KRAS G12C-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), according to pooled results from the Phase I/II KRYSTAL-1 trial reported by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings were presented today in a plenary session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024 by Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Gastrointestinal ...

ABSTRACT CT014 SAN DIEGO – The first-in-class PARP1-selective inhibitor saruparib demonstrated encouraging early efficacy and a favorable safety profile in patients with homologous recombination repair (HRR)-deficient breast cancers, according to results from the Phase I/II PETRA trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results from the first-in-human trial were presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024 by Timothy Yap, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., professor ...

LOS ANGELES — Researchers with City of Hope®, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, will present more than 70 abstracts and sessions on innovative clinical trial results, breakthrough diagnostic techniques and advances in treatment options as well as share their expertise on molecular profiling and the microbiome at the AACR Annual Meeting, which started April 5 and ends April 10 in San Diego.  In addition to City of Hope’s robust data being presented throughout the meeting, John D. Carpten, Ph.D., the Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director’s ...

SAN DIEGO – A combination of the KRASG12C inhibitor adagrasib (Krazati) and the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody cetuximab (Erbitux) showed clinical activity and promising survival outcomes in a cohort of patients with metastatic, heavily pretreated, KRASG12C-mutated colorectal cancer, according to results from the phase I/II KRYSTAL-1 trial presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024, held April 5-10. The study was simultaneously published in Cancer Discovery. KRASG12C mutations occur in around 4% of colorectal cancers and are associated with a poor prognosis. Drugs targeting KRASG12C, such as adagrasib, have emerged ...

SAN DIEGO – Saruparib, a selective inhibitor of poly-ADP ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1), demonstrated a promising objective response rate and progression-free survival in patients with certain homologous recombination repair (HRR)-deficient breast cancers, according to results from the phase I/II PETRA trial presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024, held April 5-10. Although blocking the enzyme PARP1 may be sufficient to prevent DNA repair in HRR-deficient tumors, all PARP inhibitors currently approved by the ...

SAN DIEGO – An investigational exosome-based liquid biopsy accurately detected 97% of stage 1-2 pancreatic cancers when combined with the biomarker CA 19-9, according to research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024, held April 5-10. “Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal malignancies, in large part because the majority of patients are diagnosed only after the cancer has already metastasized,” said Ajay Goel, PhD, senior author of the study and the chair of the Department of Molecular ...

1. Research groups from NIMS, Seagate Technology, and Tohoku University have made a breakthrough in the field of hard disk drives (HDD) by demonstrating the feasibility of multi-level recording using a three-dimensional magnetic recording medium to store digital information. The research groups have shown that this technology can be used to increase the storage capacity of HDDs, which could lead to more efficient and cost-effective data storage solutions in the future. 2. Data centers are increasingly storing vast amounts of data on hard disk drives (HDDs) that use perpendicular ...

While 3D printing has exploded in popularity, many of the plastic materials these printers use to create objects cannot be easily recycled. While new sustainable materials are emerging for use in 3D printing, they remain difficult to adopt because 3D printer settings need to be adjusted for each material, a process generally done by hand. To print a new material from scratch, one must typically set up to 100 parameters in software that controls how the printer will extrude the material as it fabricates an object. Commonly ...

The biological brain, especially the human brain, is a desirable computing system that consumes little energy and runs at high efficiency. To build a computing system just as good, many neuromorphic scientists focus on designing hardware components intended to mimic the elusive learning mechanism of the brain. Recently, a research team has approached the goal from a different angle, focusing on measuring information transfer instead. Their method went through biological and simulation experiments and then proved effective in an electronic neuromorphic system. It was published ...

Philadelphia, April 8, 2024 – Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that teens and young adults with mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder, were 30% less likely to obtain their driver’s license than peers without such disorders. Additionally, those youths with mood disorders experienced a slightly elevated risk of crashing. These findings suggest that these teens and young adults could benefit from guidance on obtaining licensure and accessing training to avoid crashes when they are newly licensed. The findings were published online today ...

NEW YORK, NY (April 8, 2024)--A new type of investigational therapeutic in development for pancreatic cancer has shown unprecedented tumor-fighting abilities in preclinical models of the disease, suggesting it has the potential to offer novel treatment options for nearly all pancreatic tumors, a comprehensive study has found.  The inhibitors in this new class of oral medications, being developed by Revolution Medicines Inc., target the oncogenic or active cancer-causing form of RAS proteins (such as KRAS, NRAS, and HRAS). These RAS “oncoproteins” drive up to a third of all human cancers. The research ...

The introduction of a policy protecting parental leave benefits in Sweden in 1980 had unintended consequences on child health. The policy led to an increase in premature birth rates. This is shown by a study from researchers at Stockholm University, published in JAMA Pediatrics. The Swedish so-called speed premium policy was introduced in 1980 in order to protect couples’ level of income-based parental leave benefits when they had children in quick succession. The new study from Stockholm University evaluates the health consequences of the policy. The researchers conclude that by ...

IMMUNE KEY TO CHRONIC VIRAL INFECTIONS DISCOVERED Australian researchers have discovered a previously unknown rogue immune cell that can cause poor antibody responses in chronic viral infections. The finding, published today (9 April) in the journal, Immunity, may lead to earlier intervention and possibly prevention of some types of viral infections such as HIV or hepatitis. One of the remaining mysteries of the human immune system is why a certain cell, called a B cell, which retains a memory for past infections – ensuring we fight off diseases we have experienced before – often only has a weak capacity to protect us from persistent infections. Researchers ...

Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances – commonly known as PFAS – are a group of over 14,000 human-made chemicals that have been popular since the 1950s for their diverse skills in resisting heat, water, grease and stains.   They’ve been commonly found in household products like non-stick frypans, clothing, cosmetics, insecticides, and food packaging, as well as specialty industry products, like firefighting foam.  But despite their broad skillset, the chemicals have a dark side: they’re known as ‘forever chemicals’ as once they’re in the environment – ...

About 4.5 billion years ago, a small planet smashed into the young Earth, flinging molten rock into space. Slowly, the debris coalesced, cooled and solidified, forming our moon. This scenario of how the Earth's moon came to be is the one largely agreed upon by most scientists. But the details of how exactly that happened are "more of a choose-your-own adventure novel," according to researchers in the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory who published a paper in Nature Geoscience. The findings offer important insights into the evolution ...