Using artificial intelligence, satellite observations, and climate model projections, a team of researchers from Switzerland and Belgium calculate that for every tenth of a degree of increase in global air temperature, an average of nearly 9,000 meteorites disappear from the surface of the ice sheet. This loss has major implications, as meteorites are unique samples of extraterrestrial bodies that provide insights into the origin of life on Earth and the formation of the Moon. Disappearing at an alarming rate By 2050, about a quarter of the estimated of 300,000 - 800,000 meteorites in Antarctica will be lost ...

Through a large-scale analysis, researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have uncovered the ways in which consensual touch can benefit a person’s physical and mental wellbeing. You might recognize the comforting feeling when someone offers you a hug at the end of a stressful day or strokes your shoulder when you’re feeling down. But the question remains: can touch really help you feel better, and does it matter who it’s from or how they touch you? To explore these questions, researchers from the Social Brain Lab at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and the University Hospital ...

(BOSTON) — The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Northpond Ventures announced today that the VC firm’s affiliate Northpond Labs has signed an agreement to support the development of the AminoX project toward commercialization. This is the fourth Wyss project selected by Northpond Labs for additional funding.   Established in 2020 with the involvement of Harvard’s Office of Technology Development, the five-year strategic research alliance created The Laboratory for Bioengineering Research and Innovation at the Wyss Institute through a $12 million commitment from Northpond Labs to support impactful research ...

A new automated workflow developed by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has the potential to allow researchers to analyze the products of their reaction experiments in real time, a key capability needed for future automated chemical processes. The developed workflow – which applies statistical analysis to process data from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy – could help speed the discovery of new pharmaceutical drugs, and accelerate the development of new chemical reactions. The Berkeley Lab scientists who developed the groundbreaking technique ...

For millions of years, underground fungi have lived in symbiosis with plant roots. Plants provide photosynthesized carbon, while fungi deliver water and nutrients. In order to do so, these organisms share space at cellular scale: fungi stretch a network of tendrils called arbuscules into a plant’s root cells, and both organisms rearrange their cells around this structure to facilitate sharing.  Recently, researchers have been able to study both sides of this interaction up close, using RNA sequencing to understand gene expression: one of the first cross-kingdom spatially-resolved transcriptomics studies to date. This paper ...

Donations for a political candidate can be motivated by support for that candidate or by opposition to the candidate’s opponent. New research published in Social Science Quarterly found that female Democrats and non-white male Democrats in the United States have a fundraising advantage when running against a white male Republican. Female Republicans or non-white male Republicans do not have this advantage when running against white male Democrats. To assess the impact that race, gender, and party ...

Berlin, Germany – 8 April 2024:  The first randomised trial to investigate preventive ablation of a potential arrhythmogenic substrate associated with coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO) in patients at high risk of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs)  reduces the risk of appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy and unplanned hospitalisation in patients with no previously recorded VAs. The late-breaking science is presented at EHRA 2024, a scientific congress of the European ...

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [April 8, 2024] — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)—a nonprofit devoted to patient care, research, and education—is announcing the election of Matt Kalaycio, MD, FACP, as Chair of the Board of Directors, with Christopher H. Lieu, MD, elected as Vice-Chair, succeeding Dr. Kalaycio in the position he has held since 2022. “The exemplary leadership from our board of directors is invaluable as NCCN defines and advances high-quality, high-value, patient-centered cancer care around the world,” said NCCN Chief Executive Officer Crystal S. Denlinger, ...

A new study presented at the European Psychiatric Association Congress 2024 reveals a significant rise in mental health issues among children and adolescents displaced by the war in Ukraine. The research, conducted by the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry of MoH of Ukraine, highlights the devastating impact of prolonged exposure to violence and displacement on the mental well-being of young people. As per UNICEF’s recent report on “The State of the World’s Children 2021”, the current COVID-pandemic ...

Researchers at McGill University have come up with an innovative approach to improve the energy efficiency of carbon conversion, using waste material from pulp and paper production. The technique they’ve pioneered using the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan not only reduces the energy required to convert carbon into useful products, but also reduces overall waste in the environment. “We are one of the first groups to combine biomass recycling or utilization with CO2 capture,” said Ali ...

Berlin, Germany – 8 April 2024:  A new technology using ultralow temperature cryoablation (ULTC) has eliminated clinical ventricular tachycardia (VT) in 94% of patients. The late-breaking science is presented at EHRA 2024, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1  VT is a leading cause of sudden death in patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction.2 Approximately 30% of patients with ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathies develop ventricular arrhythmias including VT.3 Typical therapies to prevent VT include antiarrhythmic medication, such as amiodarone, and an implantable ...

Researchers with McMaster University have crafted the first-ever guidelines to help prepare families who plan to build their child’s tolerance to common food allergens. These international guidelines, published on April 8, 2024 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, standardize the preparation process for families considering oral immunotherapy, a process that involves giving very small amounts of an allergen, like peanuts, to patients and gradually increasing the amount to build up their tolerance. Until now, ...

Berlin, Germany – 8 April 2024:  An international consensus statement on how to treat atrial fibrillation with catheter or surgical ablation is published today in EP Europace,1 a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and presented at EHRA 2024, a scientific congress of the ESC.2  Lead author Dr. Stylianos Tzeis said: “Ablation is the most effective way to prevent recurrences of atrial fibrillation and delay progression to more advanced forms. Pioneering techniques have emerged since the previous consensus in 2017,3 requiring new advice on who should receive this procedure and how to perform it in the safest and most effective manner.”   Atrial ...

A 10-minute virtual reality (VR) session significantly lessened pain in hospitalized patients with cancer in a recent clinical trial published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Even a day later, participants experienced sustained benefits. Most people with cancer experience pain, and treatment usually involves medications including opioids. VR sessions that immerse the user in new environments have been shown to be a noninvasive and nonpharmacologic way to lessen pain in different patient populations, but data are lacking in individuals ...

A new study presented at the European Psychiatric Association Congress 2024 reveals a significant association between prenatal cannabis use disorder (CUD) and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intellectual disability (ID). Cannabis remains by far the most consumed illicit drug in Europe. Around 1.3% of adults in the European Union (3.7 million people) are estimated to be ...

A new study presented at the European Psychiatric Association Congress 2024 sheds light on the significant impact of depression on the survival rates and quality of life for women diagnosed with breast cancer. This study, conducted by a team of researchers in Russia, conducted a comprehensive analysis of existing research on the prevalence and impact of depression in breast cancer patients. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and a leading cause of death globally and in the EU, it is estimated that 1 in 11 women in the EU-27 will develop breast cancer ...

Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, along with stroke, are among the top three neurodegenerative disorders, characterized by the malfunction and progressive degeneration of neurons, the nerve cells. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these neurological disorders and developing therapies requires labeling technologies that can visualize neuronal changes not only in normal conditions but also in disease states. A research team led by Dr. Kim Yun Kyung from the Brain Science Institute at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), in collaboration with Professor Chang Young-Tae's team from Pohang University of Science ...

New research examining the characteristics of physicians with the largest share of patients unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 may help increase vaccination rates going forward. The study, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230816, found that family physicians in Ontario with the largest percentage of unvaccinated patients generally served patients living in marginalized neighbourhoods and had less support in their practices. Researchers analyzed linked data on 9060 family physicians with more than 10 million enrolled patients ...

The Ontario government’s plans to broaden alcohol sales to privately operated stores in the province could lead to higher consumption rates and related harms, write commentary authors in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.240069. “These changes will result in a 289% increase in the number of alcohol stores in Ontario (n = 2935 in March 2023, per the Liquor Control Board of Ontario), will likely reduce the price of alcohol, and will represent the biggest shift in decades with respect to how alcohol is sold in Canada,” write Drs. Norman Giesbrecht, Centre for Addiction and ...

Nasal-administered naloxone is more cost-effective and could help reduce the number of opioid-related fatalities compared to the current publicly funded intermuscular version, a new study has found.  Since 2016, Canada's opioid crisis has worsened, with over 40,000 opioid-related deaths, or about 22 deaths per day. Most of these accidental deaths (88 per cent) occur in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.  An effective way to help prevent opioid-related deaths is through community pharmacy-based naloxone programs. Currently, ...

About The Study: In this systematic review and meta-analysis that included 41 randomized clinical trials of cancer screening, incidence of late-stage cancer may be a suitable alternative end point to cancer-specific mortality for some cancer types, but is not suitable for others. These results have implications for clinical trials of multicancer screening tests.  Authors: Hilary A. Robbins, Ph.D., M.H.S., M.S.P.H., of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.5814) Editor’s ...

Strategies implemented by firms are too ambitious and wide-ranging, according to a specialist, with their poor design and structure preventing digital transformation success. Firms seeking to harness new digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, must approach this organizational change in an entirely new way to avoid contributing to the $2.3 trillion wasted on unsuccessful projects globally so far. This is the message of digital transformation expert Brian Harkin, author of Evolving from Digital Transformation to Digital Acceleration Using The Galapagos Framework, which helps business leaders understand how their approach to digital change ...

Combining pelvic floor exercises with behavioral therapy could be more effective than current medical treatments at helping men with frequent urges to urinate, new research in men has found. The initial results from the Bladder Emptying Disorder Therapy (BEST) Trial are presented today [Monday 8 April 2024] at the European Association of Urology Congress in Paris. They reveal that an app-based therapy leads to significant improvements in the lower urinary tract symptoms that many millions of men experience – hesitancy, straining, frequent urges to urinate and emptying the bladder effectively. Full results ...

The boreal forest, covering much of Canada and Alaska, and the treeless shrublands to the north of the forest region, may be among the worst impacted by climate change over the next 500 years, according to a new study.   The study, led by researchers at the White Rose universities of York and Leeds, as well as Oxford and Montreal, and ETH, Switzerland, ran a widely-used climate model with different atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to assess the impact climate change could have on the ...

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial including 103 American Indian patients, a telephone-based strategy of remote initiation and titration for outpatients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction led to improved rates of guideline-directed medical therapy at 30 days compared with usual care. This low-cost strategy could be expanded to other rural settings where access to care is limited.  Authors: Lauren A. Eberly, M.D., M.P.H., of the Indian Health Service in Gallup, New Mexico, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: ...