Scientists at UC San Diego have developed a machine learning algorithm to simulate the time-consuming chemistry involved in the earliest phases of drug discovery, which could significantly streamline the process and open doors for never-before-seen treatments. Identifying candidate drugs for further optimization typically involves thousands of individual experiments, but the new artificial intelligence (AI) platform could potentially give the same results in a fraction of the time. The researchers used the new tool, described in Nature Communications, to synthesize 32 new drug candidates for cancer. The technology is part of a new but growing trend ...

A pattern of brain activity that helps prevent us from getting lost has been identified in a new study, published in Nature Human Behaviour.  Researchers at the University of Birmingham and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich have for the first time been able to pinpoint the location of an internal neural compass which the human brain uses to orientate itself in space and navigate through the environment.   The research identifies finely tuned head direction signals within the brain. The results are comparable to neural codes identified in ...

Research Highlights: A personalized screening algorithm for preeclampsia in the first trimester of pregnancy may help clinicians better predict who is at risk for developing the condition and who may benefit from treatment with a daily, low-dose aspirin. In this study of more than 7,000 women, the new screening method, which combined maternal history, biomarker tests and ultrasound tests, was better at identifying preeclampsia risk in than current risk factor-based guidelines. Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET Monday, May 6, 2024 DALLAS, May 6, 2024 — A new screening algorithm for preeclampsia combining maternal history, ...

Expanding a lymph node, boosting a vaccine A biomaterial vaccine enhances and sustains lymph node expansion following vaccination, boosting anti-tumor immunity in an animal model. By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — Each one of us has around 600 lymph nodes (LNs) – small, bean-shaped organs that house various types of blood cells and filter lymph fluid – scattered throughout our bodies. Many of us have also experienced some of our LNs to temporarily swelling during infections with viruses or other pathogens. This LN expansion and subsequent contraction can also result from vaccines injected nearby, and in fact ...

In sports training, practice is the key, but being able to emulate the techniques of professional athletes can take a player’s performance to the next level. AI-based personalized sports coaching assistants can make this a reality by utilizing published datasets. With cameras and sensors strategically placed on the athlete's body, these systems can track everything, including joint movement patterns, muscle activation levels, and gaze movements. Using this data, personalized feedback is provided on player technique, along with improvement recommendations. Athletes can access this feedback anytime, and anywhere, making these systems versatile for athletes at ...

Scientists from the University of Sharjah and the Warburg Institute are poring over the writings of an 11th century Arab-Muslim polymath to demonstrate their impact on the development of optical sciences and how they have fundamentally transformed the history of physics from the Middle Ages up to modern times in Europe. Their research focuses on the legacy of al-Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham known in Latin as “Alhazen” and particularly his most influential work titled Book of Optics, reputed in Arabic as Kitab al-Manazir and first circulated in Europe via its Latin translation dubbed ‘Perspectiva’. Ibn ...

Labelling vulnerable patients in hospital as “socially admitted” may prevent treatment of medical issues, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.231430. Emergency departments are the last resort for some socially vulnerable people who may not have an acute or new medical issue. They may be seeking care because of a breakdown of supports or the inability of the patient, or their family, to cope with living at home. These people are known colloquially as “social admissions,” and other labels such as “orphan patient,” “failure ...

Motorcycles are designed to accommodate the average-sized rider, leaving taller and shorter riders vulnerable to discomfort. A new study from the University of Waterloo used software that predicted realistic motorcycle riding behaviours, considering human factors and ergonomic trade-offs. It found that shorter and taller statures require joint adjustments to achieve their preferred riding posture. Taller riders are required to flex their ankles, knees, hips and elbows more to interact with the motorcycle properly, ...

A national survey led by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago found that parents have insufficient knowledge of newborn screening in general and of cystic fibrosis (CF) in particular. Researchers asked specific questions about CF based on studies showing that initial CF follow-up visits after a positive newborn screening often occur after 4 weeks of age, which is later than the recommended timeframe for best outcomes. Later follow-up is associated with worse nutrition in childhood, a predictor of long-term health in CF. Parents ...

About The Study: The findings of this study show a significantly lower pediatric emergency department length of stay and inpatient psychiatric admission rate following pediatric observation unit care and potential savings in inpatient psychiatric resources without contributing to 30-day readmission rates.  Authors: Rachel G. Kasdin, M.S., of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, 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/jamapediatrics.2024.1123) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

LONG BEACH (May 4, 2024) Mariem A. Sawan, MBBS, chief interventional cardiology fellow at Emory University, has been selected as the recipient of the SCAI-Women in Innovations (SCAI-WIN) CHIP Fellowship, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions announced today.   The $115,000 fellowship opportunity was made possible by support from Abiomed (founding supporter), Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Shockwave Medical, Inc., and is offered to interventional cardiology (IC) fellows or practicing interventional cardiologists ...

LONG BEACH (May 4, 2024) During SCAI 2024 Scientific Sessions, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) presented its "30 in Their 30’s" award to thirty early-career interventional cardiologists.   This award program recognizes the excellence of these members for their outstanding leadership and demonstration of SCAI's core values and is designed to encourage and support young interventional cardiologists who have already made a significant impact in the field.   Recipients include: Aakash Garg, MD, FSCAI Adnan Khalif, MD, FSCAI Alejandro ...

LONG BEACH (May 4, 2024)  The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) is pleased to announce the selection of 12 new early-career interventional cardiologists to participate in the 2024-2026 Emerging Leader Mentorship (ELM) Program.   The ELM Fellows program is a two-year training and mentorship program designed to help participants enhance their skills and prepare for leadership positions in medicine. The program is offered in collaboration with the American College of Cardiology and the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.    The ELM Selection Committee chose 12 individuals based on their leadership ...

LONG BEACH (May 4, 2024)  Today, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) announced its 2025 Master Interventionalists of SCAI (MSCAI) designation recipients during the SCAI 2025 Scientific Sessions in Long Beach.   The MSCAI designation is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in invasive/interventional cardiology over the course of their career and for their commitment to the highest levels of clinical care, innovation, publication, and teaching.   This year’s MSCAI ...

LONG BEACH (May 4, 2024) James B. Hermiller, MD, MSCAI, director of the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship and the Structural Heart Program at St. Vincent Ascension Heart Center in Indianapolis, IN, assumed the office of president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) today during the closing ceremonies at the SCAI 2024 Scientific Sessions in Long Beach, CA.   An interventional cardiologist, researcher, and teacher, Hermiller has been an author, leading enroller, primary investigator, and steering committee member in many transcatheter therapy studies, including multiple pivotal trials of structural heart disease. ...

About The Study: Racial and ethnic disparities were observed for almost all leading causes of injury and disease that were associated with recent increases in youth mortality rates. Addressing the increasing disparities affecting American Indian or Alaska Native and Black youth will require efforts to prevent homicide and suicide, especially those events involving firearms.  Authors: Elizabeth R. Wolf, M.D., M.P.H., of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond, 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.2024.3908) Editor’s ...

LONG BEACH (May 4, 2024) Interventional cardiology's future success relies on a diverse workforce that will help to positively impact patient outcomes. Now in its second year, SCAI’s Ready to Launch program introduces the interventional cardiology field to a diverse group of medical students at all levels, providing hands-on experience and mentorship opportunities. The program is hosted annually during SCAI Scientific Sessions with participation from local medical schools.   “This ...

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created a new model for disordered materials to study how amorphous materials resist stress. They treated groups of atoms and molecules as squishy spheres with varying softness. Putting their model under a load, they discovered unexpected disparities between harder regions and where forces were concentrated, with areas in between such regions “hardening” to produce elongated “force chains”. Their findings promise new insights into designing better materials.   When it comes to building hard materials, using hard ingredients is not enough. For example, when concrete fails during ...

HOUSTON ― Cancer survivors and tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova participated in a fireside-style chat on Wednesday, May 1, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s signature event, A Conversation with a Living Legend ®, hosted at the Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston. The sold-out event raised more than $1.5 million for cell therapy research at MD Anderson with a ticketed audience of 800+. Past Living Legend honoree and co-anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America, Robin Roberts, led the onstage interview with Evert and Navratilova, and ABC13 Houston’s ...

Record-setting storms in 2023 filled California’s major reservoirs to the brim, providing some relief in a decades-long drought, but how much of that record rain trickled underground? Shujuan Mao of Stanford University and her colleagues used a surprising technique to answer this question for the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. They analyzed changes in the velocity of seismic waves traveling through the LA basin, tracking these changes in space and time between January and October 2023. As Mao reported at the Seismological Society of America (SSA)’s 2024 Annual Meeting, ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Pittsburgh studied how the spin information of an electron, called a pure spin current, moves through chiral materials. They found that the direction in which the spins are injected into chiral materials affects their ability to pass through them. These chiral “gateways” could be used to design energy-efficient spintronic devices for data storage, communication and computing. Spintronic devices harness the spin of an electron, rather than its charge, to create current and move information through electronic devices.  “One of the goals in spintronics ...

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth have unveiled a quantum sensing scheme that achieves the pinnacle of quantum sensitivity in measuring the transverse displacement between two interfering photons. This new technique has the potential to enhance superresolution imaging techniques that already employ single-photon sources as probes for the localization and tracking of biological samples, such as single-molecule localization microscopy with quantum dots. Traditionally, achieving ultra-high precision in nanoscopic techniques has been constrained by the limitations of standard imaging methods, such as the diffraction limit ...

MSU has a satellite uplink/LTN TV studio and Comrex line for radio interviews upon request. EAST LANSING, Mich. – Reforestation efforts to restock depleted forests are important for addressing climate change and for both capturing and restoring carbon from the Earth’s atmosphere. These types of solutions to mitigate carbon emissions are critical after 2023 proved to be the warmest year on record. However, some models have been found to be inaccurate. New research from Michigan State University has found the carbon removal potential of some reforestation models have been over exaggerated ...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of blood cancer that forms in the soft marrow of the bones, typically attacking cells that would otherwise form the key component of the body’s immunodefense system, white blood cells. In a new study published in Blood Advances, researchers from the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering’s Hubbell Lab created with a novel approach to develop in-situ cancer vaccines that could increase the effectiveness of immunotherapies in AML and other blood ...

East Hanover, NJ – May 3, 2024 – Following a two-month decline, the employment of individuals with disabilities returns to near historic highs reported by nTIDE in late 2023, reaffirming the significance of those prior highs. That’s according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – semi-monthly update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Month-to-Month nTIDE Numbers (comparing March 2024 to April 2024) “Following two months of decline, individuals with disabilities are now edging back towards their near ...