Society learned about the value of mRNA during the COVID-19 pandemic when we saw scientists and medical professionals harness its power to deliver a vaccine for the virus within a year. Now, University of Waterloo pharmacy associate professor Emmanuel Ho has developed a novel nanomedicine loaded with genetic material called small interfering RNAs (siRNA) to fight human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) using gene therapy. These siRNAs regulate which genes or proteins are turned on or off in our cells and showed a 73 per cent reduction in HIV replication. “This opens the door for new therapeutics in the fight against HIV,” ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 19 February 2024    Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet     @Annalsofim    Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.    ----------------------------    Remission of ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL Monday, Feb. 19 at 12 p.m. Pacific time to coincide with the study’s publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Media contact: Erin Digitale at 650-724-9175 (digitale@stanford.edu) A new study by Stanford Medicine investigators unveils a new artificial intelligence model that was more than 90% successful at determining whether scans of brain activity came from a woman or a man. The findings, to be published Feb. 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, help resolve a long-term controversy about whether reliable sex differences exist in the human ...

THIS ARTICLE IS UNDER PNAS EMBARGO UNTIL MONDAY, FEB. 19 AT 3 PM US ET.  Inspired by the color-changing ability of chameleons, researchers developed a sustainable technique to 3D-print multiple, dynamic colors from a single ink. “By designing new chemistries and printing processes, we can modulate structural color on the fly to produce color gradients not possible before,” said Ying Diao, an associate professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois ...

Problems with our sleep and internal body clock can trigger or worsen a range of psychiatric disorders, according to a new review of recent research evidence. The review, published today [19 February] in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggests gaining a better understanding of the relationship between sleep, circadian rhythms and mental health could unlock new holistic treatments to alleviate mental health problems. “Sleep-circadian disturbances are the rule, rather than the exception, across every category of psychiatric ...

Changes to the social and political landscape between 2011-2018, with dramatic events such as DACA rule changes, new presidential leadership, immigration bills and more, have left one major threat looming— deportation.  How this threat has impacted the mental health of some undocumented Latino immigrants in the United States has been previously studied, but new research has found it’s not just undocumented immigrants who feel at risk.  Analyzing data from 2011-2018, Amy Johnson, assistant professor of sociology at Lehigh University, and a team of research collaborators have ...

A new glue, potentially also for you A new bonding method enabling instant and effective adhesion of hydrogels has potential to broadly advance new biomaterials solutions for multiple unmet clinical needs. By Benjamin Boettner (Boston) — Hydrogels are versatile biomaterials conquering an increasing number of biomedical areas. Consisting of water-swollen molecular networks that can be tailored to mimic the mechanical and chemical features of various organs and tissues, they can interface within the body and on its outer surfaces without causing any damage to even ...

Women may realize health benefits of regular exercise more than men An NIH-supported observational study finds that even when women and men get the same amount of physical activity, the risk of premature death is lower for women   Women who exercise regularly have a significantly lower risk of an early death or fatal cardiovascular event than men who exercise regularly, even when women put in less effort, according to a National Institutes of Health-supported study. The findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, are based on a prospective analysis of data from ...

A new study from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai shows there is a gender gap between women and men when it comes to exercise. The findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), show that women can exercise less often than men, yet receive greater cardiovascular gains.    “Women have historically and statistically lagged behind men in engaging in meaningful exercise,” said Martha Gulati, MD, director of Preventive Cardiology in the Department of Cardiology ...

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 19, 2024 – University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers discovered a molecular mechanism by which excessive dietary protein could increase atherosclerosis risk. The findings were published in Nature Metabolism today. The study, which combined small human trials with experiments in mice and cells in a Petri dish, showed that consuming over 22% of dietary calories from protein can lead to increased activation of immune cells that play a role in atherosclerotic plaque formation, driving the disease risk. Furthermore, the scientists showed ...

To prevent an emerging genomic technology from contributing to health disparities, a scientific team funded by the National Institutes of Health has devised new ways to improve a genetic testing method called a polygenic risk score. Since polygenic risk scores have not been effective for all populations, the researchers recalibrated these genetic tests using ancestrally diverse genomic data. As reported in Nature Medicine, the optimized tests provide a more accurate assessment of disease risk across diverse populations. Genetic tests look at the small differences between individuals’ ...

February 19, 2024, Cleveland: Cleveland Clinic researchers have identified a new pathway that contributes to cardiovascular disease associated with high levels of niacin, a common B vitamin previously recommended to lower cholesterol.   The team, led by Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., discovered a link between 4PY, a breakdown product from excess niacin, and heart disease. Higher circulating levels of 4PY were strongly associated with development of heart attack, stroke and other adverse cardiac events in large-scale clinical studies. The researchers also showed in preclinical studies that 4PY directly triggers vascular ...

About The Study: Segregated residential and transplant center neighborhoods likely serve as a mechanism of structural racism, contributing to persistent racial disparities in access to live donor kidney transplantation. To promote equitable access, studies should assess targeted interventions (e.g., community outreach clinics) to improve support for potential candidates and donors and ultimately mitigate the effects of segregation.  Authors: Mara A. McAdams-DeMarco, Ph.D., of the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link ...

About The Study: The results of this study of 3.2 million people who initiated prescription opioid treatment suggest that prescription opioids were associated with increased risk of serious fall events among adults of all ages, with individuals 85 years or older at greatest risk. These risks should be considered when prescribing opioids, particularly for individuals with preexisting risk factors or when opioids are prescribed at higher doses. Targeted falls prevention efforts may be most effective within the first month following opioid initiation.  Authors: Natasa Gisev, Ph.D., of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW ...

By analyzing millions of small genetic differences across a person’s genome, researchers can calculate a polygenic risk score to estimate someone’s lifetime odds of developing a certain disease. Over the past decade, scientists have developed these risk scores for dozens of diseases, including heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and cancer, with the hope that patients could one day use this information to lower any heightened risk of disease. But determining whether such tests work effectively across all populations, and how they can guide clinical decision-making, has been a challenge. Now, ...

In the largest genome-wide association study to date on Type 2 diabetes, a team of international researchers, co-led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst genetic epidemiologist, has located 1,289 genetic markers associated with Type 2 diabetes (145 of which are newly identified) and generated risk scores for diabetes complications. In research published Monday, Feb. 19 in the journal Nature that advances understanding into the inheritability of Type 2 diabetes, the scientists used cutting-edge ...

Dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain, is mostly known for its role in how we experience pleasure and reward. However, new research from the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) shifts the spotlight towards dopamine’s critical involvement in movement, with implications for our understanding and treatment of symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Imagine the act of walking. It’s something most able-bodied people do without a second thought. Yet it is actually a complex process involving various ...

In a group of plants that is famous for luring its pollinators into a death trap, one species offers its flowers as a nursery in exchange. The Kobe University discovery blurs the line between mutualism and parasitism and sheds light on the evolution of complex plant-insect interactions. Many plants rely on animals for pollination and most offer rewards for the service. Some plants, however, deceive their pollinators, and a famous example is the genus Arisaema. “It is famous as the only plant that achieves pollination at the expense of the pollinator's life,” says Kobe University biologist SUETSUGU Kenji, who is an expert on plant pollination ecology. The plant uses ...

The prospect of the worrisome triple threat of COVID, RSV and flu was assuaged last year by the effectiveness of flu vaccines. Two recent studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s VISION Network have found that flu vaccines were effective for all ages against both moderate and severe flu in the U.S. during the 2022-2023 flu season. Both the pediatric and adult VISION Network studies analyzed flu-associated emergency department (E.D.)/urgent care visits (indicative of moderate disease) and hospitalization (indicative of severe disease) from October 2022 through March 2023, a flu season in which far fewer individuals were social distancing or ...

February 16, 2024   Contact: Nick Wilson   805-235-8008; nwilso28@calpoly.edu Second Year of Cal Poly Astronomy Fellowship to Examine High-Energy Particle Jets Near Supermassive Black Holes SAN LUIS OBISPO — In the second year of the Astronomy Faculty Research Fellowship in Cal Poly’s Bailey College of Science and Mathematics, a research team will study extremely high-energy photons emitted by the extreme environment found near mega-sized black holes. The fellowship was ...

Language skills are strong predictors of academic, socioemotional and behavioral outcomes when children enter school. They learn language in preschool years by interacting with others, especially their parents. Book sharing is a popular way parents engage young children in conversation. However, not all parents are comfortable with book sharing and not all children like having books read to them.  A new study on “parent talk” by Florida Atlantic University, in collaboration with Aarhus University in Denmark, provides ...

Lincoln, Nebraska, Feb. 19, 2024 — A Husker research duo was named a first-round winner in a National Institutes of Health competition aimed at generating solutions for delivering genome-editing technology to the cells of people with rare and common diseases. Janos Zempleni, Willa Cather Professor of molecular nutrition, and Jiantao Guo, professor of chemistry, were selected as Phase 1 winners in the NIH’s Targeted Genome Editor Delivery Challenge. The challenge is a three-phase competition with prizes totaling $6 million; the University of Nebraska–Lincoln team was among 30 initial recipients announced in December ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Until recently, Orthacanthus gracilis could have been considered the “John Smith” of prehistoric shark names, given how common it was.   Three different species of sharks from the late Paleozoic Era – about 310 million years ago – were mistakenly given that same name, causing lots of grief to paleontologists who studied and wrote about the sharks through the years and had trouble keeping them apart.   But now Loren Babcock, a professor of earth sciences at The Ohio State University, has finished the arduous task of renaming two of the three sharks – and in the process rediscovered a wealth ...

A rapid scoping review has been conducted which reveals five common ways in which the health of homeless pet owners and their companion animals is improved. Ten percent of homeless people keep pets. But little information exists on specific intervention strategies for improving the health of homeless people and their pets who are often the only source of unconditional love or companionship in their life. The study, published in the Human-Animal Interactions journal, found that the most common ways ...

Potassium deficiency in agricultural soils is a largely unrecognised but potentially significant threat to global food security if left unaddressed, finds new research involving researchers at UCL, University of Edinburgh and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. The study, published in Nature Food, found that more potassium is being removed from agricultural soils than is being added, throughout many regions of the world. It also gives a series of recommendations for how to mitigate the issue. Potassium is a vital nutrient for plant growth that ...