Australians are no strangers to long, hot summers, but new Griffith University research has looked at the impact of hot weather on patients with pre-existing chronic diseases and how it increases their risk of being hospitalised. The research, recently published in eBioMedicine, found the risk of hospitalisation increased with the number of pre-existing chronic diseases during hot weather. Individuals over the age of 65 with multimorbidity, defined as having two or more chronic diseases, were most at risk during hot weather. Dr Zhiwei Xu from Griffith’s School ...

It’s often said we can’t control the weather. But what if the weather controls how and when we invest our money? More specifically, what if the skies control how much we’re willing to gamble in the stock market? New research by the University of South Australia has found a connection between pleasant weather conditions and higher investment in lottery-like stocks. Lottery-like stocks are cheap compared to other stocks and, like lottery tickets, they can be seen as an opportunity to make a substantial gain. However, the chance of a higher return is minimal, and it’s therefore considered a high-risk investment. A study by UniSA finance researchers ...

In the ongoing battle against antibiotic resistance, a new study published in Engineering by Zhuoren Ling’s research team unveils a promising triple combination of antibiotics that significantly expands our arsenal against drug-resistant bacteria. Titled “The Triple Combination of Meropenem, Avibactam, and a Metallo-β-Lactamase Inhibitor Optimizes Antibacterial Coverage Against Different β-Lactamase Producers,” the research sheds light on a novel approach to tackle one of the most pressing global ...

LA JOLLA (June 4, 2024)—Global temperatures are on the rise, with experts projecting an increase of 2.7°F by 2050. Because plants cannot regulate their own temperatures, they are especially sensitive to these temperature changes. In higher temperatures, plants instruct their root systems to grow faster, creating long roots that stretch through the soil to absorb more water and nutrients. While this response may help the plants in the short term, new research suggests it’s both unsustainable for the plants and potentially ...

Researchers from The University of Texas at Arlington received 20 utility patents for their work in 2023, contributing to the University of Texas System’s overall ranking of No. 3 in the Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents in 2023 list. Compiled by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the rankings are based on data obtained from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The University of California system and Massachusetts Institute of Technology claimed the top ...

The combination of alcohol plus cabin pressure at cruising altitude may threaten sleeping plane passengers’ heart health, particularly on long haul flights, suggests the first study of its kind, published online in the respiratory journal Thorax. The duo lowers the amount of oxygen in the blood (SpO2) and raises the heart rate for a protracted period, even in the young and healthy, the findings indicate. The higher the alcohol consumption, the greater these effects might be, particularly among older passengers and those with pre-existing medical conditions, say ...

Excess death rates have remained high in the West for three years running since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a data analysis of 47 countries published in the open access journal BMJ Public Health. This is despite the implementation of various containment measures and the availability of  COVID-19 vaccines, giving rise to “serious cause for concern,” say the researchers who call on governments and policymakers to thoroughly investigate the underlying causes. The researchers wanted to gauge the effectiveness of the response to the health crisis ...

A combination of facial thermal imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) can accurately predict the presence of coronary artery disease, finds research published in the open access journal BMJ Health & Care Informatics. This non-invasive real-time approach is more effective than conventional methods and could be adopted for clinical practice to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and workflow, pending testing on larger and more ethnically diverse numbers of patients, suggest the researchers. Current guidelines for the diagnosis of coronary heart disease rely on probability assessment of ...

-With images and video- A new study from researchers at Durham University has found that the process of domestication and selective breeding has limited the ability of domestic dogs to use facial expressions to convey affective states (emotions) as effectively as their wolf ancestors. The research, published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, used an extended Dog Facial Action Coding System to analyse video recordings of captive wolves and domestic dogs during spontaneous social interactions and reactions to external stimuli. The researchers identified nine distinct affective ...

By John Lovett University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A study of the effects of mowing on a common weed has found that what doesn’t kill you can make you stronger. A study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports has found that frequent mowing of Solanum elaeagnifolium may help create a “superweed.” Solanum elaeagnifolium — also known as silverleaf nightshade — can be found from south Texas to South Africa and Greece, infesting fields and soaking up valuable nutrients intended for cash crops. The weed with purple flowers – sometimes white and light ...

RENO, Nev. – Powerful new digital mapping tools developed by University of Nevada, Reno researchers hold promise to improve management of rangeland, particularly public lands in the far-flung Western United States. The significant improvements in mapping of vegetation enabled by the University’s research provide managers of rangeland, ranchers as well as federal managers of public lands, with better information to make large-scale decisions to mitigate effects of grazing, wildfire and other potential disruptions. The research ...

  by Brooke McDonald It turns out a common cockroach found across the globe is a pest of our own making. In a study recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife researchers unveiled insights into the origins of the common German cockroach, Blattella germanica. The study, “Solving the 250-year-old ...

LOS ANGELES – June 3, 2024 – For the last three decades, breakthroughs have been sparse for soft tissue sarcomas, which are rare cancers that affect muscles, fat and other connective tissues. Today, a global team of researchers funded by a Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) grant announced clinical trial results that point to a new immunotherapy treatment option for two of the most common types of soft tissue sarcoma in adults, a breakthrough that reduces the risk of relapse by 43% at two years and will ...

Berlin, Germany:  Disturbed sleep is very common in almost all neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions (NDPCs), such as autism, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. While it is understandable that the symptoms of such conditions would lead to sleep disruption and also that sleep disruption would worsen symptoms in these conditions, Irish researchers have now found new genetic associations between some of these conditions and chronotype, the behavioural manifestations of an individual’s ...

Slowing down the pace may not be common in academia, but it could lead to better science to support our planet through the current climate, biodiversity and social justice crises. This is one approach suggested by a diverse group of marine conservation scientists who were brought together in 2021 by the COMPASS “Leaders for Sea Change” Science Communication program. In a new paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the co-authors consider three pathways to better connect with the places they study.  Frequently, scientific expertise to address the global change crisis comes ...

A simple survey delivered during the first trimester through digital pregnancy support app MyHealthyPregnancy predicted which mothers went on to develop moderate to severe depression with a high level of accuracy, according to a new Archives of Women’s Mental Health study led by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC researchers. “Depression is a leading complication during pregnancy with about 15% of patients reporting symptoms at some point in their pregnancy journey,” said lead author Tamar Krishnamurti, Ph.D., associate professor of general internal medicine ...

Supplemental oxygen is among the most widely prescribed therapies in the world, with an estimated 13 to 20 million patients worldwide requiring oxygen delivery by mechanical ventilation each year. Mechanical ventilation — a form of life support — is a technology that moves breathable air into and out of the lungs, acting like a bellows. Ventilators have moved far beyond the “iron lung” machines some people might picture; now, apparatuses have progressed to sophisticated, compact digital machines that deliver oxygen through a small plastic tube that goes down the throat. Despite technological advancements, ...

NEW ORLEANS (June 3, 2024) – Dr. Demetrius James Porche, Dean of LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing, has been appointed as a member of the seventh cohort of Ambassadors by the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research (FNINR). This prestigious selection recognizes his exceptional contributions to nursing research and advocacy.   The FNINR Ambassador program, initiated in 2014, comprises highly qualified individuals committed to advancing public, health professional and policymaker awareness of the significant research agenda of the National Institute for Nursing Research ...

MIAMI, FLORIDA (June 3, 2024) – Estelamari Rodriguez, M.D., M.P.H., is the recipient of the Patient Educator of the Year award from Cancer GRACE (Global Resource for Advancing Cancer Education). The award was presented May 31 in Chicago in recognition of Rodriguez’s work in breaking down language barriers around the world by creating Spanish-language educational content about lung cancer for patients and caregivers. As a physician and a Latina, Rodriguez, a bilingual thoracic oncologist at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Health System, ...

Even as classrooms, offices, concerts and weddings have begun to look more like their pre-2020 counterparts, marks of the global pandemic remain visible in new norms and long-term issues. “COVID-19 affected a whole generation of individuals at every level,” said Khalid Afzal, MD, a pediatric psychiatrist at the University of Chicago Medicine. In conversations on social media and in other forums, many people share a general sense that COVID-19 had a significant impact on mental health — that it represents a collective trauma from which we will be healing for years. Now that researchers have a few years’ worth of data to analyze, they’re beginning to unpack that ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, June 3, 2024 Contact: Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu ## Researchers: Excluding Partisanship Questions from Public Health Surveys ‘Limits Our Capacity for Advancing Population Health and Health Equity’ A new commentary in the American Journal of Public Health urges public health researchers to incorporate questions about partisan identity in demographic data collection, arguing that excluding this information could lead to ineffective policy and health promotion interventions. The partisan  divide in attitudes toward vaccination and masking during the COVID-19 pandemic made clear that ...

In disease research, it’s important to know gene expression and where in a tissue the expression is happening, but marrying the two sets of information can be challenging. “Single-cell technologies, especially in the emerging field of spatial transcriptomics, help scientists see where in a tissue the genes are turned on or off. It combines information about gene activity with the exact locations within the disease tissues,” explains Fan Zhang, PhD, assistant professor of medicine with a secondary appointment ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 3 June 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 ...

ACP Recommends AI Tech Should Augment Physician Decision-Making, Not Replace It  WASHINGTON, June 4, 2024—The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in clinical health care has the potential to transform health care delivery but it should not replace physician decision-making, says the American College of Physicians (ACP) in a new policy paper published today. “Artificial Intelligence in the Provision of Health Care,” published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, offers recommendations on the ethical, scientific, and clinical components of ...

New Haven, Conn. — A new scientific model is giving researchers an unprecedented, global look at the activities of clams, worms, and other invertebrate animals that burrow at the bottom of the ocean. And what they find may offer new insights into how these mud-churning species affect ocean chemistry, carbon sequestration, and the ability of marine life to thrive globally. Scientists have long debated the role of “bioturbation” — the excavation and stirring up of seafloor sediments caused by these species. Part of the challenge has come from trying to understand how the interactions between these animals and their surroundings influence bioturbation patterns ...