CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The lungs were once at the forefront of SARS-Cov-2 research, but as reports of organ failure and other serious complications poured in, scientists set out to discover how and why the respiratory virus was causing serious damage to the body's major organs, including the lungs. An interdisciplinary COVID-19 International Research Team (COV-IRT), which includes UNC School of Medicine’s Jonathan C. Schisler, PhD, found that SARS-CoV-2 alters mitochondria on a genetic ...

A groundbreaking study published in the journal Research in Aging sheds light on the financial challenges of housing-with-health-services models for low-income older adults.  The report explores strategies for ensuring the sustainability of these beneficial efforts.  The study was conducted in partnership with Hebrew SeniorLife, a Harvard Medical School-affiliated nonprofit organization serving older adults in the Greater Boston area.  It drew on insights from 31 key informational interviews and three focus groups ...

The next generation of cardiometabolic biomarkers should pave the way for earlier detection of risk factors for conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease in children, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in the journal Circulation. “The rising number of children with major risk factors for cardiometabolic conditions represents a potential tsunami of preventable disease for our healthcare system,” says the statement’s lead author Michele Mietus-Snyder, M.D., ...

A new compact, lightweight, gel-free and waterproof electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor offers more comfort and less skin irritation, compared to similar heart monitoring devices on the market. ECGs help manage cardiovascular disease – which affects around 4 million Australians and kills more than 100 people every day – by alerting users to seek medical care. The team led by RMIT University in Australia has made the wearable ECG device that could be used to prevent heart attacks for people with cardiovascular disease, including in remote healthcare and ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- A new drug developed by professors from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Binghamton University has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a common genetic disease that mostly affects young boys. DMD is the most common genetic disease. It leads to the loss of the dystrophin protein in muscle tissues, with progressive weakness and challenges with day-to-day activities. The DMD gene is the largest gene in the human genome, ...

The antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan is approved for various therapeutic indications. Since March 2023, it can also be used as monotherapy for the treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic HER2-low breast cancer who have received prior chemotherapy at this disease stage or developed disease recurrence early after adjuvant chemotherapy. Treatment with trastuzumab deruxtecan is the first approved therapy for patients with HER2-low breast cancer. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in an early benefit assessment whether the antibody-drug ...

Children and young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) use healthcare services twice as often in the two years before their diagnosis, a study by researchers at the University of Nottingham and King’s College London has found. The research, published today in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood shows that children with the neurodevelopmental disorder are twice as likely to see their GP, go to hospital for an admission, and even have operations, compared to children without ADHD. The researchers say the results support the need for healthcare professionals to consider a potential diagnosis of ADHD in children who ...

In the late 1970s, the relationship between the c-Src gene and cancer was discovered. The first oncogene was identified. Since then, c-Src has been found to be overactivated in half of colon, liver, lung, breast, prostate and pancreatic tumors, but its function is not yet fully understood. CNIO researchers have now discovered that this oncogene is capable of 'self-activation', by means of a previously undescribed molecular mechanism. This finding has implications for the development of new drugs.   In ...

Philadelphia, October 31, 2023 – Heart attacks, or acute myocardial infarction (MI), are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The newly released Canadian Cardiovascular Society Classification of Acute Myocardial Infarction (CCS-AMI) appearing in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, published by Elsevier, presents a four-stage classification of heart attack based on heart muscle damage. This work by a group of noted experts has the potential to stratify risk more accurately in heart attack patients and lays the groundwork for development of new, injury-stage-specific and tissue ...

Researchers from MIT and NVIDIA have developed two techniques that accelerate the processing of sparse tensors, a type of data structure that’s used for high-performance computing tasks. The complementary techniques could result in significant improvements to the performance and energy-efficiency of systems like the massive machine-learning models that drive generative artificial intelligence. Tensors are data structures used by machine-learning models. Both of the new methods seek to efficiently exploit what’s ...

A paper published in Trends in Cancer explains the advantages of RENACER, the world’s first repository of live brain metastases samples, created by researchers at CNIO.   Live samples allow researchers to study the way cancer cells respond to drugs. This paves the way to create avatars for each individual patient to test out possible therapies before applying them.   RENACER is made up of around twenty hospitals, who attended their first general assembly meeting today at the Fundación Ramón Areces, the foundation that is funding the ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Voice speed and interaction style may determine whether a user sees a digital assistant like Alexa or Siri as a helpful partner or something to control, according to a team led by Penn State researchers. The findings reveal insights into the parasocial, or one-sided, relationships that people can form with digital assistants, according to the researchers. They reported their findings in the Journal of Business Research. “We endow these digital assistants with personalities and human characteristics, and it impacts how we interact with the devices,” said Brett Christenson, assistant clinical professor of marketing at Penn State and first author ...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2023 – When COVID-19 began to spread across the globe, its effects were significantly pronounced on cruise ships. Indeed, compared to other population segments, cruise ship passengers became disproportionately infected and often, ironically, stranded on board to quarantine. That’s why focus has been directed at addressing the need for improved ventilation on cruise ships –  since dispersing fresh air in cabins and other enclosed spaces is critical for mitigating viral spread. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, a group of researchers from Cyprus examined how ventilation can affect ...

About The Study: Robust available data support the use of face masks in community settings to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and should inform future responses to epidemics and pandemics caused by respiratory viruses.  Authors: Shama Cash-Goldwasser, M.D., M.P.H., of Resolve to Save Lives 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/jamanetworkopen.2023.39443) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

About The Study: The results of this study of 2,433 women who received in vitro fertilization treatment suggest that delaying frozen embryo transfer for at least six months after a preceding clinical pregnancy loss was associated with beneficial pregnancy outcomes. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.  Authors: Daimin Wei, M.D., Ph.D., of Shandong University in Jinan, China, 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/jamanetworkopen.2023.40709) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2023 – Nearly 200 million people around the globe have coronary heart disease, which accounts for about one in every six deaths, according to the British Heart Foundation. That’s why the recent and rapid rise in wearable electronic health-monitoring devices with heart rate-measuring electrocardiograms (ECG) represents a significant step forward. By detecting cardiovascular ailments and helping assess overall cardiac health, wearable ECGs save lives, not to mention exorbitant ...

Two studies led by researchers at NYU’s School of Global Public Health and Silver School of Social Work and published in JAMA Network Open show emerging awareness of the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline among both policymakers and the general public—but also point to potential areas of improvement for the vital nationwide service.   In July 2022, “988” became the new number for the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which provides a phone, text, and chat resource for people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts, hopelessness, substance use crises, and other psychological distress. Similar to ...

A new study from researchers at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine reveals a direct link between high insulin levels, common among patients with obesity and Type 2 diabetes, and pancreatic cancer. The study, published in Cell Metabolism, provides the first detailed explanation of why people with obesity and Type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. The research demonstrates that excessive insulin levels overstimulate pancreatic acinar cells, which produce digestive juices. This overstimulation leads to inflammation that converts these cells into precancerous ...

WASHINGTON – New research from the FLASH registry (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03761173) shines a light on the effectiveness of large-bore mechanical thrombectomy in managing high-risk pulmonary embolism. The study, titled "Mechanical Thrombectomy for High-risk Pulmonary Embolism: Insights from the US Cohort of the FLASH Registry," provides valuable insights into this life-saving procedure. The findings were released today in the Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular ...

(WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2023) – Individuals living with severe sickle cell disease (SCD) are highly interested in new, potentially curative gene therapy treatments and are willing to accept associated risks for a chance at a cure, according to a study published today in Blood Advances. SCD is an inherited red blood cell disorder affecting approximately 100,000 people in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), SCD affects one out of every 365 Black or African American births and one out of every 16,300 Hispanic American births. Those living with ...

AMES, Iowa – Since 2011, roughly 10,000 people in the U.S. have turned 65 every day. The Baby Boomer generation and those born before 1946 make up the country’s fastest growing age group, which is on track to outnumber children by 2035. “As this large demographic ages, it’s really important to support health promoting behaviors and have an approach that focuses on prevention — not just treatment — when it comes to chronic diseases. To do that, we need to know what their needs are and how best to address those needs,” says Sarah Francis. Francis holds many titles at Iowa State University: professor and ...

Highlights: Gonorrhea is difficult to treat, and there is no approved vaccine. AI can help researchers search through banks of potential proteins to use in a vaccine. In a new study, researchers used AI to identify 26 potential new antigens.  A combination of 2 novel antigens elicited antibodies that killed Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria in lab experiments and reduced gonococcal colonization in mouse models.  The group has now partnered with a South African company to develop an experimental mRNA vaccine using the antigens.  Washington, D.C.—Gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted bacterial ...

New York, NY (October 30, 2023)—The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will award its 2023 Maria I. New International Prize for Biomedical Research to Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD, for revolutionizing our understanding of human infectious diseases through the discovery of genetic and immunological determinants that underpin both rare and common infectious illnesses. The prize honors medical pioneers in the tradition of Maria I. New, MD, a world-renowned researcher in pediatric genetic disorders with a special focus ...

A groundbreaking research project spearheaded by NYU Tandon School of Engineering will bring cutting-edge immersive three-dimensional (3D) video to dance education, making learning the art form more available to a diverse range of students. The project, supported by a new $1.2 million four-year grant from the National Science Foundation, aims to make Point-Cloud Video (PCV) technology suitable for streaming onto standard Internet-connected devices.   Developed over the past decade, PCV is a type of highly-detailed 3D video that allows viewers to “move” within an immersive video environment, observing objects and scenes from any angle or distance as if they ...

Plants produce a dizzying array of chemical compounds known as secondary metabolites, which help them flourish under fluctuating environmental conditions. Some of these metabolites defend against insect attack, while others help plants communicate, time life cycle events, or attract pollinators, among other functions. Humanity has long taken advantage of these bioactive natural products, using them as medicine, flavorings, dyes, perfumes, and even industrial materials. Production of secondary metabolites is typically controlled by transcription factors. Tsubasa Shoji and colleagues sought to identify unexplored secondary metabolites by manipulating these upstream regulators ...