Reston, VA—A novel therapeutic approach that combines human epidermal growth receptor factor 2 (HER2)-targeted therapies with the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin can reduce the number of cancer treatments required to prevent tumor growth. Monitored by immuno-PET scans, this combination therapy has the potential to personalize treatment for cancer patients and spare them from harmful side effects. This research was published in the October issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have become an eminent cancer treatment because of their ability to precisely target tumors with potent efficacy. HER2-ADC ...

It can be a relief to scratch the occasional itch, but when itch gets out of control, it can become a serious health problem. How does the body know when to stop?    Scientists at UC San Francisco are getting close to an answer. In a breakthrough that could transform how doctors treat conditions from eczema to allergies, they have discovered a feedback loop centered on a single immune protein called IL-31 that both causes the urge to itch and dials back nearby inflammation.    The findings, published on October 13th in Science Immunology, lay the groundwork ...

Newly published research on indoor air quality from Colorado State University shows wildfire smoke may linger in homes long after the initial blaze has been put out or winds have shifted.  The findings, published in Science Advances, show that wildfire smoke can attach to home surfaces like carpet, drapes or counters – extending the exposure for those inside and potentially causing health problems even after an initial cleaning activity by air purifiers. However, Professor Delphine Farmer said the research also shows that simple surface cleaning – like ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus encodes 29 proteins, one of which is an ion channel called E. This channel, which transports protons and calcium ions, induces infected cells to launch an inflammatory response that damages tissues and contributes to the symptoms of Covid-19. MIT chemists have now discovered the structure of the “open” state of this channel, which allows ions to flow through. This structure, combined with the “closed” state structure that was reported by the same lab in 2020, could help scientists ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 11, 2023) — On Tuesday, Oct. 10, a ribbon-cutting ceremony signified the official opening of Kentucky Children’s Richmond Road, the new home of four pediatric specialty clinics. This facility will offer a continuum of care to infants, children and adolescents with complex medical and behavioral needs. “The mission of Kentucky Children’s Hospital has always been to provide the most advanced, comprehensive care to our patients and their families without them having to travel far from home,” said Scottie B. Day, M.D., physician-in-chief ...

The second SELINA thematic workshop took place from 2-5 October 2023 in Madrid, Spain, hosted by SELINA’s partner Rey Juan Carlos University. This hybrid event with the theme "Advancing solutions" (for mapping, assessment and accounting of ecosystems and their services) brought together over 100 participants (15 of them online) from all 27 EU member states, Israel, Norway, the UK and Switzerland. Apart from the SELINA partners, the event was also attended by the SELINA Advisory Board members ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 11, 2023) — The University of Kentucky has been selected as the nationwide coordination center for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative. Danelle Stevens-Watkins, Ph.D., will lead the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Racial Equity Initiative as principal investigator. The project is supported by a $3.4 million, five-year NIDA grant.  The UK Racial Equity Initiative Coordinating Center will be a national resource for researchers receiving funding to address health disparities ...

Three faculty members at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), an independent organization made up of leading professionals from multiple fields, such as public health, medicine, and natural, social and behavioral sciences. NAM serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as advisors to the national and international science communities. The announcement of 100 new members was made October 9. New members elected to NAM are chosen by current ...

A team of investigators from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UCLA School of Dentistry received a five-year $4.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop and improve liquid biopsy technologies for the early detection of lung cancer — the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the U.S. UCLA is one of five institutions in the nation that is part of the NCI Liquid Biopsy Consortium that is designed to find a better way to detect early signs of lung cancer in people with ...

NJIT has secured a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to translate science and engineering discoveries into market-ready technologies that will improve quality of life in areas ranging from health care, to sustainable energy, to data privacy. Awarded by the agency’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, the grant will accelerate the development of promising prototypes and enable market validation and other commercialization activities. It will also strengthen the university’s entrepreneurial culture ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Fecal microbe transplants from healthy donors can treat patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections. However, after tens of thousands transplants, little was known about which donor strains provide long-term engraftment, and which engraft early after the transplant. Most failures of fecal microbe transplantation occur in the first four weeks. Recurrent C. difficile infections occur after suppressive antibiotic treatments that knock out almost all of the normal gut flora. Patients suffer watery diarrhea, painful abdominal cramps, a feeling of sickness, fevers and weight loss. In 2021, researchers at the Icahn ...

Pioneering work to develop effective and safe bacteriophages to combat disease has received an £800,000 boost. The grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is aimed at advancing the production of phages to combat disease in the veterinary field and bring them to market. It has been awarded to Professor Martha Clokie, the Director of the Leicester Centre of Phage Research, and Dr Anisha Thanki who earlier this year successfully developed a bacteriophage ‘liquid’ product to prevent Salmonella ...

The strength of the wind has an important influence on ocean circulation. This is particularly true for extreme events such as storm fronts, tropical storms and cyclones. These weather patterns, which last from a few days to a few weeks, will change in the future due to climate change. In particular, the average energy input into the ocean from mid-latitude storms is expected to decrease, while equatorial regions will become more active. Scientists call these different weather patterns “Atmospheric Synoptic Variability” (ASV). The ...

A Leeds researcher has teamed up with the BBC, Channel 4 and Candour Productions to analyse the role of social class, on screen and behind the scenes of TV production. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the BBC and Channel 4 will work with the research team to support access to two drama productions, where the academics will analyse the series from production to reception. Led by Beth Johnson, Professor of Television and Media Studies at the University of Leeds’ School of Media and Communication, the research will consider the backgrounds of people who produce TV, how social class is represented in each TV show, and how each series is ...

To examine the global state of AI ethics, a team of researchers from Brazil performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of global guidelines for AI use. Publishing October 13 in in the journal Patterns, the researchers found that, while most of the guidelines valued privacy, transparency, and accountability, very few valued truthfulness, intellectual property, or children’s rights. Additionally, most of the guidelines described ethical principles and values without proposing practical methods for implementing them and without pushing for legally binding regulation. “Establishing clear ethical guidelines and governance structures for the deployment ...

Worries that surgery patients would have a tougher recovery if their doctors had to abide by a five-day limit on opioid pain medication prescriptions didn’t play out as expected, a new study finds. Instead, patient-reported pain levels and satisfaction didn’t change at all for Michigan adults who had their appendix or gallbladder removed, a hernia repaired, a hysterectomy or other common operations after the state’s largest insurer put the limit in place, the study shows. At the same time, the amount of opioid pain medication patients covered by that insurer received ...

About The Study: In this study of more than 13 million infants, maternal Medicaid insurance was associated with increased risk of infant mortality at the population level in the U.S. Novel strategies are needed to improve access to care, quality of care, and outcomes among women and infants enrolled in Medicaid.  Authors: Colm P. Travers, M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, 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.2023.37690) Editor’s ...

About The Study: This study found differences in Medicare-funded home-based clinical care provision across the U.S. by county-level Social Vulnerability Index (a measure of socioeconomic deprivation), suggesting inequitable care access among homebound Medicare beneficiaries. Almost one-quarter of counties had low availability of home-based medical care clinicians coupled with high socioeconomic disadvantage.  Authors: Harriet Mather, M.D., of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, is the corresponding author.  To access ...

Why does sustainability matter for businesses and financial institutions? For centuries, competitive markets have been drivers for growth and improvement of quality of life. It is paramount to ensure these markets are compatible with sustainability and can adequately mitigate and adapt to climate change. These changes require a significant amount of capital, and knowledgeable investment and business professionals to deploy it Sustainability: Business and Investment Implications explores the opportunities and challenges presented by sustainability, the energy transition and the decarbonization of the economy. Over the past years, the United Nations and global ...

The research group of Professor Kotohiro Nomura, Tokyo Metropolitan University, in cooperation with the research group of Director Hiroshi Hirano, Osaka Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology, has developed biobased polyesters from inedible plant resources, which can be easily chemical recyclable and exhibit promising mechanical properties in film than commodity plastics. The development of high-performance sustainable, recyclable plastics is an important subject to realize circular economy. Biobased polyesters made from plant resources are expected to become promising alternative materials to polymers such ...

Thymus, a small and relatively unknown organ, may play a bigger role in the immune system of adults than was previously believed. With age, the glandular tissue in the thymus is replaced by fat, but, according to a new study from Linköping University (LiU) in Sweden, the rate at which this happens is linked to sex, age and lifestyle factors. These findings also indicate that the appearance of the thymus reflects the ageing of the immune system. “We doctors can assess the appearance of the thymus from largely all chest CT scans, ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a new breakthrough, researchers have used a novel technique to confirm a previously undetected physics phenomenon that could be used to improve data storage in the next generation of computer devices.  Spintronic memories, like those used in some high-tech computers and satellites, use magnetic states generated by an electron’s intrinsic angular momentum to store and read information. Depending on its physical motion, an electron’s spin produces a magnetic current. Known as the “spin Hall effect,” this has key applications ...

In the pursuit of sustainable agriculture, enhancing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crops stands as a primary objective. With the prolific use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers since the 20th century, agricultural productivity has seen remarkable growth. However, excessive use of N fertilizers has resulted in serious environmental threats and energy consumption. Crop wild relatives (CWR) provide valuable genetic resources to address this issue through breeding programs. Wild relatives of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) are classified into primary (GP1), ...

RICHLAND, Wash.—Less pollution settling into snow should help cut the decline of snowpack in the Northern Hemisphere later this century. Though the snowpack will still diminish due to rising temperatures, the outlook is less dire when the cleaner snow of the future is considered.   In some scenarios, the researchers predict that the reduction in snowpack will be less than half what has been predicted—good news for the many people who rely on subsequent snowmelt in high mountains for water and food production, as well as for those who depend on winter recreation.   The ...

Media Contacts: Lisa Black, lblack@aap.org, 630-626-6084   Adam Alexander, aalexander@aap.org, 630- 626-6765  Jamie Poslosky, jposlosky@aap.org, 202-724-3301  Devin Mazziotti, dmazziotti@aap.org, 202-724-3308    WASHINGTON, DC – The 2023 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference & Exhibition presents exciting new research and policies concerning children’s health this year in the nation’s capital, where more than 10,000 pediatric medical professionals will arrive from across the country and world.  The conference, held Oct. 20-24, 2023, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, ...