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31.03.2020Blood test detects over 50 types of cancer, some before symptoms appear
In a study involving thousands of participants, a new blood test detected more than 50 types of cancer as well as their location within the body with a high degree of accuracy, according to an international team of researchers.
30.03.2020Study helps to identify medications which are safe to use in treatment of COVID-19
A recent study has found that there is no evidence for or against the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen for patients with COVID-19.
30.03.2020Experimental AI tool predicts which COVID-19 patients develop respiratory disease
An artificial intelligence tool accurately predicted which patients newly infected with the COVID-19 virus would go on to develop severe respiratory disease, a new study found.
30.03.2020Researchers find way to improve cancer outcomes by examining patients' genes
Genetics researchers say a new approach could benefit all sorts of serious health conditions, and they're urging scientists to quickly pluck 'low hanging fruit' for the benefit of patients.
30.03.2020Hopes for pandemic respite this spring may depend upon what happens indoors
How much spring and summer affect the COVID-19 pandemic may depend not only on the effectiveness of social distancing measures, but also on the environment inside our buildings, according to a new review on how respiratory viruses are transmitted.
30.03.2020How at risk are you of getting a virus on an airplane?
Fair or not, airplanes have a reputation for germs. However, there are ways to minimize the risks. This research is especially used for air travel where there is an increased risk for contagious infection or disease, such as the recent worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 disease.
30.03.2020New research sheds light on potentially negative effects of cannabis
Coughing fits, anxiety and paranoia are three of the most common adverse reactions to cannabis, according to a recent study.
30.03.2020Hidden messages in protein blueprints
Scientists have identified a new control mechanism that enables stem cells to adapt their activity in emergency situations. For this purpose, the stem cells simultaneously modify the blueprints for hundreds of proteins encoded in the gene transcripts. In this way, they control the amount of protein produced and can also control the formation of certain proteinisoforms. If this mechanism is inactivated, stem cells lose their self-renewal potential and can no longer react adequately to danger signals or inflammation.
30.03.2020How we perceive close relationships with others determines our willingness to share food
Researchers said a better understanding of the links between attachment and food could potentially help inform efforts to extend help to people during the current coronavirus pandemic -- particularly among people with high attachment avoidance.
30.03.2020COVID-19 found in sputum and feces samples after pharyngeal specimens no longer positive
Clinicians found that some patients had positive real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results for SARS-CoV-2 in the sputum or feces after the pharyngeal swabs became negative.
30.03.2020Lessons from the Spanish flu: Early restrictions lowered disease, mortality rates
A review of published data and analysis on the Spanish flu, found that cities that adopted early and broad isolation and prevention measures had disease and mortality rates that were 30% to 50% lower than other cities.
30.03.2020Air pollution linked to dementia and cardiovascular disease
People continuously exposed to air pollution are at increased risk of dementia, especially if they also suffer from cardiovascular diseases, according to a new study. Therefore, patients with cardiovascular diseases who live in polluted environments may require additional support from care providers to prevent dementia, according to the researchers.
30.03.2020Extreme, high temperatures may double or triple heart-related deaths
In Kuwait, a country known for hot weather, death certificates reveal that on days when the temperatures reached extremes of an average daily temperature of 109 degrees Fahrenheit, the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease dramatically increased. With unprecedentedly high temperatures, people living in inherently hot regions of the world may be at particularly high risk of heat-related cardiovascular death.
27.03.2020A new way to study HIV's impact on the brain
Using a newly developed laboratory model of three types of brain cells, scientists reveal how HIV infection -- as well as the drugs that treat it -- can take a toll on the central nervous system.
27.03.2020UK local authorities not ready for the number of deaths from Covid-19
Even if fatality rates are at the lower end of expectations -- one percent of virus victims -- it is highly likely that death and bereavement services will be overwhelmed.
27.03.2020Gene mutation enhances cognitive flexibility in mice
Researchers have discovered in mice what they believe is the first known genetic mutation to improve cognitive flexibility -- the ability to adapt to changing situations.
27.03.2020Standardizing COVID-19 data analysis to aid international research efforts
Researchers have launched a new database to advance the international research efforts studying COVID-19. The publicly-available, free-to-use resource can be used by researchers from around the world to study how different variations of the virus grow, mutate and make proteins.
27.03.2020How to boost immune response to vaccines in older people
Identifying interventions that improve vaccine efficacy in older persons is vital to deliver healthy aging for an aging population. Immunologists have identified a route for counteracting the age-related loss of two key immune cell types by using genital wart cream to boost immune response to vaccination in aged mice. After this validation in mice, the findings offer an attractive intervention to tailor the make-up of vaccines for older people.
27.03.2020COVID-19 linked to cardiac injury, worse outcomes for patients with heart conditions
COVID-19 can have fatal consequences for people with underlying cardiovascular disease and cause cardiac injury even in patients without underlying heart conditions, according to a new review.
27.03.2020Forgotten tale of phage therapy history revealed
In the current situation when the fear of virus infections in the public is common, it is good to remember that some viruses can be extremely beneficial for humankind, even save lives. Such viruses, phages, infect bacteria. Recent research shed some light on the phage therapy history. It revealed that Brazil was a strong user and developer of phage therapy in 1920-40's.
27.03.2020Disasters can affect cervical cancer screening for years
Screening is important for the early detection of cervical cancer, but rates were significantly affected, in some areas for years, following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
27.03.2020COVID-19 infection prevention and control in long-term care facilities
Scientists have recently released guidance for prevention and management of COVID-19 among elderly in long term care facilities. The article outlines the objective of WHO interim guidance on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) in Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCF) in the context of COVID-19 which is to prevent COVID-19-virus from entering the facility, spreading within the facility, and spreading to outside the facility.
27.03.2020Cellular train track deformities shed light on neurological disease
A new technique allows researchers to test how the deformation of tiny train track-like cell proteins affects their function. The findings could help clarify the roles of deformed 'microtubules' in traumatic brain injuries and in neurological diseases like Parkinson's.
27.03.2020Some COVID-19 patients still have coronavirus after symptoms disappear
Researchers found that half of the patients they treated for mild COVID-19 infection still had coronavirus for up to eight days after symptoms disappeared.
27.03.2020Completely new antibiotic resistance gene has spread unnoticed to several pathogens
Aminoglycoside antibiotics are critically important for treating several types of infections with multi-resistant bacteria. A completely new resistance gene, which is likely to counteract the newest aminoglycoside-drug plazomycin, was recently discovered.
27.03.2020Longer lives not dependent on increased energy use
Growing consumption of energy and fossil fuels over four decades did not play a significant role in increasing life expectancy across 70 countries. New research has quantified the importance of different development factors to improvements in physical health on an international scale.
26.03.2020Worldwide scientific collaboration unveils genetic architecture of gray matter
For the first time, more 360 scientists from 184 different institutions have contributed to a global effort to find more than 200 regions of the genome and more than 300 specific genetic variations that affect the structure of the cerebral cortex and likely play important roles in psychiatric and neurological conditions.
26.03.2020How to identify factors affecting COVID-19 transmission
Professors describe potential transmission pathways of COVID-19 and their implications.
26.03.2020In politics and pandemics, trolls use fear, anger to drive clicks
A new CU Boulder study shows that Facebook ads developed and shared by Russian trolls around the 2016 election were clicked on nine times more than typical social media ads. The authors say the trolls are likely at it again, as the 2020 election approaches and the COVID-19 pandemic wears on.
26.03.2020Mechanisms to prevent Crohn's disease unveiled
In a series of four studies published today, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) researchers describe the identification of predictive tools and a new understanding of environmental factors that trigger IBD.
26.03.2020Brain mapping study suggests motor regions for the hand also connect to the entire body
Investigators report that they have used microelectrode arrays implanted in human brains to map out motor functions down to the level of the single nerve cell. The study revealed that an area believed to control only one body part actually operates across a wide range of motor functions. It also demonstrated how different neurons coordinate with each other.
26.03.2020Microbiome may hold key to identifying HPV-infected women at risk for pre-cancer
Gardnerella bacteria in the cervicovaginal microbiome may serve as a biomarker to identify women infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) who are at risk for progression to precancer, according to a new study.
26.03.2020The genetic quest to understand COVID-19
The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 is now likely to become the fifth endemic coronavirus in humans. Scientists are working to decipher its genome to help us stop other coronaviruses entering the human population.
26.03.2020Legal marijuana products too strong for pain relief
More than 90% of the legal marijuana products offered in medical dispensaries are much stronger than what clinical studies have shown that doctors recommend for chronic pain relief, according to a new study.
26.03.2020Scientists create model to measure how cells sense their surroundings
Our body's ability to detect disease, foreign material, and the location of food sources and toxins is all determined by a cocktail of chemicals that surround our cells, as well as our cells' ability to 'read' these chemicals. Cells are highly sensitive. In fact, our immune system can be triggered by the presence of just one foreign molecule or ion. Yet researchers don't know how cells achieve this level of sensitivity.
26.03.2020Reusable respirators may be a suitable alternative to disposable respirators
Researchers have found that reusable respirators may be a suitable alternative to disposable N95 respirators currently in high demand.
26.03.2020Missing link in coronavirus jump from bats to humans could be pangolins, not snakes
As scientists scramble to learn more about the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, two recent studies of the virus' genome reached controversial conclusions: namely, that snakes are intermediate hosts of the new virus, and that a key coronavirus protein shares 'uncanny similarities' with an HIV-1 protein. Now, a study refutes both ideas and suggests that scaly, anteater-like animals called pangolins are the missing link for SARS-CoV-2 transmission between bats and humans.
26.03.2020A possible treatment for COVID-19 and an approach for developing others
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease is more transmissible, but has a lower mortality rate than its sibling, SARS-CoV, according to a new review article.
26.03.2020Lipid helps heal the eye's frontline protection
A species of a lipid that naturally helps skin injuries heal appears to also aid repair of common corneal injuries, even when other conditions, like diabetes, make healing difficult, scientists report.
26.03.2020Experiments in mice and human cells shed light on best way to deliver nanoparticle therapy for cancer
Researchers in the cancer nanomedicine community debate whether use of tiny structures, called nanoparticles, can best deliver drug therapy to tumors passively -- allowing the nanoparticles to diffuse into tumors and become held in place, or actively -- adding a targeted anti-cancer molecule to bind to specific cancer cell receptors and, in theory, keep the nanoparticle in the tumor longer. Now, new research on human and mouse tumors in mice suggests the question is even more complicated.
26.03.2020Urgent guidance, approach to identify patients at risk of drug-induced sudden cardiac death from use of off-label COVID-19 treatments
Some of the medications being used to treat COVID-19 are known to cause drug-induced prolongation of the QTc of some people. Patients with a dangerously prolonged QTc are at increased risk for potentially life-threatening ventricular rhythm abnormalities that can culminate in sudden cardiac death. A new study details more information about potential dangers and the application of QTc monitoring to guide treatment when using drugs that can cause heart rhythm changes.
26.03.2020Despite failures, chemo still promising against dangerous childhood brain cancer, DIPG
The pediatric brain cancer known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is almost uniformly fatal. In part, this is due to where and how it grows, forming as a diffuse net of cells in a part of the brainstem called the pons, which controls essential functions like breathing and swallowing. Another factor that makes DIPG especially dangerous is a lack of treatments - currently, there are no targeted therapies or immunotherapies proven effective to treat the condition, and the many chemotherapy clinical trials seeking to treat DIPG have been uniformly unsuccessful.
26.03.2020A critical enzyme for sperm formation could be a target for treating male infertility
Researchers have identified an enzyme essential for the process of male meiosis, the type of cell division that produces sperm. The protein, SKP1, controls one of the key transitions in meiosis. Understanding its role may help scientists develop new approaches to treating male infertility.
26.03.2020Modelling study estimates impact of physical distancing measures on progression of COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan
A new study suggests extending school and workplace closures in Wuhan until April, rather than March, would likely delay a second wave of cases until later in the year, relieving pressure on health services.
26.03.2020Weedy rice is unintended legacy of Green Revolution
Weedy rice is a feral form of rice that infests paddies worldwide and aggressively outcompetes cultivated varieties. A new study led by biologists at Washington University in St. Louis shows that weed populations have evolved multiple times from cultivated rice, and a strikingly high proportion of contemporary Asian weed strains can be traced to a few Green Revolution cultivars that were widely grown in the late 20th century.
25.03.2020Solving a 50-year-old puzzle in signal processing
The same engineers, who announced the solution to a 50-year-old puzzle in signal processing last fall, have followed up with more research results. The engineers say their new algorithm is more useful and just as fast as the one previously used.
25.03.2020An aspirin a day does not keep dementia at bay
Taking a low-dose aspirin once a day does not reduce the risk of thinking and memory problems caused by mild cognitive impairment or probable Alzheimer's disease, nor does it slow the rate of cognitive decline, according to a large study.
25.03.2020Engineers find ankle exoskeleton aids running
Researchers find that a motorized device that attaches around the ankle and foot can drastically reduce the energy cost of running.
25.03.2020Class of compounds capable of killing Candida auris identified
Researchers have discovered that rocaglate compounds are capable of killing Candida auris. The study offers hope of finding a treatment for this troubling, emerging pathogen.
25.03.2020Ultrasound solves an important clinical problem in diagnosing arrhythmia
Researchers have used an ultrasound technique they pioneered a decade ago -- electromechanical wave imaging (EWI) -- to accurately localize atrial and ventricular cardiac arrhythmias in adult patients in a double-blinded clinical study. They evaluated the accuracy of EWI for localization of various arrhythmias in all four chambers of the heart prior to catheter ablation: the results showed that EWI correctly predicted 96% of arrhythmia locations as compared with 71% for 12-lead ECGs.
25.03.2020COVID-19: Low risk of coronavirus spreading through tears
A new study found no virus in tears of COVID-19 infected patients.
25.03.2020Computational human cell reveals new insight on genetic information processing
Researchers have developed the first computational model of a human cell and simulated its behavior for 15 minutes -- the longest time achieved for a biological system of this complexity. In a new study, simulations reveal the effects of spatial organization within cells on some of the genetic processes that control the regulation and development of human traits and some human diseases.
25.03.2020Too much salt weakens the immune system
A high-salt diet is not only bad for one's blood pressure, but also for the immune system. Mice fed a high-salt diet were found to suffer from much more severe bacterial infections. Human volunteers who consumed additional six grams of salt per day also showed pronounced immune deficiencies. This amount corresponds to the salt content of two fast food meals.
25.03.2020How robots can help combat COVID-19
Can robots be effective tools in combating the COVID-19 pandemic? A group of leaders in the field of robotics say yes, and outline a number of examples. They say robots can be used for clinical care such as telemedicine and decontamination; logistics such as delivery and handling of contaminated waste; and reconnaissance such as monitoring compliance with voluntary quarantines.
25.03.2020Heat takes its toll on mental health
Hot days increase the probability that an average adult in the US will report bad mental health, according to a new study.
25.03.2020Diet, nutrition have profound effects on gut microbiome
A new literature review suggests that nutrition and diet have a profound impact on the microbial composition of the gut.
25.03.2020Analysis predicts purified fish oil could prevent thousands of cardiovascular events
Researchers have conducted a statistical analysis that predicts more than 70,000 heart attacks, strokes and other adverse cardiovascular events could be prevented each year in the U.S. through the use of a highly purified fish oil therapy.
25.03.2020Snake venom evolved for prey not protection
It is estimated that every year, over 100,000 human deaths can be attributed to snakebite from the world's 700 venomous snake species -- all inflicted in self-defense when the snakes feel threatened by encroaching humans. However, a new piece of research concludes that snake venom did not evolve as a defense mechanism.
25.03.2020Assessing the global problem of poor sanitation
Experts are investigating a better way of measuring the number of people exposed to the health risks of poorly-managed sanitation systems - and it will help reveal whether the world is on track to deliver UN Sustainable Goal 6 (SDG6).
25.03.2020Ultrafast repeated staining and destaining of cell samples for tumor diagnostics
In the treatment of tumors, microenvironment plays an important role. It often contains immune cells that are so changed that they promote tumor growth. Scientists have introduced a method by which cell samples from tumors and their surroundings can rapidly (under 1 hour) be cycled through staining, destaining, and then restaining with fluorescent antibodies -- through attachment of a ''black hole quencher'' (fluorescence quencher) by means of ''click chemistry''.