There are dozens of studies, innovations, and research findings released everyday by institutions and clinics across the world. Here’s a look at some of the other notable health reports from May 19.
New breathable gas sensors may improve monitoring of health, environment
Newly developed flexible, porous and highly sensitive nitrogen dioxide sensors that can be applied to skin and clothing have potential applications in health care, environmental health monitoring and military use, according to researchers.
Can We Prevent Antibiotic Resistance?
Antibiotics are losing effectiveness—and millions are dying as a result. CARB-X, a BU-based partnership that aims to solve antimicrobial resistance, has been given up to $370 million in new funding from the US government and charitable foundation Wellcome.
Scientists devise method to prevent deadly hospital infections without antibiotics
A novel surface treatment developed by a UCLA-led team of scientists could help improve the safety of these devices and ease the economic burden on the health care system.
First Intermediate to Long-Term Study of the Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve System Validates Safety and Efficacy
A study of 1-year outcomes in the largest cohort to date of Harmony transcatheter pulmonary valve (TPV) patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) and severe pulmonary regurgitation (PR) was presented today as late-breaking clinical research at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) 2022 Scientific Sessions.
Without ‘work-life balance,’ this protein may promote disease
A family of proteins that have a role in ensuring many types of cells move and maintain their shape may promote disease when they act like workaholics and disrupt the cellular environment, new research suggests.
Human Behavior is Key to Building a Better Long-term COVID Forecast
UConn College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources Allied Health researcher Ran Xu, along with collaborators Hazhir Rahmandad from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Navid Ghaffarzadegan from Virginia Tech, have a paper out today in PLOS Computational Biology where they detail how they applied relatively simple but nuanced variables to enhance modelling capabilities, with the result that their approach out-performed a majority of the models currently used to inform decisions made by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The genetic underpinnings of severe staph infections
The research, published in Science, identifies a mutated gene common to multiple patients who suffer life-threatening infections and suggests that people living with a genetic condition known as 5p- or Cri-du-chat syndrome may be at similar risk.
Bird Flu: How It’s Spreading and What to Know About This Outbreak
A new study from researchers at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine details which species are super spreaders, and the director of the Wildlife Clinic shares advice for protection.
Genetic predictability steadily erodes during evolution, new study shows
A critical goal in genetics and evolution is predicting the effects of mutations that may happen in the future and inferring the effects of those that happened in the past.
*Free* Understanding internet addiction, and its root causes, towards preventing problematic use
Problematic internet use parallels other addictive behaviors, including drug addiction, but the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms involved remain elusive.
Genetic risk scores help predict type 2 diabetes in people of south Asian origin, study finds
Combining a genetic risk score with a clinical risk score improved the prediction of type 2 diabetes in British Pakistani and British Bangladeshi individuals, especially in the young, according to a new study publishing May 19 in the open access journal PLOS Medicine by Sarah Finer of Queen Mary University of London, UK, and colleagues.
Repurposed antibiotic may be an effective therapeutic in COVID-19 infected mice
A study publishing May 19th inthe open access journal PLOS Pathogens by Sandrine Belouzard and Jean Dubuisson at Pasteur Institute, Lille, France and colleagues suggests clofoctol may be an effective treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infections in mice.
Bird flu is driven by ecologically diverse species, with wild ducks, gulls, geese, and poultry playing a role in global spread
Funding for this project was provided by the NIAID Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (HHSN272201400008C (JR) & HHSN272201400006C (JH)) and the North Pacific Research Board (project no. 1411 (NH, MB, JR)).
Some people fared better than others during COVID-19 pandemic due to genetics
Everyone has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but a new study by Lude Franke and colleagues of the University of Groningen, Netherlands finds that some individuals weathered the stress of the pandemic better than others, in part, due to their genetics.
Problems in the powerhouse: Excessive degradation of mitochondria found to be a tipping point from normal, beneficial alcohol metabolism to alcoholic liver disease
Alcohol exposure causes damage to mitochondria, activating their degradation and subsequent removal of damaged mitochondria; however, constant mitochondrial removal causes additional damage to liver tissue.
Epilepsy drug stops nervous system tumor growth in mice
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that neurons carrying a mutation in the Nf1 gene are hyperexcitable and that suppressing this hyperactivity with lamotrigine, a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat epilepsy, stops tumor growth in mice.
BU study: Increasing urban greenery could have prevented at least 34,000 US deaths over two decades
Increasing greenery in US urban areas may substantially reduce mortality of all causes, according to a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health researchers.
Studies reveal key clues about COVID-19 immunity, immune recall
A trio of newly published studies of people infected with SARS-CoV-2, vaccinated against the virus, or both are providing tantalizing new clues about the factors that influence the speed and magnitude of the immune system’s response to subsequent infection with variants of SARS-CoV-2.
‘Sting’ Protein’s Efforts to Clean Up Brain Cell Damage May Speed Parkinson’s Disease Progress
In studies with mouse and human tissue, as well as live mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that a snag in the normal process of cleaning up broken DNA in brain cells may hasten the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
A gene-targeted approach may help prevent or recover neonatal brain injuries
The findings of a new pre-clinical study published in The Journal of Neuroscience are helping pave the way toward better understanding, prevention and recovery of neonatal brain injuries.
Genomic differences selected through evolution may offer clues as to why COVID-19 outcomes vary widely
According to work led by University of Pennsylvania scientists, genomic variants in four genes that are critical to SARS-CoV-2 infection, including the ACE2 gene, were targets of natural selection and associated with health conditions seen in COVID-19 patients.
Male pheromones improve health of females’ eggs
Male pheromones just might be the fountain of youth for aging female animals’ eggs, according to a new Northwestern University study.
Registrations open for São Paulo School of Advanced Science on Pathogenic Trypanosomatids
The São Paulo School of Advanced Science on Pathogenic Trypanosomatids (SPSAS TrypsSchool) will be held in Brazil on September 19-30 at the Ribeirão Preto Medical School of the University of São Paulo (FMRP-USP) in São Paulo state, Brazil.
Talking about sexual consent and expectations can improve relationships and wellbeing
Teaching the benefits of affirmative sexual consent while also validating anxieties people might experience about consent communication is an important step for improving sexual health and wellbeing, according to a new study.
Medication Treatment of Pediatric Psychiatric Disorders Reduces the Later Onset of Substance Use Problems
A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) finds that treating psychiatric disorders with psychotropic medications in children and adolescents does not increase the risk of developing substance use, misuse, or substance use disorder (SUD).
Fly researchers find another layer to the code of life
A new examination of the way different tissues read information from genes has discovered that the brain and testes appear to be extraordinarily open to the use of many different kinds of code to produce a given protein.
Oncotarget | Anti-Cancer Drug Profiling With CancerOmicsNet
A new research paper was published in Volume 13 of Oncotarget, entitled, “CancerOmicsNet: a multi-omics network-based approach to anti-cancer drug profiling.”
DAP array casts a wide net to fix mutations
A genome-editing strategy developed at Rice University can correct dozens of errors at the same time with high precision and efficiency, a possible breakthrough for those who suffer from diseases caused by a combination of mutations.
Northpond Labs funds second research project at Harvard’s Wyss Institute
The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Northpond Ventures announced today that Northpond Labs, the venture capital firm’s research- and development-focused affiliate, has signed an agreement to support a second Wyss project and accelerate its development toward commercialization.
Study Shines Light on Longevity of COVID-19 Immune Response
By uniting research from 8 cohorts across the U.S., a group of researchers has accelerated collection of data integral to answering questions about immune responses needed for long lasting protection from SARS-CoV-2.
New study shows genes can predict response to arthritis treatment and paves the way for future drug development
New research from Queen Mary University of London, published in Nature Medicine, has shown that molecular profiling of the diseased joint tissue can significantly impact whether specific drug treatments will work to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.