Feature Channels: All Journal News

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In our 13.8 billion-year-old universe, most galaxies like our Milky Way form gradually, reaching their large mass relatively late. But a new discovery made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of a massive rotating disk galaxy, seen when the universe was only ten percent of its current age, challenges the traditional models of galaxy formation. This research appears on 20 May 2020 in the journal Nature.

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“Senotherapy,” a treatment that uses small molecule drugs to target “senescent” cells, or those cells that no longer undergo cell division, blunts liver tumor progression in animal models according to new research from a team led by Celeste Simon, PhD, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and scientific director of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. The study was published in Nature Cell Biology.

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As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic many radiology departments have experienced a rapid decline in imaging case volumes. This new study, funded by the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute and published online in Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), evaluates the impact of the pandemic on imaging case volumes using real-world data from a large healthcare institution.

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A team of physicists at the University of Bristol has developed the first integrated photon source with the potential to deliver large-scale quantum photonics.

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Cellular processes happen every day in humans and plants, such as homeostasis and photosynthesis

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Prevention efforts to combat the opioid crisis by limiting early exposure are working in the pediatric population, according to a study released as part of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) Virtual Education Experience. The study found that between 2004 and 2017 opioid prescription rates decreased from 60% to 27.8%, a 52% drop, in pediatric patients between 10-18 years old who sought care for a minor fracture or dislocation in an acute care setting. However, patients in the South and Midwest were more frequently prescribed opioids, pointing to a need for further preventative measures.

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A team at the University of California San Diego has developed a wearable, non invasive Vitamin C sensor that could provide a new, highly personalized option for users to track their daily nutritional intake and dietary adherence. The study was published in the May 18, 2020 issue of ACS Sensors.

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Scientists protect American wheat from aphids – using resistant varieties from Iran

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Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have launched a clinical test of a blood cancer drug in patients infected with the COVID-19 virus.

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For decades, scientists have explored the use of liposomes –– hollow spheres made of lipid bilayers –– to deliver chemotherapy drugs to tumor cells. Now, researchers report in ACS’ Nano Letters a way to stabilize liposomes by embedding a stiff nanobowl in their inner cavity.

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• Around 70% of young people who report self-harming or suicidal thoughts are within normal or non-clinical range of mental distress. • First study to suggest ‘prevention paradox’ in mental health: tiny wellbeing improvements in entire populations will save as many if not more lives than focusing on high-risk groups.

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Scientists have collected plenty of evidence linking exercise to brain health, with some research suggesting fitness may even improve memory. But what happens during exercise to trigger these benefits?

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A new UCLA study in zebrafish has identified the process by which air pollution can damage brain cells, potentially contributing to Parkinson’s disease.

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Scientists from the University of Bristol and the University of Zurich have shown that the Titanichthys – a giant armoured fish that lived in the seas and oceans of the late Devonian period 380-million-years ago – fed in a similar manner to modern day basking sharks.

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An alternating cycle of 50 days of strict lockdown followed by 30 days of easing could be an effective strategy for reducing the number of COVID-19-related deaths and admissions to intensive care units, say an international team of researchers.

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Comprehensive implementation of COVID-19 infection prevention measures boosts their effectiveness, while partial implementation compromises it.

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Moving more and sitting less was a challenge for many, even before states started issuing stay-at-home orders. Despite disruptions to our work and exercise routines, new research shows that making subtle changes at home may improve our mental health.

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- Kantaro Biosciences partners with Bio-Techne for manufacturing and global kit distribution - Scaled kit production to enable clinical laboratories to conduct 10M tests per month is planned to begin in July

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COVID-19 is associated with a high incidence of venous thromboembolism, blood clots in the venous circulation, according to a study conducted by researchers at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), UK.

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Adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with typical development show similar proactive cognitive control. However, symptoms of depression in individuals with autism were linked to less proactive control, a UC Davis study found.

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Iowa State's Jigang Wang continues to explore using light waves to accelerate supercurrents to access the unique and potentially useful properties of the quantum world.

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In the non-profit sector, women comprise the majority of nonprofit employees, while they are still the minority on boards. Having a substantial number of women on boards benefits nonprofits, according to a research team including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

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Even small changes may have big, long-term consequences. For amyloid beta peptides, a major hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, a common chemical modification at a particular location on the molecule has a butterfly effect that leads to protein misfolding, aggregation and cellular toxicity.

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Eager to ramp up your fitness while stuck at home? A new generation of virtual reality (VR) exergames nudges home-based cyclists to perform a lot better by immersing them in a crowd of cyclists. And as all cyclists participating in the race are versions of the flesh-and-blood player, the Covid-19 norms of social distancing are maintained even in the parallel universe of VR.

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A major transformation in vertebrate evolution took place when breathing shifted from being driven by head and throat muscles—like in fish and frogs—to the torso—like in reptiles and mammals. But what caused the shift? A new study posits that the intermediate step was locomotion—the mechanics follow the same pattern as inhalation and exhalation.

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As millions continue working from home during the pandemic or are required to report to jobs as essential employees, many have raised questions about how these work conditions impact our health -- and not just as they relate to COVID-19. A new study from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business finds that our mental health and mortality have a strong correlation with the amount of autonomy we have at our job, our workload and job demands, and our cognitive ability to deal with those demands.

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A new Weizmann Institute model of autoimmune disease may solve some major outstanding riddles, including what causes T cells to attack and why only certain organs get the diseases

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Researchers in the Ludwig Center at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report they have identified a drug treatment that could—if given early enough—potentially reduce the risk of death from the most serious complication of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), also known as SARS-CoV-2 i

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While individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) who undergo joint replacement surgery often experience reductions in pain, emotional distress and improved function, there is little known about how these recovery-related changes impact their spouse or marital relationship. A new study released as part of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) Virtual Education Experience titled “Marital Relationship and Quality of Life in Couples Following Joint Replacement Surgery” found that a spouse’s quality of life also improves when their partner experiences positive results, following total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

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The use of medical cannabis has garnered a lot of recent attention, especially as parts of the United States and Canada have legalized its use. While it has been studied in cancer and nerve pain, not much is known about the usage rate and its efficacy in managing chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. According to a new study released as part of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) Virtual Education Experience, up to 20% of patients presenting to an orthopaedic surgeon with chronic MSK pain are using cannabis to manage their pain, with many reporting success. Additionally, two-thirds of non-users are interested in using it for the management of MSK pain, prompting a need to further study its effects.

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Medical personnel treating coronavirus cases in China have higher rates of anxiety and other mental health symptoms than the general population, according to a new study publishing May 19 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ning Sun of Ningbo College of Health Science in Ningbo China, and colleagues.

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For the first time, seismologists can characterize signals as a result of some industrial human activity on a continent-wide scale using cloud computing. In two recently published papers in Seismological Research Letters, scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory demonstrate how previously characterized “noise” can now be viewed as a specific signal in a large geographical area thanks to an innovative approach to seismic data analyses.

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More than 1600 kilometers east of the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica lies the Atlantic island of South Georgia.

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Seeing someone do something good for someone else motivates witnesses to perform their own helpful acts, an insight that could help drive cooperative behavior in communities navigating through the health crisis.

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While it’s too soon to use COVID-19 antibody testing to issue “immunity passports”, antibody tests that are available today are good enough to inform decisions about public health and relaxing social distancing interventions, says an international group of infectious disease and public health experts in Science Immunology today.

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UC San Diego researchers have identified small molecules in the blood of asymptomatic pregnant women that may predict risk for preeclampsia, responsible for a significant proportion of maternal and neonatal deaths, low birth weight and is a primary cause of premature birth.

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This odd behavior may promote the material's ability upon cooling to perfectly conduct electricity in a way unexplained by standard theories.

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Connected and automated vehicles use technology such as sensors, cameras and advanced control algorithms to adjust their operation to changing conditions with little or no input from drivers. A research group at the University of Delaware optimized vehicle dynamics and powertrain operation using connectivity and automation, while developing and testing a control framework that reduced travel time and energy use in a connected and automated vehicle.

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While most children infected with the novel coronavirus have mild symptoms, a subset requires hospitalization and a small number require intensive care. A new report from pediatric anesthesiologists, infectious disease specialists and pediatricians at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, describes the clinical characteristics and outcomes of children hospitalized with COVID-19, during the early days of the pandemic.

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A new study comparing cancerous tissue with normal fallopian tube samples advances important insights about the rogue cellular machinery that drives a majority of ovarian cancers.

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Real-time data about health and health care during the COVID-19 pandemic can help contain the virus but has been difficult to obtain. A new paper published in JAMA explores the concept of a national health information technology (IT) infrastructure to provide up-to-date patient information in public health emergencies, which can then be used in planning and containment efforts.

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Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center have identified a key cell signaling pathway that drives the devastating muscle loss, or cachexia, suffered by many cancer patients. The study, which will be published May 22 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that targeting this pathway with a drug already in phase 2 clinical trials for diabetes could prevent this syndrome.

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How can researchers and oncologists glean meaningful information from mounds of data to help guide cancer research and patient care? A new analytic tool developed by University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center researchers combines multiple data sets to help sift the signal from the noise.

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Researchers developed a method using fluorescence to detect precancerous metabolic and physical changes in individual epithelial cells lining the cervix. The method, which can detect precancerous lesions non-invasively and non-destructively, opens the door to early-stage bedside diagnostics.

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As the virus causing COVID-19 began its devastating spread, an international team of scientists was alarmed by the lack of uniform approaches by various countries’ epidemiologists. Data modeling to predict the numbers of likely infections varied widely and revealed a high degree of uncertainty. In the journal Chaos, the group describes why modeling and extrapolating the evolution of COVID-19 outbreaks in near real time is an enormous scientific challenge that requires a deep understanding of the nonlinearities underlying the dynamics of epidemics.

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Many patients with heart disease face limited treatment options. Fortunately, stem cell biology has enabled researchers to produce large numbers of cardiomyocytes, which may be used in advanced drug screens and cell-based therapies. However, current image analysis techniques don’t allow researchers to analyze heterogeneous, multidirectional, striated myofibrils typical of immature cells. In the Journal of Applied Physics, researchers showcase an algorithm that combines gradient methods with fast Fourier transforms to quantify myofibril structures in heart cells with considerable accuracy.

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Women are more likely to be given inaccurate performance feedback, according to new research by Lily Jampol, Ph.D. ’14, and Vivian Zayas, associate professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

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An antibody derived from a SARS survivor in 2003 appears to effectively neutralize the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, opening the door for speedy development of a targeted treatment.

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New research from Cornell University shows the more alcohol ads someone was exposed to, the more likely they were to report consuming at least one alcoholic drink in the previous month. And among drinkers, exposure to more ads correlated to consuming more drinks.

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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin (UW) are adapting a minimally invasive, safer approach to electrically treat pain directly at the source as part of the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative.