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Released: 10-Apr-2018 11:05 AM EDT
Tiny Distortions in Universe’s Oldest Light Reveal Clearer Picture of Strands in Cosmic Web
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Scientists have decoded faint distortions in the patterns of the universe’s earliest light to map huge tubelike structures invisible to our eyes – known as filaments – that serve as superhighways for delivering matter to dense hubs such as galaxy clusters.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 11:05 AM EDT
Early ‘Chemobrain’ Intervention Needed for Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: NUS-Led Study
National University of Singapore (NUS)

More support is needed to help breast cancer patients and survivors manage ‘chemobrain’ symptoms, such as memory loss, short attention span and mental confusion, according to a study led by researchers from the National University of Singapore.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 11:05 AM EDT
Rare Brain Disease in Children: Major Breakthroughs in Rasmussen’s Encephalitis
Universite de Montreal

Researchers at Université de Montréal and the research centres of the CHUM and CHU Sainte-Justine are banding together to conquer this rare orphan pediatric disease. They have recently proven what scientists had already suspected: the disease is autoimmune, which means that it attacks patients using their own immune system.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 11:05 AM EDT
After Uber, Tesla Incidents, Can Artificial Intelligence Be Trusted?
Missouri University of Science and Technology

Given the choice of riding in an Uber driven by a human or a self-driving version, which would you choose? Following last month’s fatal crash of a self-driving Uber that took the life of a woman in Tempe, Arizona, and the recent death of a test-driver of a semi-autonomous vehicle being developed by Tesla, peoples’ trust in the technology behind autonomous vehicles may also have taken a hit.

9-Apr-2018 9:05 AM EDT
Diamond-Based Circuits Can Take the Heat for Advanced Applications
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

When power generators transfer electricity to homes, businesses and the power grid, they lose almost 10 percent of the generated power. To address this problem, scientists are researching new diamond semiconductor circuits to make power conversion systems more efficient. Researchers in Japan successfully fabricated a key circuit in power conversion systems using hydrogenated diamond. These circuits can be used in diamond-based electronic devices that are smaller, lighter and more efficient than silicon-based devices. They report their findings in this week’s Applied Physics Letters.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 10:05 AM EDT
Research Suggests Alternative Treatment for Beta Blocker Intolerant Heart Attack Patients
NYIT

Beta blockers have become a prescription drug staple for recovering heart attack patients. However, these blood pressure-reducing medications cannot be tolerated by many patients who are at higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease, including those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, the elderly, and diabetics. As seen in the March 26 issue of Thyroid, researchers at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) now pose a new treatment for patients with beta blocker intolerance: thyroid hormone therapy.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 10:05 AM EDT
Scientists Records Brain Activity of Free-flying Bats
 Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University researchers have developed a way to study the brain of a bat as it flies, recording for the first time what happens as a roving animal focuses and refocuses its attention.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 10:00 AM EDT
Clostridium difficile Infection: Which Surgical Patients Are at Highest Risk?
Diseases of the Colon and Rectum Journal

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is now the most common hospital-acquired infection, with significant effects on healthcare costs. Surgeons from George Washington University Hospital sought to identify rates of C. difficile infection in patients undergoing common types of colon operations. The authors utilized the American College of Surgeons NSQIP database for 2015 to retrospectively review all cases of elective ileostomy and colostomy reversals.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 10:00 AM EDT
New Drug Combo Improves Survival of Women with Rare Uterine Cancer
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Adding the monoclonal antibody drug trastuzumab—already used to treat certain breast cancers—to the chemotherapy regimen of women with a rare form of uterine cancer lengthens the amount of time their tumors are kept from growing, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers conducting a small phase II trial of the regimen, testing its safety and value.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 10:00 AM EDT
Insurance Status Associated with Differences in Colon Cancer Survival
Diseases of the Colon and Rectum Journal

Colon cancer is a common cancer with a relatively high survival for nonmetastatic disease if appropriate treatment is given. A lower survival rate for patients with no or inadequate insurance has previously been documented, but the differences have not been explored in detail on a population level.

5-Apr-2018 7:05 PM EDT
High-School Students’ Binge Drinking Predicts Health-Risk Behaviors
Research Society on Alcoholism

Underage drinking can lead to risky or harmful behaviors that include unintentional and unprotected sex, physical and sexual assault, traffic and other injuries, suicide, homicide, and overdoses. Binge drinking among adults is defined as five drinks consumed during two hours by adult men and four drinks by adult women – typically producing a blood alcohol level (BAL) of ≥0.08%. Adolescents can reach a similar BAL after consuming fewer drinks. This paper explored whether and how different levels of adolescent drinking affected associations with health-risk behaviors.

   
4-Apr-2018 2:30 PM EDT
Risk Stages Defined for Children with Kidney Disease
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Experts in pediatric kidney disease have published a new staging system to help doctors better predict the length of time until a child with chronic kidney disease will need to undergo a kidney transplant or start receiving dialysis. Although this type of prognostic guide exists for adults, this is the first such tool specific to children.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 8:05 AM EDT
Researchers Propose a Blockchain Data Network to Boost Manufacturing
North Carolina State University

Researchers are proposing the creation of an open-source network that uses blockchains – the technology behind cryptocurrencies – to share verifiable manufacturing data. The network would allow companies to more easily find manufacturers capable of producing components on a reliable basis.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 8:05 AM EDT
Research Ties Persistence of 'White Flight' to Race, Not Socioeconomic Factors
Indiana University

New research casts doubt on the argument that 'white flight' is motivated by socioeconomic factors, not race. Examining population trends in racially mixed suburbs, sociologist Samuel Kye finds that white flight occurs when nonwhite residents move in, regardless of socioeconomic factors.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 8:00 AM EDT
Study Says Charisma Trumped Narcissism for Voters in 2016 U.S. Presidential Election
Florida Atlantic University

A new study of the 2016 U.S. presidential election suggests that narcissism and charisma are both important predictors of voter choice. Researchers found that attributed charisma may serve as a balance to narcissism. Thus, followers of a candidate potentially look beyond negative leadership qualities to select those leaders who they perceive to have redeeming positive attributes and values.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 8:00 AM EDT
Experience of Black Doctoral Students Underscores Need to Increase Diversity in STEM Fields
Iowa State University

The risk of riding out a storm is symbolic of the decision black men make to pursue a graduate degree in engineering. They know they'll face challenges, but the barriers described by black men interviewed as part of a six-year study show how race was a greater obstacle than they expected.

Released: 10-Apr-2018 1:05 AM EDT
Serving Customers? Smile - but Not Too Much
University of Haifa

A new study by the University of Haifa, the Open University of Israel, and The University of Amsterdam found that service staff who express emotions in high intensity - positive or negative - are perceived as less trustworthy and customers are less satisfied with the staff and even less likely to use the product

4-Apr-2018 9:05 PM EDT
New Glasgow Coma Scale–Pupils Score and Multifactor Probability Outcome Charts for Use in Patients with TBI
Journal of Neurosurgery

The University of Glasgow’s Sir Graham Teasdale, co-creator of the Glasgow Coma Scale, has teamed with Paul M. Brennan and Gordon D. Murray of the University of Edinburgh to create new assessment tools that build on the Glasgow Coma Scale to provide greater information on injury severity and prognosis in patients with traumatic brain injury while still offering simplicity of use.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 8:05 PM EDT
Prospective Trial Evaluating Transanal Endoscopic Total Mesorectal Excision for Rectal Cancer
Diseases of the Colon and Rectum Journal

Several groups have championed standardization of this approach in order to optimize outcomes.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 4:05 PM EDT
Seeking Hidden Responders
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Matching unique genetic information from cancer patients’ tumors with treatment options – an emerging area of precision medicine efforts – often fails to identify all patients who may respond to certain therapies. Other molecular information from patients may reveal these so-called “hidden responders."

Released: 9-Apr-2018 4:00 PM EDT
In Vitro Chemical Screens; Ovary Effects of Personal Care Product Chemicals & More in April 2018 Toxicological Sciences
Society of Toxicology

Articles on personal care product chemicals; PBPK modeling; 2D vs 3D for drug-induced liver injury; zebrafish and drug discovery; glutathione restoration and acetaminophen; high-throughput screening for thyroid hormone T4; and genetically engineered food crops featured in new Toxicological Sciences.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 3:55 PM EDT
Study: Medicaid Expansion Has No Negative Effect on Cardiovascular Procedural Outcomes
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

More people are receiving coronary revascularization under Michigan's Medicaid expansion (the Healthy Michigan Plan). A new analysis finds that the expansion hasn’t caused significant problems for patients.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 3:10 PM EDT
Survival Strategy: How One Enzyme Helps Bacteria Recover From Exposure to Antibiotics
University of Notre Dame

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame focused on an enzyme in gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a pathogen that causes pneumonia and sepsis.

   
Released: 9-Apr-2018 3:05 PM EDT
Scientists Decry Lack of Science in `Forensic Science’
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Many of the “forensic science” methods commonly used in criminal cases and portrayed in popular police TV dramas have never been scientifically validated and may lead to unjust verdicts, according to an editorial in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

   
Released: 9-Apr-2018 2:05 PM EDT
First Dynamic Spine Brace—Robotic Spine Exoskeleton—Characterizes Spine Deformities
Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science

Columbia Engineering researchers have invented a new Robotic Spine Exoskeleton, a dynamic spine brace that enabled them to conduct the first study that looks at in vivo measurements of torso stiffness and characterizes the three-dimensional stiffness of the human torso. This device may solve current bracing limitations and lead to new treatments for children with spine deformities such as idiopathic scoliosis and kyphosis.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 2:05 PM EDT
Resilient New Apple Disease Spoils Even Pasteurized Foods
Cornell University

New Yorkers love apples. The Empire State is the second-largest apple grower in the U.S. and is the No. 1 producer of processedapple products, such as cider, juice and canned apples. Given this appreciation for apples, consumers might be concerned by reports from food scientists of a fungus, Paecilomyces niveus, that spoilsapple products even after heat pasteurization. The fungus also produces an FDA-regulated toxin called patulin that is found in these spoiled processed foods.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 12:05 PM EDT
ADMX Announces Breakthrough in Axion Dark Matter Detection Technology
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab)

This week, the Axion Dark Matter Experiment (ADMX) unveiled a new result, published in Physical Review Letters, that places it in a category of one: It is the world’s first and only experiment to have achieved the necessary sensitivity to “hear” the telltale signs of dark matter axions. This technological breakthrough is the result of more than 30 years of research and development, with the latest piece of the puzzle coming in the form of a quantum-enabled device that allows ADMX to listen for axions more closely than any experiment ever built.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 12:05 PM EDT
Families Facing Rare Neurological Disease Drive Groundbreaking Research
Scripps Research Institute

“As researchers, they take risks without knowing the answers...I really admire it.”

Released: 9-Apr-2018 12:05 PM EDT
Common Genetic Variant Linked to AFib Risk in Latinos
University of Illinois Chicago

UIC researchers have confirmed for the first time the association of a chromosomal genetic variant with increased risk of AFib in Latinos. Latino patients were found to be at a 2.3-fold increased risk for developing AFib if they carried this common genetic variant, which is labeled rs10033464 SNP at chromosome 4q25.

6-Apr-2018 1:35 PM EDT
The “Immuno Revolution”: Turning Up the Heat on Resistant Tumors
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A promising class of drugs known as CD40 monoclonal antibodies could be the spark needed to light the fire in the immune system of patients who don’t respond to the newer cancer immunotherapies. Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania and an internationally renowned cancer immunotherapy expert, makes the case for the drugs in a new perspective piece published this week in Cancer Cell, as part of a series in the issue focusing on the next phase of the evolving field of cancer immunotherapy.

6-Apr-2018 12:00 AM EDT
Study Finds How Fat Tissue Shunts Energy to Tumors
Sanford Burnham Prebys

Sanford Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) researchers recently discovered that that inactivation of a protein called p62 in fat cells fuels aggressive, metastatic prostate cancer in mice. The findings suggest that mTOR inhibitors currently used to treat a wide range of cancers may have the unintended consequence of shutting down fat tissue metabolism and fueling tumor growth.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 11:05 AM EDT
Urban Growth Leads to Shorter, More Intense Wet Seasons in Florida Peninsula
Florida State University

New research from Florida State University scientists has found that urban areas throughout the Florida peninsula are experiencing shorter, increasingly intense wet seasons relative to underdeveloped or rural areas.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 11:05 AM EDT
Removing the Brakes on Plant Oil Production
Brookhaven National Laboratory

UPTON, NY—Scientists studying plant biochemistry at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered new details about biomolecules that put the brakes on oil production. The findings suggest that disabling these biomolecular brakes could push oil production into high gear—a possible pathway toward generating abundant biofuels and plant-derived bioproducts.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 11:05 AM EDT
Solid Research Leads Physicists to Propose New State of Matter
University of Texas at Dallas

The term “superfluid quasicrystal” sounds like something a comic-book villain might use to carry out his dastardly plans. In reality, it’s a new form of matter proposed by theoretical physicists at The University of Texas at Dallas in a recent study published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

6-Apr-2018 7:40 PM EDT
Scientists Tweak CRISPR to Speed Up Genomic Editing
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

UCLA researchers have tweaked CRISPR technology, enabling them to monitor the outcome of tens of thousands of gene edits in the time it currently takes to analyze a few. The advance will improve scientists’ ability to identify the genetic changes most likely to harm cells and contribute to disease.

   
6-Apr-2018 4:05 PM EDT
New Cardiac Imaging Technique Shortens Testing Time and Improves Patient Comfort, Potentially Increasing Diagnostic Accuracy for Heart Disease
Cedars-Sinai

EMBARGOED - A team of Cedars-Sinai investigators has developed a new technique for conducting cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests that improves patient comfort, shortens testing time and has the potential to increase diagnostic accuracy and reliability.

6-Apr-2018 1:00 PM EDT
ALS, Rare Dementia Share Genetic Link
Washington University in St. Louis

Studying data from more than 125,000 individuals, an international team of researchers led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified genetic links between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia. The link between the seemingly unrelated disorders suggests that some drugs developed to treat ALS also may work against frontotemporal dementia and vice versa.

6-Apr-2018 12:00 PM EDT
Spoken Language Reveals How People Develop and Mature
Florida Atlantic University

Examining 44,000 brief text samples collected over 25 years, a study of ego level and language sheds light on ego development, its relationship with other models of personality and individual differences, and its utility in characterizing people, texts and cultural contexts. If ego development can be scored from everyday language, then text from Twitter feeds to political speeches, and from children’s stories to strategic plans, may provide new insights into the state of moral, social and cognitive development.

5-Apr-2018 3:05 PM EDT
Payments to Doctors Linked to Prescription Practices for Two Cancer Types
University of North Carolina Health Care System

Compared to physicians who didn’t receive any payments, those who received general payments for meals and lodging from a drug manufacturer had higher odds of prescribing that company’s particular drug for metastatic renal cell carcinoma and for chronic myeloid leukemia.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 10:05 AM EDT
Study of Mucus May Help Guide Sinusitis Treatment
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

By April, nearly one-third of the U.S. is already experiencing high pollen levels while the weather and temperatures continue to fluctuate, aggravating sinus symptoms. A patient’s mucus may predict the type of his or her chronic sinusitis, which could help doctors determine whether surgery or medical treatments can produce the best outcomes, according to a recently published Vanderbilt study.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 10:05 AM EDT
Ultra-Powerful Batteries Made Safer, More Efficient
University of Delaware

An international team of researchers is laying the foundation for more widespread use of lithium metal batteries. They developed a method to mitigate the formation of dendrites - crystal-like masses - that damage the batteries' performance.

Released: 9-Apr-2018 9:05 AM EDT
Studies Show Hookah Also Plays Critical Role in Tobacco Product Landscape
University at Buffalo

The findings of two recently published studies on the emergence of hookah use indicate that public health officials may need to consider broadening their tobacco prevention efforts beyond traditional cigarettes.

Released: 8-Apr-2018 10:05 PM EDT
NUS Study: Oxidative Stress From Missing Tumour Suppressor Gene, RUNX3, Promotes Cancer Progression
National University of Singapore (NUS)

Researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore have identified that RUNX3, a tumour suppressor gene absent in many cancer types, acts as a barrier against oxidative stress in cancer cells.

   
Released: 6-Apr-2018 6:05 PM EDT
New Technique More Accurately Reflects Ponds on Arctic Sea Ice
University of Chicago

This one simple mathematical trick can accurately predict the shape and melting effects of ponds on Arctic sea ice, according to new research by UChicago scientists. The study, published April 4 in Physical Review Letters by researchers with UChicago and MIT, should help climate scientists improve models of climate change and perhaps plug a gap between scientific predictions and observations over the past decade, they said.

Released: 6-Apr-2018 6:05 PM EDT
Mirror, Mirror
Argonne National Laboratory

The mirror-like physics of the superconductor-insulator transition operates exactly as expected. Scientists know this to be true following the observation of a remarkable phenomenon, the existence of which was predicted three decades ago but that had eluded experimental detection until now. The observation confirms that two fundamental quantum states, superconductivity and superinsulation, both arise in mirror-like images of each other.

Released: 6-Apr-2018 2:05 PM EDT
Smartphone ‘Scores’ Can Help Doctors Track Severity of Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms
 Johns Hopkins University

A new smartphone app allows Parkinson's disease patients and their doctors to better track the progression of symptoms, such as tremors and walking difficulties, that can vary dramatically over days, or even hours.

   
Released: 6-Apr-2018 2:05 PM EDT
How Pathogenic Bacteria Prepare a Sticky Adhesion Protein
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)

Researchers at Harvard Medical School, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Georgia have described how the protein that allows strep and staph bacteria to stick to human cells is prepared and packaged. The research, which could facilitate the development of new antibiotics, will appear in the April 6 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Released: 6-Apr-2018 1:05 PM EDT
University of Kentucky Marketing Professor Allan Chen Studies the How and Why of Asymmetric Pricing
University of Kentucky

A University of Kentucky faculty member is looking into explanations for why prices for consumers don't always come back down the way we may think they should.

Released: 6-Apr-2018 1:00 PM EDT
Penn Medicine Nephrologist Honored by the National Kidney Foundation for Clinical Excellence
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – Jeffrey S. Berns, MD, associate chief of the division of Renal-Electrolyte and Hypertension in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, received the 2018 Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Award from the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), an award given to clinicians who display excellence in clinical nephrology.

Released: 6-Apr-2018 10:05 AM EDT
A New Class of Antibiotics to Combat Drug Resistance
University of Illinois Chicago

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Nosopharm report on the discovery of a new class of antibiotics that may be effective at treating drug-resistant infections.



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