Focus: Hidden - Maryland

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Researchers combine diamond and cubic boron nitride with a novel alloying process for a superhard material

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Contrary to popular belief, the worst injuries baseball catchers face on the field come from errant bats and foul balls, not home-plate collisions with base runners, according to findings of a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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Materials scientists want to squeeze every bit of performance out of materials, particularly in the aerospace industry, where small advantages in weight or extreme temperature tolerance translate into tremendous performance benefits. In Review of Scientific Instruments, a group of researchers, motivated by potential pay-offs, describes how they created a system to squeeze and stretch a material while rotating and bombarding it with high-energy synchrotron X-rays, which capture information about how it responds to mechanical stress.

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Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers say they have discovered a new way that the most prevalent disease-causing fungus can thwart immune system attacks.

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The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce the inaugural group of GSA Trainee-Organized Symposia, which are organized by student and postdoctoral members of the Society. These outstanding workshops will receive up to $2,000 in funding to cover direct meeting costs, such as speaker travel, facility rental, and promotion supplies.

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Exercise improves health in overweight and obese adults but can be hard to incorporate into a daily routine. New findings show that taking vitamin C supplements daily instead can have similar cardiovascular benefits as regular exercise in these adults.

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An estimated 5.3 million people in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The five current FDA-approved AD medications only help mask the disease symptoms instead of treating the underlying disease. In a new study, researchers used IRL-1620, a chemical that binds to endothelin B receptors, to treat AD in rats.

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No cures exist for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and the only approved therapy slows the progression by only a few months. A new study identifies a promising unexplored avenue of treatment for ALS, the endothelin system.

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In an intensive citizen-science-aided survey of Hubble telescope images of 2,753 young, blue star clusters in the neighboring Andromeda galaxy (M31), astronomers have found that M31 and our own galaxy have a similar percentage of newborn stars based on mass. By nailing down what percentage of stars have a particular mass within a cluster (the Initial Mass Function), scientists can better interpret the light from distant galaxies and understand the formation history of stars in our universe.

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Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) President Dr. Charles L. Rice announced that he will retire at the end of the 2015-2016 academic year, concluding his 11th year as president.

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Contrary to assumptions that disadvantaged neighborhoods trap children in failing schools, a Johns Hopkins University sociologist has found the opposite to be true: as a neighborhood’s income decreases, its range of educational experiences greatly expands.

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Endothelin (ET) plays a role in many functions throughout the body, including blood vessel constriction and blood pressure regulation, and insights gained through the study of ET have great therapeutic potential for health and disease. As ET experts convene for the 14th International Conference on Endothelin: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Therapeutics, the translational aspect of ET research will take center stage during the “Endothelin Therapeutics—Where Are We?” symposium.

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Endothelin is a peptide produced by cells in the blood vessels and has powerful vessel-constricting effects. Although mainly associated with its role in blood pressure control and cardiovascular diseases, it continues to appear in other physiological functions and diseases. This symposium will discuss its roles in diabetes, cognitive decline, sickle cell disease and skin pigmentation.

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The following articles are freely available online from Physics Today (www.physicstoday.org), the world's most influential and closely followed magazine devoted to physics and the physical science community.

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In experiments in mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have added to evidence that certain so-called “volatile” anesthetics — commonly used during surgeries — may also possess powerful effects on the immune system that can combat viral and bacterial infections in the lung, including influenza and pneumonia.

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CPAP machines are a common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, but some people have a hard time adjusting and do not continue the treatment or are reluctant to start. A new study shows that CPAP is an effective sleep apnea treatment, finding that it reverses health changes that result in cardiovascular disease if the disorder is left untreated.

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A new study examining changes in gun policy in two states finds that handgun purchaser licensing requirements influence suicide rates. Researchers estimate that Connecticut’s 1995 law requiring individuals to obtain a permit or license to purchase a handgun after passing a background check was associated with a 15.4 percent reduction in firearm suicide rates, while Missouri’s repeal of its handgun purchaser licensing law in 2007 was associated with a 16.1 percent increase in firearm suicide rates.

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University of Maryland Medicine and its Center for Metabolic Imaging and Image-Guided Therapeutics has begun to use MRI-guided focused ultrasound on a deep structure within the brain related to Parkinson’s disease – the globus pallidus.

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Men with relatively unaggressive prostate tumors and whose disease is carefully monitored by urologists are unlikely to develop metastatic prostate cancer or die of their cancers, according to results of a study by researchers at the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins, who analyzed survival statistics up to 15 years.

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Working with mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have added to evidence that a commonly prescribed antidepressant called fluoxetine helps stroke victims improve movement and coordination, and possibly why.

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When we move our head, the whole visual world moves across our eyes. Yet we can still make out a bee buzzing by or a hawk flying overhead, thanks to unique cells in the eye called object motion sensors. A new study on mice helps explain how these cells do their job, and may bring scientists closer to understanding how complex circuits are formed throughout the nervous system. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and was published online in Nature.

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Hopkins Nurse-led partnership offers free online learning modules meant to improve teamwork on patient care

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Scientists can now watch dynamic biological processes with unprecedented clarity in living cells using new imaging techniques developed by researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus. The new methods dramatically improve on the spatial resolution provided by structured illumination microscopy, one of the best imaging methods for seeing inside living cells. Janelia group leader Eric Betzig and postdoctoral fellow Dong Li led the research. Betzig was one of three scientists awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.

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Mostly associated with male reproduction, advances in genomic sequencing have revealed a new set of roles for the Y chromosome. In a new review article in Physiological Genomics, researchers summarize the influence of the Y chromosome in male disease risk.

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Babies born through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. In new research published ahead-of-print in AJP-Heart, researchers find that the solution used to culture ART embryos may play a role and that adding melatonin to the culture solution could help improve cardiovascular outcomes.

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Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found that two central black holes whirling about each other, power Markarian 231 -- the closest galaxy to Earth that hosts a quasar. The finding suggests quasars, which are intense bright spots found in centers of galaxies, can be created by double-supermassive black holes that frantically orbit each other, generating tremendous amounts of energy in the process.

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Working with human cancer cell lines and mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and elsewhere have found a way to trigger a type of immune system “virus alert” that may one day boost cancer patients’ response to immunotherapy drugs. An increasingly promising focus of cancer research, the drugs are designed to disarm cancer cells’ ability to avoid detection and destruction by the immune system.

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In a new analysis of military health surveillance data during 1990–2013, service members diagnosed with HIV-1 in more recent years have tended to remain on active duty longer than those who became infected in the earlier years of that time period.

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Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered some of the first steps in how a very common gene mutation causes the brain damage associated with both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

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Analysis of blood samples from more than 5,000 people suggests that a more sensitive version of a blood test long used to verify heart muscle damage from heart attacks could also identify people on their way to developing hypertension well before the so-called silent killer shows up on a blood pressure machine.

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Kennedy Krieger's Interactive Autism Network (IAN) has partnered with the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) to advance and expand internet-mediated autism research.

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with colleagues at Emory University and Cedars-Sinai, have published in the journal Gastroenterology the first major, in-depth analysis of genetic risk factors of inflammatory bowel disease in African-Americans.

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An oral cholera vaccine that is in short supply could treat more people and save more lives in crisis situations, if one dose were dispensed instead of the recommended two, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

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Moderated by CNBC's John Harwood, the event will draw on Paulson's expertise in China's economic policies and sustainability issues and Bair's perspectives on economic challenges and opportunities around the globe.

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While some research suggests that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids can protect brain health, a large clinical trial by researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that omega-3 supplements did not slow cognitive decline in older persons. With 4,000 patients followed over a five-year period, the study is one of the largest and longest of its kind. It was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Changes in agriculture practices have destroyed quail habitat and sent more nitrogen and phosphorous into the Chester River and Chesapeake Bay. A new collaboration aims to cure both ills.

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Engineers and physicians at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed a hand-held, battery-powered device that quickly picks up vital signs from a patient’s lips and fingertip.

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SILVER SPRING, MD, August 23, 2015 – The Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center (AFHSC) joins the Defense Health Agency (DHA) today, and brings its expertise in tracking injuries and illnesses among the service members and conducting global health surveillance among its allies to support U.S. national security interests.

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To honor the memory of a longtime leader in glaucoma treatment and research, the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research will present the Dr. David L. Epstein Award. The new award — a $100,000 prize — was established by the late Dr. Epstein's family and will be presented annually to a senior-level glaucoma researcher at the ARVO Annual Meeting. The first award will be given at ARVO 2016 in Seattle, Wash.

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A review of survey data from more than 300 obese people who participated in a federally funded weight loss clinical trial found that although the overall weight loss rates were modest, those who rated their primary care doctor’s support as particularly helpful lost about twice as many pounds as those who didn’t.

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Three unique projects focused on improving global health won the National Institutes of Health’s Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge. The winners showed exemplary initiative in designing tools for a less expensive, portable device to monitor HIV treatment, a new surgical clamp to treat drooping eyelids, and a low-cost patient monitor.

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In-depth interviews conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine of 20 young women attending an urban sexually transmitted disease clinic have documented a variety of unexpected, unintended sexual encounters linked to their alcohol use before sex occurs.

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The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School has launched a new cohort-based MBA degree program in Health Care Management at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. This special cohort of the MBA in Health Care Management consists of employees and medical staff from Sibley Memorial Hospital and Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md.

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Scientists report they have deciphered the structure and unusual shape of a bacterial protein that prepares segments of DNA for the insertion of so-called jumping genes. The clamshell shape, they say, has never before been seen in a protein but connects nicely with its function: that of bending a segment of DNA into a 180-degree U-turn.

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A new study in Journal of Neurophysiology uses a novel approach to identify potential drug targets for treating fibromyalgia, This study is published ahead-of-print.