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UrduCo-corresponding Authors: M. Mercedes Perez-Rodriguez, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Agnes Norbury, PhD, Post Doctoral Fellow, both of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Bottom Line: During lockdowns (stay-at-home orders issued in response to the Covid-19…
Category: Research Alert
Developing Smarter, Faster Machine Intelligence with Light
SUMMARYResearchers at the George Washington University, together with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the deep-tech venture startup Optelligence LLC, have developed an optical convolutional neural network accelerator capable of processing large amounts of information, on the…
Self-Nano-Emulsifying Drug-Delivery Systems: From the Development to the Current Applications and Challenges in Oral Drug Delivery
Approximately one third of newly discovered drug molecules show insufficient water solubility and therefore low oral bio-availability. Self-nano-emulsifying drug-delivery systems (SNEDDSs) are one of the emerging strategies developed to tackle the issues associated with their oral delivery. SNEDDSs are composed…
Blocking Calcium Channel May Prevent Calcification in Kidney Disease
Inhibiting the Kv1.3 channel, a potassium channel expressed in tissues around the body, including vascular smooth muscle cells, may help prevent uremia-induced calcification in people with chronic kidney disease. The study is published ahead of print in the journal Function.…
Study Finds Little Progress in Addressing Racial Disparities for Dementia Risk
While rates of dementia for the U.S. population have been relatively stable or in decline since 2000, rates for Black Americans remain disproportionately high, according to a new study published in JAMA Neurology. Melinda C. Power, ScD, director of the…
Counseling clients of color affected by COVID-19
An article published in the Journal of Counseling & Development examines how pre-existing racial and ethnic disparities, exacerbated by COVID-19, have negatively affected communities of color that tend to be overrepresented in lower socioeconomic groups, have limited access to health care and education, have an undocumented status, and work in jobs considered “essential.”
Working from home, job loss due to pandemic increasing sedentary time
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed how and where we work and for many it’s left them out of work. In two separate studies, researchers examined levels of physical activity and hours spent sitting as well as in front of…
Noncompetes Stifle Workers: Concluding Research Forthcoming in Multiple Publications
The debate over whether noncompete agreements help or hurt employees is addressed in four research papers forthcoming in top journals and co-authored by management professor Evan Starr at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. The results, he says,…
Agreed-Upon Methods for Measuring Sweet Taste Would Advance Dietary Advice
Washington D.C. – In a Dec. 3 perspective in Advances in Nutrition, 11 nutrition researchers review existing measures of sweetness in foods and beverages to better understand the role of sweetness in health. They also call for developing more consensus…
Pediatric appendix perforation rate at children’s hospital during COVID-19 pandemic
What The Study Did: This observational study assessed the rate of appendix perforations during the COVID-19 pandemic at a children’s hospital compared with 2019. Authors: Rick Place, M.D., M.H.A., of Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, Virginia, is the corresponding author. To…
Timing of Food Intake Drives the Circadian Rhythm of Blood Pressure
Rockville, Md. (December 3, 2020)—Blood pressure (BP) in healthy people drops at night up to 20% lower than the daytime average in a process known as BP dipping. Nighttime BP is considered an important gauge of BP management. When BP…
What the dingo says about dog domestication
Worldwide, dogs (Canis familiaris) are certainly the most common domesticate (900 million according to the World Atlas) and are sometimes used as a proxy for human presence. Dogs were the first and therefore arguably most important species ever to be…
Satellite Stem Cells Required for Normal Muscle Response to Exercise
A new study in mice published in the journal Function finds that a lack of satellite cells—stem cells that become muscle cells—alters gene networks needed for muscle adaptation to exercise. Researchers performed RNA sequencing on mice that were exercised by…
First Report Card on Biosimilars in Oncology
SUMMARY Researchers have developed the first report card on biosimilars for three blockbuster cancer drugs marketed by Genentech/Roche: Rituxan, Avastin and Herceptin. In a Policy Review in The Lancet Oncology, Y. Tony Yang, a professor at the George Washington University…
MRI Finds Circadian Variations in Men’s and Women’s Renal Blood Flow
Article title: Circadian variation in renal blood flow and kidney function in healthy volunteers monitored with noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging Authors: Per Eckerbom, Peter Hansell, Eleanor Cox, Charlotte Buchanan, Jan Weis, Fredrik Palm, Susan Francis, Per Liss From the authors: “In…
Sex Hormones Contribute to Sex Differences in COVD-19
Article title: Sex steroids skew ACE2 expression in human airway: a contributing factor to sex differences in COVID-19? Authors: Rama Satyanarayana Raju Kalidhindi, Niyati A. Borkar, Nilesh Sudhakar Ambhore, Christina M. Pabelick, Y. S. Prakash, Venkatachalem Sathish From the authors:…
Scientist Proposes Use of Convolutional Neural Networks to Detect and Classify COVID-19 Infection
Article title: Implementation of convolutional neural network approach for COVID-19 disease detection Author: Emrah Irmak From the author: “In this paper, two novel and fully automatic studies using deep convolutional neural networks [CNN] are presented for COVID-19 detection and virus…
Remote Ischemic Conditioning May Aid Recovery after Stroke
Article title: Two weeks of remote ischemic conditioning improves brachial artery flow mediated dilation in chronic stroke survivors Authors: Allison S. Hyngstrom, Jennifer N. Nguyen, Michael T. Wright, Sergey S. Tarima, Brian D. Schmit, David D. Gutterman, Matthew J. Durand From the…
Breast Milk + Probiotics Reduces Inflammation Associated with Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Preemies
Article title: Short chain fatty acid butyrate, a breast milk metabolite, enhances immature intestinal barrier function genes in response to inflammation in vitro and in vivo Authors: Yanan Gao, Brittany Davis, Weishu Zhu, Nan Zheng, Di Meng, W. Allan Walker From…
Bacterial Extracellular Vesicles from Poultry Farm Dust Causes Lung Inflammation in Mice
Article title: Bacterial extracellular vesicles isolated from organic dust induce neutrophilic inflammation in the lung Authors: Velmurugan Meganathan, Regina Moyana, Kartiga Natarajan, Weshely Kujur, Shilpa Kusampudi, Sachin Mulik, Vijay Boggaram From the authors: “In summary, our studies have found that…
Researchers Develop New Minimally Invasive Method to Measuring Heart’s Neurotransmitter
Article title: Rapid measurement of cardiac neuropeptide dynamics by capacitive immunoprobe in the porcine heart Authors: Nicholas Kluge, Michael Joseph Dacey, Joseph Hadaya, Kalyanam Shivkumar, Shyue-An Chan, Jeffrey Laurence Ardell, Corey Smith From the authors: “Current methodologies for the measure…
Mouse Study Explores Effect of Elastin Content on Age-related Vascular Remodeling
Article title: Elastin haploinsufficiency in mice has divergent effects on arterial remodeling with aging depending on sex Authors: Jie Z. Hawes, Austin Cocciolone, Amy H. Cui, Diana B. Griffin, Marius Catalin Staiculescu, Robert P. Mecham, Jessica E Wagenseil From the…
Researchers Analyze Function and Mechanisms of Bifunctional Fusion Proteins Upregulated in Muscle Hypertrophy
Article title:Structural and functional characterization of engineered bifunctional fusion proteins of CD39 and CD73 ectonucleotidases Authors: Elizabeth H. Zhong, Carola Ledderose, Paola De Andrade Mello, Keiichi Enjyoji, Justin Mark Lunderberg, Wolfgang G. Junger, Simon C. Robson From the authors: “This CD39-CD73…
Coronavirus Infection in Carotid Artery Cells May Explain Silent Hypoxemia
New research published in the journal Function suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection in the carotid body—a cluster of chemoreceptors and specialized cells in the neck’s carotid artery—may contribute to “silent hypoxemia” in people with COVID-19. Silent hypoxemia is the state of…
3D Electrocardiogram Might Detect Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Rockville, Md. (November 25, 2020)—Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent arrhythmia in both equine and human athletes. In this study, researchers investigated whether the arrhythmogenic substrate—the preexisting condition that causes arrhythmia—present between the episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) can…
Federal funding of nursing research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH): 1993 to 2017
Highlights NINR funding is inadequate relative to the number of doctoral programs in nursing NINR funding to schools/colleges of nursing peaked in 2005 and has declined since The return on investment for nursing research exceeds the Standard & Poor’s 500…
Breaking the Power & Speed Limit of Lasers
SUMMARYResearchers at the George Washington University have developed a new design of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) that demonstrates record-fast temporal bandwidth. This was possible by combining multiple transverse coupled cavities, which enhances optical feedback of the laser. VCSELs have emerged…
New Study: GAAP Earnings as Predictor of Job Gains, Layoffs
Analysts have long looked to aggregate earnings news to predict future economic growth, inflation, and even monetary policy. But given the increasing significance of forecasting labor market growth, can those GAAP earnings also predict the future path of the labor…
Researchers Find Impaired Mitochondrial and Metabolic Function in COVID-19 Patients
New research published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology explores the role of mitochondrial function and related metabolic changes in the inflammatory response seen in people with COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Dysfunction…
Surgical Techniques Using Heat May Contribute to Colon Cancer Recurrence in Mice
Article title: Hepatic thermal injury promotes colorectal cancer engraftment in C57/black 6 mice Authors: Alison L. Halpern, J. Gregory Fitz, Yuki Fujiwara, Jeniann Yi, Aimee L. Anderson, Yuwen Zhu, Richard D. Schulick, Karim C. El Kasmi, Carlton C. Barnett Jr.…
Long-acting antipsychotic therapy plus cognitive training show promise for schizophrenia
FINDINGS UCLA scientists and colleagues found the use of long-acting antipsychotic medication combined with the use of cognitive training in group settings led to improved cognition and increased productivity. Researchers say patients using a combination of long-acting antipsychotic medication and…
UCLA researchers find higher COVID positivity rates in Los Angeles County communities with high Latino populations, low incomes
Recently published UCLA-led research finds that Los Angeles County communities with high proportions of Latino/a residents, those living below the federal poverty line and with high household densities had higher crude positivity rates compared with other parts of the county.…
Ultraprocessed Food: Addictive, Toxic, and Ready for Regulation
Abstract Past public health crises (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, opioids, cholera, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), lead, pollution, venereal disease, even coronavirus (COVID-19) have been met with interventions targeted both at the individual and all of society. While the healthcare community is…
State Tested Nursing Assistants’ Workplace Experiences That Threaten or Support Intent to Stay
Abstract Purpose Over 1 million Americans utilize skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) annually. Within SNFs, State Tested Nursing Assistants (STNAs) are primary caregivers; however, low retention rates are notable and threaten patient care. Design A phenomenological, qualitative study was conducted to explore intrinsic…
Do Errorless Methods Improve Discharge Medication Instruction and Adherence?
Abstract Purpose and Design Postdischarge adverse drug events are a national issue, and effective inpatient instruction may help. Therefore, this intervention study examined whether using errorless teaching/learning methods including pictorial medication cards (ETL + card) improved RN teaching and patient…
Hospital Environmental Effects on Sleep in Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury in Rehabilitation
Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to describe sleep patterns of adults with traumatic brain injury and examine effects of environmental stressors (patient care activities and light) on patterns of sleep. Design A descriptive, correlational, explanatory design was used for…
Meaningful Mindfulness – Self Care of Clinical Staff
Healthcare can be a demanding field, and working on a rehabilitation unit can be both physically and emotionally challenging. Self care practices are important and clinical staff must be educated on the tools in order to reduce perceived levels of…
Millennial Acute Care Rehabilitation Nurses Forming Transpersonal Caring Relationships With Patients
Problem: Millennial nurses are the largest proportion of the profession reporting burnout and compassion fatigue. The millennial generation was impacted by the explosion of technology in the late twentieth century. Constant technological stimulation heavily impacted developmental milestones.The millennial generation communicates through technology…
TeamSTEPPS Interventions to Improve Communication and Teamwork
Effective handoff communication among nurses contributes to preventing errors and improving nursing communication and teamwork. Few studies have explored strategies to improve communication among acute rehabilitation nurses. This evidence-based clinical practice study aimed to enhance a practice change by applying…
Spotlighting a Specialty: Bringing Rehab Into Nursing Schools
Background Nursing school curriculum isn’t standardized & varies in its inclusion of specialty areas, such as the underrepresented Rehabilitation Nursing. Without knowledge of the area, students are unable to formulate perception of the field, much less develop an interest, &…
Bringing U.S. health spending in line with other nations an ‘unprecedented’ challenge
When it comes to how much Americans spend on health care, the U.S. would have to achieve “unprecedented” spending declines to come into parity with other wealthy nations, finds a study in the December issue of AJPH. To conduct the study,…
Intrinsic Exercise Capacity and Mitochondrial DNA Lead to Opposing Vascular-associated Risks
Rockville, Md. (November 11, 2020) – In this study, researchers studied how untrained intrinsic exercise capacity influences cardiovascular physiology. It was conducted in a rat model of low-capacity running (LCR) and high-capacity running (HCR). The findings indicate LCR rats showed…
Sodium-potassium-chloride Cotransporter Abnormalities Found to Cause Multiorgan Dysfunction
New research published in the journal Function identifies NKCC1, the protein responsible for moving sodium, potassium and chloride into cells, to be a cause of disease and dysfunction throughout the body. NKCC1 is encoded by the gene SLC12A2. Human and…
Parties Convene for Consistent Measures of Gut, Nutrition, Health
Washington D.C. — Building consistent ways to measure intestinal processes can improve our understanding of how diet, nutrition and health interact. Three expert groups are converging to inform standards for characterizing the “gut microbiome” — the collection of bacteria and…
U.S. support for safety net policies up during the pandemic
Public support for social safety net policies went up during the early days of the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak, finds a study published in December in AJPH. From April 7-13, researchers fielded a representative online survey of nearly 1,500 U.S. adults, asking…
Double Patterns Could Advance Android Device Security
SUMMARYResearchers have found that using multiple patterns to unlock an Android phone provides significantly more security than the current single-pattern method, and, in some cases, may be more secure than the 4- and 6-digit PIN unlocking method commonly used on…
Long-term Effects of COVID-19 Post-Recovery Physical Activity
A team from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, studied the long-term health consequences of COVID-19. The team surveyed four men and six women who recovered from COVID-19 in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil.
Researchers Explore How Exercise Influences Tendon Inflammation
Stephanie Dakin, PhD, BVetMed, from the University of Oxford in the U.K., studied the microscopic characteristics of tendons in people with exercise-related tendinopathy. Tendinopathy is a tendon disorder that causes pain, inflammation and limited function of the affected joint. Her research team found an increased number of blood vessels and cells—suggestive of inflammatory response—in the injured tendon samples when compared with healthy tissue.
Intense Training Disturbs Tendon Homeostasis, Leads to Injury
Michael Kjaer, MD, PhD, of Copenhagen University and Bispebjerg Hospital in Denmark, will discuss the effects of exercise and sedentary behavior on tendon loading and collagen turnover. “The collagen turnover in tendon can be up- and down-regulated with exercise or inactivity, respectively, and specific parts of the tendon are responsible for this loading-induced collagen dynamics. Long-term overuse of tendon (e.g., intense training) results in disturbed homeostasis and swelling of the tendon, excess angiogenesis and upregulated formation of collagen,” Kjaer wrote.
Compounds in Active Muscles May Help Slow Lung Cancer Growth
Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the U.S. and accounts for roughly 25% of all cancer deaths. Patrick Ryan, MS, from Texas A&M University, and his research team found that treating cultured lung cancer cells with blood collected from contracting muscles—muscles that were exercised—did not grow as much as untreated cells.