How An Elephant’s Trunk Manipulates Air to Eat and Drink

New research from Georgia Tech finds that elephants dilate their nostrils in order to create more space in their trunks, allowing them to store up to nine liters of water. They can also suck up three liters per second — a speed 50 times faster than a human sneeze. The findings could inspire different ways to building robots that manipulate air to move or hold things.

Study Provides New Insights on COVID-19 Risk in Patients Receiving Dialysis

• Among individuals with kidney failure who received dialysis at clinics several times each week, COVID-19 risks were higher in patients who were older, had diabetes, lived in local communities with higher COVID-19 rates, and received dialysis at clinics that served a larger number of patients.
• Risks were lower in patients who received dialysis in clinics with a higher number of available side rooms and that had mask policies for asymptomatic patients.

Signs of COVID-19 Mortality May be Easily Measured at Home

Two easily measurable signs of health are distinctly predictive of higher mortality among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a study examining the cases of inpatients with COVID-19 at Rush University Medical Center and University of Washington Medicine hospitals.

New Neuronal Code Found in Bats Navigating Extra-Large Spaces, Weizmann Institute Scientists Report

To date, place cells have been studied in mammals in small spaces. How do we navigate large ones? Prof. Nachum Ulanovsky and team studied bats navigating a 200-m-long tunnel – and discovered a novel neuronal code for spatial perception. The work showed that place cells behave completely differently when navigating very large spaces.

Medical AI models rely on ‘shortcuts’ that could lead to misdiagnosis of COVID-19 and other diseases, UW researchers find

University of Washington researchers discovered that AI models ignored clinically significant indicators on X-rays and relied instead on characteristics such as text markers or patient positioning that were specific to each dataset to predict whether someone had COVID-19.

Diet Plays Critical Role in NASH Progressing to Liver Cancer in Mouse Model

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found in a mouse model that when fed a Western diet rich in calories, fat and cholesterol, the mice progressively became obese, diabetic and developed NASH, which progressed to HCC, chronic kidney and cardiovascular disease.

CHOP Researchers Develop Proof-of-Concept Treatment that Elevates Both Adult and Fetal Hemoglobin

Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a proof-of-concept treatment for blood disorders like sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia that could raise hemoglobin levels by activating production of both fetal and adult hemoglobin. Using a viral vector engineered to reactivate fetal hemoglobin production, suppress mutant hemoglobin, and supply functional adult hemoglobin, the researchers developed an approach that could produce more hemoglobin through a single vector. The results were published in Haematologica.

New device helps restore penile length and sexual function after prostate cancer surgery

A new type of penile traction therapy (PTT) device can increase penile length and preserve erectile function in men who have undergone prostate cancer surgery (prostatectomy), reports a clinical trial in The Journal of Urology®, Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Moffitt Cancer Center Experts to Present New Clinical Research Data

Moffitt Cancer Center, a national leader in cancer care and research and the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center based in Florida, is presenting new data from dozens of clinical research studies at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, the world’s largest clinical cancer research meeting. Moffitt investigators will lead 25 abstract presentations, five education sessions, two cancer-based panels and two clinical science symposia. The virtual meeting is June 4-8.

Post-Surgical Pain Relief Without Opioids

Clinician researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have shown that patients don’t necessarily need opioids for pain relief following robotic prostatectomies. In a study published in the Journal of Robotic Surgery, the team found that strategic use of local anesthetic and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) plus acetaminophen can effectively control post-surgical pain without narcotics.

A ‘jolt’ for ocean carbon sequestration

Global oceans absorb about 25% of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. Electricity-eating bacteria known as photoferrotrophs could provide a boost to this essential process, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.Scientists led by Arpita Bose, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, found that bacteria found in brackish sediments can “eat” electricity and, in the process, absorb and lock away climate-warming carbon dioxide.

Identifying Potential Treatment for Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Researchers at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) recently discovered a phage display-based approach to halt tumor growth that could be used to treat triple-negative breast cancer – considered the most aggressive type of breast cancer. The findings were published online in the scientific journal eLife.

Rush Researchers Develop New Measure of Brain Health

A new measure of brain health developed by researchers at Rush University Medical Center may offer a novel approach to identifying individuals at risk of memory and thinking problems, according to research results published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association on June 1.

Fast-track Extubation Protocol Reduces Ventilation Time

High rates of variability in extubation times among cardiac surgery patients in Duke University Hospital’s cardiothoracic intensive care unit led to a new fast-track extubation protocol and redesigned care processes. As a result, more patients were extubated within six hours after being admitted to the ICU after surgery.

NUS researchers develop novel technique to automate production of pharmaceutical compounds

Giving a new spin to conventional chemical synthesis, a team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a way to automate the production of small molecules suitable for pharmaceutical use. The method can potentially be used for molecules that are typically produced via manual processes, thereby reducing the manpower required.

A Technique for Regulating Emotion May be Effective in Disrupting Compulsive Cocaine Addiction, a Mount Sinai Study Has Found

An emotion regulation strategy known as cognitive reappraisal helped reduce the typically heightened and habitual attention to drug-related cues and contexts in cocaine-addicted individuals, a study by Mount Sinai researchers has found.

Genetic mutation linked to childhood ALS

Scientists have identified a novel form of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, that affects children, according to an international collaborative study, “Childhood Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Caused by Excess Sphingolipid Synthesis,” published May 30, 2021, in Nature Medicine. This is the first example of a mutation that perturbs a specific metabolic pathway as causative for ALS.

Estudo de ECGs que utiliza IA revela que a diferença entre a idade em anos e a idade biológica afeta significativamente a saúde e a longevidade

Você pode ser mais velho ou mais jovem do que pensa. Um novo estudo descobriu que as diferenças entre a idade de uma pessoa em anos e sua idade biológica, conforme previsto por um eletrocardiograma (ECG), habilitado para inteligência artificial (IA) podem fornecer percepções mensuráveis sobre saúde e longevidade.

Estudio de electrocardiogramas mediados por inteligencia artificial descubre que diferencia entre edad numérica y edad biológica afecta considerablemente la salud y la longevidad

Usted puede ser mayor o menor de lo que pensaba. Un nuevo estudio descubrió que las diferencias entre los años cumplidos por una persona y la edad biológica pronosticada por un electrocardiograma (ECG) mediado por inteligencia artificial puede aportar una perspectiva medible de la edad y la longevidad.

Older Adults with Cerebral Palsy Need More, Receive Less Physical Therapy for Painful Conditions

Older adults with cerebral palsy are more likely to experience debilitating pains of musculoskeletal conditions, but researchers found they receive significantly less physical therapy for those ailments. The lead author says the results, while staggering, support their hypothesis that people with CP receive inequitable health care.

Same Difference: Two Halves of The Hippocampus Have Different Gene Activity

DALLAS – May 28, 2021 – A study of gene activity in the brain’s hippocampus, led by UT Southwestern researchers, has identified marked differences between the region’s anterior and posterior portions. The findings, published today in Neuron, could shed light on a variety of brain disorders that involve the hippocampus and may eventually help lead to new, targeted treatments.

Providing more low-value care doesn’t lead to higher patient experience ratings

Many healthcare providers and policy makers fear that increased pressure to please patients — and ensure high satisfaction ratings as a result — could lead to overuse of low-value care that doesn’t provide any clinical benefit while unnecessarily ratcheting up medical bills. But new research from the University of Chicago and Harvard Medical School may alleviate some of those concerns.

DNA-based material with tunable properties

While DNA is often idealised as the molecule of life, it is also a highly sophisticated polymer that can be used for next-generation materials. Beyond the fact that it can store information, further fascinating aspects of DNA are its geometric and topological properties, such as knotting and super-coiling. Indeed, very much like a twisted telephone cord, DNA is often found coiled up inside bacteria and other cells and even knotted in viruses.