Study Examines the Effectiveness of Skin Barriers that Protect Clinicians from Skin Irritation Due to Prolonged Mask Use

Under the guidance of Daniel S. Morrison, MD, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the student led study, published in the May edition of the Journal of Hospital Infection, examined whether the placement of a silicone scar sheet (ScarAway®), Cavilon™, or Tegaderm™ affects 3M™ half-face mask respirator barrier integrity when compared to no barrier using QNFT. 3M half-mask respirators were chosen because they were already being used by clinicians, are reusable, and are readily available. Nine clinicians were enrolled, including physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and technicians.

Hip replacement surgery improves symptoms and biomechanics – but not physical activity

Patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) show significant reduction in pain and other symptoms and improvement in walking gait biomechanics. However, those improvements do not lead to increased daily physical activity levels, reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.

Seabirds face dire threats from climate change, human activity — especially in Northern Hemisphere

Many seabirds in the Northern Hemisphere are struggling to breed — and in the Southern Hemisphere, they may not be far behind. These are the conclusions of a study, published May 28 in Science, analyzing more than 50 years of breeding records for 67 seabird species worldwide.

The Robot Smiled Back

Long interested in interactions between robots and humans, Columbia Engineering researchers have created EVA, a new autonomous robot with a soft and expressive face that responds to match the expressions of nearby humans. “The idea for EVA took shape a few years ago, when my students and I began to notice that the robots in our lab were staring back at us through plastic, googly eyes,” said Prof Hod Lipson, who led the team.

Why is it so hard to withdraw from some antidepressants?

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago are a step closer to discovering why it is so difficult for people to withdraw from some antidepressant medications.  The paper “Antidepressants produce persistent Gαs associated signaling changes in lipid rafts following drug withdrawal,” published in the journal Molecular Pharmacology, addresses the molecular and cellular mechanisms that cause antidepressant withdrawal syndrome.

Women: Lower-fat Diet Key to Liver Health Following Weight-loss Surgery

Research suggests that women who have weight loss surgery need to reduce the amount of fat they eat after surgery to reap the full benefit of the procedure and protect their liver function. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism.

New framework to enhance national climate action and achieve global goals

A novel systematic and independent scenario framework could help policymakers assess and compare climate policies and long-term strategies across countries to support coordinated global climate action.

Checking out plastic surgeons on Instagram? Your perception may be biased

Social media sites – especially Instagram – have revolutionized the way plastic surgeons market their practice. These platforms allow surgeons to post testimonials, educational videos, and before-and-after photos. This information can help to guide patients in making decisions about whether to undergo cosmetic surgery and which plastic surgeon to choose, based on factors like the surgeon’s experience and results achieved.

Shiny mega-crystals that build themselves

An international team led by Empa and ETH Zurich researchers is playing with shape-engineered nanoscale building blocks that are up to 100-times larger than atoms and ions. And although these nano “Lego bricks” interact with each other with forces vastly different and much weaker than those holding atoms and ions together, they form crystals all by themselves, the structures of which resemble the ones of natural minerals. These new mega-crystals or superlattices that are depicted on the cover of the latest issue of “Nature” exhibit unique properties such as superfluorescence – and may well usher in a new era in materials science

NUS researchers use “automated” microscopy to identify predictor of chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer patients

Researchers from the National University of Singapore have found a way to predict if ovarian cancer patients will be resistant to chemotherapy. By using “automated” microscopy, they identified a protein that indicates the resistance of ovarian cancer cells to platinum chemotherapy. This breakthrough could improve the survival rate of ovarian cancer patients, as other treatments may be administered early.

Low on Antibodies, Blood Cancer Patients Can Fight off COVID-19 with T Cells

Antibodies aren’t the only immune cells needed to fight off COVID-19 — T cells are equally important and can step up to do the job when antibodies are depleted, suggests a new Penn Medicine study of blood cancer patients with COVID-19 published in Nature Medicine.

Global Study Finds Each City Has Unique Microbiome Fingerprint of Bacteria and Viruses

Each city has its own unique microbiome, a “fingerprint” of viruses and bacteria that uniquely identify it, according to a new study from an international consortium of researchers that included a team from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). The international project, which sequenced and analyzed samples collected from public transit systems and hospitals in 60 cities around the world, was published today in the journal Cell.

Study Finds Lower Rates of Kidney Transplant Referrals at For-Profit Vs. Non-Profit Dialysis Facilities

• Among patients receiving dialysis in the Southeastern United States, those at for-profit dialysis facilities were less likely to be referred for kidney transplantation than those at non-profit facilities.
• Rates of starting medical evaluations soon after referral and placing patients on a waitlist after evaluations were similar between the groups.

Unveiling what governs crystal growth

Crystals are wonders of nature and science with important applications in electronics and optics. Scientists from Argonne have new insights into how gallium nitride crystals grow. Gallium nitride crystals are in wide use in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and may form transistors for high-power switching electronics to make electric grids more energy efficient and smarter.

People prefer ‘natural’ strategies to reduce atmospheric carbon

A cross-disciplinary collaboration led by Jonathon Schuldt, associate professor of communication at Cornell University, found that a majority of the U.S. public is supportive of soil carbon storage as a climate change mitigation strategy, particularly when that and similar approaches are seen as “natural” strategies.

Thirdhand smoke impacts gut bacteria for infants, study finds

Infants exposed to thirdhand smoke while hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) show a difference in the composition of their gut microbiome, according to a new study by researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

Concussion with Loss of Consciousness May Be Linked to Life with Some Disability

People who have had a concussion where they lost consciousness may be more likely to have some disability or limitations later in life—such as difficulty walking or limitations in the amount or type of work they can do—than people who have never had a concussion, according to a study published in the May 26, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

How antibiotic-filled poop helps ‘bessbug’ beetles stay healthy

The lifestyle of the horned passalus beetle, commonly known as the bessbug or betsy beetle, might seem downright disgusting to the average human: Not only does this shiny black beetle eat its own poop, known as frass, but it uses its feces to line the walls of its living space and to help build protective chambers around its developing young.