Discovering wide variation in hospitals’ COVID-19 survival rates, researchers found that the levels of the novel coronavirus in the surrounding community was likely the driving factor
Category: Research Results
Hand-Held Device Measures Aerosols for Coronavirus Risk Assessment
Understanding aerosol concentrations and persistence in public spaces can help determine infection risks. However, measuring these concentrations is difficult, requiring specialized personnel and equipment. Now, researchers demonstrate that a commercial hand-held particle counter can be used for this purpose and help determine the impacts of risk-reducing measures, like ventilation improvements. They describe the quick and easy, portable process in the journal Physics of Fluids.
Cornell University to Extract Energy from Manure to Meet Peak Heating Demands
Cornell University is developing a system to extract energy from cattle manure to meet the campus’s peak demands for heat in the winter months. In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, scientists involved with the project give a detailed analysis of the issues required to make this work, including scientific, economic, and energy policy considerations.
IMAGE RELEASE: A Blazar In the Early Universe
Observations with the continent-wide Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) reveal previously unseen details in a jet of material ejected from the core of a galaxy seen as it was when the universe was only about 7 percent of its current age.
Cormac the Llama Yields Antibodies that may Prove Effective Against COVID-19 Infection
Researchers from the Uniformed Services University (USU) recently identified pint-sized antibodies, or “nanobodies,” that could protect against COVID-19. At least one of these nanobodies – produced by a llama named Cormac – also appears to work well in either liquid or aerosol form, suggesting it could also help protect a person’s lungs from infections.
Artificial intelligence predicts gestational diabetes in Chinese women
Machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence, can predict which women are at high risk of developing gestational diabetes and lead to earlier intervention, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Anti-counterfeiting technology invented by NUS researchers performs reliable AI authentication under extreme conditions
NUS researchers invented DeepKey, a new anti-counterfeiting technology that performs reliable AI-based authentication under extreme environmental conditions. It is suitable for tagging high-value products such as vaccines, drugs, jewelry and electronics.
Aged care residents experience a different kind of reality
Cutting-edge technology is normally associated with youth, but a group of aged care residents in Adelaide are learning how useful (and how much fun) virtual reality can be.
Antibiotics for C-sections Effective After Umbilical Cord Clamped
Antibiotics for cesarean section births are just as effective when they’re given after the umbilical cord is clamped as before clamping – the current practice – and could benefit newborns’ developing microbiomes, according to Rutgers co-authored research. The study, by far the largest of its kind and published in the journal Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, challenges current recommendations for antibiotic use. Administering antibiotics after clamping does not increase the risk of infection at the site of C-section incisions, the study concludes.
Researchers Identify Which West Coast Regions Hold Greatest Wave Energy Potential
Washington and Oregon coastlines hold most promising areas to pull power from West Coast waves, according to a recent study on wave energy.
Policing Expert’s Studies Show Proposed Bill to Change Required Age, Education for California Cops has Merit
National and California studies by Christine Gardiner, professor of criminal justice at Cal State Fullerton, show college-educated officers are better at documenting investigation, more technology efficient, and may be less resistant to organizational change.
Preventing Nurse Suicides as New Study Finds Shift in Method
In a new study, University of California San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Health researchers report that the rate of firearm use by female nurses who die by suicide increased between 2014 to 2017. Published December 21, 2020 in the journal Nursing Forum, the study examined more than 2,000 nurse suicides that occurred in the United States from 2003 to 2017 and found a distinct shift from using pharmacological poisoning to firearms, beginning in 2014.
Research explores hallmarks of effective conversations
What makes people good at having conversations? In a recent paper, Cornell researchers explored conversations on a crisis text service in order to figure out how to answer that question.
Child care facilities can be safe and are essential: New Case Western Reserve study
Child care programs can be safe within the context of low community transmission of COVID-19, according to new research from Case Western Reserve University, based on data from child care programs throughout Ohio.
The study took place from Aug. 15 to Nov. 20, during a timeframe of relatively low community transmission of COVID-19. The team found COVID-19 infection rates at child care programs have been low.
Female Athletes in WNBA Don’t Return to Elite Performance for at Least 2 Years After ACL Surgery
DETROIT – With the Michigan high school and collegiate sports season influx due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a study by Sports Medicine researchers at Henry Ford Health System provides a new perspective on performance levels of female athletes after they return from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and reconstructive surgery.
Do I know you? Researchers evaluate how masks disrupt facial perception
The identification of people wearing masks has often presented a unique challenge during the pandemic. A new study by researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel and York University in Canada reveals the impact of this predicament and its potentially significant repercussions.
Virginia Tech researchers uncover mechanisms that wire the brain’s cerebral cortex
A research team at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has identified the type of brain cell that produces a protein that is crucial for the formation of inhibitory circuits in the brain. This insight could one day help scientists establish the basis for developing new drugs that mature or repair cellular networks.
Cannabis could reduce fentanyl use, reduce overdose risk
New research suggests that cannabis use by people in care for opioid addiction might improve their treatment outcomes and reduce their risk of being exposed to fentanyl in the contaminated unregulated drug supply.
Infectious disease detectives: Researchers track and analyze smallpox epidemics over three centuries
Researchers from McMaster University have studied and analyzed thousands of weekly records documenting the deaths of smallpox victims in London, England over the span of nearly 300 years. The analysis provides new and rare insights into the ecology of infectious disease, establishing that the time between epidemics, the size of the outbreaks, and even the season when the epidemics occurred, changed over the centuries.
COVID-19: avoiding hospital caused heart disease death rise
Lower rates of hospital attendance for urgent heart problems during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to avoidable deaths in England, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
Los Alamos study hopes to characterize and optimize ventilator treatment for Covid-19
Cross-disciplinary scientists and engineers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are working to learn how Intrapulmonary Percussive Ventilation (IPV) helps clear mucus from blocking the airways of the human lung, a common reaction to the Covid-19 virus.
Study sheds new light on how the brain distinguishes speech from noise
For the first time, researchers have provided physiological evidence that a pervasive neuromodulation system – a group of neurons that regulate the functioning of more specialized neurons – strongly influences sound processing in an important auditory region of the brain.
Multi-messenger astronomy offers new estimates of the size of neutron stars and the rate of the universe’s expansion
A combination of astrophysical measurements has allowed researchers to put new constraints on the radius of a typical neutron star and provide a novel calculation of the Hubble constant that indicates the rate at which the universe is expanding.
Drinking milk while breastfeeding may reduce the child’s food allergy risk
Children of mothers who drink relatively more cow’s milk during breastfeeding are at reduced risk of developing food allergies.
New 3D maps reveal inner workings of immune cell gene expression
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how our small genetic differences can have a tremendous effect on how our bodies respond to disease. Researchers have created 3D maps of how enhancer sequences and genes interact in several types of immune cells. Their new study opens the door to understanding individual risk for diseases from asthma to cancer.
Digging Deep For Differences In Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
DALLAS – Dec. 21, 2020 – A UT Southwestern research team has catalogued gene activity in the skeletal muscle of mice, comparing healthy animals to those carrying a genetic mutation that causes Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD) in humans. The findings, published online recently in PNAS, could lead to new treatments for this devastating degenerative disease and insights into factors that affect muscle development.
Citizens Versus the Internet: How Psychological Science Can Confront Digital Challenges
In the latest issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of researchers recommends ways that psychological and behavioral sciences can help decrease the negative consequences of Internet use. These recommendations emphasize helping people gain greater control over their digital environments.
Recommendations for the Overdose Epidemic in the COVID-19 Pandemic
A new report from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health offers recommendations aimed at federal, state, and local policymakers to address the opioid epidemic during the pandemic.
Gene pathway linked to schizophrenia identified through stem cell engineering
Using human-induced pluripotent stem cells engineered from a single family’s blood samples, a gene signaling pathway linked to a higher risk for developing schizophrenia was discovered by scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The research was published in a recent issue of Neuropsychopharmacology.
January Issue of SLAS Discovery Features “Cryo-EM: The Resolution Revolution and Drug Discovery”
The January edition of SLAS Discovery features the cover article, “Cryo-EM: The Resolution Revolution and Drug Discovery” by Taiana Maia de Oliveira, Ph.D., Lotte van Beek, Ph.D., Fiona Shilliday, Ph.D., Judit E. Debreczeni, Ph.D., and Chris Phillips, Ph.D., from AstraZeneca.
Crikey! Massive prehistoric croc emerges from South East Queensland
A prehistoric croc measuring more than five metres long – dubbed the ‘swamp king’ – ruled south eastern Queensland waterways only a few million years ago.
Difference in blood pressure between arms linked to greater death risk
Robust evidence from a large international study confirms that a difference in blood pressure readings between arms is linked to greater risk of heart attack, stroke and death.
Remote Monitoring Leads to 4x Decline in Returns to Hospital After Joint Replacements
The rate of hospital readmissions for hip and knee replacement patients declined from roughly 12 percent to 3 percent when they were enrolled in a “hovering” program
Prostate cancer regulator plays role in COVID-19, providing a promising treatment lead
By taking a lesson from prostate cancer, researchers now have a promising lead on a treatment for COVID-19. They found that, just like in prostate cancer, TMPRSS2 is regulated by the androgen receptor in the lungs. And notably, blocking the androgen receptor led to lower expression of TMPRSS2, which led to decreased coronavirus infection in mice and cellular models.
Loss of anti-tumor protein may cause resistance to certain cancer therapies
The absence of a protein that works to prevent tumor formation may explain why some patients are resistant to a common cancer therapy, according to Penn State Cancer Institute and Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
Striking gold: Advanced Photon Source enables catalysis research at small scales
By examining tiny particles of gold with powerful X-ray beams, scientists hope they can learn how to cut down on harmful carbon monoxide emissions from motor vehicles.
Virtual kidney transplant evaluation allows patients to be evaluated for transplantation from home
A virtual telehealth platform is allowing a surgery program to evaluate and wait-list patients for kidney transplantation.
Ettringite Cements Its Potential
Ettringite, a mineral found in cement, can latch on to and detain the wily and worrisome radioactive contaminant, pertechnetate.
Moffitt Researchers Discover Potential New Drug Target to Treat Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma
In order to improve their understanding of how CTCL develops in hopes of developing new therapies, a team of Moffitt immunologists and hematologists conducted a series of studies. In an article published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, they demonstrate that decreased expression of the protein SATB1 contributes to CTCL development and that drugs that cause SATB1 to become re-expressed may be potential treatment options for this disease.
Discovery: How Colorado Potato Beetles Beat Pesticides
New research shows that pesticide alter how Colorado potato beetles manage their DNA. These changes were passed down two generations suggesting that rapid resistance to pesticides may not require beetles to evolve their genetic code. Instead they may simply use existing genes to tolerate toxins already found in potatoes. The scientists were surprised that these epigenetic changes, triggered by a single tiny dose of pesticide, were maintained through multiple rounds of sexual reproduction.
Study Examines Attitudes Toward Non-Native Birds
A new study from scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology examines public attitudes toward non-native bird species and whether people are willing to manage them to protect native cavity-nesting birds, such as Eastern Bluebirds and the American Kestrel. The findings are published in the Journal of Environmental Management.
Grandparents advise each other on navigating the pandemic
It’s no secret that grandparents love being around their grandchildren, which is one reason why the COVID-19 pandemic is so hard on them. Here is some advice from other grandparents on how to make the best of it.
Researchers illuminate neurotransmitter transport using X-ray crystallography and molecular simulations
Scientists from the MIPT Research Center for Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Age-Related Diseases have joined forces with their colleagues from Jülich Research Center, Germany, and uncovered how sodium ions drive glutamate transport in the central nervous system. Glutamate is the most important excitatory neurotransmitter and is actively removed from the synaptic cleft between neurons by specialized transport proteins called excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs)
Big step with small whirls
Skyrmions are small magnetic objects that could revolutionize the data storage industry and also enable new computer architectures. However, before they can be utilized in such applications, there are still a number of challenges that need to be overcome. A team of Empa researchers has now succeeded for the first time in producing a tunable multilayer system in which two different types of skyrmions – the future bits for “0” and “1” – can exist at room temperature, as they recently reported in the renowned journal Nature Communications.
NUS researchers develop foldable tent for safe dental care during the pandemic
Researchers from the National University of Singapore have invented a portable tent-like shield to prevent the spread of saliva and aerosols generated during dental procedures. These procedures would otherwise put dentists at a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and other critical infectious diseases.
Screen Time, Emotional Health Among Parents’ Top Concerns for Kids During the Pandemic
A new national poll gives a glimpse into parents’ greatest concerns about their kids in the pandemic-era. High on the top 10 list: overuse of social media and screen time, internet safety, unhealthy eating, depression and suicide and lack of physical activity.
Study resolves the position of fleas on the tree of life
A study of more than 1,400 protein-coding genes of fleas has resolved one of the longest standing mysteries in the evolution of insects, reordering their placement in the tree of life and pinpointing who their closest relatives are.
Exposure to Metals Can Impact Pregnancy
Exposure to metals such as nickel, arsenic, cobalt and lead may disrupt a woman’s hormones during pregnancy, according to a Rutgers study.
A step toward understanding why COVID-19 boosts stroke risk
A UCLA-led study may help explain how COVID-19 increases the risk for stroke. Scientists made the finding by running fluid spiked with a COVID-19–like protein through a 3D-printed model of the arteries of a patient who had suffered a stroke.
Stroke and Altered Mental State Increase Risk of Death for COVID-19 Patients
People hospitalized with COVID-19 and neurological problems including stroke and confusion, have a higher risk of dying than other COVID-19 patients, according to a study published online today by researchers at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the journal Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. These findings have the potential to identify and focus treatment efforts on individuals most at risk and could decrease COVID-19 deaths.