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October 31, 2019 sarah JonasFeature

A suicide risk screening tool that Johns Hopkins Medicine implemented in its pediatric emergency department six years ago appears to provide an accurate gauge of which youth are most vulnerable and has identified more than 2,000 patients who might benefit from mental health treatment and resources, according to a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Medicine

Man with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Lives to Tell the Tale

John Kaczmarczyk, 58, was unconscious at the bottom of a flight of stairs in his home when his wife and son found him.

Potential Genetic Markers of Multiple Sclerosis Severity

In a bid to determine factors linked to the most debilitating forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have identified three so-called “complement system” genes that appear to play a role in MS-caused vision loss. The researchers were able to single out these genes — known to be integral in the development of the brain and immune systems — by using DNA from MS patients along with high-tech retinal scanning.

Common early sign of cardiovascular disease also may indicate cancer risk, study finds

A Mayo Clinic-led study involving 488 cardiac patients whose cases were followed for up to 12 years finds that microvascular endothelial dysfunction, a common early sign of cardiovascular disease, is associated with a greater than twofold risk of cancer.

The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, finds that microvascular endothelial dysfunction may be a useful marker for predicting risk of solid-tumor cancer, in addition to its known ability to predict more advanced cardiovascular disease, says Amir Lerman, M.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiologist and the study’s senior author.

Strive to remember: Researchers find high-intensity exercise improves memory in seniors

Researchers at McMaster University who examine the impact of exercise on the brain have found that high-intensity workouts improve memory in older adults.

LLNL leads multi-institutional team in modeling protein interactions tied to cancer

Computational scientists, biophysicists and statisticians from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are leading a massive multi-institutional collaboration that has developed a machine learning-based simulation for next-generation supercomputers capable of modeling protein interactions and mutations that play a role in many forms of cancers.

Vampire folklore has more chemistry than you’d think (video)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2019 — Halloween season wouldn’t be the same without the undead. This week on Reactions, we unpack the chemistry that might have inspired one of our favorites: the vampire: https:/ / youtu. be/ hTtitLeGvV0 . Reactions is…

Major conference explores challenges and opportunities in cybersecurity

CCS 2019 program addresses security in variety of environments, Including cloud, IoT, social media and elections

DNA exchange among species is major contributor to diversity in Heliconius butterflies

Exchange of genetic material among species played a major role in the wide diversity of Heliconius butterflies, according to a new study, results of which inform a centuries-long debate about the value of hybridization to species evolution. The work “documents…

Fishery in Lake Shinji, Japan, collapsed 1 year after neonicotinoid use

Neonicotinoid pesticide use may have caused the abrupt collapse of two commercial fisheries on Lake Shinji, Japan, in 1993, according to a new study. While the negative impacts of the world’s most widely used insecticide on pollinator species are well…

In unvaccinated children, ‘immune amnesia’ occurs in the wake of measles infection

Two separate investigations into the immune systems of 77 unvaccinated children before and after measles infection have revealed the infection can cripple immunity against viruses and bacteria for the long-term, creating a kind of “immune amnesia” that leaves individuals more…

Slow-wave sleep critical to brain’s automatic ‘self-rinse’ cycle

Slow oscillating neural activity during non-REM sleep triggers waves of cerebrospinal fluid that flow in and out of the sleeping brain, washing it of harmful metabolic waste products, researchers find. Their new study reveals a key component in the neurophysiology…

Movement and flow: Simulating complexity of fluids and strands in the virtual world

New method to be presented at SIGGRAPH Asia

Disruptions of salesperson-customer relationships. Is that always bad?

News from the Journal of Marketing

For Patients with Sepsis, an Infectious Disease Expert May Reduce the Risk of Death

When people with severe sepsis, an extreme overreaction by the body to a serious infection, come to the emergency room (ER), they require timely, expert care to prevent organ failure and even death. When that care includes the early involvement of an infectious disease (ID) specialist, patient mortality can be reduced by as much as 40 percent, according to a new retrospective, single-center study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

It takes more than a catchy headline for health awareness campaigns to inspire action

A Keck School of Medicine of USC study compared the Pinktober and Movember movements, showing that reach and engagement do not always lead people to research screening options

Berkeley Lab Innovations Recognized With 3 R&D 100 Awards

Cutting-edge technologies from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to detect radiation, make buildings more energy efficient, and accelerate neuroscience research were honored with R&D 100 Awards by R&D World magazine.

A deadly fungus is wiping out North American bats while Eurasian bats have learned to live with it. An international team wants to know why.

Wildlife disease ecologist Jeff Foster of Northern Arizona University is partnering with researchers throughout the world to study the spread of white-nose syndrome, which was discovered in North America in 2006. Researchers believed it migrated from Europe and has continued moving west.

UCLA expert available to discuss the stress, emotional trauma and psychological impact of the California wildfires

UCLA Health has an expert available to discuss ways to cope with the stress, trauma and psychological implications of the California wildfires. Emmanuel Maidenberg is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Jane and Terry Semel…

Argonne and partners take home nine R&D 100 Awards in 2019

Research teams at Argonne National Laboratory have won nine R&D 100 awards, three more are named finalists.

Why It Matters: The Big Red Button

A U.S. president can launch a first-strike nuclear attack at any time and, according to the law, does not need to seek advice first. Some experts think that’s too much power to put in one person’s hands.

Trick or Treat Safely with Tips from the American Fitness Index®

Halloween can be a fun holiday for the whole family! The American Fitness® Index offers these safety tips to keep trick-or-treaters and party goers safe!

Researchers explore using computer simulations to improve experiments

Penn State chemical engineering researchers recently received a four-year, $1.75 million grant from the National Science Foundation to explore the integration of computer simulations with experiments to quicken the development of new flexible electronics. 

How Will Your Thinking and Memory Change with Age?

How well eight-year-olds score on a test of thinking skills may be a predictor of how they will perform on tests of thinking and memory skills when they are 70 years old, according to a study published in the October 30, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found that education level and socioeconomic status were also predictors of thinking and memory performance. Socioeconomic status was determined by people’s occupation at age 53.

Lost Lou Reed recording for Andy Warhol discovered by Cornell musicologist

Twelve previously unreleased songs by Hall of Fame artist Lou Reed have been discovered on a cassette tape from 1975, stored in the archives of the Andy Warhol Museum.

BYE-BYE, BEACHES

Those beaches, as we know them today at least, almost certainly will not last. By the end of the 21st century, more than $150 billion in property along our coast could be under water. That’s because the level of the sea is rising at an alarming rate, putting these areas at risk for devastating floods.

Sen. Sanders Lauds New Partnership Focused on Increasing College and Career Readiness

Four Vermont schools have joined CFES Brilliant Pathways’ growing network of programs across the US and Ireland in support of students becoming college and career ready. The addition of the Vermont schools supports a statewide initiative known as Advance Vermont launched in 2017 by Gov. Phil Scott focused on 70 percent of working-age residents attaining a postsecondary degree or credential of value.

Improving ecology restoration outcomes

Taking into account the target species, their interactions with existing species and the site’s environmental conditions may increase the success of restoration projects.

Olin College Awarded Grant to Expand Public Interest Work

Olin College received a grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) to expand its work in public interest technology. With the funds from the grant, Olin will launch a student-led Public Interest Technology Clinic named PInT. The work of the clinic will include: supporting students to work with outside stakeholders on PIT projects, providing summer fellowships for students to pursue in-depth PIT work within partner organizations and communities; and convening a series of events and conversations about engineering, policy, and society, and the responsibility of engineers.

Viticulture gets a boost with yield predicting, threat detecting robots

For grape growers, accurately predicting each season’s yield is key to a successful harvest. Underpredict, and you won’t have enough labor on hand or you’ll run out of storage space; overpredict, and you could fall through on promises to your distributors.

Well Living Lab study shows cognitive performance of office workers improves when windows provide access to daylight, view

New research from the Well Living Lab, a Delos™ and Mayo Clinic collaboration, shows that office areas with windows, which provide people with natural light and views of the outdoors, improve workers’ cognitive performance and satisfaction with their office environment.

Collaboration with Texas Biomed, SwRI and UT Health San Antonio targets Bladder Cancer

The San Antonio Medical Foundation (SAMF) has awarded Texas Biomedical Research Institute Professor Jordi B. Torrelles, Ph.D., with a $173,000 grant to study a modified Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette et Guérin (BCG) vaccine shown to have promise for treating bladder cancer. BCG is a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis, a vaccine for tuberculosis.

Lessons from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on How to be a “Good Neighbor”

The film, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, starring Tom Hanks as Rogers, is scheduled for release next month. Louis Benjamin Rolsky, a part-time lecturer in Rutgers University– New Brunswick’s Department of Religious Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences

Shelter animals receive care at ISU College of Veterinary Medicine on their way to adoption

A surgery, anesthesia and community outreach course for third-year veterinary students at Iowa State University prepares students for clinical practice while helping dogs and cats in animal shelters and rescues get adopted. The program treats all common problems presented in shelter pets, including eye, ear and skin problems and gastrointestinal parasites.

Advanced microscopy reveals unusual DNA structure

An advanced imaging technique reveals new structural details of S-DNA, ladder-like DNA that forms when the molecule experiences extreme tension. This work conducted at Sandia National Laboratories and Vrije University in the Netherlands provides the first experimental evidence that S-DNA contains highly tilted base pairs.

Blood Test Can Predict Prognosis in Deadly Brain Cancer

A blood test that measures the amount of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the bloodstream – called a liquid biopsy – correlates with how patients will progress after they are diagnosed with glioblastoma (GBM), the deadliest and most common primary brain tumor in adults

Lean Hospitals? How Lessons from Manufacturing Can Improve Health Care

Despite its origins in manufacturing, lean thinking has shown the potential to transform other process-oriented industries, including healthcare. According to Darden Professor Elliott N. Weiss, when it comes to process improvement and eliminating waste, lean is as effective in the hospital as it is on the factory floor.

Tips for accommodating allergies and medical conditions on Thanksgiving

Hosting a holiday celebration can be stressful when trying to accommodate allergies and various medical conditions. Alexa Schmidt, a registered dietitian at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has tips for hosting a Thanksgiving meal that is accommodating to…

Buffalo State expert available to speak on STEM disciplines

Joseph Zawicki, associate professor of earth sciences and science education at Buffalo State, is available to speak about the STEM disciplines, and their impact on the future. Through his work with the WNY STEM Hub, as president of the board of directors, and the New…

How do you know it’s perfect graphene?

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have discovered an indicator that reliably demonstrates a sample’s high quality, and it was one that was hiding in plain sight for decades.

Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Missouri’s Hearing Over Planned Parenthood Health Center License and the Temporal Block of Alabama’s Abortion Ban

New Brunswick, N.J. (October 30, 2019) — Professor Leslie M. Kantor, a reproductive health expert at the Rutgers School of Public Health, is available to comment on the ongoing hearing to determine the fate of Missouri’s only abortion clinic and the…

Machine Learning Leads to Novel Way to Track Tremor Severity in Parkinson’s Patients

Physical exams only provide a snapshot of a Parkinson’s patient’s daily tremor experience. Scientists have developed algorithms that, combined with wearable sensors, can continuously monitor patients and estimate total Parkinsonian tremor as they perform a variety of free body movements in their natural settings. This new method holds great potential for providing a full spectrum of patients’ tremors and medication response, providing clinicians with key information to effectively manage and treat their patients with this disorder.

Opioid-Related Gifts from Pharma Companies Linked to Physician Prescribing by Specialty

Physicians who received gifts from pharmaceutical companies related to opioid medications were more likely to prescribe opioids to their patients in the following year, according to a new analysis.

The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine Is Now Indexed in PubMed

AACC, a global scientific and medical professional organization dedicated to better health through laboratory medicine, is pleased to announce that its peer-reviewed publication The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine has been accepted for indexing in PubMed, one of the largest and most respected databases of medical research in the world.

Mayo Clinic receives $15 million gift to jump-start new ideas, transform patient care

After giving $200 million to Mayo Clinic — the largest gift in the organization’s history — noted philanthropist Jay Alix has extended his generosity with an additional $15 million endowed gift. The fund will provide resources directed by the Mayo Clinic president and CEO to advance innovative ideas with the potential to transform health care.

GW Experts Are Available to Speak for Stories during Lung Cancer Awareness Month

WASHINGTON (Oct. 30, 2019) — November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and according to the American Cancer Society, more than 220,000 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed each year. The George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center has various experts…

MITRE’s Expertise Across AI, Cybersecurity, and Genetic Research Highlighted in Leading Publications

Demonstrating expertise across many domains including cybersecurity, health research, and defense, experts from MITRE are regularly published in leading journals. Invited to enter the company’s annual Best Paper Competition, this year’s winning submissions were announced.

Tuninetti named 2019 Singer Professor in the Humanities

Ángel Tuninetti is a passionate advocate for the importance of the humanities in higher education and society. He has been named the 2019 Singer Professor in the Humanities, recognizing his dedication and commitment to the study of the Spanish language and Latin American literature and cultures.

New NCCN Guidelines Debut to Manage Complications and Improve Readiness for Stem Cell Transplant Recipients