Eurekalert

Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections contributes to antibiotic resistance, making some bacterial infections difficult to treat. This often leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays and increased mortality. Still, many physicians report prescribing antibiotics at their patients' request. To address patients' expectations for antibiotic prescribing for URTIs, researchers conducted an experiment in which study participants were assigned brief educational videos to watch on a tablet immediately prior to their appointment.

In a recent paper published in PNAS, a team of researchers led by McGill University, has described a number of factors affecting how five, very different, species of bacteria search and navigate through varied microfluidic environments which pose various decisional challenges. This increased understanding of the bacterial space searching and navigational 'strategies' has wide ranging implications for everything from health to the environment.

Between 11% to 40% of adults in the United States experience chronic pain, and primary care physicians may feel ill-equipped to effectively and safely care for patients with chronic pain, addiction or both. Researchers from Tufts University conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary consultation service that supports primary care physicians who care for patients experiencing chronic pain and addiction. The goal was to identify new and effective strategies that clinics can use to support PCPs.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company conducted a study to evaluate the effectiveness of shared medical appointments for people with pre-diabetes compared with a group of patients receiving usual care.

You enter a room and quickly scan the crowd to gain a sense of who's there - how many men versus women. How reliable is your estimate?Not very, according to new research from Duke University. In an experimental study, researchers found that participants consistently erred in estimating the proportion of men and women in a group. And participants erred in a particular way: They overestimated whichever group was in the minority.

It's widely understood that people taking a common class of antibiotics, like ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, run the risk of tendonitis and tendon ruptures. However, a new analysis sheds light on newer, third-generation fluoroquinolones and suggests they may have a lower risk of Achilles tendon rupture.

Most patients with depression are treated in primary care, however, relatively few clinical trials for treating depression have focused on primary care. Researchers at the Vrije University Amsterdam examined the effects of the two major approaches to treating depression: psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, as well as combined treatment and care-as-usual.

Instead of relying on software to tackle computationally intensive puzzles, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) took an unconventional approach. They created a design for an electronic hardware system that directly replicates the architecture of many types of networks.

Surgical cesarean births can expose new mothers to a range of health complications, including infection, blood clots and hemorrhage. As part of Healthy People 2020 and other maternal health objectives, the state of California exerted pressure to reduce cesarean deliveries, and statewide organizations established quality initiatives in partnership with those goals.

New research shows that individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) -- an estimated 38 million worldwide, according to the World Health Organization -- have an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and fatal outcomes from COVID-19.

With the US federal government investing billions of taxpayer dollars in executing technology programs, wouldn't you like to know where this money is going? A new study has identified ways to reduce federal spending in the execution of these taxpayer-funded technology programs.

A new study has identified a scent receptor in mosquitoes that helps them sniff out and avoid trace amounts of pyrethrum, a plant extract used for centuries to repel biting insects. These findings could help researchers develop new broad spectrum repellents to keep a variety of mosquito species at bay, and by extension stop them from biting people and spreading disease.

Using a targeted antibody called αGITR, tumor-promoting immune cells called regulatory T cells (Tregs) can be reprogrammed into cancer-killing immune cells in glioblastomas. Combining the αGITR antibody with immune-checkpoint-blocking drugs may benefit patients with glioblastomas, the most aggressive and uniformly fatal type of brain tumor.

This study comprehensively documents rising levels of chronic pain among Americans aged 25-84 to show that pain prevalence -- already high at baseline -- increased substantially from 2002-18, with increases evident in all leading pain sits (joint, back, neck, jaw and migraine).

Researchers successfully used a protein called parapinopsin to turn off brain circuits. This protein is found in lamprey - an ancient lineage of jawless fish similar to eel. This could eventually lead to turning off unwanted behaviors like addiction and depression.

A team of Oregon State University scientists has discovered a new class of anti-cancer compounds that effectively kill liver and breast cancer cells.

Researchers have been able to reduce scarring by blocking part of the healing process in research that could make a significant difference for burns and other trauma patients.

Just a few changes to an enzyme's amino acids can be enough to dramatically change its function, enabling microbes to inhabit wildly different environments.

Scientists now better understand early bacterial evolution, thanks to new research featuring University of Queensland researchers.

COVID-19 patients who receive oxygen therapy or experience fever show reduced gray matter volume in the frontal-temporal network of the brain, according to a new study led by researchers at Georgia State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The study's findings demonstrate changes to the frontal-temporal network could be used as a biomarker to determine the likely prognosis of Covid-19 or evaluate treatment options for the disease.