Eurekalert

A new study indicates that the accumulation of several unfavourable environmental factors increases the risk for an extreme form of multiple drug use or "polytoxicomania". Risk factors comprise sexual and physical abuse, living in a big city, experience of migration as well as the use of cannabis and alcohol before the age of 18.

WEHI researchers have identified how natural human antibodies can block malaria parasites from entering red blood cells, potentially indicating how new protective therapies could be developed against this globally significant disease.The research provides greater insight into how antibodies block the entry of Plasmodium vivax malaria parasites into young red blood cells called reticulocytes. It builds on an earlier discovery that the P. vivax latches onto the transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) to enter cells.

Bowel cancer survival rates could be improved if chemotherapy drugs were delivered via tiny nanoparticles to the diseased organs rather than oral treatment.

Green (no-take) and yellow (limited take) fishing zones within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park equally support a great diversity of fish species. The new research on yellow zones is crucial for future marine park management.

A new study, presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, found that heart transplantation using donation after cardiac death (DCD) with normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) is feasible in the United States. Broader application of DCD heart transplantation has the potential to increase cardiac allograft availability by 20-30 percent.

A new study, presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, finds that AATS Foundation fellowships support success in academic surgery career tracks. The AATS Foundation has two primary grant funding mechanisms: the AATS Foundation Scholarship and the Surgical Investigator Award. The study looked at publications, citations, NIH funding, and leadership position of awardees, among other factors.

A new study, presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, found that patients treated surgically for segmental Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH) had excellent outcomes with the vast majority doing very well in the long term without any additional treatment other than surgery.

A new study, presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, shows an association between decreased survival at five years and leaving an atrial communication at biventricular repair of unbalanced AVSD after adjusting for other known risk factors. The study sought to determine factors associated with mortality after biventricular repair of AVSD.

An international team led by SPECS Lab at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) reveals how the brain improves through self-supervised learning. Researchers also propose a novel brain-based solution to solve a fundamental challenge in artificial intelligence: how machines could learn without direct supervision. In their opinion article, scientists provide evidence for their hypothesis and new insights into the anatomy and physiology of the core memory system in the human brain: the hippocampus.

Preliminary results of a clinical trial, presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, showed that a new, low-profile thoracic aortic endograft is safe and effective in the treatment of descending thoracic aortic aneurysm or penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer (PAU) diseases.

A new study, presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, finds that patients suffering from severe mitral regurgitation should be carefully screened and counselled before undergoing transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral repair (TEER).

A new study presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, found that the percentage of patients undergoing esophagectomy for cancer who suffer Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) post-operatively is much higher than previously reported, with as many as 24 percent suffering from Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) or Pulmonary Embolism (PE). Six-month mortality for patients with VTE was 17.6 percent compared to 2.1 percent for those without.

A new study by The Ohio State University College of Nursing found that critical care nurses nationwide reported alarmingly high levels of stress, depressive symptoms and anxiety even before the COVID-19 pandemic began. These factors correlated with an increase in self-reported medical errors.

To make a greater impact, scholars need to overcome the curse of knowledge so they can package their ideas with concrete, technical, and active writing.

The information presented in this study is primarily positioned to benefit scientists and experts in regenerative medicine where new tools strategies to treat liver diseases are required. The evidence presented in this manuscript illustrates exploiting small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) derived from interferon-γ (IFN-γ) pre-conditioned MSCs (γ-sEVs) can be a foundational formulation for a therapeutic solution that will be accessible, cost effective, and efficacious in treating liver diseases.

31% of pet dogs and 40% of pet cats tested positive to COVID-19 after their owners' own diagnoses, though under half displayed symptoms, in small Brazilian study.

In a recent article published in the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, researchers discuss how bad user design is especially detrimental to the underprivileged and how a wider usability movement can help 'everyone, everywhere.'

Largest study so far of more than 17 million adults in England confirms that minority ethnic groups had a higher risk of testing positive, hospitalisation, admission to intensive care units (ICU), and death from COVID-19 compared with white groups, even after accounting for other factors known to increase risk like deprivation, occupation, household size and underlying health conditions.

Supporting female survivors of childhood maltreatment is critical to disrupting intergenerational abuse as new research from the University of South Australia shows a clear link between parents who have suffered abuse and the likelihood of their children suffering the same fate.

The marine worm Ramisyllis multicaudata is one of only two such species possessing a branching body, with one head and multiple posterior ends. An international research team led by the Universities of Göttingen and Madrid is the first to describe the internal anatomy of this intriguing animal. The researchers discovered that the complex body of this worm spreads extensively in the canals of their host sponges. Results were published in the Journal of Morphology.