Feed aggregator
Study: Men doing more family caregiving could lower their risk of suicide
A new study provides insight into what may contribute to men's suicide vulnerability.
Categories: Content
The end of Darwin's nightmare at Lake Victoria?
Lake Victoria, which came under the spotlight in 2004 by the documentary "Darwin's nightmare", is not only suffering from the introduction and commercialisation of the Nile perch. A study lead researchers from the University of Liège (Belgium) has highlighted other worrying phenomena, particularly climatic ones, which have an equally important impact on the quality of the lake's waters.
Categories: Content
Will reduction in tau protein protect against Parkinson's and Lewy body dementias?
Will a reduction in tau protein in brain neurons protect against Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementias? A new study suggests the answer is no. If this is borne out, that result differs from Alzheimer's disease, where reducing endogenous tau levels in brain neurons is protective for multiple models of the disease -- and thus suggests that the role of tau in the pathogenesis of Lewy body dementias is distinct from Alzheimer's disease.
Categories: Content
Overcoming a newly recognized form of resistance to modern prostate cancer drugs
In a new study, a team of researchers uncovered new mechanisms underlying an important type of resistance to modern prostate cancer drugs called lineage plasticity, where castration-resistant prostate cancers undergo a deadly identity switch. They also outline a promising path to overcoming this form of resistance: BET bromodomain inhibitors.
Categories: Content
Princeton-led team discovers unexpected quantum behavior in kagome lattice
An international team led by Princeton researchers explored quantum structures called kagome lattices and found insights into the fundamental understanding of quantum order leading to orbital magnetism - that is, magnetism that arises from extended orbital motion of electrons rather than their spin. The findings hint at behaviors that could be precursors of unconventional superconductivity and an anomalous Hall effect.
Categories: Content
Team describes science-based hiccups intervention
A science-based intervention relieved hiccups for 92% of 249 users who self-reported the effectiveness of the tool. The study is in JAMA Network Open and is from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) and collaborating investigators.
Categories: Content
Scientists detect signatures of life remotely
It could be a milestone on the path to detecting life on other planets: Scientists under the leadership of the University of Bern and of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS detect a key molecular property of all living organisms from a helicopter flying several kilometers above ground. The measurement technology could also open up opportunities for remote sensing of the Earth.
Categories: Content
Researchers find losartan is not effective in reducing hospitalization from mild COVID-19
University of Minnesota Medical School researchers determined that the common blood pressure medication, losartan, is not effective in reducing hospitalization for mildly-ill COVID-19 outpatients.
Categories: Content
Use rewards effectively to boost creativity
To boost employees' creativity, managers should consider offering a set of rewards for them to choose from, according to a new study by management experts at Rice University, Tulane University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and National Taiwan Normal University.
Categories: Content
The true spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection is much greater than that observed by capturing only swab-diagnosed COVID-19 cases
COVID-19: The MAINSTREAM project in Lombardy, Italy -- The true prevalence of COVID-19 is still unknown due to the high proportion of subclinical infection. Measuring seroprevalence may be crucial to improve knowledge about the impact of COVID-19 in rheumatic patients. Data shared at the 2021 EULAR congress highlight that the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection is much greater than that observed by capturing only swab-diagnosed COVID-19 cases, but consistent with healthy population.
Categories: Content
Two U of M Medical School studies provide new evidence to battle drug price increases
Two recent studies led by researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School add new evidence to the impact of how drug price increases affect US patients and the overall cost of health care.
Categories: Content
COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in people with rheumatic diseases
Population-based data shared at the EULAR 2021 congress -- The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2) is of particular concern for people with inflammatory diseases, and there are concerns that these people may be at higher risk and have poorer outcomes. However, at present the implications remain poorly understood. Population-based data from Spain show individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) had an increased risk of COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization compared to the general population. Similarly, data from the ARTIS database in Sweden show risks of severe COVID-19 were increased among people with inflammatory joint diseases.
Categories: Content
An increase in giant cell arteritis cases associated with peaks in COVID-19 prevalence
UK data shared at the 2021 EULAR congress -- Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is an inflammatory disease that affects the arteries, often causing headaches, jaw pain, and vision problems. The precise cause is not known, but infection is thought to play a role. Immediately following the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of GCA diagnoses noticeably increased at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath, United Kingdom (UK). Furthermore, there was an increase in the proportion of patients with visual complications. The finding is important for understanding the underlying disease mechanisms in GCA, and supports the idea that viral infection could be involved. It also has implications for the provision of local services.
Categories: Content
There is an unacceptable delay to diagnosis in axial spondyloarthritis
Developing a call to action for a global healthcare challenge -- The current delay to diagnosis from symptom onset represents one of the greatest challenges in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) - a type of inflammatory arthritis affecting the back. Research shows an average delay of almost 7 years - and up to 15 years in some cases - during which time the condition can progress and lead to irreversible damage. Data indicates that women wait longer than men for a diagnosis, and there has been very limited progress in reducing the time to diagnosis. This delay has a hugely detrimental impact on a person's quality of life. Because the disease frequently has early onset, individuals are left untreated - or with incorrectly treated symptoms - at a formative period in their life course.
Categories: Content
VIMS study uncovers new cause for intensification of oyster disease
Researchers at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science reveal that intensification of major oyster disease was due to evolving parasite, not just drought as previously thought.
Categories: Content
The Earth has a pulse -- a 27.5-million-year cycle of geological activity
Geologic activity on Earth appears to follow a 27.5-million-year cycle, giving the planet a 'pulse,' according to a new study published in the journal Geoscience Frontiers.
Categories: Content
Graphene drum: Researchers develop new phonon laser design
Professor Konstantin Arutyunov of the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM HSE), together with Chinese researchers, has developed a graphene-based mechanical resonator, in which coherent emission of sound energy quanta, or phonons, has been induced. Such devices, called phonon lasers, have wide potential for application in information processing, as well as classical and quantum sensing of materials. The study is published in the journal Optics Express.
Categories: Content
Evolution -- two routes to the same destination
Fruit flies have found at least two solutions to the problem of sorting their sex chromosomes: a matter of life and death.
Categories: Content
Inflammation of the eye after drug withdrawal in children with arthritis
Uveitis is an inflammation of the eye and is a common extra-articular manifestation associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). It can cause vision-threatening complications, and if left uncontrolled may even lead to blindness. The majority of children develop uveitis within the first 2 years after arthritis symptom onset, but it can continue into adulthood. This is the first prospective study to analyzed uveitis risk after drug withdrawal, and found that uveitis relapses are common. Rheumatologists and ophthalmologists should be aware and should plan for uveitis screening after drug withdrawal.
Categories: Content
Decline in excess risk of dementia and heart failure in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Data released at the 2021 EULAR congress show a substantial decline in the risk of both dementia and heart failure in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) onset in the 2000s as compared to 1980s -- coinciding with the advent of novel biologic treatments for RA.
Categories: Content