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PHILADELPHIA (June 7, 2021) - An article written almost 30 years ago helps frame social constructs around the COVID-19 pandemic. By reviewing the essay, an historian of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) extends that construct to include nurses and patients, delivering a local and personal meaning to the epidemic experience.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt and end lives around the world, and public health officials worldwide have recognized vaccines as the critical tools required for controlling the COVID-19 death toll and achieving a return to normal life. Several vaccines against COVID-19 are already in use, but the limited supplies of these vaccines and the possibility of safety and efficacy issues of the existing vaccines mean that it is important for scientists to develop more (and even better) vaccines.

C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) is a very rare immunological (or more precisely: complement-mediated) inflammation of the glomeruli. Due to progressive renal dysfunction, many such patients have to go on dialysis or receive a kidney transplant after about ten years. C3G has to date been treated by lowering blood pressure and proteinuria and by non-specific immunosuppression. In order to compare different therapeutic approaches in the future, a 'European Register for C3 glomerulopathy and immune-complex-mediated MPGN', in which cases are systematically registered, was initiated in 2015.

Mental health visits for new mothers were 30% higher during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic, particularly in the first 3 months after giving birth, found new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.210151

New research indicates that patients hospitalized with active cancer were more likely to die from COVID-19 than those with a history of cancer or those without any cancer diagnosis.

Accumulation of water in the lungs (lungcongestion) is a common condition in hemodialysis patients, particularly in those at high cardiovascular risk, like those presenting coronary artery disease and/or heart failure. This alteration can be detected in an X-ray image, but cannot be heard easily with a stethoscope. When the congestion becomes so severe that fluid floods the alveoli ('alveolar pulmonary edema'), the sound of rattling breathing can be heard (and without a stethoscope at a later stage).

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a chronic kidney disease occurring in young adults and is one of the most common reasons for kidney transplantation in this age group. IgAN is the most common form of glomerulonephritis (GN), i.e., immunologically induced inflammation of the renal glomeruli. It is characterized by glomerular deposition of immune complexes containing immunoglobulin A (IgA), and by a complex inflammatory response and progressive loss of kidney function. For many decades, IgAN has therefore been treated with anti-inflammatory or strong immunosuppressive agents.

LA JOLLA, CALIF. - June 7, 2021 - A preclinical study led by scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys has established that AAV8-TNAP-D10--a gene therapy that replaces a key enzyme found in bone--may be a safe and effective single-dose treatment for hypophosphatasia (HPP). The study, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and performed in a murine model of the disease, further supports advancing the therapy toward human clinical trials.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A study by Mayo Clinic researchers provides some clarity in the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC), such as apixaban and rivaroxaban, to treat acute venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with gastrointestinal cancers. The findings were published Wednesday, June 2, in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Among the study's findings:

Rivaroxaban showed no higher risk of bleeding in luminal gastrointestinal cancer and should not be considered contraindicated in this group of patients.

Cancer researchers say they have established a new, life-extending treatment option for men with prostate cancer that has spread and become resistant to hormone therapy. The injected treatment combines a targeting compound with a radioactive isotope to irradiate and kill cancer cells.

The new drug sotorasib reduces tumor size and shows promise in improving survival among patients with lung tumors caused by a specific DNA mutation, according to results of a global phase 2 clinical trial. The drug is designed to shut down the effects of the mutation, which is found in about 13% of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, a common type of non-small-cell lung cancer.

Leesburg, VA, June 4, 2021--According to a pilot study published in ARRS' American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), the flexed elbow valgus external rotation (FEVER) view can improve MRI evaluation of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers.

"The increased joint space width confirms elbow valgus stress with FEVER view," wrote corresponding author Thomas Knoblauch at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. "Diagnostic confidence increased, and additional UCLs were identified as abnormal."

Hospital price transparency is intended to help inform patients about the cost of services and procedures before they receive them. Since Jan. 1, 2021, hospitals in the U.S. have been required by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide pricing information online about items and services. A team of researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear leveraged the newly available data to analyze price transparency and price variation for the treatment of thyroid cancer.

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HOUSTON - Results from the Phase II cohort of the CodeBreaK 100 study showed that treatment with the KRAS G12C inhibitor sotorasib achieved a 37.1% objective response rate and 12.5 months median overall survival in previously treated patients with KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings were presented today at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a deadly infection that occurs in every part of the world. The standard treatment for TB, a six-month multidrug regimen, has not changed in more than 40 years. Patients can find it difficult to complete the lengthy regimen, making it more likely that treatment resistance will develop.