Culture

Some words sound like what they mean. For example, "slurp" sounds like the noise we make when we drink from a cup, and "teeny" sounds like something that is very small. This resemblance between how a word sounds and what it means is known as iconicity.

Before undergoing surgery, patients often go through a number of tests: blood work, sometimes a chest X-ray, perhaps tests to measure heart and lung function.

In fact, about half of patients who had one of three common surgical procedures done in Michigan between 2015 and the midway point of 2019 received at least one routine test beforehand.

The experimental heart failure drug omecamtiv mecarbil reduced heart failure hospitalizations by a greater margin among patients with more severely reduced ejection fraction, a measure indicating severe impairment in the heart's pumping ability, compared with those who had moderately reduced ejection fraction, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

One of the enduring mysteries of the COVID-19 pandemic is why most children tend to experience fewer symptoms than adults after infection with the coronavirus. The immune system response that occurs in the rare cases in which children experience life-threatening reactions after infection may offer an important insight, a Yale-led study published in the journal Immunity suggests.

Inserm teams led by Laurent Reber (Infinity, Toulouse) and Pierre Bruhns (Humoral Immunity, Institut Pasteur, Paris) and French company NEOVACS have developed a vaccine that could induce long-term protection against allergic asthma, reducing the severity of its symptoms and thus significantly improving patient quality of life. Their research in animals has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction who took the antifibrotic drug pirfenidone saw a significant reduction in a marker of heart muscle scarring compared with patients who received a placebo, based on findings from an early-phase trial presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

Patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) did not have better health outcomes if they took sacubitril/valsartan combination therapy compared with valsartan alone, according to new data presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

The likelihood of people surviving COVID-19 in UK hospitals has been improving over time, a new study has found.

Research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine by the ISARIC Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium found that in-hospital mortality declined from 32% at the start of the first wave (Mar-Apr 2020) to 16% at the end of the first wave (Jun-Jul 2020).

A group of Brazilian and Portuguese researchers observed a correlation between the presence of lead in the organism and a microRNA (miRNA) that could be associated with the mechanisms that regulate DNA methylation, a physiological process required to control gene expression and ensure that genes function properly.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found a link between traffic-related air pollution and an increased risk for age-related dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. Their study, based on rodent models, corroborates previous epidemiological evidence showing this association.

In patients receiving therapeutic hypothermia after suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, those who were cooled below 31 degrees Celsius (about 88 degrees Fahrenheit) for 24 hours showed no difference in terms of death or poor neurological outcomes at six months compared with patients receiving guideline-recommended cooling of 34 C (about 93 F). These findings are part of a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

Patients with chronic kidney disease and Type 2 diabetes who took the experimental drug finerenone were about 30% less likely to develop the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation (AFib) than those taking a placebo, according to data presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

A subgroup of patients who experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) that did not respond to standard advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), were immediately transported to a cardiac care center, and placed on a device similar to a heart-lung bypass machine were more likely to have survived with good brain function six months later than similar patients who received standard care at the site where the OHCA occurred. The study was presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

The ocean is a big place with many deep, dark mysteries. Humans have mapped no more than 20% of the sea, and explored less. Even the kelp forests of Southern California -- among the best studied patches of ocean on the planet -- hide species not yet described by science.

Alcohol appears to have an immediate--or near-immediate--effect on heart rhythm, significantly increasing the chance that an episode of atrial fibrillation (AFib) will occur, according to new data presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.