Culture

BOSTON - Approximately one in four patients hospitalized for the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) associated with severe COVID-19 infections may have a distinct phenotype (disease presentation) or biochemical profile associated with organ dysfunction, blood-clotting abnormalities and greater risk of death than patients with other, seemingly similar forms of the disease, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found.

Researchers at the University of Zurich show that increased sensitivity in a specific region of the brain contributes to the development of anxiety and depression in response to real-life stress. Their study establishes an objective neurobiological measure for stress resilience in humans.

The COVID-19 disease due to infection by the SARS-CoV2 virus has changed the behavior patterns of humanity by becoming a pandemic of international scope. To date, more than 136 million people have suffered from the disease and more than 2.9 million of them have lost their lives. It is important to remember that the symptoms of the infection vary widely in the population, from individuals who do not present any symptoms to those who need admission to intensive care units with emergency assisted ventilation.

Key takeaways

Pancreatic, liver, bile duct, and stomach cancer operations are inherently complex and initially often take place at large cancer centers where surgical teams perform a large volume of procedures.
Readmission to a different hospital from where patients had these operations initially performed markedly increases death risk.
There are ways to address care fragmentation with newly identified risk factors for readmission; cancer hospitals should seek to determine safe sites of care for readmissions after these types of operations.

Hamilton, ON (April 14, 2021) - Modified immune cells that ruthlessly kill cancerous tumours may prove a game-changer for people living with late-stage cancer.

McMaster University researchers Ali Ashkar and Sophie Poznanski have uncovered that changing the metabolism of natural killer (NK) immune cells allows these cells to overcome the hostile conditions found inside tumours and destroy advanced ovarian and lung cancer.

The DNA molecule is not naked in the nucleus. Instead, it is folded in a very organized way by the help of different proteins to establish a unique spatial organization of the genetic information. This 3D spatial genome organization is fundamental for the regulation of our genes and has to be established de novo by each individual during early embryogenesis.

Leesburg, VA, April 15, 2021--A Scientific E-Poster to be presented at the 2021 ARRS Virtual Annual Meeting found that as the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 transitions from a numerical score to pass or fail--as early as January 2022--radiology residency program directors will likely rely on USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) scores as an objective and standardized metric to screen applicants.

Leesburg, VA, April 15, 2021--A Scientific E-Poster to be presented at the 2021 ARRS Virtual Annual Meeting found that in the setting of a high pretest probability of COVID-19 infection or with a quick turnaround of the rapid real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) COVID-19 test, a chest x-ray (CXR) scoring system may be used prospectively to predict patient outcomes.

A study published this week in The Lancet Public Health examines how we can use our income assistance systems to address drug use and drug-related harm.

Tokyo, Japan - A team of scientists led by the Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have created novel molecules that prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) particles from attacking immune cells. This is accomplished by injecting compounds mimicking the protein the virus usually uses to enter the cells. This work may lead to new treatments for HIV that may be more effective at stopping the proliferation of the virus with fewer side effects.

It is often said that before air travel our skies were bluer yet how, in the 21st century, could we ever know what light and colors were like one hundred years ago? Recently, a group of researchers from EPFL's Audiovisual Communications Laboratory, in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC), had a unique opportunity to try to find out.

"This enables us to contrast the subjective perception of stress with an objective measurement method and compare the two," explains Nina Minkley. Contrary to expectations, it turned out that the effort invested in the task does not increase with its difficulty, nor does the stress level. The study was featured in the journal Frontiers in Education on 12. April 2021.

Simple questionnaire surveys criticised

Almost half a century ago the creators of Star Wars imagined a life-sustaining planet, Tatooine, orbiting a pair of stars. Now, 44 years later, scientists have found new evidence that that five known systems with multiple stars, Kepler-34, -35, -38, -64 and -413, are possible candidates for supporting life.

Researchers in the Department of Neurology at Tohoku University, which is led by professor Masashi Aoki, have developed a classification scheme for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, a rare autoimmune disease that until recently was thought to be a type of multiple sclerosis (MS). The new taxonomy for the disease replaces one borrowed from MS but which was inappropriate for what is in fact a distinct condition.

Patients who are overweight or obese have more severe COVID-19 and are highly likely to require invasive respiratory support, according to a new international study.

The research, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and The University of Queensland and published in Diabetes Care, found obese or overweight patients are at high risk for having worse COVID-19 outcomes. They are also more likely to require oxygen and invasive mechanical ventilation compared to those with a healthy weight.