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New app to check patient's jugular venous pressure

A new report from cardiologists at UT Southwestern raises the hope that doctors will be able to visually check the jugular venous pressure of heart failure patients remotely, using the camera on a smartphone. The finding is especially timely as telemedicine expands during the pandemic.

1 Jul 2020

Study indicates that primitive proteins could have progressed to form living cells

What did the very first proteins – those that appeared on Earth around 3.7 billion years ago – look like? Prof. Dan Tawfik of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Prof. Norman Metanis of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have reconstructed protein sequences that may well resemble those ancestors of modern proteins, and their research suggests a way that these primitive proteins could have progressed to forming living cells.

1 Jul 2020

Study reveals a new target for tuberculosis drug development

Biology students and faculty members from The University of Texas at El Paso have discovered a new target for tuberculosis drug development.

1 Jul 2020

Walking backward could help stroke patients to walk again

Walking backward may seem counterintuitive, but to athletes in training, doing so on a treadmill builds strength and agility.

1 Jul 2020

BMI should be assessed in management of COVID-19 patients

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 reports that obesity is a risk factor of composite poor outcome of COVID-19 disease. On the other hand, COVID-19 patients with 'composite poor outcome' have higher BMI. Therefore, BMI should be assessed in the management of COVID-19 patients, and special attention should be given to patients with obesity.

1 Jul 2020

SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Brazil back in November 2019

The finding, published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020, shows that it has been causing infection in Brazil long before the first case was reported in the Americas, North and South, in January 2020, and certainly before the first case in this Brazilian region.

1 Jul 2020

Silk useful as face mask and PPE in COVID-19

As many people are resorting to face coverings improvised from common fabrics, researchers from the University of Cincinnati looked to determine what fabrics were the most effective. The team examined the hydrophobicity of fabrics (silk, cotton, polyester), as measured by their resistance to the penetration of small and aerosolized water droplets, an important transmission avenue for the virus causing COVID-19.

30 Jun 2020

New polymeric heart valve could be a life-saver

Millions of persons around the world suffer from diseased and damaged heart valves. These patients require valve repair surgeries, and often when that is not possible, they need to take blood-thinners for life to prevent complications.

30 Jun 2020

Oral hygiene and severity of COVID-19 – the connection

Their study titled, “Could there be a link between oral hygiene and the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections?” was published in the latest issue of the journal British Dental Journal.

30 Jun 2020

Herd immunity in the U.S. unlikely

The race to develop an effective vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is on, with many vaccine candidates entering the human trial phase. When a vaccine is developed and introduced into the population at scale, it triggers herd immunity, with many people immune to the infectious disease.

30 Jun 2020

New swine flu strain with pandemic potential found in China

As the world grapples with a novel coronavirus pandemic, a new strain of swine flu that can trigger a pandemic has been reported.

30 Jun 2020

Striking CryoEM image of SARS-CoV-2

A new study by researchers from the UK and Germany and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the results of a detailed study of the S protein on the intact virus, using cryoelectron microscopy (cryoEM) and tomography. This could help understand the conformation of the S protein on the virion and how it interacts with neutralizing antibodies.

30 Jun 2020

Study provides first estimates of healthy working life expectancy for adults aged 50

A new study has estimated that on average people in England from age 50 can expect to be healthy and in work for nine more years.

30 Jun 2020

Large-scale analysis of COVID-19 risk among different groups of UK hospital staff

Staff who shared a household with an infected person were at the greatest risk of infection, and those working in COVID-19-facing areas were also at an increased risk. Other groups that were identified as a high risk included Black and Asian individuals, porters, and cleaners.

30 Jun 2020

Study links unexpected hospital stays to negative outcomes in head and neck cancer patients

Patients who were unexpectedly hospitalized for dehydration, fever or other ailments while undergoing radiation treatment for head and neck cancers were at a higher risk for less favorable outcomes, a new study from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center reports.

30 Jun 2020

Researchers develop technique for personalizing stomach cancer therapy

Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and their colleagues have developed the first technique for personalizing stomach cancer therapy based on RNA sequencing of tumor cells. The study, supported by the Russian Science Foundation, was published in Cold Spring Harbor Molecular Case Studies.

30 Jun 2020

Study explores time trends in pregnancy-related outcomes among women with type 1 diabetes

Researchers from the Joslin Diabetes Center investigated time trends in pregnancy-related outcomes among women with type 1 diabetes between 2004 and 2017, and found that the percentage of mothers with excess weight gain during pregnancy as well as the use of insulin pumps and CGMs increased significantly, while the prevalence of nephropathy fell dramatically to zero.

30 Jun 2020

Recommendations for hospitals to provide equitable care during pandemic resource allocation

If some regions become hot spots and hospitals reach maximum capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals have plans for how to decide who gets critical care resources, such as a bed in the intensive care unit or a respirator.

30 Jun 2020

Specific SARS-CoV-2 genetic elements found in different insect species

In a recent bioRxiv paper, researchers from Norway and the US demonstrate the presence of a highly conserved, mobile genetic element (thus far with unknown function) in genomes of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and a large number of insects – opening the door for hitherto unexplored treatment opportunities.

30 Jun 2020

New study aims to identify how to better protect disabled children

How effective are we at safeguarding disabled children? An important new study which seeks to understand how to can better protect disabled children and young people from abuse starts this week.

30 Jun 2020