Study shows home oxygen monitoring safe for premature infants, can shorten treatment

A new study led by UMass Medical School researchers has found that parents of premature infants on home oxygen therapy can safely and effectively report babies’ oxygen levels in between clinic visits. Reporting oxygen levels from home every few days was associated with shorter use of home oxygen therapy and fewer adverse outcomes, compared with […]

The coronavirus shows we should treat public health the same as public works

Natural disasters like earthquakes, floods and hurricanes reveal the little-noticed cracks in our physical infrastructure as buildings, highways, dams and other structures fail under the extraordinary stress. Similarly, the stresses of the coronavirus have revealed little-noticed cracks in our public health, social and community infrastructure that has suffered from under-investment. Public health agencies in many […]

New vitamin K-based drug shows promise against medication-resistant epilepsy

In the cover article of the June 11 issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, a team of researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, led by Sherine Chan, Ph.D., and James Chou, Ph.D., reports that a new vitamin K-based drug has proved effective in mouse models of medication-resistant seizures. Chan and Chou, both […]

New Yorkers grow more hesitant about a return to normalcy, poll shows

New Yorkers continue to report much higher than normal rates of depression and anxiety, but much less than at their peak in mid-April. As they witness the surge in COVID-19 cases in states that re-opened early, New Yorkers have also grown significantly more hesitant about resuming normal activities than they reported in May. Employment and […]

Pfizer's coronavirus shot shows promise by triggering immune response

Experimental coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer triggered levels of antibodies up to THREE TIMES greater than those seen in recovered patients, early data shows Researchers randomly gave 45 healthy volunteers either a low dose, a medium dose or a high dose of a coronavirus vaccine, or a placebo Those who received the vaccine were given two shots, except […]

In early trial, an ancient drug shows promise against severe COVID-19

There’s new evidence that a 2,000-year-old medicine might offer hope against a modern scourge: COVID-19. The medication, called colchicine, is an anti-inflammatory taken as a pill. It’s long been prescribed for gout, a form of arthritis, and its history goes back centuries. The drug was first sourced from the autumn crocus flower. Doctors also sometimes […]

Study shows nervous and immune systems ‘need to talk’ for bone repair

In a December 2019 study, a team of Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers demonstrated in mice that repair of bone fractures requires the generation, growth and spread of nerve cells, or neurons, throughout the injured area. This, they showed, partly relies on a protein known as nerve growth factor (NGF). Now, the researchers have dug deeper […]

Not smoking and being socially active keys to longevity, research shows

University of Otago researchers have discovered some of the secrets to longevity with new research revealing not smoking and being social engaged throughout older age are common traits of New Zealand centenarians. Associate Professor Yoram Barak, a consultant psychogeriatrician, says the results show people can have some control over the ageing process. “Electing not to […]

Beijing outbreak shows need to be ready as economies reopen

China moved swiftly Monday to try to control a new outbreak of the coronavirus after 36 more cases were confirmed in Beijing. People were lined up at hospitals and other facilities around the capital as authorities rushed to administer thousands of nucleic acid tests of people who worked at a major wholesale market, anyone who […]

Study shows R-loops coordinate with SOX2 in regulating reprogramming to pluripotency

R-loops are unique structures in the cell, composed of RNA–DNA hybrids and a displaced single-stranded DNA, that are commonly found around transcribed genes. However, R-loops are also dynamic and widespread entities that play unclear regulatory and epigenetic roles in the genome. A recent study, published online in Science Advances and by the researchers at the […]