Medical and Science News-

Medical News Hallucinogenic Drug Psilocybin Eases Existential Anxiety in People with Life-Threatening Cancer In a small double-blind study, Johns Hopkins researchers report that a substantial majority of people suffering cancer-related anxiety or depression found considerable relief for up to six months from a single large dose of psilocybin -- the active c... – Johns Hopkins Medicine Journal of Psychopharmacology; R01DA03889 Embargo expired on 01-Dec-2016 at 00:00 ET Single Dose of Hallucinogenic Drug Psilocybin Relieves Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Advanced Cancer When combined with psychological counseling, a single dose of a mind-altering compound contained in psychedelic mushrooms significantly lessens mental anguish in distressed cancer patients for months at a time, according to results of a clinical tria... – NYU Langone Medical Center Journal of Psychopharmacology Embargo expired on 01-Dec-2016 at 00:05 ET AACN Journal Article Outlines How to Integrate New Nurse Practitioners into Critical Care An article in Critical Care Nurse describes key strategic planning for new roles, training programs and other strategies that have resulted in successful nurse practitioners in all 10 ICUs at the University of Maryland Medical Center. UMMC’s strate... – American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Critical Care Nurse, December 2016 Embargo expired on 01-Dec-2016 at 06:00 ET Virus-Inspired Delivery System Transfers Microscopic Cargo Between Human Cells Scientists from the University of Utah and University of Washington have developed blueprints that instruct human cells to make a virus-like delivery system that shuttles custom cargo from one cell to another. As reported online in Nature on Nov. 30,... – University of Utah Health Sciences Nature, Nov-2016; GM008268; GM007270; OPP1118840; W911NF; AI 51174; P50 082545; VO1836/1 Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 13:00 ET New Imaging Method Can Detect, Monitor and Guide Treatment For, Prostate Cancer An international group of researchers report success in mice of a method of using positron emission tomography (PET) scans to track, in real time, an antibody targeting a hormone receptor pathway specifically involved in prostate cancer. – Johns Hopkins Medicine Science Translational Medicine; P30CA008748, P30CA006973, P30CA008748-48, S10RR020892-01, S10RR028889-01, R33CA127768-02, P50-CA86438, 5R25CA096945-07, P50-CA08 Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 14:00 ET Vitamin D Status in Newborns and Risk of MS in Later Life Babies born with low levels of vitamin D may be more likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life than babies with higher levels of vitamin D, according to a study published in the November 30, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medica... – American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Neurology, November 30, 2016 Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 16:00 ET A Receptor Discovered for Progranulin Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center discovered a cell-surface receptor highly expressed by cancerous and brain cells that directly and tightly binds progranulin. Importantly, the researchers also showed that thi... – Thomas Jefferson University Journal of Cell Biology; RO1 CA39481; RO1 CA47282; RO1 CA164462; T32 AR060715-04 Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 09:05 ET Standing Up May Unmask Cognitive Deficits in Patients with Parkinson’s This study shows that when patients with PD experience a drop in blood pressure upon standing up – a condition known as orthostatic hypotension (OH) – they exhibit significant cognitive deficits. These deficits reverse when the individual lies do... – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Neurology; R01NS067128; F31NS074801 Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 16:00 ET Research Says: Patients with Cancer History Experiencing Severe Heart Attacks Benefit From Cardiac Treatment One in 10 patients who come to the hospital with the most severe type of heart attack have a history of cancer, showing that this is an emerging subgroup of heart patients, according to Mayo Clinic research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. In ad... – Mayo Clinic Embargo expired on 01-Dec-2016 at 00:05 ET Study of Thousands of Operations Finds Overlapping Surgeries Are Safe for Mayo Clinic Patients ROCHESTER, Minn.­ — A common way of scheduling surgeries to expand patient access to care and improve hospital efficiency, known as “overlapping surgeries,” is as safe and provides the same outcomes for patients as non-overlapping surgeries, a... – Mayo Clinic Embargo expired on 01-Dec-2016 at 00:05 ET UAB Physician Retools the Case for Housing First to End Homelessness Authors of a New England Journal of Medicine article recommend a new case be made for housing to end homelessness, emphasizing benefits and de-emphasizing problematic cost-savings arguments. – University of Alabama at Birmingham New England Journal of Medicine Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 17:00 ET Attempted Suicide Rates and Risk Groups Essentially Unchanged, New Study Shows Johns Hopkins investigators report that their analysis of a national database representing more than 1 billion emergency department visits shows that over a recent eight-year period, nothing much has changed in the rates of unsuccessful suicide attem... – Johns Hopkins Medicine Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences Aiding Fuel Ethanol with New Engineered Bacteria, Surprising Answers to 'Food Coma' Conundrum, Protein and Salt Drive Post-Meal Sleepiness, and More in the Food Science News Source Click here to go to the Food Science News Source – Newswise After Concussion, Rest May Not Always Be the Best Medicine, Experts Say Prescribed rest—both physical and mental—is the standard treatment for concussion. But a growing body of evidence suggests that a more active, targeted approach might provide better outcomes for some patients, reports a special article in the Dec... – Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Neurosurgery Online Group Therapy May Be Effective Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa Results from a new study show that online group therapy can be just as effective as face-to-face treatment, although the pace of recovery may be slower. – University of North Carolina Health Care System Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics A Safer Supper: Study Finds Recipes with Hand-Washing, Temperature Reminders Improve Food Safety Kansas State University researchers have discovered the secret ingredient to improving kitchen food safety: include hand-washing reminders and meat thermometer instructions in published recipes. – Kansas State University Journal of Food Protection Online Insomnia Program Can Improve Sleep for Many, Study Finds An online program designed to help people overcome insomnia significantly improves both the amount and quality of sleep, a new study has found.  The study is the first to look closely at the effects of the Sleep Healthy Using the Internet (SHUTi) pr... – University of Virginia Health System JAMA Psychiatry,; R01MH86758 Penn Scientists Use CRISPR for First Time to Correct Clotting in Newborn and Adult Mice CRISPR/Cas9, a powerful genome editing tool, is showing promise for efficient correction of disease-causing mutations. For the first time, researchers have developed a dual gene therapy approach to deliver key components of a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gen... – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Treatment Combination to Improve Survival in HER2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer The study, “A Real-World Multicentre Retrospective Observational Study of Paclitaxel-Bevacizumab and Maintenance Therapy as First-Line Treatment for HER2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer,” was recently published in the Journal of Cell Physiology... – Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) Journal of Cell Physiology Study Shows Thinning of Brain Tissue Remains in College Football Players, Five Years After Play A new study from researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine, suggests that even college-level athletes may be vulnerable to the effects of head trauma, and that even several years after graduation, college football players c... – University of Cincinnati (UC) Academic Health Center Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine Mount Sinai Surgeons Remove Thyroid Gland Through Hidden Incision Underneath the Lip A team of surgeons at Mount Sinai Beth Israel have performed the first endoscopic transoral thyroidectomy in New York, and one of the first of its kind in the nation. – Mount Sinai Health System Surgical Endoscopy GW Researcher Develops Mouse Model for Studying Development of Visual Cortex Matthew Colonnese, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, published a paper in the Journal of Neuroscience establishing a mouse model for human fetal elect... – George Washington University AACI Commends House Passage of Revised 21st Century Cures Act The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a revised version of the 21st Century Cures Act. The bill including $1.8 billion for cancer research. – Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) Mount Sinai Health System Launches DigniCap Scalp Cooling System for Women with Breast Cancer The Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) announced the launch of the DigniCap® scalp cooling system, which was recently cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the likelihood of chemotherapy-induced hair loss in women with breas... – Mount Sinai Health System UC San Diego Health Performs Region’s First Heart-Liver Transplant On November 4, 2016, surgeons at UC San Diego Health performed the region’s first combined heart-liver transplant (CHLT). During the 10-hour surgery, 54-year old Frank “Sonny” Taitano received a healthy heart and liver. This is the first succes... – University of California San Diego Health Sciences Study Seeks Answer to Whether Mechanical Pump Can Regenerate Heart Muscle Researchers with UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine are launching clinical trials to find out whether heart muscle that’s been damaged by a heart attack be prompted to repair itself. – UT Southwestern Medical Center Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Expands Cancer Care and Research Facility at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. Cancer experts from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center are now embedded in a newly expanded facility within Johns Hopkins Medicine-owned Sibley Memorial Hospital in northwest Washington, D.C. – Johns Hopkins Medicine Improving the Utility of Value Tools in Cancer Care for Patients NCCN will host its annual patient advocacy summit on December 9 in Washington, DC to explore gaps in current value tools, as well as patient definitions of value. – National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) AED's Nine Truths About Eating Disorders In the face of many myths, the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) released “Nine Truths About Eating Disorders” in order to clarify public understanding. Produced in collaboration with Dr. Cynthia Bulik, PhD, FAED, who serves as distinguished Pro... – Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) Science News Tracking Terrestrial Animals What does the detection of enemy planes during WWI have to do with locating endangered Mojave Ground Squirrels? They both benefit from a technique called acoustic beamforming which uses multiple devices to find the point of intersection and pinpoint ... – Acoustical Society of America (ASA) The 172nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 22:00 ET "Mic Check" for Marine Mammals Hearing is a vital sense for marine mammals who use it to forage, communicate and navigate. Many of these mammals produce specific vocalizations that can be used to identify the species and track their locations via acoustic monitoring. Traditionally... – Acoustical Society of America (ASA) The 172nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 20:15 ET Bone Scans Suggest Early Hominin "Lucy" Spent Significant Time in Trees Australopithecus afarensis arm bones were strong relative to leg bones; walking gait was likely inefficient – PLOS PLOS ONE Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 14:00 ET Human Ancestor 'Lucy' Was a Tree Climber, New Evidence Suggests Since the discovery of the fossil dubbed Lucy 42 years ago this month, paleontologists have debated whether the 3 million-year-old human ancestor spent all of her time walking on the ground or instead combined walking with frequent tree climbing. – Johns Hopkins Medicine PLOS ONE Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 14:00 ET Shifts in Mating Strategies Help Herbicide-Resistant 'Superweeds' Persist Herbicide-resistant "superweeds" change their mating strategies over time, an evolutionary shift that helps them hold onto valuable genes and outcompete other plants, according to a new study from University of Michigan researchers. – University of Michigan Ecology Letters Embargo expired on 30-Nov-2016 at 19:05 ET The Wistar Institute Awarded Nearly $9 Million to Advance Synthetic DNA Antibody-Based Therapy to Protect Against Zika Virus The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded an $8,777,578 million grant to The Wistar Institute to create a preventative Zika therapy utilizing synthetic DNA monoclonal antibodies (dMAbs). – Wistar Institute Embargo expired on 01-Dec-2016 at 09:00 ET Researchers Take First Look into the “Eye” of Majoranas Majorana fermions are particles that could potentially be used as information units for a quantum computer. An experiment by physicists at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the University of Basel’s Department of Physics has confirmed their theor... – University of Basel npj Quantum Information (2016) New South Pole Solar Observatory in Antarctica, Impact of Wind Energy on Wildlife, A Better Way to Prepare for Devastating Storms, and More in the Environmental Science News Source The latest research on the environment in the Environmental Science News Source – Newswise Lower-Than-Recommended Methadone Doses for Opiate Addiction Are More Likely at Facilities Managed by African-American Directors, Johns Hopkins Study Shows While the daily dose of methadone for opiate addiction has declined in recent years, facilities run by African-American directors were more likely to provide low methadone doses than facilities run by managers of other races and ethnicities. – Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School Health Services Research Synchronized Swimming: How Startled Fish Shoals Effectively Evade Danger As panic spreads, an entire shoal (collective) of fish responds to an incoming threat in a matter of seconds, seemingly as a single body, to change course and evade a threatening predator. Within those few seconds, the panic-infused information – m... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Chaos Black Death ‘Plague Pit’ Discovered at 14th-Century Monastery Hospital 48 skeletons discovered in ‘Plague Pit’ – 27 of them children; Extremely rare discovery suggests community was overwhelmed by the Black Death – University of Sheffield Cloud in a Box: Mixing Aerosols and Turbulence In research conducted in Michigan Tech’s cloud chamber, Physics Professors Raymond Shaw, Will Cantrell and colleagues found that cleaner clouds also have a much wider variability in droplet size. And the way those droplets form could have serious... – Michigan Technological University PNAS Iowa State University Researchers Detail What Makes Costly Ruminant Bacteria So Infectious An Iowa State University veterinary research team has discovered the specific genetic mutations that make Campylobacter jejuni such a virulent strain of bacteria in ruminant animals such as sheep and cattle. The research could lead to a vaccine or ne... – Iowa State University PNAS 6,000 Years Ago The Sahara Desert Was Tropical, So What Happened? As little as 6,000 years ago, the vast Sahara Desert was covered in grassland that received plenty of rainfall, but shifts in the world’s weather patterns abruptly transformed the vegetated region into some of the driest land on Earth. – Texas A&M University Nature Geoscience; National Science Foundation The Economy of Cold Soil Blues For many farmers, in-furrow starter application is a cheaper alternative to other starter fertilizers. New research suggests it does not provide an economic benefit in most situations, however. – American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Agronomy Journal, September 1, 2016 Imaging Technique Can See You Think NIBIB-funded researchers have used fast fMR Ito image rapidly fluctuating brain activity during human thought. fMRI measures changes in blood oxygenation, which were previously thought to be too slow to detect the subtle neuronal activity associated ... – National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering PNAS, Oct-2016; EB011498, EB019437, EB015896 Human Ancestor ‘Lucy’ Was a Tree Climber, New Evidence Suggests Evidence preserved in the internal skeletal structure of the world-famous fossil, Lucy, suggests the ancient human species frequently climbed trees, according to a new analysis by scientists from The Johns Hopkins University and The University of Tex... – University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) PLOS One Learning Makes Animals Intelligent The fact that animals can use tools, have self-control and certain expectations of life can be explained with the help of a new learning model for animal behaviour. Researchers at Stockholm University and Brooklyn College have combined knowledge from... – Stockholm University Royal Society Open Science Suggestions for You: A Better, Faster Recommendation Algorithm Researchers from the Santa Fe Institute and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili unveil a more accurate, efficient algorithm for internet recommendations. – Santa Fe Institute PNAS, Nov-2016 Q&A: Simon Bare Catalyzes New Chemistry Effort at SLAC Simon Bare, who joined the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in April, spent 30 years as an industrial chemist investigating how catalysts work. Now, as co-director of the Chemistry and Catalysis Division at the lab’s St... – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and Cancer Research Institute Launch Collaboration on Cancer Neoantigens New collaboration between two nonprofits focused on cancer immunotherapy aims to identify new DNA-based targets for personalized cancer treatments – Cancer Research Institute 'Tennessine' Acknowledges State Institutions' Roles in Element's Discovery The recently discovered element 117 has been officially named "tennessine" in recognition of Tennessee’s contributions to its discovery, including the efforts of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its Tennessee collaborato... – Oak Ridge National Laboratory "Wise Macaw" Chatbot Is Finalist in $2.5 Million Amazon Alexa Prize A team from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been selected by Amazon to receive sponsorship for competing in the inaugural $2.5 million Amazon Alexa Prize competition. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Lifestyle & Social Sciences Taking Time-Off Work to Raise Children is Damaging to the Careers of Highly Skilled, High Earning Women Mothers who leave work to raise children often sacrifice more than the pay for their time off; when they come back their wages reflect lost raises. – American Sociological Association (ASA) American Sociological Review, Dec-2016 Embargo expired on 01-Dec-2016 at 03:05 ET Study Finds Female American Jihadists Share Many of the Same Roles as Their Male Counterparts A first-of-its-kind study examining the roles of American jihadi women found a steep increase in women’s participation in terrorist activity in the last five years. – George Washington University Ancient Inscription Permits for the First Time the Definite Identification of Gargilius Antiques as the Roman Prefect During the Period Before the Bar Kochba Revolt “This is only the second time that the name Judea has appeared in any inscription from the Roman periods,” note Prof. Assaf Yasur-Landau and Dr. Gil Gambash of the University of Haifa – University of Haifa College Students’ Use of Private Loans Drops by Half A new report by education researchers at RTI International found that the use of private student loans dropped by half between 2008 and 2012. – RTI International Report Analyzes College Paths of Immigrants, Second-Generation Americans A new report by education researchers at RTI International sheds light on trends in college enrollment by the children of Hispanic and Asian families who recently arrived in the United States. – RTI International An Eye for Fashion: Researcher Finds Optical Illusion Garments Can Improve Body Image Optical illusion dresses have the power to change how women see their bodies. – Florida State University Research Team Finds Benefits of Engineering Lessons for First-Graders First-grade students benefit from engineering lessons being added to their curriculum, according to the results of a Department of Education-financed study by researchers at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. – University of Arkansas at Little Rock S206A140006 What if You Couldn't Taste Your Favorite Holiday Foods? What, exactly, is Neurogastronomy? In this edition of "Behind the Blue," we meet with scientists and chefs who discuss brain and behavior in the context of food. – University of Kentucky How Copying Is Done Should Matter in Copyright Infringement Complaints An artist painstakingly recreates the “Mona Lisa” using the same variety of paints, brushes and canvas as did Michelangelo. Across town, a factory stamps out hundreds of replicas of the iconic painting each day, using state-of-the-art printing. I... Expert Available – Vanderbilt University New York University Law Review, March 15, 2016 75 Years Later, Pearl Harbor Still Teaching Lessons of War As the nation prepares to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack that precipitated the United States’ entry into World War II, Pearl Harbor still endures as a monument to the suffering and sacrifice of American servicemen in the Second Worl... Expert Available – Florida State University Michigan State University Railway Management Certificate Program Updates Offerings Michigan State University’s Railway Management Certificate Program (RMCP) has updated its offerings with the onboarding of a new executive director. – Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University What Makes Bach Sound Like Bach? New Dataset Teaches Algorithms Classical Music MusicNet is the first publicly available large-scale classical music dataset designed to allow machine learning algorithms to tackle a wide range of open challenges - from automated music transcription to listening recommendations based on the struc... – University of Washington MusicNet access NYIT Librarian Wins 2016 I Love My Librarian Award Apfelbaum and the other winning librarians perform exceptional public service and transform communities through education and lifelong learning. – New York Institute of Technology Temple University Endowment Exceeds $500 Million Temple University’s endowment crossed the half-billion-dollar mark thanks to support of donors and a savvy investment strategy. – Temple University Audio Accommodation Available for ‘the Pursuit of Happiness’ Exhibit Audio will be available for an exhibit at UIC – University of Illinois at Chicago Business News Meeting Customer Expectations Critical in Response to Data Breach, Study Finds Compensation in response to a data breach is most effective when it meets customers’ expectations for what is appropriate, according to a new study by information systems researchers at the University of Arkansas. – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville DHS S&T to Hold Industry Day with New R&D Opportunities for Financial Services Sector Cybersecurity Protections DHS S&T will host an industry day to connect technology startups and investors to new opportunities for research and development of cybersecurity active defenses for the nation’s financial services sector critical infrastructure. – Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate