297 articles from WEDNESDAY 26.8.2020

Tethering together type 2 diabetes drugs increases efficacy of combination therapy

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have shown that the effectiveness of a two-pronged type 2 diabetes treatment increases when the drugs are linked by a heat-sensitive tether rather than concurrently administered. The combination molecule forms a gel-like depot under the skin that slowly releases the drug. These findings suggest that this approach to combination drug design could be applied...

The patients left behind by HIV research

People from BAME communities, women and heterosexual men are being left behind by HIV research. Medication to manage HIV is effective at keeping people well. But over half of people with HIV do not take their medication correctly. New research shows that the problem could be in the way studies are designed - with BAME communities, women and straight men under-represented.The researchers say this...

Too many COVID-19 patients get unneeded 'just in case' antibiotics

More than half of patients hospitalized with suspected COVID-19 in Michigan during the state's peak months received antibiotics soon after they arrive, just in case they had a bacterial infection in addition to the virus, a new study shows. But testing soon showed that 96.5% of them only had the coronavirus, which antibiotics don't affect.

UC creates living tribute to Ohio botanist

The University of Cincinnati and Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum replaced invasive and nonnative ground cover on E. Lucy Braun's grave with native plants as a tribute to the pioneering botanist and conservationist.

UMBC study reveals gender bias in bird song research and impact of women on science

A new paper has found that women are more likely than men to be authors, and even more likely to be first authors, of research papers about female bird song. The findings support the idea that women have driven a major shift in the scientific understanding of bird song over the last two decades. Believed for centuries to be a male trait, recent work has demonstrated the pervasiveness and...

Unique HIV reservoirs in elite controllers

Unlike ART-treated individuals, elite controllers' viral reservoirs appear to be incapable of being reactivated. This likely helps the elite controllers maintain spontaneous, drug-free control of HIV.

USDA says current poultry food safety guidelines do not stop salmonella outbreaks

Current poultry food safety guidelines for Salmonella, the leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks, are inadequate. A new study conducted by Thomas Oscar, USDA Agricultural Research Service, "Salmonella prevalence alone is not a good indicator of poultry food safety," published in Risk Analysis, explores additional factors that must be considered in order to identify poultry products that are...

Why flat-faced dogs remain popular despite health problems

Owners of bulldogs, French bulldogs and pugs are highly likely to want to own their breed again in the future, and to recommend their breed to other owners, according to a study published August 26, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rowena Packer of the Royal Veterinary College, UK, and colleagues. The development of breed loyalty toward these so-called brachycephalic (flat-faced) dogs...

Fate of California condors unknown after sanctuary burns

A California wildfire has destroyed a sanctuary for the endangered California condor and the fates of several condors, including a chick, remain unknown. A blaze began last Wednesday in Los Padres National Forest northwest of Los Angeles. The nonprofit Ventana Wildlife Society of Monterey, which ran the facility, was seeking $500,000 in donations to rebuild...