312 articles from TUESDAY 17.11.2020

Overweight and obese younger people at greater risk for severe COVID-19

DALLAS - Nov. 17, 2020 - Being younger doesn't protect against the dangers of COVID-19 if you are overweight, according to a new study from UT Southwestern. While all adults who are overweight or obese are at greater risk for serious complications from the disease, the link is strongest for those age 50 and under.

Palladium, meet copper: Skoltech researchers use machine learning to improve catalysts

Researchers from Skoltech and their colleagues from Germany and the US have studied the properties and behavior of a palladium-copper alloy under changing temperatures and hydrogen concentrations, with highly relevant implications of this research for catalyst design. The authors hope that their findings can open the door for designing metal alloys with better catalytic properties by taking into...

Patient engagement program for heart failure patients improved outcomes

Nearly half of patients who received support through a patient engagement tool prior to a cardiology clinic visit had a positive change in their medication therapy compared to less than a third among patients who did not receive the engagement tool. The most common medication change was to increase the dose of generic medications already prescribed.

Piecing together the Alaska coastline's fractured volcanic activity

Among seismologists, the geology of Alaska's earthquake- and volcano-rich coast from the Aleutian Islands to the southeast is fascinating, but not well understood. Now, with more sophisticated tools than before, a University of Massachusetts Amherst team reports unexpected new details about the area's tectonic plates and their relationships to volcanoes.

Potential therapeutic strategy for obesity

Together with researchers from Poland, Germany, Australia and Austria, a team of MedUni Vienna scientists has now discovered the signalling pathways responsible for the development of a valuable type of adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) in obesity, which prevents lipotoxicity.

Pre-recorded audio messages help improve outcomes for patients with heart failure

Heart failure patients who listened to pre-recorded audio messages of support and guidance were 27% less likely to return to the emergency department one-month after discharge.At 90-days after hospital discharge, the odds of all-cause death and heart failure death decreased by 43% and 48%, respectively, among those who received the audio card.Consistent messages over time may lead to better...

Promising results from in vitro combination therapy against COVID-19

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report promising results from an in vitro combination therapy against COVID-19. In a study published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, the researchers show that a combination of remdesivir, an approved drug against COVID-19, and hrsACE2, a medicine currently in phase II trials for COVID-19 treatment, reduced the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 and inhibited viral...

Quantifying quantumness: A mathematical project 'of immense beauty'

Large objects behave in accordance with the classical laws of mechanics formulated by Sir Isaac Newton and small ones are governed by quantum mechanics, where an object can behave as both a wave and a particle. The boundary between the classical and quantum realms has always been of great interest. Research reported in AVS Quantum Science, considers the question of what makes something 'more...

Racket sports may worsen knee arthritis

Racket sports like tennis and racquetball appear to accelerate knee joint degeneration in overweight people with osteoarthritis, according to a study being presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Records from six growth studies analyzed to provide milestone data

For the first time ever, craniofacial growth in children can be studied comprehensively using data from six historic adolescent growth studies. Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine analyzed more than 15,000 cranial radiographs from nearly 2,000 participants to create the Craniofacial Growth Consortium Study (CGCS).

Relaxing cell divisions

During one lifetime, the human body experiences ten quadrillion cell divisions. This biological process is essential to form and maintain tissues and organs within the body. Now, Professor Carl-Philipp Heisenberg and his team at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria discovered how mechanical tension from surrounding tissue influences the division process. The scientists published their...

Report: In retrospect, the burning of wood in district heating plants has resulted in climate saving

A new report from the University of Copenhagen shows that the burning of wood is significantly more climate friendly than coal and slightly more climate friendly than natural gas over the long run. For the first time, researchers quantified what the conversion of 10 Danish cogeneration plants from coal or natural gas to biomass has meant for their greenhouse gas emissions.

Researchers improve neuronal reprogramming by manipulating mitochondria

Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU) have identified a hurdle towards an efficient conversion: the cell metabolism. By expressing neuron-enriched mitochondrial proteins at an early stage of the direct reprogramming process, the researchers achieved a four times higher conversion rate and simultaneously increased the speed of reprogramming.

Retinas: New potential clues in diagnosing, treating Alzheimer's

A study led by the Cedars-Sinai Department of Neurosurgery has identified certain regions in the retina - the lining found in the back of the eye - that are more affected by Alzheimer's disease than other areas. The findings may help physicians predict changes in the brain as well as cognitive deterioration, even for patients experiencing the earliest signs of mild impairment.

Seeking the most effective polymers for personal protective equipment

Personal protective equipment, like face masks and gowns, is generally made of polymers. But not much attention is typically given to the selection of polymers used beyond their physical properties. To help with the identification of materials that will bind to a virus and speed its inactivation for use in PPE, researchers have developed a high-throughput approach for analyzing the interactions...

Small differences, big impact

In a new study, researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have identified a handful of variations in an amino acid sequence critical for retaining the ancestral function of a gene over the course of 600 million years of evolution.

Smartphone use offers tool to treat MS, other diseases

Monitoring how patients with multiple sclerosis or other degenerative diseases use their smartphones could provide valuable information to help get them better treatment. In the journal Chaos, researchers used an app to record the keystroke dynamics of a control group and those of subjects in various stages of MS treatment. In doing so, they observed changes in the way people with MS typed that...

Spintronics advances -- Controlling magnetization direction of magnetite at room temperature

Spintronics--based on the principles of electron charge and magnetic spin--goes beyond the limits of conventional electronics. However, spintronic devices are yet to see advances, because controlling the magnetization angle in the magnetic material is difficult. Now, scientists have developed an all-solid redox device composed of magnetite thin film and a solid electrolyte containing lithium ions...