news 2023

Protein organization is key to protein function - but difficult to uncover for membrane proteins. A new Yale-developed method overcomes the biggest challenges. The membrane that encases a biological cell is not simply a barrier; it is chock full of proteins involved in all sorts of critical biological functions.

Many patients with prostate cancer develop androgen-independent tumor growth, which is referred to as castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). In these patients, activation of the androgen receptor (AR) in the tumors no longer requires androgen stimulation, and therapy with androgen inhibitors becomes ineffective.

Researchers have identified a mechanism that promotes the breakdown of harmful protein deposits. If it malfunctions, it can lead to Parkinson's disease. NEMO, a protein that is primarily associated with signaling processes in the immune system, prevents the deposition of protein aggregates that occur in Parkinson's disease.

In a study comparing human brain communication networks with those of macaques and mice, researchers found that only the human brains transmitted information via multiple parallel pathways, yielding new insights into mammalian evolution. When describing brain communication networks, EPFL senior postdoctoral researcher Alessandra Griffa likes to use travel metaphors.

A clinical trial carried out by Hospital del Mar, Pompeu Fabra University, the Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela and the Pere Virgili Health Park investigated the efficacy and safety of a medicine for outpatients with COVID-19. The treatment acts on the replication mechanism of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease, and reduces the severity and duration of some of the symptoms.

More than a decade of research at TU/e, led by Fons van der Sommen, has culminated in a scientific publication in The Lancet Digital Health this December. The study focuses on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to detect incipient esophageal cancer in people with Barrett's esophagus. It is 2011.

Review of opioid medicines for cancer pain challenges our understanding of their role The world's largest review on opioid medicines for cancer pain has found it is unclear whether some commonly used opioid medicines are better than a placebo and suggests that non-opioid medicines, including aspirin, may be as effective as opioids.

Inserm's Centre d'épidémiologie des causes médicales de décès (CépiDc-Inserm), the Direction de la recherche, des études et de l'évaluation des statistiques (DREES) and Santé Publique France are analyzing the medical causes of death of people living and dying in France in 2021. Two complementary studies, which present these results, are published jointly in études et Résultats (DREES) and in the Bulletin épidémiologique hebdomadaire (Santé publique France).

Exercise intolerance is one symptom associated with long COVID. A new study helps explain its cause. Exercise intolerance, or the inability to perform physical activity at the expected or desired level, is one of the many symptoms associated with long COVID. In a study, Yale researchers help explain what specifically is driving this symptom, offering much needed information for patients and generating new directions for future research.

By reevaluating existing data, researchers find the procedure is even more valuable than consensus had indicated. Screening for colon cancer reduces cancer rates by substantially more than previous analyses of randomized trials suggest, according to a study co-authored by an MIT economist that takes a new look at data from five trials.

After two years of research, researchers from Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Daniëlle Cattel, Frank Eijkenaar, and Celine Hendriks, release the BUNDLE final report 'Developing and implementing alternative payment models: doing, learning, and evaluating.' The report was conducted as part of the ZonMw program 'Outcome-Based Organizing and Payment,' which falls within the broader program 'Outcome-Based Health Care 2018-2022' of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

An intervention developed at Laval University makes it possible to offer the right type of delivery, to the right patient, at the right time. Women who have already had a caesarean section can now benefit from an intervention that makes it easier to decide whether to have a vaginal birth or a caesarean section in a subsequent pregnancy.

The world's largest review on opioid medicines for cancer pain has found it is unclear whether some commonly used opioid medicines are better than a placebo and suggests that non-opioid medicines, including aspirin, may be as effective as opioids. Researchers examining the data on opioids for pain caused by cancer have found surprisingly large gaps in evidence regarding the true benefits of these medicines for cancer pain.

Studying strange forms of RNA associated with the formation of aggregates in the brains of ALS patients could lead to new avenues for treatments. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive motor neuron disease, which causes degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. Neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, dementia, and Alzheimer's, are the leading cause of death in the UK, and there are no known cures.

PSI researchers have discovered a surprising trick that could expand the possibilities for medical use of botulinun toxin A1, better known under the name Botox, as an active agent. They have developed antibody-like proteins that speed up the enzyme's effect on the transmission of nerve signals. This suggests that Botox might, for example, be able to relief pain more quickly than before.

Researchers investigate consensus building in virtual teams during the Covid-19 pandemic Virtual working offers many opportunities, but also harbors risks. In addition to the known disadvantages - less personal contact, communication and coordination difficulties - external crises can pose an additional challenge, especially if employees at different locations work together across local or national borders and are affected to varying degrees by a crisis.

Antibiotics are useless against viruses, including the coronavirus. Nevertheless, doctors in Switzerland prescribed antibacterial drugs about twice as often in the first year of the pandemic as before, report researchers from the University of Basel. A risky practice, warns the research team . It was a time of great uncertainty: when the first coronavirus wave rolled across Switzerland in spring 2020, there were neither diagnostic tests nor a vaccine nor effective medication.

Coercive measures are used in psychiatric treatment to avert acute danger to a person's life and health. However, such measures can be associated with considerable risks for patients and treatment teams. It is known from studies in adult psychiatric inpatient wards that environmental factors such as staffing, availability of retreat options, privacy and access to natural light can influence the use of coercive measures.

Like humans and animals, plants have a microbiota that shapes their health and thanks to which they assimilate nutrients from the soil. How is this microbiota assembled? Using an innovative approach, scientists at the Max Planck Institute and INRAE have discovered three genes essential for bacteria to colonise plants and live in and on plant roots.

Researchers at the University of Tübingen have discovered a novel antibiotic substance from the human nose that can be used against pathogenic bacteria. Named epifadin, the molecule is produced from specific strains of the bacterial species Staphylococcus epidermidis , which occur on the mucous membrane of the inside wall of the nose.