DECT in the ED: better diagnoses, less follow-up, more savings

According to an open-access article in ARRS' American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), dual-energy CT (DECT) added value to routine interpretation of emergency department (ED) imaging studies by increasing radiologists' diagnostic confidence, leading to a reduction in downstream imaging and associated costs.

The mode of detection of high-risk breast cancers is linked to patient prognosis

Breast cancers that are detected in the interval between national screening programme mammograms have a worse prognosis than those detected at the time of a screening, even if they have the same biology, according to research presented at the 12th European Breast Cancer Conference on Saturday.

Trump hospitalized for COVID treatment, campaign grounded

President Donald Trump was hospitalized Friday and given an experimental COVID-19 treatment, but said he was "well," following bombshell news he had contracted the virus, knocking him off the campaign trail a month from the US election.

What you need to know about Regeneron's COVID-19 treatment

President Donald Trump was treated Friday for COVID-19 with a high-dose of the experimental antibody drug developed by the US biotech firm Regeneron.

Radish seeds, meats and cheeses launched to space station

A space station cargo ship rocketed into orbit Friday carrying a 360-degree camera for spacewalking, radish seeds for growing and a smorgasbord of fancy meats and cheeses for feasting.

Subsidized cars help low-income families economically, socially

For one low-income woman, not having a car meant long commutes on public transit with her children in tow, sometimes slogging through cold or inclement weather. But after buying a subsidized car through a Maryland-based nonprofit, she was able to move to a home located farther from bus stops, send her children to better schools and reach less expensive medical services.

Antarctic Peninsula at warmest in decades: study

The year 2020 is the hottest in the Antarctic Peninsula in the past three decades, a study by the University of Santiago de Chile out Friday found.

Nobel Prizes and COVID-19: Slow, basic science may pay off

While the world wants flashy quick fixes for everything, especially massive threats like the coronavirus and global warming, next week's Nobel Prizes remind us that in science, slow and steady pays off.

India virus deaths pass 100,000

Deaths from the novel coronavirus in India passed 100,000 on Saturday, official data showed as the pandemic continued to rage across the world's second most populous country.

'Hi, this is the army': In Spain, troops tackle track-and-trace

"Hi, this is the army: you're going to have to quarantine."

Much of U.S. Southwest left parched after monsoon season

Cities across the U.S. Southwest recorded their driest monsoon season on record this year, some with only a trace or no rain.

California milestone: 4 million acres burned in wildfires

California is poised to hit a fearsome milestone: 4 million acres burned this year by wildfires that have killed 30 people and incinerated hundreds of homes in what is already the worst fire season on record.

Amazon: Nearly 20,000 workers tested positive for COVID-19

Amazon said Thursday that nearly 20,000 of its front-line U.S. workers have tested positive or been presumed positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.

'I selfie, therefore I am': Instagram 10 years on

#Foodporn, #nofilter and #TBT: Little known to the general public a decade ago, Instagram has weaved its way into the daily lives of a billion people, changing the way we eat, travel and consume.

Hacked hospital chain says all 250 US facilities affected

The hospital chain Universal Health Services said Thursday that computer services at all 250 of its U.S. facilities were hobbled in last weekend's malware attack and efforts to restore hospital networks were continuing.

President Trump and first lady test positive for COVID-19

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, he said Friday. The positive test comes a month until the election and after the president has spent the year largely downplaying the threat of the virus.

Why do people respond differently to the same drug?

Scientists at Scripps Research have comprehensively mapped how a key class of proteins within cells regulates signals coming in from cell surface receptors.

Laundry lint can cause significant tissue damage within marine mussels

Microscopic fibers created during the laundry cycle can cause damage to the gills, liver and DNA of marine species, according to new research.

Researchers discover a rare genetic form of dementia

A new, rare genetic form of dementia has been discovered by a team of Penn Medicine researchers. This discovery also sheds light on a new pathway that leads to protein build up in the brain—which causes this newly discovered disease, as well as related neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's Disease—that could be targeted for new therapies. The study was published today in Science.

15-year trend persists in disparate insulin pump use in children

Insulin pumps are widely used in the management of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and reviews have shown insulin pump therapy to be associated with improved glycemic control, fewer severe hypoglycemia events, and improved quality of life. Yet, non-Hispanic white children (NHW) are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic Black children (NHB) to use this technology.

Bright light bars big-eyed birds from human-altered landscapes

New research shows the glaring light in human-altered landscapes, such as livestock pastures and crop fields, can act as a barrier to big-eyed birds, potentially contributing to their decline.

Researchers unveil sensor that rapidly detects COVID-19 infection

One feature of the COVID-19 virus that makes it so difficult to contain is that it can be easily spread to others by a person who has yet to show any signs of infection. The carrier of the virus might feel perfectly well and go about their daily business—taking the virus with them to work, to the home of a family member, or to public gatherings.

Researchers test brain stimulation in zero gravity

"It's exciting. I love this stuff!" said Bashar Badran, Ph.D. "This is so fun."

Research may curb economic losses to power plants after earthquakes

Sitting atop power transformers are wavy shaped bushing systems that play a critical role in supplying communities with electricity. However, these objects are also susceptible to breaking during earthquakes. Once damaged, bushings can cause widespread outages and burden the state with expensive repairs.

Vaccine opposition online uniting around 'civil liberties' argument

Anti-vaccination discourse on Facebook increased in volume over the last decade, coalescing around the argument that refusing to vaccinate is a civil right, according to a study published today in the American Journal of Public Health. This finding could have serious public health implications as vaccine opponents who unite around a single argument could quickly mobilize into a political movement able to lobby state lawmakers for vaccine exemptions, the researchers say.

Are organ transplant recipients at greater risk of death from COVID-19?

A new study, published in Transplantation, finds that risk of death from COVID-19 in organ transplant recipients may be based upon how the patient was treated.

Tool helps clear biases from computer vision

Researchers at Princeton University have developed a tool that flags potential biases in sets of images used to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The work is part of a larger effort to remedy and prevent the biases that have crept into AI systems that influence everything from credit services to courtroom sentencing programs.

Influence of bots on spreading vaccine information not as big as you think

The influence of bots on vaccine-related discussions on social media is a lot smaller than we think, with only a minor fraction of information from bots reaching active social media users.

Enhancing blood sugar control boosts brain health for people with type 2 diabetes

Controlling blood sugar levels improved the ability to clearly think, learn and remember among people with type 2 diabetes who were overweight, a new study shows. But losing weight, especially for people who were obese, and increasing physical activity produced mixed results.

HER2+ breast cancer patients live longer if drugs given before surgery eradicate tumour

Final analysis of results from a randomised clinical trial of lapatinib and trastuzumab given before surgery in patients with early HER2-positive breast cancer has found that women who had no signs of residual disease after treatment (known as a pathological complete response, pCR) survived longer without the cancer returning than patients who did not. This was more likely to happen in patients who received the two anti-cancer drugs together, rather than as single agents.

Researchers reveal which benign breast disease is most likely to develop into cancer

Benign breast diseases (BBD), which are non-cancerous disorders of the breast, such as lumps, are known to increase the chances of subsequent breast cancer. Now a team of Spanish researchers have found that the way BBD is detected as part of a national screening programme is an indication of which are more likely to become cancerous.

Risk of heart disease in breast cancer patients can be predicted from routine scans

Automated analysis of breast cancer patients' routine scans can predict which women have a greater than one in four risk of going on to develop cardiovascular disease, according to research presented at the 12th European Breast Cancer Conference.

Face masks unlikely to cause over-exposure to CO2, even in patients with lung disease

New research findings contradict statements linking wearing face masks to carbon dioxide poisoning by trapping CO2. During the COVID-19 pandemic the wearing of face masks has become a highly political issue with some individuals falsely claiming that wearing face masks may be putting people's health at risk. The study published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society shows otherwise.

Green shoots: Rooftop farming takes off in Singapore

On the rooftop of a Singapore shopping mall, a sprawling patch of eggplants, rosemary, bananas and papayas stand in colourful contrast to the grey skyscrapers of the city-state's business district.

Belgium coronavirus death toll passes 10,000

Belgium, one of the European countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, on Wednesday reported its death toll from the pandemic had surpassed 10,000.

Even before pandemic struck, more US adults were uninsured

About 2.5 million more working-age Americans were uninsured last year, even before the coronavirus pandemic struck, according to a government report issued Wednesday.

Walmart looks to airports as inspiration of new store layout

Walmart is getting inspiration from the airport terminal as it revamps the layout and signage of its stores to speed up shopping and better cater to smartphone-armed customers.

Virus-hit Shell says cutting up to 9,000 jobs by 2022

Energy major Shell unleashed Wednesday a major restructuring to combat plunging oil prices driven by the coronavirus pandemic, warning it will also spark more asset writedowns in the third quarter.

Baby boom at Taipei Zoo lightens pandemic blues

Taiwan's largest zoo has celebrated a flurry of births in recent months—including pandas and pangolins—in a welcome boost during a visitor slump due to the coronavirus.

Germany puts first auto boss on trial over 'dieselgate' fraud

Five years after "dieselgate" emissions cheating revelations rocked the car industry, ex-Audi CEO Rupert Stadler on Wednesday became the first top executive to stand trial in Germany.

Predator-prey interaction study reveals more food does not always mean more consumption

Scientists at the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center have developed an unusually rich picture of who is eating whom off the Northeastern United States. The findings, published recently in Fish and Fisheries, provide a close look at fish feeding habits for 17 fish species, predators, and their prey.

Counties with persistent poverty rates experience higher rates of cancer deaths

Residents of counties that experience persistent poverty face a disproportionately high risk of cancer mortality, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

New technologies link treatments to the patients who need them the most

Many of South Carolina's nicotine addiction researchers are in Charleston. But many of the smokers who need to quit live elsewhere in the state.

UM171 molecule saves another life

In a world first, a young man suffering from severe aplastic anemia who could not be helped by standard treatments has been given a life-saving blood transplant with the made-in-Canada UM171 molecule.

Drug found to correct gene defect that causes immune-driven gut leakiness

A team of researchers led by biomedical scientist Declan F. McCole at the University of California, Riverside, has found that the drug tofacitinib, also called Xeljanz and approved by the FDA to treat rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis, can repair permeability defects in the intestine.

Two pesticides approved for use in US harmful to bees

A previously banned insecticide, which was approved for agricultural use last year in the United States, is harmful for bees and other beneficial insects that are crucial for agriculture, and a second pesticide in widespread use also harms these insects. That is according to a new analysis from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

Chronically understudied, fences hold grave ecological threats

Fences are one of humanity's most frequent landscape alterations, with their combined length exceeding even that of roads by an order of magnitude. Despite their ubiquity, they have received far less research scrutiny than many human-built structures. Writing in BioScience , Alex McIntuff, who was at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, at the time of this research and is now with UC Santa Barbara, and a global team characterize the current state of fence research and generate a typology to guide future efforts.

Landmark clinical trial shows effectiveness of oral antibiotics in treating cystic fibrosis condition

A major national study led by experts from Bristol and Nottingham has found that oral antibiotics are just as effective as intravenous antibiotics in killing a common germ that causes dangerous complications in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.

Scientists find one-two punch for preclinical cancer models

A one-two punch of changing gene expression, then deploying immune checkpoint inhibitors, shows promise in battling one of the most treatment-resistant types of cancer in preclinical models, according to a new publication including authors from the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI).

210 scientists highlight state of plants and fungi in Plants, People, Planet special issue

The Special Issue, 'Protecting and sustainably using the world's plants and fungi', brings together the research—from 210 scientists across 42 countries—behind the 2020 State of the World's Plants and Fungi report, also released today by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.