Malaria vaccine becomes first to achieve WHO-specified 75% efficacy goal

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up. In their findings (posted on SSRN/Preprints with The Lancet) they note that they are the first to meet the World Health Organization's Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap goal of a vaccine with at least 75% efficacy.

Possible new PET tracer for early detection of Alzheimer's

New biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease are a priority area for researchers seeking to learn more about the disease and find possible methods of early diagnosis. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now studied a new PET tracer that is an important diagnostic tool for the disease. The study on the tracer substance BU99008, which is published in Molecular Psychiatry, can play a key part in the early identification of signs of Alzheimer's disease.

New species of dumbo octopus identified using minimally invasive techniques

A new species of deep-sea dwelling dumbo octopus called Grimpoteuthis imperator sp. nov. has been described using a combination of MRI, micro-CT and minimally invasive gene analysis rather than traditional dissection methods. The findings are presented in the open access journal BMC Biology.

In Peru, pre-Columbian canals offer hope against drought

In the mountains of western Peru, a farming community is restoring a network of stone canals built more than a millennium ago, hoping the pre-Columbian technology holds the solution to its water problems.

Pfizer confirms fake vaccine shots on sale in Mexico, Poland: reports

US drugmaker Pfizer on Wednesday confirmed that suspect doses of its coronavirus vaccine that were seized in Mexico and Poland were indeed fake, with doses going for as much as $1,000 a shot, according to US media.

Tesla hits China speed bump with blowback over safety, service

Electric carmaker Tesla has hit a speed bump in China with questions being raised over safety and service just as local competitors gear up to challenge the US-based company in the huge Chinese market.

Europe keeps a space-based eye on climate change

The head of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts knows a thing or two about the relentless intensification of climate change—his agency just released a report showing that the pace of global warming is accelerating.

Arctic sizzled in 2020, the warmest year for Europe too

Europe endured record heat and rainfall last year while temperatures in Arctic Siberia soared off the charts, the European Union's climate monitoring service reported Thursday.

Sinkholes fill Turkey's breadbasket in drought

Sinkholes wide enough to swallow a bus dot the drought-stricken breadbasket of the Turkish plains, worrying farmers as they spread and creep closer to residential homes.

Renault first-quarter sales close to 2020 level

French automaker Renault posted Thursday first quarter sales of 10 billion euros, slightly below the level recorded a year earlier as the coronavirus began to spread worldwide.

Low on beds, oxygen, India adds global high 314K virus cases

India reported a global record of more than 314,000 new infections Thursday as a grim coronavirus surge in the world's second-most populous country sends more and more sick people into a fragile health care system critically short of hospital beds and oxygen.

Average-risk individuals may prefer stool-based test over colonoscopy for cancer screening

When given a choice, most individuals with an average risk of colorectal cancer said they would prefer a stool-based screening test for colorectal cancer over colonoscopy, the method most often recommended by health care providers, according to results published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Personalized, 3D printed shields developed to protect patients during radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is used as a treatment for more than half of all cancer patients and can be highly effective at shrinking tumors and killing cancer cells. But radiation treatment can also damage healthy tissue, including tissue in the mouth and gastrointestinal tract. This tissue injury can lead to oral mucositis, esophagitis, and proctitis—painful and sometimes debilitating tissue damage. It's estimated that these injuries occur in over 200,000 patients in the U.S. each year. In a new paper published in Advanced Science, investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT describe efforts to develop a new personalized, 3D-printed device intended to shield patients who are undergoing radiation therapy and prevent radiation-induced toxicity. The work to date has been conducted in preclinical models and uses simulations to predict effects in humans, laying groundwork for clinical trials for patients.

California governor declares drought emergency in 2 counties

Standing in the dry, cracked bottom of Lake Mendocino, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency Wednesday in two Northern California counties where grape growers and wineries are major users, an order that came in response to arid conditions affecting much of the state and the U.S. West.

Faster air exchange in buildings not always beneficial for coronavirus levels

Vigorous and rapid air exchanges might not always be a good thing when it comes to addressing levels of coronavirus particles in a multiroom building, according to a new modeling study.

Earth's cryosphere is vital for everyone

Everything on our planet—the land, the water, the air, people—is connected by the various chemical, physical and biological processes that make up what we call the Earth system.

Children exposed to intimate partner violence twice as likely to have poorer health

A new study has found up to half of all children with language difficulties and mental and physical health problems have been exposed to intimate partner violence, prompting calls for health and social care services to provide more effective identification and early intervention.

Small-scale fisheries can back food security efforts in Arabian Sea countries

Countries surrounding the Arabian Sea should empower well-managed artisanal and subsistence fisheries to back food security efforts, a new Sea Around Us study suggests.

Climate change atlas offers a glimpse into forest futures

For 20 years, the USDA Forest Service's Climate Change Atlas has been giving foresters in the Eastern United States insight into how future habitat conditions may affect tree species, from dramatic change (a big increase of cedar elm, for example, and a big loss in balsam poplar) to the fairly neutral (red maple). The Forest Service scientists who designed the Climate Change Atlas recently completed a major overhaul of the online tool, including new predictor variables, an updated modeling framework, updated data, information on potential migration, and a revised series of four tutorials on how to use the Atlas.

New research finds advanced shoe technology reduces top race times for elite athletes

For elite runners competing in long-distance races, every second counts. So when Nike introduced "advanced shoe technology" in 2017, questions arose about whether the new design would significantly affect performances in professional sports. A new paper published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living found that the new footwear indeed reduced running times for both elite male and female competitors.

Babies surviving Group B strep more likely to require special educational support

Invasive Group B Streptococcus (GBS) disease, notably meningitis, during the first days and months of a baby's life can have persistent effects for children and hence their families, according to new research. Published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, the study is the first evidence of long-term effects including after GBS sepsis (infection in the bloodstream).

Common antibiotic effective in healing coral disease lesions

Diseases continue to be a major threat to coral reef health. For example, a relatively recent outbreak termed stony coral tissue loss disease is an apparently infectious waterborne disease known to affect at least 20 stony coral species. First discovered in 2014 in Miami-Dade County, the disease has since spread throughout the majority of the Florida's Coral Reef and into multiple countries and territories in the Caribbean. Some reefs of the northern section of Florida's Coral Reef are experiencing as much as a 60 percent loss of living coral tissue area.

Emergency EMR created in a week to respond to COVID-19 crisis

A team from Regenstrief Institute leveraged OpenMRS, a global open-source electronic medical record (EMR), to create an emergency EMR for Indianapolis first responders preparing for a possible influx of COVID-19 patients. This process was completed in a week to allow Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services (IEMS) to register patients, collect basic clinical information, and send these encounters to Indiana's health information exchange, a crucial element to help the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.