A team of University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers at the UArizona College of Medicine—Tucson found that a combination of bacterial extracts used in Europe to treat respiratory infections may offer a new way to prevent or reduce infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, showed that a specific combination of bacterial extracts known as OM-85 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection by reducing the virus's...
The omicron variant is offering more hints about what it may have in store as it spreads around the globe: a highly transmissible virus that may cause less severe disease, and one that can be slowed – but not stopped – by today's vaccines, reports Medical Xpress. An analysis Tuesday of data from South Africa, where the new variant is driving a surge in infections, suggests the Pfizer vaccine offers less defense against infection...
A Canadian study of 1.3 million people indicated that women who underwent common elective or emergency surgeries with male surgeons had a 15% higher chance of dying, experiencing a major complication, and/or being readmitted to the hospital within 30 days than they did if a woman performed their surgery, reports Medical Xpress. In contrast, men experience similarly good outcomes regardless of their surgeon's sex, the study showed. Why such "sex discordance" exists is not...
Decreasing vehicle emissions since 2008 have reduced by thousands the number of deaths attributable to air pollution, yielding billions of dollars in benefits to society, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study also found that although the public health burden of large trucks has been greatly reduced, passenger light-duty vehicles, such as SUVs and pickup trucks, continue to contribute a significant amount of air pollution in major...
A new study shows that the infant immune system is stronger than most people think, and beats the adult immune system at fighting off new pathogens. The infant immune system has a reputation for being weak and underdeveloped when compared to an adult, but the comparison isn't quite fair, says Donna Farber, PhD, professor of microbiology & immunology and the George H. Humphreys II professor of surgical sciences at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and...
Could technology play a role in making women feel safer on our streets? Since the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, the WalkSafe app has had a surge in popularity, and is the fastest-growing safety app in the U.K. Founder Emma Kaye came up with the concept after experiencing harassment, groping, and flashing. "Our app is really bitter-sweet because, of course, we love that we're busy. However, we really wish it didn't have to exist. No...
Security experts around the world are racing today to patch one of the worst computer vulnerabilities discovered in years, a critical flaw in open-source code widely used across industry and government in cloud services and enterprise software, reports Tech Xplore. "I'd be hard-pressed to think of a company that's not at risk," said Joe Sullivan, chief security officer for Cloudflare. New Zealand's computer emergency response team was among the first to report that the...
Inflammatory processes are associated with a large range of human diseases, including rheumatic diseases and allergies. Protein biomarkers are measurable molecules that can have a prognostic value in patients, be used to diagnose disease, or indicate severity of disease. Today, a large number of plasma proteins have been identified as potential biomarkers for inflammatory diseases, where they are often highly expressed in patients. However, the causal relationship between a protein biomarker and inflammatory diseases is generally unknown. The protein could...
A computer scientist who claims he invented Bitcoin has won a court case allowing him to keep his cache of cryptocurrency worth billions of dollars, the BBC reports. A jury rejected claims that Craig Wright's former business partner was due half of the assets. As a result, Wright will retain 1.1 million Bitcoin, worth about $54 billion. He will pay $100 million to his late partner's company for intellectual property infringement. The family of Dave Kleiman, a computer...
When it comes to toxic microbial warfare, the stronger microbe does not always win. A new Cornell University-led study battled strains of yeast manipulated to release different toxins at tunable and controlled rates, finding that the strain with the stronger toxin can only defeat another if its initial invading population exceeds a critical frequency or size. The research, published Dec. 6 in the journal eLife, has implications for human health since our bodies play host...
