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AI powered screening-test for COVID-19

A new study by researchers at the University of Oxford and Harvard University and published on the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 reports the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to screen patients presenting or admitted to hospital for COVID-19. This could help triage patients in low-testing settings and help reduce infection risk.

10 Jul 2020

As winter comes other viruses will compete with SARS-CoV-2 for susceptible hosts

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 traces how COVID-19 became the predominant cause of respiratory infection in the period from early January until the present.

10 Jul 2020

Study of 17 million patients pinpoints COVID-19 mortality risk factors

Now, an analysis of 17 million people in England, the most extensive study of its kind, sheds light on certain factors that can increase a person’s chances of dying from COVID-19, the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

10 Jul 2020

Remdesivir potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in human lung cell cultures

The news about remdesivir, the investigational anti-viral drug that has shown early promise in the fight against COVID-19, keeps getting better.

9 Jul 2020

Novel antibody test for SARS-CoV-2

A team of researchers in the United States have developed highly specific and sensitive assays that could improve understanding of the antibody response in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and help to determine the effectiveness of vaccines.

9 Jul 2020

Expansion stress promotes aggressive tumor cell growth in breast cancer

Expansion stress can have an alarming impact on breast cancer cells by creating conditions that could lead to dangerous acceleration of the disease, an interdisciplinary team of University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers has found.

9 Jul 2020

Mapping immune landscape of hematological malignancies may help improve cancer therapies

Activating the immune system of the body is a promising form of treatment for cancer. Researchers at the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital as well as the University of Eastern Finland mapped out the immune landscape of hematological malignancies in a dataset covering more than 10,000 patients to identify drug targets and patient groups which could potentially benefit from immunotherapies.

9 Jul 2020

Structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein provides clues to its evolution

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have characterized the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as well as its most similar relative in a bat coronavirus. The structures provide clues about how the spike evolved and could help inform vaccine design.

9 Jul 2020

Breast cancer cells can reprogram natural killer cells to aid in metastasis

Natural killer cells, a type of immune cell, are known to limit metastasis by inducing the death of cancer cells. But metastases still form in patients, so there must be ways for cancer cells to escape.

9 Jul 2020

As COVID testing soars, wait times for results jump to a week — or more

Elliot Truslow went to a CVS drugstore on June 15 in Tucson, Arizona, to get tested for the coronavirus. The drive-thru nasal swab test took less than 15 minutes.

9 Jul 2020

Ocean acidification also influences human health and well-being, shows study

While ocean acidification was initially perceived as a threat only to the marine realm, the authors of a new publication argue that it is also an emerging human health issue.

9 Jul 2020

ACTIONED consortium aims to transform future treatment of colorectal cancer patients

The Precision Medicine Centre of Excellence (PMC) at Queen's is leading a ground-breaking collaboration with the world's largest biotech company Roche, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) specialist, Sonrai Analytics.

9 Jul 2020

Researchers identify factor that regulates the abnormal growth of heart

The human heart is like a sponge, able to expand and grow, increasing its capacity to take up blood. In theory, an enlarged heart can also squeeze out more blood, with more power, than an average-sized heart. But in reality, for most people, this growth - known as cardiac hypertrophy - is abnormal and signals trouble.

9 Jul 2020

Attomarker's new COVID-19 Triple Antibody Test approved for use in the UK

A new COVID-19 Triple Antibody Test, produced by Attomarker Ltd, a spin-out company from the University of Exeter, could represent the next-generation of rapid and accurate COVID-19 antibody testing.

9 Jul 2020

High integrity microplate heat sealing films

Leading microplate technology specialists - Porvair Sciences has expanded its range of high integrity heat sealing films.

From Porvair Sciences Limited 9 Jul 2020

New research shows promise for treating neuropsychiatric diseases

When trying to complete a task we are constantly bombarded by distracting stimuli. How does the brain filter out these distractions and enable us to focus on the task at hand?

9 Jul 2020

Ozone gas can provide a safe means to disinfect personal protective equipment

A new study shows that ozone gas, a highly reactive chemical composed of three oxygen atoms, could provide a safe means for disinfecting certain types of personal protective equipment that are in high demand for shielding health care personnel from Covid-19.

9 Jul 2020

Researchers to create AI-based pill to precisely diagnose gastrointestinal cancers

A team led by University of Saskatchewan (USask) researcher Khan Wahid has been awarded $250,000 from the federal New Frontiers in Research Fund to create a new pill-sized capsule that uses artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled sensing to diagnose gastrointestinal cancers and bleeding earlier and more precisely than is currently possible.

9 Jul 2020

New research can help overcome challenges in diabetes research

Scientists focused on finding better treatments or cures for types 1 or 2 diabetes are painfully aware of current limitations, including having to use animal tissue in studies that often don't translate to human trials.

9 Jul 2020

Blocking tumor-promoting protein could bolster immunotherapy's effectiveness, study suggests

While immunotherapy -- a form of treatment that uses the body's immune system to recognize, attack and kill tumor cells -- has given hope to people across the globe, it fails in a significant proportion of cancer patients.

8 Jul 2020