The Impossible Man by Patchen Barss salutes Roger Penrose's groundbreaking work in physics and mathematics while challenging the idea that a genius should be exempt from ordinary obligations

Olivier Grunewald took this image of the Icelandic volcano's central crater filled with lava, forming a fiery lake of liquid rock

From a sea turtle and diver swimming in harmony in Malaysia to a red-eyed tree frog in its Costa Rican rainforest home, take a peek at some of the winning entries in one of the most prestigious photography competitions

From a photograph of algae choking an Indian river to a shocking depiction of the wearing away of the UK coast, these are some of the pictures in the running for the contest

Some 550 years ago, a Venetian monk named Fra Mauro set out to create a world map. Rather than myth and religion, it was based on solid evidence for the first time

The stratosphere seems to be full of aluminium particles and other metals that come from spacecraft burning up in the atmosphere, and those particles could mess up polar clouds

A huge plume of sulphur dioxide from the latest eruption in Iceland is drifting across Europe, but it isn't expected to cause any significant harm

Photographer Diane Tuft has documented how global warming is affecting bodies of water around the world

Taylor Roades's images of a river in north-west Alaska that has turned orange because of global warming have won the New Scientist Editors Award at the Earth Photo competition

A documentary film about three young survivors of super-typhoon Odette, a tropical cyclone that hit the Philippines in 2021, wins the New Scientist Editors Award at Earth Photo 2024

Millions of tonnes of water vapour have been lingering in the atmosphere since the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted in 2022– possibly contributing to global warming

See some of the top entries to this year's Mangrove Photography Awards, showing the beauty and fragility of these unique ecosystems

This claustrophobia-inducing image is taken from photographer Martin Broen's new book Light in the Underworld, a collection of shots from the Yucatán’s cenotes, or sinkholes

A sprawling research program aims to improve hurricane forecasts by collecting data at the chaotic interface of ocean and atmosphere

Scientists used AI to transform tourist photos into a 3D digital map of Antarctic penguin colonies – even as researchers debate whether to harness or discourage tourism in this remote region

An off-the-shelf millimetre wave sensor can pick out the tiny vibrations made by a smartphone's speaker, enabling an AI model to transcribe the conversation, even at a distance in a noisy room

The Impossible Man by Patchen Barss salutes Roger Penrose's groundbreaking work in physics and mathematics while challenging the idea that a genius should be exempt from ordinary obligations

Shortlisted for the Close-up Photographer of the Year contest, these images zoom in on animals in all their glory

Asian elephants at Berlin Zoo show impressive skill when using a hose as a tool, and even appear to sabotage each other by stopping the flow of water

Never underestimate what a single gopher can achieve in a day: one of the burrowing mammals helped boost soil fungi in an area blanketed by ash from the explosive eruption of Mount St Helens in Washington state

3D mapping and artificial intelligence has helped decipher an ancient Herculaneum papyrus scroll which had been digitally scanned

Tonje Bøe Birkeland's photographs imagine the exploits of fictional female scientists and adventurers from the past

Title: African Chimps Carry Drug-Resistant, Human-Linked Staph
Category: Health News
Created: 8/24/2012 4:05:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 8/27/2012 12:00:00 AM

Title: U.S. Appeals Court Backs Ruling Against Graphic Images on Cigarette Packs
Category: Health News
Created: 8/24/2012 2:05:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 8/27/2012 12:00:00 AM

Title: Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment Tied to Higher Risk of Stomach Cancer in Study
Category: Health News
Created: 8/28/2013 9:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/28/2013 12:00:00 AM

Title: Teens Not the Only Ones Using Cellphones While Driving
Category: Health News
Created: 8/25/2015 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/26/2015 12:00:00 AM

Title: Amphetamines Polluting Some Urban Streams: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/26/2016 12:00:00 AM

Title: Drug for Spinal Muscular Atrophy May Help Older Children: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 8/29/2018 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/30/2018 12:00:00 AM

Title: Gene 'Editing' in Dog Study Shows Promise for Kids With Muscular Dystrophy
Category: Health News
Created: 8/30/2018 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/31/2018 12:00:00 AM

Title: Vaping May Trigger Lung Damage Like That Seen in Emphysema
Category: Health News
Created: 8/26/2019 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/27/2019 12:00:00 AM

Title: Smart Phones, Watches Can Mess With Implanted Pacemakers
Category: Health News
Created: 8/26/2021 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/26/2021 12:00:00 AM

Title: Gene Therapy Makes Inroads Against a Form of Hemophilia
Category: Health News
Created: 7/22/2022 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/22/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: For Back Pain, Earlier Is Better for Physical Therapy
Category: Health News
Created: 8/9/2022 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/10/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: Can Your Smartphone Spot a Narrowed Neck Artery?
Category: Health News
Created: 8/17/2022 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/17/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: phenylephrine
Category: Medications
Created: 8/17/2022 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/17/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: 3 Big Pharmacy Chains Must Pay $650 Million to Ohio Counties for Role in Opioid Crisis
Category: Health News
Created: 8/18/2022 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/18/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: MS (Multiple Sclerosis) vs. ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)
Category: Diseases and Conditions
Created: 6/16/2017 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/4/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: Is Syphilis Completely Curable?
Category: Diseases and Conditions
Created: 7/15/2022 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/15/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: Is Syphilis 100% Curable?
Category: Diseases and Conditions
Created: 7/15/2022 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/15/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: Picture of Phototoxic Dermatitides
Category: Images
Created: 2/23/2010 2:33:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 6/28/2022 12:00:00 AM

Title: pseudoephedrine
Category: Medications
Created: 8/9/2022 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/9/2022 12:00:00 AM

Influenza A virus (IAV) is one of the leading causes of respiratory infections. The lack of efficient anti-influenza therapeutics requires a better understanding of how IAV interacts with host cells. Alveolar macrophages are tissue-specific macrophages that play a critical role in lung innate immunity and homeostasis, yet their role during influenza infection remains unclear. First, our review highlights an active IAV replication within alveolar macrophages, despite an abortive viral cycle. Such infection leads to persistent alveolar macrophage inflammation and diminished phagocytic function, alongside direct mitochondrial damage and indirect metabolic shifts in the alveolar micro-environment. We also discuss the "macrophage disappearance reaction", which is a drastic reduction of the alveolar macrophage population observed after influenza infection in mice but debated in humans, with unclear underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, we explore the dual nature of alveolar macrophage responses to IAV infection, questioning whether they are deleterious or protective for the host. While IAV may exploit immuno-evasion strategies and induce alveolar macrophage alteration or depletion, this could potentially reduce excessive inflammation and allow for the replacement of more effective cells. Despite these insights, the pathophysiological role of alveolar macrophages during IAV infection in humans remains understudied, urging further exploration to unravel their precise contributions to disease progression and resolution.

Two decades into the era of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), the promise of streamlining clinical care, reducing burden, and improving patient outcomes has yet to be realized. A cross-sectional family physician census conducted by the American Board of Family Medicine in 2022 and 2023 included self-reported physician EHR satisfaction. Of the nearly 10,000 responding family physicians, only one-in-four (26.2%) report being very satisfied and one-in-three (33.8%) were not satisfied. These low levels of satisfaction point to the need for greater transparency in the marketplace and pressure to increase user-centric EHR design.

Purpose:

Sexual misconduct by physicians is a consequential violation of patient trust. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and patterns of sexual misconduct by physicians certified by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM).

Background:

Nested within a growing body of evidence of a gender pay gap in medicine are more alarming recent findings from family medicine: a gender pay gap of 16% can be detected at a very early career stage. This article explores qualitative evidence of women’s experiences negotiating for their first job out of residency to ascertain women’s engagement with and approach to the negotiation process.

BACKGROUND:The use of prone position (PP) has been widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas it has demonstrated benefits, including improved oxygenation and lung aeration, the factors influencing the response in terms of gas exchange to PP remain unclear. In particular, the association between baseline quantitative computed tomography (CT) scan results and gas exchange response to PP in invasively ventilated subjects with COVID-19 ARDS is unknown. The present study aimed to compare baseline quantitative CT results between subjects responding to PP in terms of oxygenation or CO2 clearance and those who did not.METHODS:This was a single-center, retrospective observational study including critically ill, invasively ventilated subjects with COVID-19–related ARDS admitted to the ICUs of Niguarda Hospital between March 2020–November 2021. Blood gas samples were collected before and after PP. Subjects in whom the PaO2/FIO2 increase was ≥ 20 mm Hg after PP were defined as oxygen responders. CO2 responders were defined when the ventilatory ratio (VR) decreased during PP. Automated quantitative CT analyses were performed to obtain tissue mass and density of the lungs.RESULTS:One hundred twenty-five subjects were enrolled, of which 116 (93%) were O2 responders and 51 (41%) CO2 responders. No difference in quantitative CT characteristics and oxygen were observed between responders and non-responders (tissue mass 1,532 ± 396 g vs 1,654 ± 304 g, P = .28; density −544 ± 109 HU vs −562 ± 58 HU P = .42). Similar findings were observed when dividing the population according to CO2 response (tissue mass 1,551 ± 412 g vs 1,534 ± 377 g, P = .89; density −545 ± 123 HU vs −546 ± 94 HU, P = .99).CONCLUSIONS:Most subjects with COVID-19–related ARDS improved their oxygenation at the first pronation cycle. The study suggests that baseline quantitative CT scan data were not associated with the response to PP in oxygenation or CO2 in mechanically ventilated subjects with COVID-19–related ARDS.

Visible particle is an important issue in the biopharmaceutical industry, and it may occur across all the stages in the life cycle of biologics. Upon the occurrence of visible particles, it is often necessary to conduct chemical identification and root cause analysis to safeguard the safety and efficacy of the biotherapeutic products. In this article, we present a number of typical particles and relevant root cause analysis in the categories of extrinsic, intrinsic, and inherent particles that are commonly encountered in the biopharma industry. In particular, the optical images of particles obtained both in situ and after isolation are provided, along with spectral and elemental information. The particle identification was carried out with multiple microscopic and microspectroscopic techniques, including stereo optical microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared microscopy, confocal Raman microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Both commercial and in-house spectral databases were used for comparison and identification. In addition to particle identification, we placed significant efforts on the root cause analysis of the addressed particles with the intention to provide a relatively whole picture of the particle-related issues and practical references to particle mitigation for our peers in the biopharmaceutical industry.

For clean-room technologies such as isolators and restricted access barrier systems (RABS), decontamination using hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is increasingly attractive to fulfill regulatory requirements. Several approaches are currently used, ranging from manual wipe disinfection to vapor phase hydrogen peroxide (VPHP) or automated nebulization sanitization. Although the residual airborne H₂O₂ concentration can be easily monitored, detection of trace H₂O₂ residues in filled products is rather challenging. To simulate the filling process in a specific clean room, technical runs with water for injection (WfI) are popular. Thus, the ability to detect traces of H₂O₂ in water is an important prerequisite to ensure a safe and reliable use of H₂O₂ for isolator or clean room decontamination. The objective of this study was to provide a validated quantitative, fluorometric Amplex UltraRed assay, which satisfies the analytical target profile of quantifying H₂O₂ in WfI at low nanomolar to low micromolar concentrations (ppb range) with high accuracy and high precision. The Amplex UltraRed technology provides a solid basis for this purpose; however, no commercial assay kit that fulfills these requirements is available. Therefore, a customized Amplex UltraRed assay was developed, optimized, and validated. This approach resulted in an assay that is capable of quantifying H₂O₂ in WfI selectively, sensitively, accurately, precisely, and robustly. This assay is used in process development and qualification approaches using WfI in H₂O₂-decontaminated clean rooms and isolators.

Thermoregulation, responsible for maintaining a stable core temperature during wide fluctuations in external and internal thermal environments, is an iconic homeostatic process. However, we suggest that despite its fundamental physiological significance, the potential for required cool housing temperatures and thermoregulatory mechanisms to influence the interpretation of experimental data is not sufficiently appreciated. Moreover, although it is generally assumed that the major thermoregulatory pathways are well understood, here we discuss new research that suggests otherwise and reveals the emergence of a new wave of exciting ideas for this "old" field of research.