Tag Archives: News

Health Care System: Life-Saving Drug Shortages At U.S. Hospitals Reach “Unfathomable” Levels

From a Becker’s Hospital Review online release:

Massachusetts General Hospital“This is the fourth time in the last two years we’ve had to activate our hospital’s emergency operations plan for a major drug shortage,” Dr. Biddinger told NBC News. “It’s almost unfathomable in modern medicine. I never thought we would get to a point in the U.S. healthcare system where we wouldn’t have essential medicines to be able to treat patients.”

Drug shortages are increasing and lasting longer, according to an FDA report published Oct. 29. Of 163 drugs running low in 2013-17, over 62 percent were due to manufacturing or product quality problems.

Hospitals nationwide are facing shortages of crucial, lifesaving drugs, with 116 drugs currently running low, according to the FDA and cited by NBC News.

Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital is a prime example, getting as close as two weeks away from canceling a lifesaving cardiac surgery due to a lack of herapin, a blood-thinner, according to Paul Biddinger, MD, chief of the division of emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Hospital.

To read more: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/it-s-almost-unfathomable-in-modern-medicine-us-hospitals-running-low-on-lifesaving-drugs.html?oly_enc_id=9129H5611090H0N

Medical Research: Single Gene Therapy Treatment For Multiple Age-Related Diseases Seen (Harvard)

From a Harvard news online release:

Harvard Medical School“The results we saw were stunning and suggest that holistically addressing aging via gene therapy could be more effective than the piecemeal approach that currently exists,” said first author Noah Davidsohn, a former research scientist at the Wyss Institute and HMS who is now chief technology officer of Rejuvenate Bio. “Everyone wants to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible, and this study is a first step toward reducing the suffering caused by debilitating diseases.”

New research from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School (HMS) suggests that it may be possible someday to tend to multiple ailments with one treatment.

The study was conducted in the lab of Wyss core faculty member George Church as part of Davidsohn’s postdoctoral research into the genetics of aging. Davidsohn, Church, and their co-authors homed in on three genes that had been shown to confer increased health and lifespan benefits in mice that were genetically engineered to overexpress them: FGF21, sTGFβR2, and αKlotho. They hypothesized that providing extra copies of those genes to nonengineered mice via gene therapy would similarly combat age-related diseases and bring health benefits.

To read more: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/11/researchers-able-to-improve-reverse-age-related-diseases-in-mice/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Gazette%2020191105%20(1)

Housing Market: Baby Boomers Staying In Homes Longer, Reducing Supply

From a Wall Street Journal online article:

Cities with longest length of time lived in homes CoreLogic 2019Economists say aging baby boomers are the biggest culprits because many are staying healthier later in life and choosing not to downsize. Some look around at the lack of smaller, less expensive homes and are loath to get into bidding wars with their children’s generation to get one.

Homeowners there are staying more than three years longer than they did in 2010. The inventory of homes for sale in Seattle has declined more than 50% over the last nine years, while home prices have risen more than 80%, according to Redfin.

Americans are staying in their homes much longer than before, creating a logjam of housing inventory off the market that helps explain why home sales have been sputtering.

Homeowners nationwide are remaining in their homes typically 13 years, five years longer than they did in 2010, according to a new analysis by real-estate brokerage Redfin. When owners don’t trade up to a larger home for a growing family or downsize when children leave, it plugs up the market for buyers coming behind them.

To read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/people-are-staying-in-their-homes-longera-big-reason-for-slower-sales-11572777001

Top Science Podcasts: Measles Wipes Out Immune System Memory, Black Holes (Science Magazine)

scimag_pc_logo_120_120 (2)Measles is a dangerous infection that can kill. As many as 100,000 people die from the disease each year. For those who survive infection, the virus leaves a lasting mark—it appears to wipe out the immune system’s memory. News Intern Eva Fredrick joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about a pair of studies that looked at how this happens in children’s immune systems.

In our second segment this week, Sarah talks with Todd Thompson, of Ohio State University in Columbus, about his effort to find a small black hole in a binary pair with a red giant star. Usually black holes are detected because they are accruing matter and as the matter interacts with the black hole, x-rays are released. Without this flashy signal, black hole detection gets much harder. Astronomers must look for the gravitational influence of the black holes on nearby stars—which is easier to spot when the black hole is massive. Thompson talks with Sarah about a new approach to finding small, noninteracting black holes.

https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/how-measles-wipes-out-immune-memory-and-detecting-small-black-holes

Top Political Podcasts: Ruth Marcus And Michael Gerson On Latest In Washington (PBS)

Ruth Marcus and Michael Gerson PBS Newshour Nov 1 2019Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus and syndicated columnist Michael Gerson join Amna Nawaz to analyze the week’s political news, including details emerging from witness depositions in the impeachment inquiry about President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, current public opinion on Trump and impeachment and 2020 campaign updates, including the withdrawal of Democrat Beto O’Rourke.

Top Science Podcasts: Quantum Computing, Speediest Ants & Altering The “Deaf” Gene (Nature)

Nature PodcastListen to the latest from the world of science, with Nick Howe and Shamini Bundell. This week, a milestone in quantum computing, and rethinking early mammals.

In this episode:

00:43 A quantum computing milestone

A quantum computer is reported to have achieved ‘quantum supremacy’ – performing an operation that’s essentially impossible for classical computers. Research Article: Arute et al.News and Views: Quantum computing takes flightEditorial: A precarious milestone for quantum computingNews: Hello quantum world! Google publishes landmark quantum supremacy claim

08:24 Research Highlights

The world’s speediest ants, and the world’s loudest birdsong. Research Highlight: A land-speed record for ants set in Saharan dunesResearch Highlight: A bird’s ear-splitting shriek smashes the record for loudest song

10:19 The mammals that lived with the dinosaurs

Paleontologists are shifting their view of Mesozoic era mammals. News Feature: How the earliest mammals thrived alongside dinosaurs

18:00 News Chat

A Russian researcher’s plans to edit human embryos, and ‘prime editing’ – a more accurate gene editing system. News: Russian ‘CRISPR-baby’ scientist has started editing genes in human eggs with goal of altering deaf geneNews: Super-precise new CRISPR tool could tackle a plethora of genetic diseases

Top Science Podcasts: Child Mortality Rates, Evolving New Genes & Vaping Deaths (Nature)

Nature PodcastListen to the latest from the world of science, with Benjamin Thompson and Shamini Bundell. This week, investigating child mortality rates at a local level, and building genes from non-coding DNA.

In this episode:

00:43 A regional view of childhood mortality

Researchers map countries’ progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Developmental Goals. Research Article: Burstein et al.World View: Data on child deaths are a call for justiceEditorial: Protect the census

07:22 Research Highlights

Astronomers identify a second visitor from beyond the solar system, and extreme snowfall stifles animal breeding in Greenland. Research Highlight: The comet that came in from interstellar spaceResearch Highlight: Extreme winter leads to an Arctic reproductive collapse

09:22 Evolving genes from the ground up

Natural selection’s creative way to evolve new genes. News Feature: How evolution builds genes from scratch

15:43 News Chat

A spate of vaping-related deaths in the US, and Japan’s import of the Ebola virus. News: Scientists chase cause of mysterious vaping illness as death toll risesNews: Why Japan imported Ebola ahead of the 2020 Olympics

Top Science Podcasts: Modelling Embryonic Development, Baby Sea Turtles, “Nature” News

Nature PodcastListen to the latest from the world of science, with Benjamin Thompson and Shamini Bundell. This week, modelling embryonic development, and an analysis of male dominated conferences.

In this episode:

00:44 Imitating implantation

Researchers have created a system that uses stem cells to model the early stages of pregnancy. Research article: Zheng et al.News and Views: Human embryo implantation modelled in microfluidic channels

08:03 Research Highlights

Traces of baby turtle tracks, and Titan’s explosive past. Research Highlight: A baby sea turtle’s ancient trek is captured in a fossilResearch Highlight: Giant explosions sculpted a moon’s peculiar scenery

09:36 ‘Manferences’

Nature investigates the prevalence of conferences where most of the speakers are male. News Feature: How to banish manels and manferences from scientific meetings

15:41 News Chat

An update on India’s latest moon mission, drugs that may reverse biological age, and this year’s Breakthrough Prize winners. News: India loses contact with its Moon lander minutes before touchdownNews: First hint that body’s ‘biological age’ can be reversedNews: First-ever picture of a black hole scoops US$3-million prize

Environment: World’s Largest Research Vessel “REV Ocean” Launches, Will Be Towed To Norway

From a REVOcean.org news release:

REV Ocean world’s largest and most advanced research and expedition vessel rear viewREV Ocean will be equipped for conducting missions that cover the entire marine ecosystem. It will be used by scientists and innovators for ‘solutions’ oriented research that explore issues such as the impact CO2 emissions have on the ocean, plastic pollution, and unsustainable fishing. REV Ocean will be an inclusive global vehicle for testing and proliferating ocean solutions. The vessel is 182.9 meters long and will have the capacity of holding 55 scientists and 35 crew. Equipment onboard includes scientific trawls, sonar systems, laboratories, auditorium and classrooms, moonpool, AUV and submarine, an ROV with 6000 meters depth capacity, and advanced communication equipment.

A monumental day for a monumental ship. REV Ocean is thrilled to announce the first water launch of the world’s largest and most advanced research and expedition vessel (REV Ocean). After an extensive and complicated build period over the past 18 months, the vessel was finally lowered into the water today at the VARD Tulcea shipyard in Romania.

Nina Jensen, CEO of REV Ocean, commented: “Today is an especially exciting day, our state-of-the-art research vessel has achieved a major milestone and we are now one step closer to realizing our vision of safeguarding the ocean. We look forward with great anticipation to REV Ocean’s journey to Norway and seeing the next stage of progress towards our ambitions of developing ocean solutions.”

To read more click on the following link: https://www.revocean.org/rev_splash/

Housing Market: Top Ten Destinations For Moving Companies In 2nd Quarter

From a Housing Wire online article:

top-destinations-for-movers-in-u.s..jpg…of the top ten most desired locations to move to, the share of out-of-state searches on realtor.com ranges from 48% to 59.8%.

Charleston, South Carolina, the No. 1 city on the list, was searched by homebuyers who live in Charlotte, New York and Atlanta. Second on the list was Boise, Idaho, which was sought out by Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Sacramento residents. 

“Home prices have risen for seven consecutive years, far outpacing salary growth. Although interest rates are the lowest they have been in three years, cost has become a deal breaker for many buyers, especially in pricey West Coast metros,” said realtor.com Senior Economist, George Ratiu. “But instead of giving up on the American Dream, many buyers have decided to look for a home in medium-sized metros outside their state that offer price relief, and a similar lifestyle.”

To read more click on the following link: https://www.housingwire.com/articles/49903-here-are-the-top-destinations-for-movers-in-the-us?utm_campaign=Newsletter%20-%20HousingWire%20Daily&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75991104&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9Dfy_tm0uUztBU-DX0yqQviGtal9Xe-xPeemrbFQeZ0nm5hWNDE0jb1Xak27NkRD_cBHwS9VBlcwV9QTb_21LqkPDQHw&_hsmi=75991104