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Workers with blood lead levels below the legal ceiling in Brazil expressed a microRNA associated with a decrease in DNA methylation, a physiological process required for the organism to be in balance. However, known clinical manifestations occur when levels are high.

The likelihood of people surviving COVID-19 in UK hospitals has been improving over time, a new study has found.Research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine by the ISARIC Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium found that in-hospital mortality declined from 32% at the start of the first wave (Mar-Apr 2020) to 16% at the end of the first wave (Jun-Jul 2020).

Patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) did not have better health outcomes if they took sacubitril/valsartan combination therapy compared with valsartan alone, according to new data presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction who took the antifibrotic drug pirfenidone saw a significant reduction in a marker of heart muscle scarring compared with patients who received a placebo, based on findings from an early-phase trial presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

A randomized double-blind controlled trial of convalescent plasma for adults hospitalized with severe COVID-19 found that mortality at 28 days in the treatment arm was half the rate seen in the control arm (12.6% vs. 24.6%), although treatment was not associated with other improvements in clinical status.

Inserm teams led by Laurent Reber (Infinity, Toulouse) and Pierre Bruhns (Humoral Immunity, Institut Pasteur, Paris) and French company NEOVACS have developed a vaccine that could induce long-term protection against allergic asthma, reducing the severity of its symptoms and thus significantly improving patient quality of life. Their research in animals has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

One of the enduring mysteries of the COVID-19 pandemic is why most children tend to experience fewer symptoms than adults after infection with the coronavirus. The immune system response that occurs in the rare cases in which children experience life-threatening reactions after infection may offer an important insight, a Yale-led study published in the journal Immunity suggests.

The experimental heart failure drug omecamtiv mecarbil reduced heart failure hospitalizations by a greater margin among patients with more severely reduced ejection fraction, a measure indicating severe impairment in the heart's pumping ability, compared with those who had moderately reduced ejection fraction, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

Before undergoing surgery, patients often go through a number of tests: blood work, sometimes a chest X-ray, perhaps tests to measure heart and lung function.In fact, about half of patients who had one of three common surgical procedures done in Michigan between 2015 and the midway point of 2019 received at least one routine test beforehand.Yet plenty of evidence suggests that preoperative testing is often unnecessary for low-risk surgeries.

Scientists discover that dinosaurs were not the main competition for mammals during the time of the dinosaurs, challenging previously held ideas about evolution.

University researchers have carried out the largest systematic review and meta-analysis to date of how people's perceptions of their screen time compare with what they do in practice, finding estimates of usage were only accurate in about five per cent of studies.

A new study published in the research journal Cognitive Science finds that iconicity in parents' speech helps children learn new words

Study Has Implications for Preventive Measures to Slow Spread of Virus

For the first time, Penn State researchers have identified a gene that controls flowering in cacao, a discovery that may help accelerate breeding efforts aimed at improving the disease-ridden plant, they suggested.

A program designed to improve hospital care for patients with heart failure, the leading cause of hospitalization among adults over age 65, did not bring additional benefits beyond existing hospital quality improvement programs in a randomized controlled trial presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

During an inflammatory response, things need to happen quickly: ETH Zurich researchers have recently discovered that certain immune cells that function as security guards can use a shortcut to get from the tissue to lymph nodes.

The University of Kent's School of Physical Sciences, in collaboration with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the Universities of Cardiff, Durham and Leeds, have developed an algorithm to train computers to analyse signals from subatomic particles embedded in advanced electronic materials.

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found out how microscopic structures called lipid droplets may help to prevent a high-fat diet causing kidney damage. The work in fruit flies, published in PLoS Biology opens up a new research avenue for developing better treatments for chronic kidney disease.

Patients with both diabetes and heart failure who were treated with sotagliflozin, a novel investigational drug for diabetes, for a median of nine to 16 months experienced reductions of 22% to 43% in the risk of death or worsening heart failure compared with similar patients who were treated with a placebo, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

New research provides the best evidence to date into the timing of how our early Milky Way came together, including the merger with a key satellite galaxy.Using relatively new methods in astronomy, the researchers were able to identify the most precise ages currently possible for a sample of about a hundred red giant stars in the galaxy.