Author: healthadmin
Clinical trials testing two drugs against the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, which is spreading rapidly in Central Africa, are scheduled to begin next week, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday. The clinical trial, which will test both Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir and MapBio’s monoclonal antibody MBP-134, will be conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The trial is designed to test whether either treatment is effective against this form of Ebola and whether using the two in combination is a more effective way to fight the disease. The current outbreak is the third largest on record and is growing at…
A team led by LMU physician Daniel Kotlarz has identified a previously unknown genetic cause of Crohn’s disease. Chronic inflammatory bowel disease is on the rise worldwide. Despite significant advances in diagnosis and treatment, the underlying causes of these diseases are often still poorly understood. An international research team from the VEO-IBD Consortium (a global research network supported by the Leona M. Helmsley and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust), which includes LMU University Hospital and Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), has identified a previously unknown genetic cause of chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The results were published in a magazine…
A survey experiment with more than 1,500 Americans showed that labeling a public policy message (such as allowing universities to pay student-athletes) as AI-generated or written by human experts had no effect on the message’s persuasiveness, even though most participants believed the label. The messages were generally persuasive, influencing participants’ views on policy by almost 10 percent on average. The paper was published in PNAS Nexus. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is being used more widely than ever in political messaging. The development of these systems has reached a stage where they can create persuasive political content quickly and at scale.…
Artificial intelligence evaluation platform Coval has secured a $28 million Series A funding round to continue improving the deployment of autonomous voice agents across the enterprise. Norwest led the funding round with participation from Base10 Partners, Twilio Ventures, and Y Combinator. Executives say the company has raised $31 million since its founding in 2024 and works with more than 60 organizations, including Zoom and Deepgram. “Every company will deploy voice agents in the same way they have mobile and web apps, but today most companies don’t have the infrastructure to confidently deploy these systems,” Coval founder and CEO Brooke Hopkins…
Researchers at La Trobe University have identified a previously unknown biological process that may help explain how the virus moves through the body. The discovery could also open new opportunities to develop treatments that better support the immune system. Published in nature communicationsthis study sheds new light on what happens when cells die and are removed from the body. The research was led by Stephanie Rutter, a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Professor Ivan Poon at the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences (LIMS). The research team discovered that the steps involved in cell death are far more organized…
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias will cost the United States an estimated $818 billion this year, according to a new USC-led study. This is largely due to the often overlooked costs to people living with dementia and the family and friends who provide their care. In addition to medical and long-term care costs, the researchers’ cost model takes into account factors that are often not captured in other estimates of the economic cost of dementia, such as reduced quality of life, loss of income for people with dementia and their care partners, and extensive unpaid care from family and friends.…
Scientists have identified a group of neurons located in an ancient region of the brain that plays a key role in helping animals concentrate. These cells appear to improve attention by filtering out distractions and directing the brain to the information that matters most. The discovery, made in mice by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, points to a brain system shared by all vertebrates, including humans. The findings could ultimately help researchers develop more precise treatments for attention-related disorders. “The hallmark of ADHD is that even subtle distractions distract us, and that’s exactly what we see here when these neurons…
Recent research published in American behavioral scientist It suggests that a person’s political identity influences how they interpret the meaning behind a smile. The findings indicate that some people view smiling primarily as a way to build social connections, while others, especially those who identify with the Republican Party, tend to see smiling as a tool for managing social hierarchy. These insights provide evidence that party affiliation shapes not only voting habits but also how people decipher basic human facial expressions. Smiling is generally considered to be a simple expression of happiness. However, psychological research suggests that smiling is a…
Researchers face mounting pressure tracking hundreds of 2026 clinical trials across obesity, oncology and rare diseases. This analysis delivers prioritized breakdowns of pivotal studies and their implications.
Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI). The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is violating the law by failing to turn over records related to President Donald Trump’s executive order protecting the production of the controversial pesticide glyphosate, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, seeks to force the USDA to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Center on February 26 for records on how and why the order was developed. “The main thing we want to understand is, specifically, who was driving…