North & Central America

Man clutching his chest from acute pain

New heart attack detector gives results in minutes, not hours

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Someone presenting to the emergency room with a suspected heart attack will undergo a number of standard blood tests to determine heart muscle damage. The problem is that it can take one or two hours to receive the results. Now, Johns Hopkins University researchers have led the design of a tiny chip that diagnoses heart attack by detecting these important biomarkers in minutes rather than hours, even if they are present at very low concentrations. The researchers foresee an at-home heart attack detector in the future.

New heart attack detector gives results in minutes, not hours Read more

Good news for LGBTQ rights, pride flags

More than 800 U.S. military veterans receive honorable discharges from Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” records review

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More than 800 veterans from the U.S. military who were kicked out of the military for their sexual orientation under a policy that banned gays and lesbians from openly serving, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” will receive honorable discharges, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin has announced. An honorable discharge status unlocks access to benefits that some of these veterans may have been missing out on for decades, including things like health care, college tuition assistance, VA loan programs, and even some jobs.

More than 800 U.S. military veterans receive honorable discharges from Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” records review Read more

Birds flying at the beach on a sunny day

California gets final approval for nation’s third-largest marine sanctuary

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A new 4,543-square-mile area off a gorgeous and ecologically rich stretch of the California coast has achieved federal protection. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary was officially designated Friday along 116 miles of the coast in the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. Created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it is the country’s third-largest marine sanctuary. It is also first designed with the involvement of Indigenous groups and the first in 30 years in California.

California gets final approval for nation’s third-largest marine sanctuary Read more

Metal pipes

U.S. announces 10-year deadline to remove all lead pipes nationwide

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President Biden has announced $2.6 billion in funding to replace all lead pipes in the United States as part of a new EPA rule that will require lead pipes to be identified and replaced within 10 years using the new funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. The EPA estimates that nine million homes in the U.S. still have lead pipes. “Studies show … communities of color have been the hardest hit,” Mr. Biden said. “One study showed Black children were at least two times more likely to have elevated levels of lead in their blood than children of other racial groups. We have an obligation to make things right.”

U.S. announces 10-year deadline to remove all lead pipes nationwide Read more

Virus up close, posted to good news for vaccine dissemination

‘Gamechanger’ HIV prevention drug to be made available cheaply in 120 countries

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Gilead Sciences says it has signed agreements with six manufacturers to make and sell generic lenacapavir in 120 “high-incidence, resource-limited” countries. Lenacapavir, given as a twice-yearly injection, has shown strong results for HIV prevention. It stopped infection in a trial involving girls and women in South Africa and Uganda, and offered almost complete protection in a second trial that mainly involved men across Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Thailand, and the U.S.

‘Gamechanger’ HIV prevention drug to be made available cheaply in 120 countries Read more

World Health Organization approves first mpox diagnostic test for emergency use

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Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. A global outbreak first emerged in May 2022 which WHO said constituted a public health emergency of international concern – the highest level of alarm under international health law. Africa has seen an unprecedented increase and expansion in mpox cases this year, with transmission mainly centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO said early diagnosis is critical as it enables timely treatment and care, as well as control of the virus. A new test from Abbott Molecular now makes that much more possible.

World Health Organization approves first mpox diagnostic test for emergency use Read more

Good news, Claudia Sheinbaum sworn in as Mexico's first female president

Claudia Sheinbaum is sworn in as Mexico’s first female president

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After a smiling Sheinbaum took the oath of office on the floor of Congress, legislators shouted “Presidenta! Presidenta!” using the feminine form of president in Spanish for the first time in over 200 years of Mexico’s history as an independent country. In her inauguration speech, Sheinbaum said that she came to power accompanied by all of the women who have struggled in anonymity to make their way in Mexico, including “those who dreamed of the possibility that one day no matter if we were born as women or men we would achieve our dreams and desires without our sex determining our destiny.”

Claudia Sheinbaum is sworn in as Mexico’s first female president Read more

Good news for scientific research, hands in a lab

University of Toronto researchers develop method to accelerate forensic analysis in sexual assault cases

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The entire process currently can take days, weeks, or longer. To speed things up, the researchers focused on the first step: separating two individuals’ DNA from a single sample. At present, this is usually done manually by trained and experienced experts. The new method uses a process called ’differential digestion” using digital microfluidics that helped simplify the overall process and reduce the number of manual steps needed to isolate the assailant’s DNA from 13 to five.

University of Toronto researchers develop method to accelerate forensic analysis in sexual assault cases Read more

Neurons inside human brain,Neuronal network with electrical activity of neuron cells,3d rendering

Synapse-restoring pill set for human trials as novel schizophrenia treatment

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Spinogenix is the American company behind the once-a-day pill that restored lost nerve cell connections in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Having been granted approval from the Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), it is now actively enrolling participants for its Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety, effectiveness, tolerability, and pharmacodynamics of once-a-day SPG302 as a treatment for schizophrenia.

Synapse-restoring pill set for human trials as novel schizophrenia treatment Read more

Nervous Swans in the Rice Fields

California tears down levee in ‘largest tidal habitat restoration in state history’

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A backhoe loader has dug into a levee in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, breaking down a portion of the earthen embankment and allowing tidal waters to flow across 3,400 acres of land for the first time in 100 years, officials said. The plot of land, located in Solano County and just upriver from Rio Vista, is being called Lookout Slough, and it will provide new habitat for fish and wildlife and increase flood protection for the greater Sacramento area by boosting water storage capacity in the Yolo Bypass.

California tears down levee in ‘largest tidal habitat restoration in state history’ Read more

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