A major clinical trial found that combining dobutamine with norepinephrine during septic shock surgery significantly reduces the risk of post-operative kidney damage by safely improving blood flow.

Researchers from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) have published a promising AI-based approach to early detection of people at risk of suicide-related behaviour (SRB) in the journal Scientific Reports. The study describes using an AI algorithm, routine patient intake data, and light-weight computing to estimate SRB risk following admission to a hospital emergency room (ER). The AI model was built with historical open-source patient data from the USA. It is intended to assist ER staff rather than to replace them.

A new study by researchers at Bournemouth University has shown that autistic people consistently experience more severe menopausal symptoms than non-autistic people, leading to poorer wellbeing and quality of life.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), responsible for 75% of all pediatric leukemia diagnoses, requires immediate treatment-- often a combination of chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and bone marrow transplants. Clinicians today have no way of knowing whether the treatment will be successful. However, new technology from Emory University identifies which drug combinations and ratios will work better together, based on a real-time assessment of a patient's specific blood sample. A microfluidic assay, or a “lab-on-a-chip,” GradientScreen works by exposing leukemia cells to 3-drug combinations and measuring how many cancer cells survive. This technology can predict which patients will respond well to traditional interventions and which patients may benefit from alternative therapies. 

Now, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $16.4 million over five years to establish a new U19 “Cooperative Center for Rational HCV Vaccine Design & Evaluation,” which will bring together scientists across Scripps Research, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the University of Pennsylvania, and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) to uncover how the virus escapes immune responses and create vaccine candidates designed to trigger strong antibody and T cell immune protection.

Non-drug and non-surgical treatments for low back pain, including psychological support, exercise and self-management strategies are cost-effective interventions, according to a study published October 27^th in the open access journal PLOS Medicine by Manuela Loureiro Ferreira from the George Institute for Global Health, Australia, and colleagues.