New preventative shot could ‘end HIV transmission'
This new medication is the longest-lasting type of PrEP available, offering a significant advantage over daily pills or bi-monthly shots.
Studies demonstrated lenacapavir's high effectiveness, with no HIV infections in participants receiving the shot in a study involving women and teen girls, and similar efficacy in gay men and gender-nonconforming people.
Advocates believe the drug has the potential to end HIV transmission by expanding prevention opportunities and improving adherence, as users only need two injections per year.
Despite its effectiveness, concerns remain about widespread access due to challenges in the U.S. healthcare system, including cuts to public health agencies and foreign aid for HIV initiatives.
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The Independent
a minute ago
- The Independent
It's been a sticky and sweaty summer. Here are the states which had record-high humidity in July
A majority of the country has spent the last month sticky and sweaty thanks to unrelenting humidity which has set records in some states. July's humidity was worse than usual for huge swaths of the continental U.S., which will not be surprising for Americans living in much of the Midwest, East Coast, and the mid-Atlantic regions, where the humidity was particularly high according to research from Oregon State University. Humidity is not unusual in the summer, but the "real feel" heat index — which combines temperature and humidity — spent days in the triple digits and set records in states including Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, and Florida throughout July. The humidity was so brutal that numerous cities — including Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, and Roanoke — broke records for the most humid days in their histories, according to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, which tracks data on precipitation, soil temperatures, and other environmental data. On Thursday, a Kentucky branch of the National Weather Service noted that Paducah, Kentucky endured the "longest stretch of continuously high humidity" the city had seen in 75 years. According to the NWS, the number of hours of extreme humidity in the city was 300 percent more than its usual amount for the month of July. The elephant in the room is climate change, driven by human burning of fossil fuels. As the climate continues to shift due to our past and present actions, higher temperatures and worse humidity will become the norm. That will inevitably pose a risk to health and safety. Where once an air conditioner breaking down was an inconvenience it could now pose serious health risks. Heat-related illnesses will become more common, putting especially the very young, very old, and those with medical conditions at risk. 'In many parts of the country and the globe, dangerous heat often occurs along with high humidity — and the pair of conditions multiplies the health risks,' a 2022 study by Climate Central determined, noting that humidity can impair the body's ability to cool itself via sweat. At least for some parts of the country, early August should bring some much needed relief from the brutal July humidity assault, even if it doesn't last long. The Washington Post predicts near to above average temperatures during August for the nation's capital, with temperatures only rising around two degrees Fahrenheit over the norm of just under 80 degrees. Meteorologists at WTHR predict a fairly normal August for Indiana, and PennLive reports that similar cooling can be expected throughout central Pennsylvania, at least for the first several days of August. Kentucky will also benefit from cooling as August sets in, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. The cool temperatures kicking off August are thanks to a high pressure system in Canada forcing cooler air down into the central and eastern U.S., according to CNN meteorologist Mary Gilbert. "It isn't unheard of to have a handful of cooler days in the latter part of summer, but the upcoming change will feel especially jarring given how hot previous weeks have been," she said. She warned that the cooling comes with a cost — an increase in storms and thunderstorms, which are likely to cause flash floods in some parts of the country. Gilbert also warned the cooling will only last a few days, and that August is likely to be hot for much of the country, approximately one to two degrees above the norm.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Judge allows the National Science Foundation to withhold hundreds of millions of research dollars
The National Science Foundation can continue to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from researchers in several states until litigation aimed at restoring it plays out, a federal court ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge John Cronan in New York declined to force the NSF to restart payments immediately, while the case is still being decided, as requested by the sixteen Democrat-led states who brought the suit, including New York, Hawaii, California, Colorado and Connecticut. In his ruling, Cronan said he would not grant the preliminary injunction in part because it may be that another court, the Court of Federal Claims, has jurisdiction over what is essentially a case about money. He also said the states failed to show that NSF's actions were counter to the agency's mandate. The lawsuit filed in May alleges that the National Science Foundation's new grant-funding priorities as well as a cap on what's known as indirect research expenses 'violate the law and jeopardize America's longstanding global leadership in STEM.' Another district court had already blocked the the cap on indirect costs — administrative expenses that allow research to get done like paying support staff and maintaining equipment. This injunction had been requested to restore funding to the grants that were cut. In April, the NSF announced a new set of priorities and began axing hundreds of grants for research focused on things like misinformation and diversity, equity and inclusion. Researchers who lost funding also were studying artificial intelligence, post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans, STEM education for K-12 students and more. Researchers were not given a specific explanation for why their grants were canceled, attorney Colleen Faherty, representing the state of New York, said during last month's hearing. Instead, they received boilerplate language stating that their work 'no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities." NSF has long been directed by Congress to encourage underrepresented groups like women and people with disabilities to participate in STEM. According to the lawsuit, the science foundation's funding cuts already halted efforts to train the next generation of scientists in fields like computer science, math and environmental science. A lawyer for the NSF said at the hearing that the agency has the authority to fund whatever research it deems necessary — and has since its inception in 1950. In the court filing, the government also argued that its current priorities were to 'create opportunities for all Americans everywhere' and 'not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups.' The plaintiff states are trying to 'substitute their own judgement for the judgement of the agency," Adam Gitlin, an attorney for the NSF, said during the hearing. The science foundation is still funding some projects related to expanding representation in STEM, Cronan wrote in his ruling. Per the lawsuit filed in May, for example, the University of Northern Colorado lost funding for only one of its nine programs focused on increasing participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields. The states are reviewing the decision, according to spokespeople from the New York and Hawaii attorney general offices. The National Science Foundation declined to comment. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US judge rejects states' bid to block Trump diversity research funding cuts
Aug 1 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday rejected a bid by 16 Democratic-led states to force U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars of grants it canceled that support increasing diversity in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Democratic state attorneys general had urged U.S. District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan to block the National Science Foundation from canceling funding awarded to universities designed to increase the participation of women, minorities, and people in those fields, known collectively as STEM. They had argued in a lawsuit filed in May that the Trump administration lacked the power to cap research funding and eliminate diversity programs provided by the NSF that were mandated by Congress and urged the judge to reverse grant terminations that began in April. But Cronan, a Trump appointee, agreed with the administration, opens new tab that a challenge to NSF's already-completed grant terminations could not be pursued in his court but instead could only be taken up by the Court of Federal Claims, a specialist court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. He said the states likewise failed to show a new NSF policy stating that research "must aim to create opportunities for all Americans everywhere" and that research projects that preference "subgroups of people" do not reflect the agency's priorities was inconsistent with the agency's governing statute. The same day that policy was posted in April, NSF began canceling grants that had been previously issued that touched on among other topics of diversity, equity and inclusion. Trump has sought to eliminate DEI from the government and society. The states said the policy was inconsistent with the National Science Foundation Act's mandate that the agency award grants "to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in STEM fields." But Cronan said NSF's policy did not require it to cease supporting such projects and that it has in fact continued to fund a number of such projects, including at institutions within the plaintiff states. "This evidence powerfully undermines Plaintiffs' argument that the Priority Directive renders this class of projects categorically ineligible for funding," Cronan wrote. NSF declined to comment. A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James' office, which took the lead for the plaintiffs, said it is reviewing the decision.
