NewsRx Health & Science back issues from January 2009:
Supply of board-certified emergency physicians unlikely to meet projected needs.
Jan 04, 2009 ... The number of physicians with board certification in emergency medicine is unlikely to meet the staffing needs of U.S. emergency departments in the foreseeable future, if ever; according to a study from a research team based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). In the December issue of ...
MIT researchers explain mystery of gravity fingers.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Researchers at MIT recently found an elegant solution to a sticky scientific problem in basic fluid mechanics: why water doesn't soak into soil at an even rate, but instead forms what look like fingers of fluid flowing downward. Scientists call these rivulets "gravity fingers," ...
Researchers identify new anti-tumor gene.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University have identified a new anti-tumor gene called SARI that can interact with and suppress a key protein that is overexpressed in 90 percent of human cancers. The discovery could one day lead to an effective gene therapy for cancer. ...
A European first as ALICE achieves energy recovery at 11 million volts.
Jan 04, 2009 ... UK scientists have successfully demonstrated energy recovery on the ALICE advanced particle accelerator design, potentially paving the way for new accelerators using a fraction of the energy required under conventional methods. At 2am on 13 December, ALICE's superconducting ...
Apple or pear shape is not main culprit to heart woes -- it's liver fat.
Jan 04, 2009 ... For years, pear-shaped people who carry weight in the thighs and backside have been told they are at lower risk for high blood pressure and heart disease than apple-shaped people who carry fat in the abdomen. But new findings from nutrition researchers at Washington University School of ...
The virtue of variety: More options can lead to healthier choices.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Could longer menus lead people to choose salads over French fries? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people who choose from a large variety of menu items are more likely to make healthy choices than people who choose from shorter lists. In a study ...
Filling in the gaps: Personality types lead people to choose certain brands.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Why do Gap brand jeans appeal to people who seek intimacy in relationships? It may be a result of their upbringing. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people's relationship styles can affect their brand choices. In psychology, different relationship ...
EPA and USDA should create new initiative to better monitor nutrients.(Report)
Jan 04, 2009 ... WASHINGTON --The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture should jointly establish a Nutrient Control Implementation Initiative (NCII) to learn more about the effectiveness of actions meant to improve water quality throughout the Mississippi River basin and ...
New method of scoring IQ tests benefits children with intellectual disabilities.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Parents of children with intellectual disabilities have long been frustrated by intelligence quotient (IQ) testing that tells them little to nothing about the long-term learning potential of their children. That's because these tests are scored according to the mean performance ...
Rare disease provides clues about enzyme role in arrhythmias.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A University of Iowa study provides insight into a calcium-sensing enzyme already known to play a role in irregular heartbeats and other critical functions. The researchers showed that the enzyme, calmodulin kinase II (CaM kinase II), contributes to arrhythmia in an extremely rare disease ...
Lean muscle mass helps even obese patients battle cancer.(Clinical report)
Jan 04, 2009 ... Lean muscle-mass may give even obese people an advantage in battling cancer, a University of Alberta study shows. The study, published in Lancet Oncology, provides evidence that varying body compositions of cancer patients likely plays a role in survival rates, activity levels ...
Breast cancer genome shows evolution, instability of cancer.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A newly published genome sequence of a breast cancer cell line reveals a heavily rearranged genetic blueprint involving breaks and fusions of genes and a broken DNA repair machinery, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the journal Genome ...
Higher levels of obesity-related hormone found in patients with psoriasis.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Patients with the skin disease psoriasis appear more likely to have higher levels of leptin (a hormone produced by fat cells that may contribute to obesity and other metabolic abnormalities) than persons without psoriasis, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of ...
Immunity stronger at night than during day.(Report)
Jan 04, 2009 ... The immune system's battle against invading bacteria reaches its peak activity at night and is lowest during the day. Experiments with the laboratory model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, reveal that the specific immune response known as phagocytosis oscillates with the ...
Comparable data on maternal and infant in Europe available for the first time.(Report)
Jan 04, 2009 ... Promoting healthy pregnancy and safe childbirth is a goal of all European health care systems. Despite progress in recent decades, mothers and their babies are still very much at risk during the perinatal period, which covers pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum. The European ...
Allergies alone not associated with increased risk of nighttime breathing problems.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Allergic rhinitis does not appear to be associated with snoring or daytime sleepiness, but individuals with obstructed nasal passages are likely to experience both regardless of whether they have allergies, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of OtolaryngologyuHead & ...
New cause of heart arrhythmia found.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A new study shows that atrial fibrillation--the most common form of sustained heart arrhythmia--can be caused in an unexpected way. Researchers report in the December 12th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, the first evidence that a rare and particularly severe form of ...
Exciting discovery could 'stop cancer from killing people'.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Metastasis is the ability of cancer cells to spread from a primary site, to form tumours at distant sites. It is a complex process in which cell motility and invasion play a fundamental role. Essential to our understanding of how metastasis develops is identification of the molecules, and ...
New study 'pardons' the misunderstood egg.(Report)
Jan 04, 2009 ... A study recently published online in the journal Risk Analysis(1) estimates that eating one egg per day is responsible for less than 1 percent of the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy adults. Alternatively, lifestyle factors including poor diet, smoking, obesity and physical ...
Engineering algae to make fuel instead of sugar.
Jan 04, 2009 ... In pursuing cleaner energy there is such a thing as being too green. Unicellular microalgae, for instance, can be considered too green. In a paper in a special energy issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal, scientists at the University of California, ...
High blood pressure may make it difficult for the elderly to think clearly.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Adding another reason for people to watch their blood pressure, a new study from North Carolina State University shows that increased blood pressure in older adults is directly related to decreased cognitive functioning, particularly among seniors with already high blood pressure. This ...
Cardiac stent patients with diabetes may benefit from drug that counteracts the effects of leptin.
Jan 04, 2009 ... The naturally high levels of leptin in diabetic patients may reduce the effectiveness of drug-eluting stents used to treat heart blockages, but using a chemical that differs from the one commonly used to coat stents could counteract this effect. The work by researchers at ...
Big-3 bankruptcy: Job loss less than half oft-cited figure, says UM study.
Jan 04, 2009 ... The impact of a Big-3 bankruptcy and restructuring would be severe, but frequently-quoted job loss figures are misleading and overstated, according to a new projection by the University of Maryland's Inforum economic research unit. In the worse case scenario, peak job dislocation from ...
Reward-stress link points to new targets for treating addiction.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Rewarding and stressful signals don't seem to have much in common. But researchers studying diseases ranging from drug addiction to anxiety disorders are finding that the brain's reward and stress signaling circuits are intertwined in complex ways. Vanderbilt University Medical ...
Study: Prejudice could cost a black worker thousands.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A recent study in the Journal of Political Economy sheds light on the role racial prejudice plays in the wage gap between whites and blacks in the U.S. Prejudice accounts for approximately one-quarter of the racial wage gap, costing a black worker up to $115,000 over a lifetime ...
New insight into birth defect characterized by digit duplication and fusion.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Birth defects characterized by malformation of the limbs are relatively common. New insight into one form of the birth defect synpolydactyly, where individuals have 1 or more digit (finger or toe) duplicated and 2 or more digits fused together, has now been provided by Stefan Mundlos and ...
Flame retardants prove ineffective on fresh-cut Christmas trees.
Jan 04, 2009 ... This Christmas season, think twice about spending money on a commercial flame retardant for your Christmas tree. The good, old-fashioned methodukeeping your tree in a container of fresh wateruis probably all you need to keep your tree green and healthy. Researchers have determined that ...
Attitudes towards assisted reproduction and preimplantation genetic diagnosis.
Jan 04, 2009 ... According to an international survey by the BBVA Foundation conducted this year, citizens in advanced societies view assisted reproduction techniques in general and in vitro fertilization in particular as firmly acceptable alternatives for people with fertility problems (over 7 points on ...
Golf course: Playing fields, wildlife sanctuaries or both.
Jan 04, 2009 ... COLUMBIA, Mo. u "FORE" ...Though they may not help improve a person's golf game, stream salamanders might change the way golfers think about the local country club in the near future, following a new University of Missouri study. "There are more than 17,000 golf courses in the ...
A BBVA Foundation project comes up with a system enabling detection of cetacean hearing loss.
Jan 04, 2009 ... December 17, 2008. A research project supported by the BBVA Foundation and led by Michel Andre, director of the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics at the UPC (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya) has developed the world's first portable system for measuring cetacean hearing sensitivity. ...
Gut instinct: Salmonella bacteria's molecular tactics to cause illness.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Hundreds of trillions of bacteria make their home in the vertebrate gut. Though many of these microbes perform helpful duties for their host, othersuthe pathogensuare unwelcome visitors, causing disease. Salmonella typhimurium is one such pathogenic bacterium. It has evolved ...
CPAP improves sleeping glucose levels in type 2 diabetes patients with OSA.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A study in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that screening type 2 diabetes patients for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and treating those who have OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy could improve the management of their ...
No quick or easy technological fix for climate change, researchers say.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Global warming, some have argued, can be reversed with a large-scale "geoengineering" fix, such as having a giant blimp spray liquefied sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere or building tens of millions of chemical filter systems in the atmosphere to filter out carbon dioxide. But ...
Amputees can experience prosthetic hand as their own.
Jan 04, 2009 ... [PRESS RELEASE, 11 December 2008] Scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in inducing people with an amputated arm to experience a prosthetic rubber hand as belonging to their own body. The results can lead to the development of a new type of ...
Seeing the unseen with 'super-resolution' fluorescence microscopy.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Thanks to a new "super-resolution" fluorescence microscopy technique, Harvard University researchers have succeeded in resolving the features of cells as miniscule as 20-30 nanometers (nm), an order of magnitude smaller than conventional fluorescence light microscopy images, according to a ...
Phosphorus-lowering drugs linked to lower mortality in dialysis patients.
Jan 04, 2009 ... For patients on dialysis, taking medications to reduce levels of the mineral phosphorus in the blood may reduce the risk of death by 25 to 30 percent, reports a study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The drugs, called phosphorus binders, were ...
New technique allows simultaneous tracking of gene expression and movement.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Flies expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) in their retina cells or other tissues can be tracked by specially modified video cameras, creating a real time computer record of movement and gene expression. The new technique, described in the open access journal BMC Biotechnology, will ...
Juries not as racially diverse as the communities from which they are drawn.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A new review of the literature in the journal Social Issues and Policy Review examines obstacles that prevent diversity on juries and the implications this has on jury performance. Results reveal that there are a wide range of factors that conspire to prevent juries from being as racially ...
6 new genes suggest obesity is in your head, not your gut.(Report)
Jan 04, 2009 ... ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Is obesity all in your head? New research suggests that genes that predispose people to obesity act in the brain and that perhaps some people are simply hardwired to overeat. An international research team co-led by the University of Michigan found ...
Single virus used to convert adult cells to embryonic stem cell-like cells.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Whitehead Institute researchers have greatly simplified the creation of so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, cutting the number of viruses used in the reprogramming process from four to one. Scientists hope that these embryonic stem-cell-like cells could eventually be used to ...
I'm a believer: Some product claims work better than others.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Consumers face a barrage of product claims each day. What makes those claims believable? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says both marketers and consumers can benefit from information about the way people process product claims. Authors Elise Chandon (Virginia ...
Genes involved in antibiotic resistance vary within a species.
Jan 04, 2009 ... The recent emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacteria that causes infections primarily among seriously ill patients in the intensive care unit who may have reduced immune systems, has raised concern in health care settings worldwide. When comparing the ...
Ireland Cancer Center researcher finds most triple-negative breast cancers express muc-1 target.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Research out of the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center has found that the vast majority of triple negative breast cancers express the MUC-1 target. This first-of-its-kind finding, presented today at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, has paved the way ...
University of Denver uses 'gross' messaging to increases handwashing, fight Norovirus.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Research conducted by University of Denver (DU) Associate Professor Renee Botta suggests that it takes "gross" messaging to get undergraduate students to wash their hands more frequently after going to the bathroom. In fall quarter 2007, researchers posted messages in the ...
Some climate impacts happening faster than anticipated.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A report released at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union provides new insights on the potential for abrupt climate change and the effects it could have on the United States, identifying key concerns that include faster-than-expected loss of sea ice, rising sea levels and a ...
A spoonful of sugar?
Jan 04, 2009 ... The widespread problem of children failing to take their medication for a range of life-threatening illnesses is to be tackled as part of a new university research project. The 21-month study involving health specialists at The University of Nottingham and The University of ...
Global challenges and global collaborations -- lessons learned from global change.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Global challenges need global solutions. The 2nd ESF Science Policy conference held in Stockholm, Sweden on 26 and 27 November 2008, brought together heads and senior representatives of ESF's 80 Member Organisations in 30 countries, representatives of ESF's international partner ...
New research projects shortage of general surgeons by 2010.
Jan 04, 2009 ... In less than two years, there may not be enough surgeons in U.S. hospitals to treat the critically injured or chronically ill. A new study suggests that the number of available general surgeons, who often perform life-saving operations on patients in emergency rooms, will not ...
New genetic cause of boy in the bubble syndrome.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is an inherited disease sometimes known as 'Boy in the bubble syndrome', because the patient lacks one or more type of immune cell, making them very susceptible to infections. Dik van Gent and colleagues, at Erasmus Medical Center, The Netherlands, ...
Smoking associated with increased risk for colorectal cancer and death.
Jan 04, 2009 ... An analysis of previous studies indicates that smoking is significantly associated with an increased risk for colorectal cancer and death, according to an article in the December 17 issue of JAMA. Although tobacco was responsible for approximately 5.4 million deaths in 2005, ...
VCU survey: US public supports genetic research, testing and government spending on research.
Jan 04, 2009 ... The 2008 Virginia Commonwealth University Life Sciences survey shows that eight in 10 adults nationwide favor making genetic testing easily available to all who want it, and 54 percent say that the benefits of conducting genetic research outweigh the risks. Public concerns about ...
People more likely to attend cancer screening close to Christmas and birthdays.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Cancer screening programmes could increase attendance by inviting people for screening close to birthdays or other annual milestones such as Christmas and the New Year, finds a study in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today. Colorectal cancer (bowel cancer) is the third ...
Interruptions in Medicaid coverage linked to increased hospitalization.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Interruptions in Medicaid coverage are associated with a higher rate of hospitalization for conditions that can often be treated in an ambulatory care setting, including asthma, diabetes, and hypertension, according to a new study in today's issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The ...
UQ research targets West Nile virus and dengue fever.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Research conducted at The University of Queensland could contribute to the development of a vaccine and cure for West Nile virus and Dengue fever. Led by Associate Professor Alexander Khromykh, a team of researchers from UQ's School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences ...
You decide: Making a good decision or avoiding a bad one?
Jan 04, 2009 ... We feel good about a purchase if we believe we've made a decision that's in line with our goals. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examines the ways consumers evaluate brand features to make choices. "When there is a fit between people's goals and how information ...
Delays in radiation therapy lead to increased breast cancer recurrence.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A new analysis of the National Cancer Institute's cancer registry has found that as many as one in five older women experience delayed or incomplete radiation treatment following breast-conserving surgery, and that this suboptimal care can lead to worse outcomes. Dr. Heather ...
Researchers map new path to colon cancer therapy.
Jan 04, 2009 ... University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have identified a promising new target in the battle against colorectal cancer u a biochemical pathway critical to the spread of tumors to new locations in the body. If this "survival pathway" can be successfully blocked under ...
Low-income men diagnosed more often with advanced prostate cancer.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Coincident with the widespread adoption of PSA screening, the proportion of American men diagnosed with organ-confined, low risk prostate cancer has increased significantly during the last two decades. In a study scheduled for publication in the February 2009 issue of The Journal of ...
Pain hurts more if the person hurting you means it.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Researchers at Harvard University have discovered that our experience of pain depends on whether we think someone caused the pain intentionally. In their study, participants who believed they were getting an electrical shock from another person on purpose, rather than accidentally, rated ...
Doctors issue warning about the danger of heavy toilet seats to male toddlers.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Doctors have expressed considerable concerns about the growing trend for heavy wooden and ornamental toilet seats after a number of male toddlers were admitted with crush injuries to their penises. Writing in the December issue of BJU International, Dr Joe Philip and his ...
'Hobbit' fossils represent a new species, concludes University of Minnesota anthropologist.
Jan 04, 2009 ... University of Minnesota anthropology professor Kieran McNulty (along with colleague Karen Baab of Stony Brook University in New York) has made an important contribution toward solving one of the greatest paleoanthropological mysteries in recent history -- that fossilized skeletons ...
Annals colonoscopy study underscores importance of quality standards.(Clinical report)
Jan 04, 2009 ... A study by Baxter, et al. released this week and scheduled to be published in the Jan. 6, 2009, edition of Annals of Internal Medicine, concluded that while screening colonoscopy is associated with fewer deaths from colorectal cancer, the association is primarily limited to deaths from ...
A microscale system to study frustration in buckled monolayers of microspheres at Penn.
Jan 04, 2009 ... A team of University of Pennsylvania physicists has demonstrated a simple system based on micron-sized spheres in water to study and control geometric frustration. Their research, published in the journal Nature, elucidates open questions about frustration and frustration relief and ...
Wobbly planets could reveal Earth-like moons.
Jan 04, 2009 ... Moons outside our Solar System with the potential to support life have just become much easier to detect, thanks to research by an astronomer at University College London (UCL). David Kipping, whose work is funded by the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), has ...
Evolutionary roots of ancient bacteria may open new line of attack on CF.
Jan 04, 2009 ... The redox-active pigments responsible for the blue-green stain of the mucus that clogs the lungs of children and adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) are primarily signaling molecules that allow large clusters of the opportunistic infection agent, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to organize themselves ...