INFORMATION:
The summary above was included in yesterday's tip sheet from Annals of Internal Medicine and embargoed for Monday, March 30 at 12:01 a.m. The embargo for this commentary has been lifted, as the related guideline, American Gastroenterological Association Institute Guideline on the Diagnosis and Management of Asymptomatic Neoplastic Pancreatic Cysts, has been posted online at http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085%2815%2900100-6/abstract.
Information from the commentary published in Annals of Internal Medicine can be used immediately in coverage of this topic. To speak with the lead author, Dr. Russ Harris, please contact Sonya Sutton at ssutton@unc.edu.
AGA guidelines boldly suggest high value care for incidental CT findings
2015-03-25
(Press-News.org) The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has released new guidelines on the management of asymptomatic neoplastic pancreatic cysts found incidentally during computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The author of a commentary being published in Annals of Internal Medicine explains how the AGA's bold new recommendations will affect the way physicians consider diagnostic testing. The new guidelines back away from previous recommendations that were more aggressive. Rather than promote invasive work-up, surveillance, or surgery for typical patients, the AGA guidelines restrict aggressive follow up to patients with more high-risk features. The author suggests that learning to use restraint with medical tests could help to minimize harms and costs while preserving benefit.
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Researchers help create 'gold standard' method for measuring an early sign of Alzheimer's
2015-03-25
After six years of painstaking research, a UCLA-led team has validated the first standardized protocol for measuring one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease -- the atrophy of the part of the brain known as the hippocampus.
The finding marks the final step in an international consortium's successful effort to develop a unified and reliable approach to assessing signs of Alzheimer's-related neurodegeneration through structural imaging tests, a staple in the diagnosis and monitoring of the disease. The study is published in the journal Alzheimer's and Dementia.
Using ...
Florida Tech study finds climate refuges where corals survive, grow
2015-03-25
MELBOURNE, FLA. -- Reef-building corals, already thought to be living near their upper thermal limits, are experiencing unprecedented declines as the world's oceans continue to warm. New evidence from scientists at Florida Institute of Technology shows there may be some climate refuges where corals will survive in the future.
The study appears in the March issue of Global Change Biology.
Ph.D. student Chris Cacciapaglia and his advisor, Robert van Woesik, hypothesized that not all regions of the oceans are warming at the same rate.
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A new spin on Saturn's peculiar rotation
2015-03-25
Tracking the rotation speed of solid planets, like the Earth and Mars, is a relatively simple task: Just measure the time it takes for a surface feature to roll into view again. But giant gas planets Jupiter and Saturn are more problematic for planetary scientists, as they both lack measureable solid surfaces and are covered by thick layers of clouds, foiling direct visual measurements by space probes. Saturn has presented an even greater challenge to scientists, as different parts of this sweltering ball of hydrogen and helium are known to rotate at different speeds, whereas ...
Researchers discover genetic origins of myelodysplastic syndrome using stem cells
2015-03-25
(New York - March 25, 2015) Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) -- adult cells reprogrammed back to an embryonic stem cell-like state--may better model the genetic contributions to each patient's particular disease. In a process called cellular reprogramming, researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have taken mature blood cells from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and reprogrammed them back into iPSCs to study the genetic origins of this rare blood cancer. The results appear in an upcoming issue of Nature Biotechnology.
In MDS, genetic mutations ...
A mile deep, ocean fish facing health impacts from human pollution
2015-03-25
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Deep-water marine fish living on the continental slopes at depths from 2,000 feet to one mile have liver pathologies, tumors and other health problems that may be linked to human-caused pollution, one of the first studies of its type has found.
The research, conducted in the Bay of Biscay west of France, also discovered the first case of a deep water fish species with an "intersex" condition, a blend of male and female sex organs. The sampling was done in an area with no apparent point-source pollution, and appears to reflect general ocean conditions.
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Coastal property values could erode if nourishment subsidies end
2015-03-25
DURHAM, N.C. -- The value of many oceanfront properties on the East Coast could drop dramatically if Congress were to suddenly end federal beach nourishment subsidies, a new study by researchers at three universities finds.
In beach nourishment, new sand, often dredged from nearby inlets or the offshore sea floor, is added to an eroding beach to widen it and help prevent future erosion.
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Will you ever pay off your student loan?
2015-03-25
Would-be participants of higher education must be given full and transparent advice before they accumulate debts as students that follow them into the workplace, according to a report published in the International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education.
Deborah Figart of the School of Education, at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in Galloway, says that there is a dearth of pre-loan and post-loan counseling for undergraduate students using student loans to help finance their higher education. She has devised an assignment that can be adapted to a wide ...
30 new species discovered in Los Angeles in first-ever intensive urban biodiversity survey
2015-03-25
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Hydrolyzed fish fertilizer tested in organic vegetable production
2015-03-25
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Emergency medicine physicians urge colleagues to help prevent gun violence
2015-03-25
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- In an editorial posted online today in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, two practicing emergency medicine physicians from the University of California, Davis, and Brown University -- both thought leaders at the forefront of finding solutions to the public health crisis of gun violence -- urge their colleagues to take direct action to protect the health and safety of patients and communities.
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