Bioenergy choices could dramatically change Midwest bird diversity

Babies whose mothers who receive influenza vaccines while pregnant appear less likely to be infected with flu or hospitalized for respiratory illnesses in their first six months of life, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the February 2011 print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Young children are consistently at higher risk of complications from infection with the influenza virus, according to background information in the article. However, they are ineligible to be vaccinated until age ...

Household investigations for suspected child maltreatment by Child Protective Services may not be associated with improvements in common, modifiable risk factors including social support, family functioning, poverty and others, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "A Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation, regardless of outcome, signals a household at risk," the authors write as background information in the article. "In the years following CPS investigation, households ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Using ice cream, candy bars and energy drinks to help volunteers gain weight, Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered the mechanisms of how body fat grows. Increased abdominal fat seems to heighten risk for metabolic disease, while fat expansion in the lower body -- as in the thighs -- seems to lower the risk. The findings, appearing in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), help explain why. "The cellular mechanisms are different," explains Michael Jensen, M.D., Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and lead author of the study. "The ...

In the past decade, cultural and gender-based differences in the frequency of drunkenness among adolescents have declined, as drunkenness has become more common in Eastern Europe and among girls and less common in Western countries and among boys, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the February 2011 print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Alcohol use is a major risk factor for illness, injury and death worldwide, especially in adolescence and young adulthood, according to background information ...

A school-based, six-session program targeting sexual risk behaviors appeared to reduce rates of unprotected sex and sex with multiple partners among South African sixth-graders, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. South Africa has an estimated 5.5 million individuals living with HIV or another sexually transmitted disease (STD), more than any other nation in the world, according to background information in the article. Almost 20 percent of South Africans age 15 to 49 have HIV, ...

Young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear to be at greater risk for adolescent depression and/or suicide attempts five to 13 years after diagnosis, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Sixteen to 37 percent of clinically-diagnosed adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder also suffer from major depressive disorder and/or dysthymia (a mild form of depression). "When major depressive disorder occurs concurrently with ADHD, major depressive disorder has ...

Individual therapy and family-based treatments both appear effective in treating anorexia nervosa in teens, although adolescents in family-based programs may be more likely to achieve full remission six or 12 months after treatment, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The rate of new cases of anorexia nervosa is about 74 of every 100,000 individuals, and the prevalence of this disorder among adolescent girls is 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent, according to background information in the article. "Physical ...

Special mental health courts appear to be associated with lower post-treatment arrest rates and reduced number of days of incarceration for individuals with serious psychiatric illnesses, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the February 2011 print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Mental health courts are an increasingly popular post-booking jail diversion program," the authors write as background information in the article. "Mental health courts have the laudable goal of moving persons with serious ...

Using electrodes to stimulate areas deep within the brain may have therapeutic potential for patients with obsessive compulsive disorder that is refractory to treatment, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by persistent thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive ritualistic behaviors (compulsions)," the authors write as background information in the article. "It has an estimated lifetime prevalence of 2 percent and affects ...

Children whose mothers are genetically predisposed to have impaired production of serotonin appear more likely to develop attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in life, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Serotonin is a hormone and transmitter that performs a broad range of physiological functions in the human body," the authors write as background information in the article. "In addition to its transmitter function in the mature nervous system, serotonin has an important role ...