This news release is available in French. Dancing the Argentine tango could have potential benefits for people at certain stages in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD), according to findings in a new study by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The Neuro, McGill University and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. The study looked at changes in patients' motor abilities following a 12-week tango course, and is also the first study to assess the effect that tango has on non-motor symptoms. The study looked ...

A single intravenous dose of the osteoporosis drug zoledronic acid improved bone mineral density in a group of frail elderly women living in nursing homes and long-term-care facilities, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine. Nearly 2 million frail elderly Americans live in long-term care facilities and many of them have osteoporosis and bone fracture rates higher than less impaired elderly individuals. A hip fracture can be dire, decreasing mobility, independence and often leading to death, according to background in the study. Susan L. ...

Pediatric readiness at emergency departments (EDs) throughout the United States appears to have improved based on self-reported online assessments of compliance with national guidelines, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics. The importance of EDs maintaining a state of readiness to care for children cannot be overemphasized because day-to-day readiness affects disaster planning and response and patient safety. The Emergency Nurses Association joined the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Emergency Physicians in cosponsoring ...

BOSTON - Targeted cancer therapies work by blocking a single oncogenic pathway to halt tumor growth. But because cancerous tumors have the unique ability to activate alternative pathways, they are often able to evade these therapies -- and regrow. Moreover, tumors contain a small portion of cancer stem cells that are believed to be responsible for tumor initiation, metastasis and drug resistance. Thus, eradicating cancer stem cells may be critical for achieving long-lasting remission, but there are no drugs available that specifically attack cancer stem cells. Now a research ...

Popular North Sea fish such as haddock, plaice and lemon sole could become less common on our menus because they will be constrained to preferred habitat as seas warm, according to a study published today in Nature Climate Change. Fish distributions are limited by water temperature and some species can only thrive in certain habitats and depths. In the last 40 years the North Sea has warmed four times faster than the global average and further warming is predicted over the coming century, leading fisheries scientists to study how this will impact on commercial species. The ...

About a quarter of all atrial fibrillation (AF) patients at the lowest risk for stroke receive unnecessary blood thinners from cardiology specialists, according to UCSF researchers, and these providers must be made aware of the resulting potential health risks. Their research letter appears online and will be in the June 1 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. "The irony is that there is a general push to get providers to prescribe these drugs, and they are also generally under-prescribed among many AF patients who actually need them," said senior author Gregory Marcus, ...

MADISON, Wis. - Take a material that is a focus of interest in the quest for advanced solar cells. Discover a "freshman chemistry level" technique for growing that material into high-efficiency, ultra-small lasers. The result, disclosed today [Monday, April 13] in Nature Materials, is a shortcut to lasers that are extremely efficient and able to create many colors of light. That makes these tiny lasers suitable for miniature optoelectronics, computers and sensors. "We are working with a class of fascinating materials called organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites that ...

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a drug withdrawal syndrome in infants following birth, has historically been associated with illicit drug use among pregnant women. But a study by a team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shows that pregnant women are commonly being prescribed opioids -- narcotic pain relievers such as hydrocodone -- which results in an increased likelihood of NAS. In addition, the study found that opioid type and duration of exposure combined with tobacco use or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use (for treating depression and anxiety) ...

ARGONNE, Ill. - Scientists have developed a new approach that combines ptychographic X-ray imaging and fluorescence microscopy to study the important role trace elements play in biological functions on hydrated cells. A team of researchers using the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility at Argonne National Laboratory, demonstrated unparalleled sensitivity for measuring the distribution of trace elements in thicker specimens at cryogenic temperatures, in this case at about 260 degrees below Fahrenheit. Trace metals are important ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- When people find out -- usually from a diagnostic scan looking at something else -- that they have a lesion in their pancreas that could morph into pancreatic cancer, they can panic. They insist on having frequent CT scans and biopsies to monitor the lesion, or they ask for surgery. Physicians also don't know if these abnormalities are dangerous, so the patients end up in surgery having part of their pancreas removed. Often the lesion is nothing to worry about. But a team of international physicians, led by researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in ...

Scientists from the Growth Factors, Nutrients and Cancer Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), led by Nabil Djouder, have discovered that the MCRS1 protein, in response to an excess of nutrients, induces an increase in the activity of mTOR (the mammalian/mechanistic Target of Rapamycin); a protein that is altered in human diseases such as cancer and diabetes, processes associated with ageing, as well as in certain cardiovascular and neurodegenerative pathologies. The finding, published in the journal Developmental Cell, opens up new possibilities ...

(Washington, D.C.) - According to financial planners, women face unique challenges when preparing to retire. A recent study co-authored by Robin Lumsdaine, Crown Prince of Bahrain Professor of International Finance at American University's Kogod School of Business, reveals retirement-age women who have new grandchildren are 9 percent more likely to retire early than those who do not. The increased probability of early retirement due to the arrival of grandchildren is comparable to the number of women that retire due to worsening health. The decision to retire early has ...

(WASHINGTON - April 13, 2015) - New research published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), reports that children with "bubble boy disease" who undergo gene therapy have fewer infections and hospitalizations than those receiving stem cells from a partially matched donor. The research is the first to compare outcomes among children with the rare immune disorder - also known as X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID-X1) - receiving the two therapeutic approaches. Children with SCID-X1 are born with a genetic defect that ...

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2015 -- Ever run out of your go-to cleaning product, and you've got a mess that you just can't leave alone? Have no fear, chemistry is here. Reactions is back with another round of our Chemistry Life Hacks series, and this week it's all about cleaning. Learn how to make your own glass cleaner, keep red wine from staining your carpet and why spit, yes spit, can also be a great cleaning product. Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/IpG3VClxO3c. INFORMATION:Subscribe to the series at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions ...

The recent increase in popularity of marijuana use coupled with more liberal state-level polices has begun to change the landscape of adolescent marijuana use. More potent forms of marijuana, such as hashish, may present a threat to adolescent health. A wealth of research has been conducted to examine risk factors for teen marijuana use; however, studies rarely differentiate between different forms of marijuana. A new study by researchers affiliated with New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR), was among the first to examine prevalence and correlates ...

Air pollution and smog have health consequences for affected populations ranging from respiratory problems to death. Fine particulate matter especially has become the focus in recent years, because it increases the probability of dying from respiratory or cardiovascular disease. In addition, the risk of stroke is increased, as shown by Barbara Hoffmann and her coauthors in a recent study in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2015; 112: 195-201). In a population of the German Ruhr region, she investigated how often stroke and cardiovascular disease ...

An international team, including researchers at the University of Liverpool, have shown that south east Iceland is underlain by continental crust. The team found that the accepted theory, that Iceland consists only of very thick oceanic crust, is incorrect. Maps of crustal thickness produced from satellite gravity data, together with geochemical, plate tectonic reconstruction and mantle plume track analysis (an upwelling of abnormally hot rock), were used to show that south east Iceland is underlain by continental crust which extends offshore to the east. Professor ...

Most recent advances in artificial intelligence -- such as mobile apps that convert speech to text -- are the result of machine learning, in which computers are turned loose on huge data sets to look for patterns. To make machine-learning applications easier to build, computer scientists have begun developing so-called probabilistic programming languages, which let researchers mix and match machine-learning techniques that have worked well in other contexts. In 2013, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an incubator of cutting-edge technology, launched ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Men who reported taking muscle-building supplements, such as pills and powders with creatine or androstenedione, reported a significantly higher likelihood of having developed testicular cancer than men who did not use such supplements, according to a new study in the British Journal of Cancer. Moreover, said study senior author Tongzhang Zheng, the associated testicular germ cell cancer risk was especially high among men who started using supplements before age 25, those who used multiple supplements and those who used them for ...

Over the past several decades, the progress in micro fabrication technology has revolutionized the world in such fields as computing, signal processing, and automotive manufacturing. Making various types of instruments smaller is another example of how the use of this technology has produced significant advancements. One such instrument is the gas chromatography system used in a number of scientific, medical, and industrial settings to separate and analyze dangerous, volatile organic compounds in gases, liquids, and solids. For the past several years, Masoud Agah, an ...

Amsterdam, April 13, 2015 - The taste and color of your wine depends on the methods used to produce it and the chemicals added during production, says research published in Analytical Chemistry Research. The researchers behind the study say wine bottles should carry information about what the manufacturers add during processing - including sugars and acids. In the study, Dr. Heli Sirén and her colleagues from the University of Helsinki, Finland, analyzed the chemical profiles of eight Pinot Noir wines from different regions - the USA, France, New Zealand and Chile. ...

VTT is the first in the world to have developed a drug test printed on paper. VTT used antibodies - produced by methods of molecular biology - as morphine sensing molecules when creating this printing technology-based morphine test. Using printing technology to manufacture rapid tests enables high production volumes and low production costs. A paper-based test enables a rapid analysis of whether a compound - in this case, morphine - is present in a given sample. Possible future applications of the developed test include drug testing at workplaces and in connection with ...

PHILADELPHIA - Emergency department patients have misperceptions about opioid dependence and want more information about their pain management options, according to a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The study, published online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, found that patients seen in the emergency department for acute pain expressed a desire for better communication from physicians about their pain management options, along with discussion of the risks of opioid dependence. The study used semi-structured ...

BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA - The latest issue of the journal Neurophotonics features a tribute to the brilliance and originality of Lawrence (Larry) Cohen as well as reports on the latest advances in voltage-sensitive dyes and multiple-site optical recording methods enabled by the work of Cohen and his team. Their research has paved the way for advances in functional imaging of the electrical activity of live tissue in real time, say journal editors. Neurophotonics is published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. All articles in the journal are ...

Low weight at birth increased the risk of disability pension among men, reveals a new Finnish study published in the PLoS One. Around 20% of the cohort members born in 1934-44 retired on a disability pension between 1971 and 2011. Early exit from the workforce due to a disability pension might be related to non-optimal growth during the fetal period, says Docent Mikaela von Bonsdorff from the University of Jyväskylä. The leading causes of disability pension are mental disorders, musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Low birth weight was ...