New research from the University of Copenhagen has found that the beneficial effects of exercise are more important for our health than the negative effects of air pollution, in relation to the risk of premature mortality. In other words, benefits of exercise outweigh the harmful effects of air pollution. The study shows that despite the adverse effects of air pollution on health, air pollution should be not perceived as a barrier to exercise in urban areas. "Even for those living in the most polluted areas of Copenhagen, it is healthier to go for a run, a walk or to ...

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State University researchers have found that an unexpectedly high percentage of young people experience "exploding head syndrome," a psychological phenomenon in which they are awakened by abrupt loud noises, even the sensation of an explosion in their head. Brian Sharpless, a Washington State University assistant professor and director of the university psychology clinic, found that nearly one in five -- 18 percent -- of college students interviewed said they had experienced it at least once. It was so bad for some that it significantly impacted ...

1. USPSTF reviews evidence to update recommendations on iron supplementation and deficiency screening in pregnant women The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reviewed published evidence to update its recommendations on iron supplementation and screening for iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women. The evidence review is being published in Annals of Internal Medicine simultaneously with an evidence review in Pediatrics on screening for iron deficiency anemia in young children. Iron needs increase during pregnancy due to the demands of the growing fetus and ...

Distasteful though it sounds, the transplantation of fecal matter is more successful for treating Clostridium difficile infections than previously thought. The research, published in the open access journal Microbiome, reveals that healthy changes to a patient's microbiome are sustained for up to 21 weeks after transplant, and has implications for the regulation of the treatment. Clostridium difficile infections are a growing problem, leading to recurrent cases of diarrhea and severe abdominal pain, with thousands of fatalities worldwide every year. The infection is ...

Recreational users of coastal waters such as swimmers and surfers are at risk of exposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria, according to new research published this week. In the first study of its kind, scientists at the University of Exeter Medical School have assessed the amount of water ingested during different water sports and combined this with water sampling data to estimate people's exposure to bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Using data gathered across England and Wales in 2012, they estimated that over 6.3 million water sport sessions resulted in one type ...

Parents of obese children may not be able to recognise that their child is overweight unless they are at very extreme levels of obesity, according to research led by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and UCL Institute of Child Health, research partner of Great Ormond Street Hospital. The work, which is published in the British Journal of General Practice, finds that parents are additionally more likely to underestimate their child's weight if they are Black or south Asian (v white), from more deprived backgrounds or if their offspring is male. The identification ...

March 29, 2015 - San Francisco - Even rats can imagine: A new study finds that rats have the ability to link cause and effect such that they can expect, or imagine, something happening even if it isn't. The findings are important to understanding human reasoning, especially in older adults, as aging degrades the ability to maintain information about unobserved events. "What sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is our prodigious ability to reason. But what about human reasoning is truly a human-unique feature and what aspects are shared with our nonhuman ...

BOSTON, MA (March 29, 2015) - According to new analysis of data from the 2009-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) that evaluated eating patterns of 3,647 children ages 4-13 years, skipping lunch is a common practice among children and adolescents, with 13% of younger children and 17% of 9-13 year olds skipping lunch on a given day. The study found that the behavior persisted throughout the week with nearly a quarter (approximately 23%) of 9-13 year olds skipping lunch on the weekends. These findings, part of Nestlé's new Kids Nutrition & ...

A new study presented today at the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases reveals the high cost of first and subsequent hip fractures to the healthcare system in the UK. Researchers from the University of Oxford and the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit in Southampton estimated UK hospital costs of hip fracture in the two years following the fracture, and compared average hospital costs before and after hip fracture. Their study analyzed data from 33152 hip fracture patients (average age 83 years), 75% of which were women. The study ...

Milan, Italy - March 28, 2015 Hip fractures, which primarily affect the elderly, are among the most debilitating and life-threatening of osteoporotic fractures: many hip fracture patients never regain their previous level of function and as a result require long-term care. Without osteoporosis therapy the risk of further, potentially more devastating hip fractures is high. In a study presented at the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases, researchers in Ontario, Canada calculated the proportion of high-risk residents of long-term ...

Las Vegas, NV - Early surgery may not be the best treatment option for patients with Type V AC joint injuries, according to new research from Tripler Army Medical Center. The study, presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day, showed military personnel returned to duty faster when surgery was not performed. The final study group focused on 24 patients, with 7 receiving surgical treatment and 17 receiving non-surgical therapy. Of the non-surgery group, 8 patients (53%) returned to active duty an average of 90.3 days without ...

Las Vegas, NV - Delaying rotator cuff surgery on patients with shoulder stiffness may not be necessary, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day. "Our study compared results for 170 patients who received rotator cuff surgery with 25 who underwent an additional glenohumeral joint capsule release procedure to relieve stiffness at the time of surgery," commented Jordan McGrath, lead author from St. George Hospital in Sydney, Australia. "Both groups reported significant improvements in range of ...

Las Vegas, NV - How best to treat and recover from complicated hip injuries is a growing field in orthopaedic medicine. While diagnostic hip injections are commonly performed for patients with labral tear to confirm the pain etiology, research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day suggests that pain relief from this diagnostic injection may not predict better outcomes following arthroscopic hip surgery. "Our study looked to assess if the amount of pain relief from a preoperative diagnostic intra-articular (IA) ...

Las Vegas, NV - An individual's meniscus (cushion in the knee) is one of the most important ligaments in the leg providing stability, load bearing and preservation of the knee joint. It is also one of the most easily injured areas and difficult to fully heal. Researchers presenting their study at today's Specialty Day meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) utilized MRI data to determine the potential for biologic healing following a meniscus tear. "Little is currently understood about the healing of meniscus tears when a root repair is ...

Las Vegas, NV - One in three young athletes who undergo ACL surgery experiences re-injury, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day. The study examined the long term success of surgery for patients aged 18 years and younger. "We examined survey data from 242 patients who underwent ACL reconstruction between 1993 and 1998," noted lead author Justin P. Roe, MBBS, FRACS, from North Sydney Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre. "Of this group, 75, or 31% sustained a further injury after at least ...

Las Vegas, NV - Pitching speed, player's height, and pitching for multiple teams may correlate with a history of shoulder and elbow injuries, according to new research released today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day. "Our findings indicate that a 10 inch increase in height is associated with a 20% increase in likelihood of a history of injury, a 10 mile per hour increase in velocity is associated with a 12% increase likelihood of a history of injury, and playing for more than one team is associated with a 22% increase in ...

A study published today in the journal Science found that government biofuel policies rely on reductions in food consumption to generate greenhouse gas savings. Shrinking the amount of food that people and livestock eat decreases the amount of carbon dioxide that they breathe out or excrete as waste. The reduction in food available for consumption, rather than any inherent fuel efficiency, drives the decline in carbon dioxide emissions in government models, the researchers found. "Without reduced food consumption, each of the models would estimate that biofuels generate ...

HOUSTON - (March 27, 2015) - Saudi Arabia's role in global energy markets is changing, according to a new paper from an energy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. The researcher found that the kingdom is reshaping itself as a supplier of refined petroleum products while moving beyond its long-held role as a simple exporter of crude oil. "A Refined Approach: Saudi Arabia Moves Beyond Crude" examines the growth of Saudi refining, the country's increased domestic demand for crude oil and the geopolitical effects of this development. The paper was ...

In the world of bird fashion, the guys seem to have all the fun: brighter feathers, sharper accessories, more pizzazz. Researchers going back to Charles Darwin have focused on the contrast between the sexes, attributing the males' brighter colors to their need to attract mates. A group of researchers at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee took a different approach, testing a hypothesis that evolution has actually resulted in similarities among the sexes as much as differences. Looking at nearly 1,000 species of birds, they found that while males often have brighter ...

TAMPA, Fla. - Moffitt Cancer Center researchers are using integrative approaches to study cancer by combining mathematical and computational modeling with experimental and clinical data. The use of integrative approaches enables scientists to study and model cancer progression in a manner that conventional experimental systems are unable to do. Alexander Anderson, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO) and Mark Robertson-Tessi, an applied research scientist in IMO, recently published a commentary on an integrative approach used to study ...

The promising new material molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has an inherent issue that's steeped in irony. The material's greatest asset--its monolayer thickness--is also its biggest challenge. Monolayer MoS2's ultra-thin structure is strong, lightweight, and flexible, making it a good candidate for many applications, such as high-performance, flexible electronics. Such a thin semiconducting material, however, has very little interaction with light, limiting the material's use in light emitting and absorbing applications. "The problem with these materials is that they are ...

Scientists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have devised and demonstrated a new, shape-shifting probe, about one-hundredth as wide as a human hair, which is capable of sensitive, high-resolution remote biological sensing that is not possible with current technology. If eventually put into widespread use, the design could have a major impact on research in medicine, chemistry, biology and engineering. Ultimately, it might be used in clinical diagnostics. To date, most efforts to image highly ...

March 27, 2015 - For people with low vision who need bioptic telescopic glasses to drive, previous driving experience and the need for more training hours are the main factors affecting performance on driver's license road tests, according to a study in the April issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer. After driving experience is taken into account, visual factors have no significant effect on road test scores in drivers using bioptic devices, report Bradley E. Dougherty, ...

Cold snaps like the ones that hit the eastern United States in the past winters are not a consequence of climate change. Scientists at ETH Zurich and the California Institute of Technology have shown that global warming actually tends to reduce temperature variability. Repeated cold snaps led to temperatures far below freezing across the eastern United States in the past two winters. Parts of the Niagara Falls froze, and ice floes formed on Lake Michigan. Such low temperatures had become rare in recent years. Pictures of icy, snow-covered cities made their way around ...

University of Notre Dame applied mathematician Mark Alber and environmental biotechnologist Robert Nerenberg have developed a new computational model that effectively simulates the mechanical behavior of biofilms. Their model may lead to new strategies for studying a range of issues from blood clots to waste treatment systems. "Blood clotting is a leading cause of death in the United States at this point," said Alber, who is The Vincent J. Duncan Family Professor of Applied Mathematics in the College of Science and an adjunct professor of medicine at the Indiana University ...