The sound of monitor alarms in hospitals can save patients' lives, but the frequency with which the monitors go off can also lead to "alarm fatigue," in which caregivers become densensitized to the ubiquitous beeping. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have tackled this problem and developed a standardized, team-based approach to reducing cardiac monitor alarms. The process reduced the median number of daily cardiac alarms from 180 to 40, and increased caregiver compliance with the process from 38 percent to 95 percent. "Cardiac monitors ...

Laundry detergent pods began appearing on U.S. store shelves in early 2010, and people have used them in growing numbers ever since. The small packets can be tossed into a washing machine without ever having to measure out a liquid or powder. The convenience, though, has come with risks for young children. A new study from researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that from 2012 through 2013, U.S. poison control centers received reports of 17,230 children younger than 6 years of age swallowing, inhaling, or otherwise being exposed to chemicals in laundry detergent ...

When bladder cancer patients are well-informed by their physicians, they acknowledge that tobacco use was likely the cause of their disease. The finding comes from a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Patients with such knowledge may be more motivated to quit smoking, which could help prolong their lives. At least half of bladder cancer cases diagnosed in the United States are the result of cigarette smoking. Bladder cancer is the second most common tobacco-related malignancy, a fact that is not well known ...

Businesses report that U.S. military veterans make excellent employees, but companies still experience challenges locating and hiring them, according to a new RAND Corporation report. Studying a group of companies that have made a major commitment to hire veterans, researchers concluded that challenges remain for veterans seeking civilian jobs and employers hoping to hire them, including continuing difficulty understanding the match between military skills and civilian job requirements. Too often veterans believe their talents apply only in the security or defense ...

The child-mortality gap has narrowed between the poorest and wealthiest households in a majority of more than 50 developing countries, a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has found. This convergence was mostly driven by the fact that child-mortality rates declined the fastest among the poorest families. In the countries where the gap increased, the study identified a common thread: poor governance. The findings provide important information for making decisions about prioritizing global health investments to effectively promote equity, said ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville say they have identified first steps in the origin of pancreatic cancer and that their findings suggest preventive strategies to explore. In an online issue of Cancer Discovery, the scientists described the molecular steps necessary for acinar cells in the pancreas -- the cells that release digestive enzymes -- to become precancerous lesions. Some of these lesions can then morph into cancer. "Pancreatic cancer develops from these lesions, so if we understand how these lesions come about, we may ...

This news release is available in French. VIDEO: Arthritis pain in dogs can be relieved, with no side effects, by a new product based on medicinal plants and dietary supplements that was developed at the University of Montreal's... Click here for more information. Arthritis pain in dogs can be relieved, with no side effects, by a new product based on medicinal plants and dietary ...

A team of researchers led by Michele Fumagalli from the Extragalactic Astronomy Group and the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, were among the first to use ESO's Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the VLT. Observing ESO 137-001 -- a spiral galaxy 200 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Triangulum Australe (The Southern Triangle) -- they were able to get the best view so far of exactly what is happening to the galaxy as it hurtles into the Norma Cluster. MUSE gives astronomers not just a picture, but provides ...

Dublin, Ireland, November 9th 2014 - Botanists at Trinity College Dublin have launched a database with information that documents significant 'life events' for nearly 600 plant species across the globe. They clubbed together with like-minded individuals working across five different continents to compile the huge database of plant life histories, for which data have been gathered over a near 50-year span. At a time in which climate change and increasing human populations are rapidly re-shaping plant distributions, the researchers hope their COMPADRE Plant Matrix database ...

Bobbing your head, tapping your heel, or clapping along with the music is a natural response for most people, but what about those who can't keep a beat? Researchers at McGill University and the University of Montreal, have discovered that beat-deafness, though very rare, is a problem not simply of how people feel a pulse or move their bodies, but instead, how people synchronize with sounds they hear. "We examined beat tracking, the ability to find a regular pulse and move with it, in individuals who complained of difficulty following a beat in everyday activities ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- All patients with hepatitis C who receive a liver transplant will eventually infect their new livers. These transplanted organs then require anti-viral treatment before they become severely damaged. But traditional post-transplant hepatitis C therapy can take up to a year, is potentially toxic and can lead to organ rejection. Now, at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (The Liver Meeting® 2014) in Boston, researchers at Mayo Clinic report that use of two new oral medications post-transplant is safe and beneficial, and requires ...

Berlin, Germany (November, 2014) - Sweating, panting, moving to the shade, or taking a dip are all time-honored methods used by animals to cool down. The implicit goal of these adaptations is always to keep the brain from overheating. Now a new study shows that armor-plated dinosaurs (ankylosaurs) had the capacity to modify the temperature of the air they breathed in an exceptional way: by using their long, winding nasal passages as heat transfer devices. Led by paleontologist Jason Bourke, a team of scientists at Ohio University used CT scans to document the anatomy ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Noroviruses are pernicious intestinal viruses. They cause violent vomiting and diarrhea, and people ill with the virus remain contagious up to three days after they seem to recover. Although a vaccine for these viruses is in clinical trials, there is still no medication to combat them. That's in part because researchers have not been able to culture human noroviruses so they can test potential treatments -- until now, according to a study by University of Florida Health researchers published Friday, Nov. 7 in the journal Science. UF Health researcher ...

In a new, in-depth research project, Queen's professors Rob Siemens (Urology) and Christopher Booth (Cancer Care and Epidemiology) investigated what affect higher volume hospitals and surgeons had on the outcomes of patients undergoing a radical cystectomy for bladder cancer in Ontario. Using data provided by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) the investigators studied 2,802 patients who underwent the procedure between 1994 and 2008 in Ontario and found that higher volume hospital and surgeons were associated with less post-operative complications and ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Preschoolers whose parents have rules about what their children can and cannot eat have healthier eating habits than those raised without such rules, according to a new study by pediatrics researchers at the University at Buffalo. The study also provides new information on how toddlers' ability to self-regulate, or control, their emotional and behavioral impulses influences their eating habits two years later, depending on the presence or absence of parental food rules. The research is being presented on Nov. 7 at ObesityWeek 2014 in Boston. ObesityWeek ...

As if having a heart attack isn't bad enough, cardiologists know that the worst damage may actually occur after it's over. Blocked arteries are typically the trigger, stopping the flow of blood and starving the heart muscle of oxygen. But when the blockage is removed and the blood comes rushing back, it wreaks havoc of its own. The result is called reperfusion injury, a life-threatening flood of inflammation and cellular destruction that has stumped scientists for 40 years. Now, however, a potentially groundbreaking study by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists, ...

Seok Kang, associate professor in the UTSA Department of Communication, collaborated with Korean researcher Jaemin Jung to study the smartphone habits of college students in the United States and South Korea. The researchers were particularly interested in the type and amount of information college students from both countries disclose. The study was published in Computers in Human Behavior. The two countries were selected due to the high rates of smartphone ownership among their young adults. Eighty percent of Americans own smartphones while the ownership rate in Korea ...

Researchers led by Dr. Debra Auguste, associate professor, biomedical engineering, in the Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York, have identified a molecule that could lead to developing treatment for one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. Triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs) have a high mortality rate owing to aggressive proliferation and metastasis and a lack of effective therapeutic options. However, Professor Auguste's team, discovered the overexpression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in human TNBC cell lines and tissues, ...

Employers know that dramatic changes in the workplace, such as the start of the "busy season" or a new, more demanding boss, can cause employees to act out in ways that hurt the bottom line. But a new study suggests that companies may be underestimating the impact of such behavior because they assume it only happens immediately after a stressful change. The research from SF State organizational psychologist Kevin Eschleman shows that many employees wait weeks or months before engaging in "counterproductive work behaviors," like taking a longer lunch or stealing office ...

Two NASA and one European spacecraft, including NASA's MAVEN mission led by the University of Colorado Boulder, have gathered new information about the basic properties of a wayward comet that buzzed by Mars Oct. 19, directly detecting its effects on the Martian atmosphere. Data from observations carried out by MAVEN, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft revealed that debris from the comet, known officially as Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring, caused an intense meteor shower and added a new layer of ions, or charged ...

A new study by Brigham Young University and the Fox affiliate in Salt Lake City shows that choosing to broadcast a local favorite isn't always the smartest ratings decision. The new study shows how TV execs should decide which games to air when the home-town team isn't playing - or in markets like Utah that don't have their own team. Traditionally the most popular teams in Utah have been the Broncos, Cowboys and 49ers. "When you look at the difference between the average team effect, like say the Miami Dolphins, and the next top tier after the Denver Broncos, the results ...

HOUSTON -- ( Nov. 7, 2014 ) -- By transforming human scar cells into blood vessel cells, scientists at Houston Methodist may have discovered a new way to repair damaged tissue. The method, described in an upcoming issue of Circulation (early online), appeared to improve blood flow, oxygenation, and nutrition to areas in need. Cardiovascular scientists at Houston Methodist, with colleagues at Stanford University and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, learned that fibroblasts -- cells that causes scarring and are plentiful throughout the human body -- can be coaxed into becoming ...

LAWRENCE -- New study results from the University of Kansas to be presented this weekend at the Gerontological Society of America's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., bolster the adage that "heart healthy is brain healthy." The investigation shows neighborhoods that motivate walking can stave off cognitive decline in older adults. "People can walk either to get somewhere or for leisure," said Amber Watts, assistant professor of clinical psychology, who will share her findings at a symposium Sunday, Nov. 9, in Liberty Salon K at the Washington Marriott Marquis. "Depending ...

A detailed analysis by cybersecurity experts from the University of Maryland found that website administrators nationwide tasked with patching security holes exploited by the Heartbleed bug may not have done enough. First disclosed in April 2014, Heartbleed presents a serious vulnerability to the popular OpenSSL (Secure Sockets Layer) software, allowing anyone on the Internet to read the memory of systems that are compromised by the malicious bug. Assistant Research Scientist Dave Levin and Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Tudor Dumitras were ...

BOSTON (November 7, 2014) -- Researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center have found a way to defeat one of the most tantalizing yet elusive target proteins in cancer cells - employing a strategy that turns the protein's own molecular machinations against it. In a study published online by the journal Cell, the scientists used a specially crafted compound to disrupt the protein's ability to rev up its own production and that of other proteins involved in tumor cell growth. The result, in laboratory samples of neuroblastoma cancer cells ...