DURHAM, N.C. - Patients with atrial fibrillation who stopped taking blood thinners before they had elective surgery had no higher risk of developing blood clots and less risk of major bleeding compared to patients who were given a "bridge" therapy, according to research led by Duke Medicine. The findings add much-needed clarity to inconsistent practice guidelines that annually affect an estimated 250,000 patients with atrial fibrillation/flutter who take the blood thinner warfarin. The Duke-led study was presented June 22, 2015, at the International Society on Thrombosis ...

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a surface protein that is normally present on healthy prostate cells, but is found at much higher levels on prostate cancer cells. It is barely found in the rest of the body. "Therefore, PSMA is an ideal target for diagnostic purposes as well as targeted therapies against prostate cancer," says biotechnologist Dr. Matthias Eder of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ). Eder's group has developed a small molecule (PSMA-617) that is capable of specifically attaching to PSMA and can be labeled ...

New research conducted by a team at King's College London has found an increasing trend in the number of people in the UK reaching age 100 over the past two decades. The study also found that, whilst women were far more likely to reach 100 than men, males tended to be healthier and had fewer diagnosed chronic illnesses compared to women. The study, published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, used electronic health records to examine some of the main age-related chronic illnesses, including diabetes, stroke, arthritis and cancer, as well as old ...

A large clinical trial led by researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa has found that contrary to expectations, a CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis does not improve cancer detection in people with unexplained blood clots in their legs and lungs. The results, published in the June 22 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, are expected to improve patient care and reduce screening costs around the world. More than 500,000 Canadians and Americans are diagnosed with blood clots in the lungs and legs each year (called venous thromboembolism). ...

Through a rare mixed-species association observed between a carnivorous predator and a potential prey, Dartmouth-led research has identified that solitary Ethiopian wolves will forage for rodents among grazing gelada monkey herds. Through consistent non-threatening behavior, the Ethiopian wolves have habituated gelada herds to their presence, foregoing opportunities to attack the juvenile geladas in order to better capture the rodents. Gelada monkeys are a close relative of baboons. As grazing primates, they eat grass and some herbs. They live in large herds, between ...

Nanoparticles are the smallest particles capable of reaching virtually all parts of the body. Researchers use various approaches to test ways in which nanoparticles could be used in medicine - for instance, to deliver substances to a specific site in the body such as a tumor. For this purpose, nanoparticles are generally coated with organic materials because their surface quality plays a key role in determining further targets in the body. If they have a water-repellent shell, nanoparticles are quickly identified by the body's immune system and eliminated. How gold particles ...

Researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have demonstrated, in a preclinical setting, the protective effect of a candidate vaccine directed against the coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Planning for the first clinical trial is now underway. Currently, no protective vaccine is available against the coronavirus strain responsible for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The need for such a vaccine is underlined by the current outbreak of the disease in South Korea, which has led to the infection of over 150 people and ...

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY'S HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS--The "Black Lives Matter" hashtag evolved as a call for social change aimed at increasing the conversation about racial inequality. But what if social change was less dependent on talking and more dependent on nonverbal communication? New research finds observing a white American engage in small nonverbal acts such as smiling more often, making eye contact for longer periods of time, and standing in closer proximity to a black American makes the observer less prone to racial biases. Specifically, small acts ...

(PHILADELPHIA) - Recently, researchers have discovered that the hormone progesterone, an ingredient in contraceptives and menopausal hormone replacement therapies, might stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells that are resistant to anti-estrogen therapy and chemotherapy. Now, new research published June 22nd in the journal Oncogene, a Nature publication, shows that additional hormones, including stress hormones that are frequently used to treat the side effects of common chemotherapy, could make these effective cancer drugs fail sooner in some women with breast cancer. ...

Milan, Italy, June 22 -- Cardiac device wearers should keep a safe distance from smartphones to avoid unwanted painful shocks or pauses in function, reveals research presented today at EHRA EUROPACE -- CARDIOSTIM 2015 by Dr. Carsten Lennerz, first author and cardiology resident in the Clinic for Heart and Circulatory Diseases, German Heart Centre, Munich, Germany. The joint meeting of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and Cardiostim is being held in Milan, Italy. The scientific programme is here: http://www.flipsnack.com/Escardio/ehra-europace-cardiostim-2015-advance-programme.html. Lennerz ...

Milan, Italy - 22 June 2015: Patients are test driving a pacemaker outside the skin before deciding whether to have a permanent implant, reveals novel research presented today at EHRA EUROPACE - CARDIOSTIM 2015 by Professor Michael Giudici, director of arrhythmia services in the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, US.1 "Wow, I didn't realise how terrible I felt. This is great. When can we schedule my pacemaker?" The joint meeting of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) ...

US researchers have published the first large population-based study of nationwide trends in erectile dysfunction and its surgical management from 2001 to 2010. Using data from Medicare beneficiaries, the investigators found that while the prevalence of erectile dysfunction increased by 165%, the use of penile prostheses decreased by 50%, from 4.6% in 2001 to 2.3% in 2010. Prostheses have been increasingly used in sicker patients with significant comorbidities, however. Age, ethnicity, and geography often influenced whether patients would undergo penile prosthetic placement. "The ...

A new analysis indicates that rates of high-grade cervical lesions decreased in young U.S. women after vaccines were made available to protect against human papillomavirus (HPV), but the trend may be due in part to changes in cervical cancer screening recommendations. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study illustrates some of the challenges in monitoring a vaccine's impact during a time of concurrent changes in screening. More than half of high-grade cervical lesions, which are abnormal tissue changes that can ...

Ottawa, Ontario, June 22 -- Children are more likely to have a repeat, delayed anaphylactic reaction from the same allergic cause, depending on the severity of the initial reaction. The first pediatric study to look at the predictors for this phenomenon was published today in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Anaphylaxis is a severe, allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and can result in death. Some children are at risk of delayed ('biphasic') anaphylactic reactions. Delayed reactions occur when the initial symptoms of allergic reaction go away but then return ...

An investigation into how owls fly and hunt in silence has enabled researchers to develop a prototype coating for wind turbine blades that could significantly reduce the amount of noise they make. Early tests of the material, which mimics the intricate structure of an owl's wing, have demonstrated that it could significantly reduce the amount of noise produced by wind turbines and other types of fan blades, such as those in computers or planes. Since wind turbines are heavily braked in order to minimise noise, the addition of this new surface would mean that they could ...

Children who benefit from a good memory are much better at covering up lies, researchers from the University of Sheffield have discovered. Experts found a link between verbal memory and covering up lies following a study which investigated the role of working memory in verbal deception amongst children. The study saw six to seven year old children presented with the opportunity to do something they were instructed not to -peek at the final answers on the back of a card during a trivia game. A hidden camera and correct answers to the question, which was based on ...

TAMPA, Fla. - The development of targeted therapies has significantly improved the survival of melanoma patients over the last decade; however, patients often relapse because many therapies do not kill all of the tumor cells, and the remaining cells adapt to treatment and become resistant. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have discovered a novel mechanism that can lead melanoma cells to develop resistance to drugs that target the protein BRAF. Mutations in the gene BRAF are the most common mutation found in melanoma, with up to 50 percent of tumors testing positive for ...

The American College of Physicians (ACP) letter in response to a May 22 Senate Finance Committee letter requesting recommendations and policies that will improve care for patients with chronic diseases. In a 19-page letter ACP President Wayne J. Riley, MD, MBA, MPH, MACP, to Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch; Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden; Co-chairman of the Chronic Care Working Group Johnny Isakson; and Co-chairman of the Chronic Care Working Group Mark Warner, provides 18 detailed recommendations to: Expand the flexibility of Medicare Advantage ...

TAMPA, Fla. - Cancer is the most common cause of death among Latinos. It is estimated that one out of every three Latina women will be diagnosed with cancer during her lifetime. Given the increasing Latino population in the United States, more emphasis has to be placed on educating this population about cancer. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers, along with collaborators at the University of South Florida, recently published a study about the attitudes and cultural perspectives of Latinas undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. The article also discusses their cancer ...

Tropical Depression Bill continues to be a soaker as it travels in an east-northeasterly direction from Arkansas toward the Ohio Valley. NASA's Aqua satellite and NOAA's GOES-East satellites provided a look at the extent and the movement of the storm. The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Depression Bill's remnants over the central United States on June 18 at 19:45 UTC (3:45 p.m. EDT). At the time Aqua passed overhead, Bill's center was located in northeastern Oklahoma. The image showed that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico ...

ANN ARBOR--Public health officials stand poised to eliminate polio from the planet. But a new study shows that the job won't be over when the last case of the horrible paralytic disease is recorded. Using disease-transmission models, University of Michigan graduate research fellow Micaela Martinez-Bakker and two colleagues demonstrate that silent transmission of poliovirus could continue for more than three years with no reported cases. To ensure that the disease is truly eradicated, aggressive surveillance programs and vaccination campaigns must continue in endemic ...

Public health officials stand poised to eliminate polio from the planet. But a new study shows that the job won't be over when the last case of the horrible paralytic disease is recorded. In an article publishing June 19 in the Open Access journal PLOS Biology, graduate research fellow Micaela Martinez-Bakker and professors Aaron A. King and Pejman Rohani of the University of Michigan Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology use disease-transmission models to show that silent transmission of poliovirus could continue for more than three years with no reported cases. To ...

There is no longer any doubt: We are entering a mass extinction that threatens humanity's existence. That is the bad news at the center of a new study by a group of scientists including Paul Ehrlich, the Bing Professor of Population Studies in biology and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Ehrlich and his co-authors call for fast action to conserve threatened species, populations and habitat, but warn that the window of opportunity is rapidly closing. "[The study] shows without any significant doubt that we are now entering the sixth ...

Psychiatric disorders can be difficult to diagnose because clinicians must rely upon interpreted clues, such as a patient's behaviors and feelings. For the first time, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report identifying a biological marker: the over-production of specific genes that could be a diagnostic indicator of mental illness in female psychiatric patients. The study was published this week in the journal EBioMedicine. Researchers found that the gene XIST, which is responsible for inactivating one of the two copies of the ...

Scientists for the first time tracked ultrafast structural changes, captured in quadrillionths-of-a-second steps, as ring-shaped gas molecules burst open and unraveled. Ring-shaped molecules are abundant in biochemistry and also form the basis for many drug compounds. The study points the way to a wide range of real-time X-ray studies of gas-based chemical reactions that are vital to biological processes. Researchers working at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory compiled the full sequence of steps in this basic ring-opening reaction into computerized ...