GALVESTON, Texas – Many primary care doctors continue to administer the prostate-specific antigen test to even their oldest patients despite the fact that no medical organization recommends prostate cancer screening for men older than 75, according to new research from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. In a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, UTMB researchers found a high variability in standard PSA-ordering practice among primary care physicians. Some doctors ordered the test for their older male patients regularly, ...

Drs. Michael Hahn and Daniel Wolf Savin, research scientists at Columbia University's Astrophysics Laboratory in New York, NY, found evidence that magnetic waves in a polar coronal hole contain enough energy to heat the corona and moreover that they also deposit most of their energy at sufficiently low heights for the heat to spread throughout the corona. The observations help to answer a 70-year-old solar physics conundrum about the unexplained extreme temperature of the Sun's corona – known as the coronal heating problem. Hahn and Savin analyzed data from the Extreme ...

BOSTON (15 October 2013) – Today, the Population Council presented findings from a Phase 3 clinical trial that was designed to demonstrate the safety, efficacy, and acceptability of the Council's investigational one-year contraceptive vaginal ring (CVR). The results were presented during an oral session at the 69th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. The study presented today (Study 300B) is part of an extensive clinical trial package that will be submitted as part of a New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The application ...

The expansion of publicly-funded preschool education is currently the focus of a prominent debate. The research brief "Investing in Our Future: The Evidence Base on Preschool Education," authored by an interdisciplinary group of early childhood experts, reviews rigorous evidence on why early skills matter, which children benefit from preschool, the short- and long-term effects of preschool programs on children's school readiness and life outcomes, the importance of program quality, and the costs versus benefits of preschool education. The research brief was funded by ...

Despite the common fear that those annoying tip-of-the-tongue moments are signals of age-related memory decline, the two phenomena appear to be independent, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that tip-of-the-tongue experiences occur more frequently as people get older, but the relationship between these cognitive stumbles and actual memory problems remained unclear, according to psychological scientist and lead author Timothy Salthouse of the University of Virginia: "We ...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A research team led by Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the University of California, Davis, reveals that childhood gunshot injuries, while uncommon, are more severe, require more major surgery, have greater mortality and higher per-patient costs than any other mechanism for childhood injury – particularly among adolescent males. The study is published online in the journal Pediatrics. "There has been little science and lots of misinformation cited on the topic of gunshot injuries in children," said Craig Newgard, M.D., M.P.H., principal ...

DARIEN, IL – Three new studies show just how critical it is for adults to seek treatment for a sleep illness and aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. One study of 2,240 adults is the first to examine the link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and mortality in Asians. Results show that all-cause mortality risk was 2.5 times higher and cardiovascular mortality risk was more than 4 times higher among people with severe OSA. The results are consistent with previous studies in the U.S. and other countries. Another ...

PASADENA, Calif. – Oct. 14, 2013 – The impact of bariatric surgery on risk factors for cardiovascular disease depends on a variety of factors, including the type of surgery, sex of the patient, ethnic background, and pre-surgery body mass index, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in Annals of Surgery. Researchers examined the electronic health records of more than 4,000 Kaiser Permanente patients in Southern California who had bariatric surgery for weight loss between 2009 and 2011 to determine what factors led to remission– or reduction – of metabolic ...

Clinical researchers from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research and St. Vincent's Hospital have shown that a form of weight loss surgery, known as 'gastric banding', brings about reversal of diabetes in some patients, and dramatic improvement of glucose tolerance in others, within 12 weeks. Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder that develops over time, with the body becoming progressively less able to control blood sugar levels. High blood sugars cause damage to tissues and organs, and can lead to very serious complications such as kidney failure and ...

In a study, published online today in the journal Age and Ageing, of over 270 patients newly diagnosed with minor strokes or transient ischaemic attack (TIA), only a minority sought medical help within the timeframe recommended by the Royal College of Physicians. This is despite the high profile FAST campaign, which was taking place at the time that the study was conducted. Rapid assessment and treatment of patients with TIA or minor stroke reduces the risk of early recurrent stroke. The Royal College of Physicians' Guidelines suggests that TIA patients who are deemed ...

An international team of scientists have identified potentially dangerous amounts of methamphetamine analog in the workout supplement Craze, a product widely sold across the U.S. and online. The study, published in Drug Testing and Analysis, was prompted by a spate of failed athletic drug tests. The results reveal the presence of methamphetamine analog N,α- DEPEA, which has not been safely tested for human consumption, in three samples. "In recent years banned and untested drugs have been found in hundreds of dietary supplements. We began our study of Craze after ...

People with ADHD and dependency rarely respond as they should to ADHD drugs. A randomised study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now shows that it is possible to obtain the desired efficacy by administering the drug in higher doses. The results of the study are published in the scientific journal Addiction. ADHD is much more common in people who use drugs than in the population at large. ADHD can be treated with methylphenidate, a CNS stimulant used for both children and adults. However, no previous studies have been able to show that methylphenidate is effective ...

Researchers of the Spanish research council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC) and the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) have discovered that inhibiting the protein Rcan1 in mice reduces the burden of atherosclerosis, one of the commonest cardiovascular diseases. The results of their study, published in the prestigious journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, suggest that Rcan1 is a potential target for future drug treatments for this disease, and the team is already working to develop this potential. The study analyzed the molecular ...

Villi are small epithelial protrusions that serve to increase the surface area of the gut for efficient nutrient absorption. The mechanism of their formation during development was recently revealed by a study published in Science. The investigations, carried out by two research groups at Harvard University, were complemented by computational modelling carried out at the University of Jyväskylä and funded by the Academy of Finland. Villification (villus formation) has previously been hypothesised to be based on an active mechanism coordinated by growth factors. The present ...

DETROIT – Emergency Departments across Michigan are better prepared to handle a disaster today than they were seven years ago, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. The study found that 84 percent of emergency departments said they are more prepared to handle a terrorist attack or natural disaster than they were in 2005. They've also enhanced their preparedness efforts by adding decontamination rooms, stockpiling antidotes for nerve gas and cyanide, and storing more respiratory protection supplies. At the same time, emergency departments acknowledged they could ...

Researchers around Dr. Michael Hirtz from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Dr. Aravind Vijayaraghavan from the University of Manchester have developed a new method to produce artificial membranes: Using a nanoscaled tip, they write tailored patches of phospholipid membrane onto a graphene substrate. The resulting biomimetic membranes, i.e. membranes simulating biological structures, allow for the specific investigation of functions of cell membranes and the development of novel applications in medicine and biotechnology, such as biosensors. The method is now presented ...

Chicago, October 14, 2013—The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has released the results of a major new survey exploring the views of older Americans about their plans for work and retirement. It provides in-depth information about a rapidly growing segment of the population that by choice or circumstance is working longer. The Great Recession has had a marked impact on retirement plans. "The survey illuminates an important shift in Americans' attitudes toward work, aging, and retirement," said Trevor Tompson, director of the AP-NORC Center. "Retirement ...

This news release is available in German. Extension of cable-based telecommunication networks requires high investments in both conurbations and rural areas. Broadband data transmission via radio relay links might help to cross rivers, motorways or nature protection areas at strategic node points, and to make network extension economically feasible. In the current issue of the nature photonics magazine, researchers present a method for wireless data transmission at a world-record rate of 100 gigabits per second. (doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.275) In their record experiment, ...

Recent scientific findings have raised the fear that young athletes may fare worse after sustaining a sports-related concussion than older athletes. Researchers in the Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center compared symptoms associated with concussion in middle- and high-school aged athletes with those in college-age athletes and found no significant differences between the two age groups. The study, "Does age affect symptom recovery after sports-related concussion? A study of high school and college athletes," was in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics. Lead authors ...

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a protein expressed by human bone marrow stem cells that guides and stimulates the formation of blood vessels. Their findings, which could help improve the vascularization of engineered tissues, were reported online on October 12 in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. "Some stem cells actually have multiple jobs," says Dr. Jalees Rehman, associate professor of cardiology and pharmacology at the UIC College of Medicine and lead author of the paper. For example, stem cells in the bone marrow, ...

This news release is available in German. The endogenous hormone dopamine triggers feelings of happiness. While its release is induced, among other things, by the "feel-good" classics sex, drugs or food, the brain does not content itself with a kick; it remembers the state of happiness and keeps wanting to achieve it again. Dopamine enables us to make the "right" decisions in order to experience even more moments of happiness. Biological components reconnected Now a team of researchers headed by ETH-Zurich professor Martin Fussenegger from the Department of Biosystems ...

Walking is tricky business, as any toddler knows. And while most artificial feet and limbs do a pretty good job restoring mobility to people who have lost a leg, they have a ways to go before they equal the intricacy of a natural gait. As a result, over half of all amputees take a fall every year, compared to about one-third of people over 65. In cooperation with a Mayo Clinic scientist, researchers at Michigan Technological University are taking a giant step toward solving the problem. They are making a bionic foot that could make an amputee's walk in the park feel, ...

Nyon, Switzerland (October 14, 2013) – A new report published today by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) warns that as a result of ageing populations and osteoporosis not being treated as a priority, health care providers will be faced with an avalanche of fractures and rising costs. Approximately 22 million women and 5.5 million men in 27 member states of the European Union (EU27)*, have osteoporosis; the total burden is expected to increase to 33.9 million (increase of 23 per cent) by 2025. The IOF report prepared in collaboration with the European ...

A team led by Chris Sullivan, a professor of molecular biosciences at The University of Texas at Austin, has provided the first positive evidence that RNA interference (RNAi), a biological process in which small RNA molecules prevent genes from being expressed, does not play a role as an antiviral in most body, or "somatic," cells in mammals. Their research was published in Cell Host & Microbe. RNAi plays an important antiviral role in plants and invertebrates, but it has long been disputed whether it plays a similar role in mammals. A better understanding of how RNAi ...

October 14, 2013—With higher populations and limited space, urban areas are not often thought of as places for agriculture. A recent surge in community gardens, though, is bringing agriculture and gardens into the cities. And certain byproducts of urban life – food and yard waste and municipal biosolids – can benefit those gardens, and the soils in them, tremendously. Sally Brown, associate professor at University of Washington will discuss the use of compost and biosolids in urban agriculture on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 9:35 am. Her talk, Urban Soil Quality and Compost, is ...