The flu jab seems to almost halve the risk of heart attacks in middle aged people with narrowed arteries, finds research published in the journal Heart. Those aged 50 to 64 are not currently routinely included in national flu vaccination programmes in either the UK or Australia. But the findings prompt the Australian authors to suggest that further exploration of extending the schedule may be warranted. The researchers wanted to find out if flu is an unrecognised, but clinically important, contributing factor to increased heart attack risk. Published evidence suggests ...

CINCINNATI—New research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) suggests that the healthy weight and glucose control women achieve through weight-loss surgery don't necessarily translate into health benefits for their future children. An animal study featured in the Aug. 21, 2013, edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine suggests that treatment with vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) weight loss surgery of a female rat prior to conception has no positive impact on—and could even impact negatively—the metabolic health of her offspring. The study was led by ...

It is well known to scientists that the three common phases of water – ice, liquid and vapor – can exist stably together only at a particular temperature and pressure, called the triple point. Also well known is that the solid form of many materials can have numerous phases, but it is difficult to pinpoint the temperature and pressure for the points at which three solid phases can coexist stably. Scientists now have made the first-ever accurate determination of a solid-state triple point in a substance called vanadium dioxide, which is known for switching rapidly ...

An international team of scientists have demonstrated that a simple, low-cost intervention holds the potential to eradicate a debilitating tropical disease that threatens nearly 1.4 billion people in more than six dozen countries. The researchers, including Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine professor James Kazura, MD, found that insecticide-treated bed nets reduce transmission of lymphatic filariasis to undetectable levels – even in the absence of additional medication. Their study appears in the August 22 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The ...

VIDEO: An international clinical trial led by Dr. Brian Feagan of Western University in London, Canada has found that the investigational antibody vedolizumab is an effective treatment for those suffering from... Click here for more information. An international clinical trial led by Dr. Brian Feagan of Western University in London, Canada, has found that the investigational antibody vedolizumab is an effective treatment for those suffering from ulcerative colitis (UC) and ...

A study involving more than 8,000 participants has shown that people with a family history of diabetes see their risk of prediabetes increase by 26%. The research is published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, and is by Dr Andreas Fritsche and colleagues from the German Center for Diabetes Research*. Prediabetes is a condition most often described as the 'state between normal blood sugar control and full diabetes', and indeed prediabetes progresses to full blown diabetes in up to 20% of individuals affected per year. ...

Scientists have discovered that important 'good' bacteria arrive in babies' digestive systems from their mother's gut via breast milk. Although this does confirm that when it comes to early establishment of gut and immune health, 'breast is best', a greater understanding of how babies acquire a population of good bacteria can also help to develop formula milk that more closely mimics nature. The study, published today (22 August) in Environmental Microbiology, which is a journal of the Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM), was led by Professor Christophe Lacroix ...

Rosemont, Ill. – The full impact of knee replacement surgery on both patients' lives and on society includes significant overall cost savings, according to a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). Researchers found that for the average patient undergoing knee replacement surgery, the expense of surgery is offset by indirect savings of nearly $40,000. This translates to an average lifetime societal benefit of $10,000-$30,000. Most of the societal savings come from the patient's ability to maintain employment and increase earnings over a longer ...

BOSTON -- Two oral targeted drugs approved for metastatic kidney cancer worked equally well, but one proved superior in tolerability, according to results of a large international clinical trial led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Pazopanib (Votrient) and sunitinib (Sutent), both recently approved as first-line treatments for advanced renal cell cancer, had similar benefits in delaying progression of the disease, but the safety profile and many measures of quality of life favored pazopanib, suggesting a potential shift in standard of care in metastatic ...

As we age, our cells change and become damaged. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging have shown that aging is determined not only by the accumulation of changes during our lifetime but also by the genes we acquire from our mothers. The results of the study are published in the journal Nature. There are many causes of aging that are determined by an accumulation of various kinds of changes that impair the function of bodily organs. Of particular importance in aging, however, seems to be the changes that occur in the ...

Astronomers have found a clever new way to slice and dice the flickering light from a distant star in a way that reveals the strength of gravity at its surface. That is important because a star's surface gravity is one of the key properties that astronomers use to calculate a star's physical properties and assess its evolutionary state. The new technique can also be used to significantly improve estimates of the sizes of the hundreds of exoplanets that have been discovered in the last 20 years. Current estimates have uncertainties ranging from 50 percent to 200 percent. ...

The international Daya Bay Collaboration has announced new results about the transformations of neutrinos - elusive, ghostlike particles that carry invaluable clues about the makeup of the early universe. The latest findings include the collaboration's first data on how neutrino oscillation – in which neutrinos mix and change into other "flavors," or types, as they travel – varies with neutrino energy, allowing the measurement of a key difference in neutrino masses known as "mass splitting." "Understanding the subtle details of neutrino oscillations and other properties ...

Without the currently available plethora of X-ray methods, basic research in the physical sciences would be unthinkable. The methods are used in solid state physics, in the analysis of biological structures, and even art historians have X-rays to thank for many new insights. Now, scientists at the Helmholtz Center Berlin (HZB) have identified yet another area of application. The team around Dr. Martin Beye and Prof. Alexander Föhlisch was able to show that solids lend themselves to X-ray analysis based on nonlinear physical effects. Until now, this could only be done using ...

Antarctic krill are usually less than 6 cm in length but their size belies the major role they play in sustaining much of the life in the Southern Ocean. They are the primary food source for many species of whales, seals, penguins and fish. Krill are known to be sensitive to sea temperature, especially in the areas where they grow as adults. This has prompted scientists to try to understand how they might respond to the effects of further climate change. Using statistical models, a team of researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and Plymouth Marine Laboratory assessed ...

Our early ancestors had a taste for spicy food, new research led by the University of York has revealed. Archaeologists at York, working with colleagues in Denmark, Germany and Spain, have found evidence of the use of spices in cuisine at the transition to agriculture. The researchers discovered traces of garlic mustard on the charred remains of pottery dating back nearly 7,000 years. The silicate remains of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) along with animal and fish residues were discovered through microfossil analysis of carbonised food deposits from pots found at ...

PHILADELPHIA - A leading group of Alzheimer's researchers contends that, as biomarkers to detect signals of the disease improve at providing clinically meaningful information, researchers will need guidance on how to constructively disclose test results and track how disclosure impacts both patients and the data collected in research studies. A survey conducted by a group including experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that a majority of Alzheimer's researchers supported disclosure of results to study participants. The study ...

A reduction in working hours does not necessarily mean happier employees, as it might merely be adding stress to their general working environment. This is according to a study by Robert Rudolf of Korea University, Seoul, that looks at the impact of South Korea's recently introduced Five-Day Working Policy. The paper, published online in Springer's Journal of Happiness Studies, focuses on the overall individual and family happiness of married and co-residing couples living with children, and also assesses the impact of working hours on people's overall job and life satisfaction. ...

Prescribing of "atypical" antipsychotic medications to children and young adults with behavioral problems or mood disorders may put them at unnecessary risk for type 2 diabetes, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study shows. Young people using medications like risperidone, quetiapine, aripiprazol and olanzapine led to a threefold increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the first year of taking the drug, according to the study published Aug. 21 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. While other studies have shown an increased risk for type 2 diabetes associated ...

This news release is available in French. Overnight flights across the Atlantic, graveyard shifts, stress-induced insomnia are all prime culprits in keeping us from getting a good night's sleep. Thanks to new research from McGill University and Concordia University, however, these common sleep disturbances may one day be put to bed. The rotation of the earth generates day and night. It also confers daily rhythms to all living beings. In mammals, something known as a "circadian clock" in the brain drives daily rhythms in sleep and wakefulness, feeding and metabolism, ...

WHAT: An international team of influenza researchers in China, the United Kingdom and the United States has used genetic sequencing to trace the source and evolution of the avian H7N9 influenza virus that emerged in humans in China earlier this year. The study, published today in Nature, was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health, and other organizations. Working in three Chinese provinces, researchers led by Yi Guan, Ph.D., of the University of Hong Kong collected samples from ...

In diagrams it looks like a confection of self-curling ribbon with bits of bling hung off the ribbon here and there. In fact it is a carefully designed ring of proteins with attached pigments that self-assembles into a structure that soaks up sunlight. The scientists who made it call it a testbed, or platform for rapid prototyping of light-harvesting antennas–structures found in plants and photosynthesizing bacteria–that take the first step in converting sunlight into usable energy. The antennas consist of protein scaffolding that holds pigment molecules in ideal positions ...

Satellite imagery showed that Tropical Storm Pewa has passed Wake Island on Aug. 21. GOES-West satellite imagery showed Pewa moving farther into the northwestern Pacific. Tropical Storm Pewa continues trekking through the open waters of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean today, and was captured on NASA satellite imagery. On Aug. 21 at 1500 UTC, Tropical Storm Pewa had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots/40.2 mph/64.8 kph. Pewa is a small storm, and tropical-storm-force winds extend from the center up to 65 miles. It was centered near 20.9 north latitude and 170.4 east ...

West Orange, NJ. August 21, 2013. The July issue of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine focuses on, "Advances in Technology for People with Spinal Cord Injury." Guest Editor Rory Cooper, PhD, is a member of the journal's Editorial Board. Dr. Cooper is the FISA/PVA Endowed Chair and a Distinguished Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. He is also the Center Director at the Center of Excellence for Wheelchair and Related Technology, VA Rehabilitation Research & Development ...

(Boston) – The prevalence of obesity has increased markedly in the U.S. in recent years. According to a new study by researchers from Boston University Slone Epidemiology Center's Black Women's Health Study (BWHS), the risk of becoming obese among young African-American women decreased with increasing levels of vigorous activity. The investigators focused on younger women because most weight gain occurs before middle age. The findings are online and will appear in the September 2013 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The assessment of exercise in ...

Therapeutic drug substitutions have the potential to double or even triple annual cost savings compared with savings achieved with generic substitutions, according to O. Kenrik Duru and colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles. Therapeutic drug substitutions involve the use of less expensive substitutes that are not equivalent but have a similar treatment effect as the original medication. Their work¹ estimates the magnitude of potential savings with drug substitution in Medicare Part D plans in the US. The study appears in the Journal of General Internal ...