London (31 July 2013). New research suggests that failure by junior doctors in their annual changeover period to identify deteriorating patients and poor prioritisation skills are likely to drive a reduction in the quality and safety of patient care. Next Wednesday 7 August thousands of newly qualified doctors will take up their first hospital jobs and junior doctors will become a grade more senior. This period is associated with worse clinical outcomes than the rest of the year. Researchers writing in JRSM Short Reports, the open-access offshoot to the Journal of the Royal ...

A smartphone app that keeps track of your location and distance walked from home or hotel and warns you when you are likely to be caught out after dark has been developed by researchers in Pakistan to help sufferers of the debilitating disease night blindness. The app can also help travellers with the disease pinpoint hotels should they find themselves too far from base to get home safely. The researchers describe details of the smartphone software in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal Mobile Learning and Organisation. Kamran Ahsan, Obaid Khan and Abdul ...

Taking a dip in a freshwater lake can quickly lose its appeal on contact with slippery aquatic plants. These might include Elodea nuttallii and Najas marina, better known as western waterweed and spiny naiad, both of which have been spreading rapidly in German water bodies in recent years. Ecologists are able to use them as indicator plants. Their proliferation allows researchers to draw conclusions on water quality – Elodea nuttallii and Najas marina are particularly common in lakes with rising water temperatures. The rapid spread of such plants over a wide area can ...

VIDEO: Dr. Jessica Tyrrell talks through her latest research, which has investigated the ways in which chemicals build up in people of different socioeconomic status. Click here for more information. A new study published this week has found that the build-up of harmful chemicals in the body is affecting people of all social standings -- not just those from economically deprived backgrounds as previously thought. The research has been led by Dr Jessica Tyrrell from the University ...

Reston, Va.– A more precise method for determining bone marrow involvement in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)—a key factor in tailoring patient management plans—has been identified by researchers in a study published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Imaging with 18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), when compared to bone marrow biopsy, was more sensitive, showed a higher negative predictive value and was more accurate, changing treatment for 42 percent of patients with bone marrow involvement. DLBCL ...

Bethesda, MD—A new culprit has been identified that likely plays a big role in the severity of asthma—a small protein chemokine called CCL26. These findings were published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology and represent the first demonstration that CCL26 is a potent regulator of the migration of asthmatic eosinophils, commonly observed in asthmatic airways. Results from this discovery may lead to new drug targets for the treatment of asthma. "We hope that these studies will help to develop a new treatment that would specifically abrogate bronchial inflammation and ...

CINCINNATI -- A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry identifies a new therapeutic approach to treat prostate cancer. Conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the research shows that expression of the FoxM1 protein is essential for prostate cancer to develop in mouse models. The study appears in the journal's Aug. 2 edition. The study also shows that depletion of FoxM1 in prostate epithelial cells inhibits tumor cell proliferation, the process by which new blood vessels are formed, and metastasis -- the spread of cancer to other organs of ...

Bethesda, MD—Japanese researchers have made a new step toward understanding why—and how to stop—runaway inflammation for both chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and allergic asthma. In a new report appearing in the August 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal scientists show that two receptors of an inflammatory molecule, called "leukotriene B4," play opposing roles in turning inflammation on and off for allergic asthma and COPD. The first receptor, called "BLT1," promotes inflammation, while the second receptor, called "BLT2," has a potential to weaken inflammation ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD) is the most common form of oral or facial pain, affecting over 10 million Americans. The chronic disorder can cause severe pain often associated with chewing or biting down, and lacks effective treatments. In a study in mice, researchers at Duke Medicine identified a protein that is critical to TMJD pain, and could be a promising target for developing treatments for the disorder. Their findings are published in the August issue of the journal PAIN. Aside from cases related to trauma, little is known about the ...

In terms of biodiversity richness, Iran is considered as an extremely complex area with wide ranges in the extremes of altitude, climate and temperature. The high biodiversity of the Iranian fauna is also the result of its location and the influences of four ecozones from North, South and South East. The rather high number of recorded endemic species of Fulgoromorpha in Iran indicates a high potential for speciation in some areas. More than 200 species of Fulgoromorpha have been recorded from Iran since 1902. Representatives from 13 families among those have never been ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Climate change is likely fueling the larger and more destructive wildfires that are scorching vast areas of the American West, according to new research led by Michigan State University scientists. These erratic fires are harder to contain and often result in catastrophic damage and loss of property and life. Although not analyzed in the study, the recent Arizona wildfire that began with a lightning strike and killed 19 firefighters appeared to be such an unpredictable, fast-spreading blaze, according to a state report. The MSU-led study, which ...

Bethesda, MD -- If you think stress is killing you, you may be right, but what you don't know is that stress might have harmed your health even before you were born. In a new report appearing in the August 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, Harvard researchers find that epigenetic disruptions, which are associated with chronic disease later in life, are already common at birth. Possibly, these aberrations result from stressors in the intrauterine environment (e.g. maternal smoking, maternal diet, or high levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals). This finding supports the ...

DENVER, Colo. -- Children who have a first elevated blood pressure at the doctor's office are not likely to receive the recommended follow-up blood pressure readings within a month, according to a study published today in Pediatrics. However, when the blood pressure was later repeated, most children's blood pressure returned to normal for their age, sex and height. Authors of the study examined the electronic health records of 72,625 children and adolescents ages 3 to 17 over a three-year period at Kaiser Permanente in Colorado and Northern California, and HealthPartners ...

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 1, 2013 – An international research team led by University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) scientists discovered that by preventing cancer cells from entering a state of cellular sleep, cancer drugs are more effective, and there is a lower chance of cancer recurrence. The findings, which will be published in the August 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research and are available online, are the first to show that it is possible to therapeutically target cancer cells to keep them from entering a cellular state called quiescence, or "cell sleep." Quiescence ...

Physicists and neuroscientists from The University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham have unlocked one of the mysteries of the human brain, thanks to new research using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). The work will enable neuroscientists to map a kind of brain function that up to now could not be studied, allowing a more accurate exploration of how both healthy and diseased brains work. Functional MRI is commonly used to study how the brain works, by providing spatial maps of where in the brain external stimuli, ...

Sugars are widely known as important sources of energy for all organisms. Now, Virginia Tech researchers have discovered that certain types of sugars, known as polysaccharides, may also control the timing and placement of minerals that animals use to produce hard structures such as shells and exoskeletons of mollusks, lobsters, and shrimp. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Anthony Giuffre, a graduate student in the Department of Geosciences, and his research advisor, Patricia Dove, a University Distinguished Professor in the College of ...

LOS ANGELES – (August 1, 2013) – The rise of antibiotic resistance among hospital-acquired infections is greater than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in its 2008 analysis, according to an ahead-of-print article in the journal, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The article also finds that the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) promise to "reboot" antibiotic development rules a year ago to combat the rise in resistance has fallen short. The commentary, whose authors include Brad Spellberg, MD, a Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute ...

Osteomyelitis, a debilitating bone infection most frequently caused by Staphylococcus aureus ("staph") bacteria, is particularly challenging to treat. Now, Vanderbilt microbiologist Eric Skaar, Ph.D., MPH, and colleagues have identified a staph-killing compound that may be an effective treatment for osteomyelitis, and they have developed a new mouse model that will be useful for testing this compound and for generating additional therapeutic strategies. James Cassat, M.D., Ph.D., a fellow in Pediatric Infectious Diseases who is interested in improving treatments for ...

WASHINGTON D.C. August 1, 2013 -- Reaching a clinic in time to receive an early diagnosis for cancer -- when the disease is most treatable -- is a global problem. And now a team of Chinese researchers proposes a global solution: have a user-friendly diagnostic device travel to the patient, anywhere in the world. As described in the journal Biomicrofluidics, which is produced by AIP Publishing, a team led by Gang Li, Ph.D., from Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is developing a portable device for point-of-care ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There's a major roadblock to creating personalized cancer care. Doctors need a way to target treatments to patients most likely to benefit and avoid treating those who will not. Tumor biomarker tests can help do this. The problem, according to a new commentary paper, is that, unlike drugs or other therapies, cancer biomarker tests are undervalued by doctors and patients. The authors say that inconsistent regulatory rules, inadequate payment and underfunded tumor biomarker research has left us in a vicious cycle that prevents development and testing ...

(SALT LAKE CITY)—When U.S. physicians prescribe antibiotics, more than 60 percent of the time they choose some of the strongest types of antibiotics, referred to as "broad spectrum," which are capable of killing multiple kinds of bacteria, University of Utah researchers show in a new study. Unfortunately, in more than 25 percent of such prescriptions are useless because the infection stems from a virus, which cannot be treated with antibiotics. This overuse of antibiotics has a number of downsides, including that these types of drugs kill more of the "good" bacteria ...

The world's croplands could feed 4 billion more people than they do now just by shifting from producing animal feed and biofuels to producing exclusively food for human consumption, according to new research from the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. Even a smaller, partial shift from crop-intensive livestock such as feedlot beef to food animals such as chicken or pork could increase agricultural efficiency and provide food for millions, the study says. "We essentially have uncovered an astoundingly abundant supply of food for a hungry world, ...

PITTSBURGH—Some animals—like the octopus and cuttlefish—transform their shape based on environment, fending off attackers or threats in the wild. For decades, researchers have worked toward mimicking similar biological responses in non-living organisms, as it would have significant implications in the medical arena. Now, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have demonstrated such a biomimetic response using hydrogels—a material that constitutes most contact lenses and microfluidic or fluid-controlled technologies. Their study, published in Advanced Functional ...

WATERLOO, Ont. (Thursday, August 1, 2013) – Seeing pictures of skin cancer motivates people to regularly check their own moles, according to a new research paper from the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo. The paper, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, found that visual images of skin cancer are most effective in prompting skin self-examinations. "Visual images capture our attention and are persuasive. They also help us to learn and remember," said Professor Laurie Hoffman-Goetz, of the Faculty of Applied ...

Deletion of a protein in white blood cells improves their ability to fight the bacteria staphylococcus aureus and possibly other infections in mice with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), according to a National Institutes of Health study. CGD, a genetic disorder also found in people, is marked by recurrent, life-threatening infections. The study's findings appear online in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. A team of researchers from NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) compared three groups: CGD-afflicted mice with the ...