Charlottesville, VA (May 1, 2013). The Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group is pleased to announce publication of two new studies on dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa®) and intracranial hemorrhage: one in the Journal of Neurosurgery and the other in Neurosurgical Focus. Background Dabigatran is an oral anticoagulant (blood thinner) approved by the US FDA in 2010 to lower the risk of stroke and prevent systemic embolism in persons with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Unlike warfarin, the most popular drug prescribed for this condition, dabigatran carries a lower risk ...

The researchers, Dr Bellinda Gallardo and Dr David Aldridge from the University of Cambridge, focussed on the 'dirty dozen' – a group of high-risk invasive aquatic plants and animals. Some, like the killer shrimp (Dikerogammarus villosus) and the bloody red mysid (Hemimysis anomala) are already in UK but have yet to spread. Others, such as the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminalis) and the marmokrebs, a crayfish (Procambarus fallax) may not yet have arrived. Working with Species Distribution Models, which are routinely used to predict which regions most suit invasive species, ...

NASA scientists don't often learn that their spacecraft is at risk of crashing into another satellite. But when Julie McEnery, the project scientist for NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, checked her email on March 29, 2012, she found herself facing this precise situation. While Fermi is in fine shape today, continuing its mission to map the highest-energy light in the universe, the story of how it sidestepped a potential disaster offers a glimpse at an underappreciated aspect of managing a space mission: orbital traffic control. As McEnery worked through her ...

SAN FRANCISCO – May 1, 2013 – Two new studies add to the growing evidence that spending time outdoors may help prevent or minimize nearsightedness in children. A study conducted in Taiwan, which is the first to use an educational policy as a public vision health intervention, finds that when children are required to spend recess time outdoors, their risk of nearsightedness is reduced. A separate study in Danish children is the first to show a direct correlation between seasonal fluctuations in daylight, eye growth and the rate of nearsightedness progression. The research ...

A Lund University research team has shed new light on why gastric bypass often sends diabetes into remission rapidly, opening the door to developing treatment with the same effect. 85% of patients with type 2 diabetes who undergo a gastric bypass procedure recover from the disease within a few days, showing a return to normal blood sugar levels - long before any weight loss. Until now, there have been few clues as to why this happens. "Most previous studies have analysed samples taken from patients before and after a gastric bypass, but there is a risk that the results ...

TORONTO, May 1,2013—Hands-only CPR (CPR without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation), may not be the best method for rural or remote areas or for anyone who has to wait more than a few minutes for an ambulance, a new study suggests. New guidelines released by the American Heart Association in 2010 permit the use of simpler hand-only or compression-only CPR in some cases instead of conventional CPR. If ambulances come quickly, experts believe that instructing people to just "push hard, push fast" saves more lives. But a literature review by Dr. Aaron Orkin found little evidence ...

Jerusalem, May 1, 2013 – A mechanism that permits essential substances to enter our cells while at the same time removing from them harmful components also has a "down side." This negative aspect prevents vital drugs, such as anti-cancer drugs, from achieving their designed functions, while also enabling bacterial cells to develop resistance to penetration of antibiotics. A study aimed at a fuller understanding of how this selective mechanism works -- with a view towards better controlling it through new drug designs -- is the subject of an article by Hebrew University ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Female rats are much more likely to binge eat than male rats, according to new research that provides some of the strongest evidence yet that biology plays a role in eating disorders. The study, by Michigan State University scientists, is the first to establish sex differences in rates of binge eating in animals and has implications for humans. Binge eating is one of the core symptoms of most eating disorders, including bulimia nervosa and the binge/purge subtype of anorexia nervosa, and females are four to 10 times more likely than males to have ...

Research published today in the journal Evolution reveals how fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) that are subjected to continual competition from mating rivals, mate for longer and produce more offspring in early life. But they pay a high price – a shorter lifespan and reduced mating ability later in life. It is the first study to quantify the consequences of lifetime exposure to rivals. Researchers say that 'trade-offs' between reproduction and lifespan are common across the whole animal kingdom, so in principle the findings could be applicable more generally. The ...

(NEW YORK, N.Y.) May 1, 2013 – The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), a comprehensive behavioral early intervention program that is appropriate for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as young as 12 months, has been found to reduce the need for ASD therapies and special education services through the school years following their early intervention. These findings were presented by David S. Mandell, Sc.D., Associate Professor, Director, Center for Mental Health Policy & Services Research, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, today at the Autism ...

Using the same devious mechanism that enables some bacteria to shrug off powerful antibiotics, scientists have developed solar-powered nanofilters that remove antibiotics from the water in lakes and rivers twice as efficiently as the best existing technology. Their report appears in ACS' journal Nano Letters. David Wendell and Vikram Kapoor explain that antibiotics from toilets and other sources find their way into lakes and rivers, with traces appearing in 80 percent of waterways. Those antibiotics foster emergence of new antibiotic-resistant bacteria, while harming ...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In a study using mice, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that a hormone, adrenomedullin, plays a crucial role in preventing the pregnancy complication preeclampsia. Surprisingly, this hormone protects women from preeclampsia when emitted by the fetus, not the mother, during the most critical times in pregnancy. "We've identified the fact that the baby is important in protecting the mom from preeclampsia," said the study's senior author, Kathleen M. Caron, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Research at the UNC School of ...

CHICAGO and ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A University of Michigan study from the "Online First" edition of Anesthesiology found cardiac arrest was associated with improved survival when it occurred in the operating room (O.R.) or post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) compared to other hospital locations. The findings offer evidence that the presence of anesthesia providers in these locations may improve outcomes for certain patients. Cardiac arrest is a very uncommon complication during the perioperative period, which includes the time during and immediately after surgery and anesthesia. ...

It may be the 21st century, but nearly half the world's population still cooks and heats with open fires or primitive stoves that burn wood, animal dung, charcoal and other polluting solid fuels. The article in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology describes impressive progress being made to remedy that situation and the obstacles that remain. Susan C. Anenberg and colleagues describe the health and environmental consequences of those old-fashioned energy sources. They include an estimated 4 million deaths annually from inhalation of soot and other material ...

In an advance toward solving a 50-year-old mystery, scientists are reporting new evidence on how the fluoride in drinking water, toothpastes, mouth rinses and other oral-care products prevents tooth decay. Their report appears in the ACS journal Langumir. Karin Jacobs and colleagues explain that despite a half-century of scientific research, controversy still exists over exactly how fluoride compounds reduce the risk of tooth decay. That research established long ago that fluoride helps to harden the enamel coating that protects teeth from the acid produced by decay-causing ...

Horse meat as time-honored European cuisine, its detection when mixed into meatballs and other food and the angst over consumption of chevaline in the United States, is food for a thoughtful installment of the popular Newscripts column in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. Alexander H. Tullo, C&EN senior editor, uses the story to look behind the headlines earlier in 2013 reporting discovery of horse meat in meatballs and other beef burger products ...

Long after a hangover, a night of bad decisions might take a bigger toll on the body than previously understood. Described in the current issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, a study at the University of Missouri has revealed a unique connection between binge drinking and the risk for developing alcoholic liver disease and a variety of other health problems. "In our research, we found that binge drinking has a profound effect on the liver in various modes of alcohol exposure," said Shivendra Shukla, PhD, Margaret Proctor Mulligan Professor at the University ...

Philadelphia, Pa. (May 1, 2013) – Ninety-eight percent of women undergoing breast augmentation surgery say the results met or exceeded their expectations, according to a prospective outcome study published in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Women also report improvements in self-esteem and quality of life after breast augmentation, according to the study by ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Eric Swanson, a plastic surgeon in private practice in Leawood, Kan. The study adds high-quality ...

New Haven, Conn.— That human land use destroys natural ecosystems is an oft-cited assumption in conservation, but ecologists have discovered that instead, traditional ranching techniques in the African savanna enhance the local abundance of wild, native animals. These results offer a new perspective on the roles humans play in natural systems, and inform ongoing discussions about land management and biodiversity conservation. For thousands of years, pastoralists in East African savannas have penned their cattle overnight in brush-walled corrals, called bomas. Bomas remain ...

Philadelphia, Pa. (May 1, 2013) – Half of U.S. plastic surgeons are using Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms in their professional practice, according to a survey in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). "Social media platforms represent a dynamic and powerful tool to educate, engage, market to and directly communicate with patients and professional colleagues," writes ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Reza Jarrahy and colleagues of University of California, Los Angeles. ...

San Diego, CA, USA, May 1, 2013 – The following data will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Urology Association (AUA) in San Diego, CA: Androgen deprivation therapy by a gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist, degarelix, lowers the risk of cardiovascular events or death when compared to luteinising hormone-releasing agonists (Abstract 781) Date: Monday, May 6, 2013; 8:00-10:00 AM Session/Type: Prostate Cancer: Advanced (II); Moderated Poster Location: San Diego Convention Center, Room 7 Authors: Peter Albertsen; Bertrand Tombal; Thomas Wiegel; ...

A recent study involving the University of Southampton has investigated public perception of how waste disposal sites affect residents living nearby. Public opinion of waste management facilities can influence where sites are located and how waste management services are delivered. Obtaining the support of communities around municipal solid waste (MSW) facilities is an important part of the successful operation of these services. One common complaint from local communities concerns unpleasant smells emitted from waste disposal facilities, such as from landfill sites. To ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Researchers who unearthed the fossil specimen of an ape skeleton in Spain in 2002 assigned it a new genus and species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus. They estimated that the ape lived about 11.9 million years ago, arguing that it could be the last common ancestor of modern great apes: chimpanzees, orangutans, bonobos, gorillas and humans. Now, a University of Missouri integrative anatomy expert says the shape of the specimen's pelvis indicates that it lived near the beginning of the great ape evolution, after the lesser apes had started to develop separately ...

PITTSBURGH—Amphibian populations living close to agricultural fields have become more resistant to a common insecticide and are actually resistant to multiple common insecticides, according to two recent studies conducted at the University of Pittsburgh. In a study published today in Evolutionary Applications, the Pitt researchers demonstrate, for the first time, that tadpoles from populations close to farm fields are more resistant to chlorpyrifos—one of the most commonly applied insecticides in the world, often sold as "Dursban" or "Lorsban." In addition, a related ...

RNA, once considered a bit player in the grand scheme by which genes encode protein, is increasingly seen to have a major role in human genetics. In a study presented in the April 25 issue of the journal Cell, researchers from The Wistar Institute discovered how the RNA-editing protein, ADAR1, also combines with the protein called Dicer to create microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering (siRNA). These varieties of RNA, in turn, play a crucial role in gene regulation--silencing or "switching off" the production of specific proteins. Upward of 60 percent of mammalian genes ...