An employment contract for NHS consultants introduced in 2003 and including a 27 per cent pay rise over three years failed to increase productivity. The findings emerge from a 10-year study of hospital consultant activity, published today by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, which looked at the levels of consultant clinical activity rates between 1999 and 2009. The researchers found that, despite an expectation by the Department of Health that the contract would result in year-on-year productivity gains of 1.5%, consultant activity levels showed a downward trend. ...

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, demonstrate that an altered gut microbiota in humans is associated with symptomatic atherosclerosis and stroke. These findings are presented in a study published in Nature Communications on December 4. The human body contains ten times more bacterial cells than human cells, most of which are found in the gut. These bacteria contain an enormous number of genes in addition to our host genome, and are collectively known as the gut metagenome. How does the metagenome ...

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 13, 2012 – University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) researchers have identified over 125 genetic components in a chemotherapy-resistant, brain tumor-derived cell line, which could offer new hope for drug treatment to destroy the cancer cells. The results will be reported in the cover story of December's issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Research, to be published Dec. 18 and currently available online. The potential drug targets were identified after testing more than 5,000 genes derived from glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain ...

This press release is available in German. Leipzig. Remains of dead bacteria have far greater meaning for soils than previously assumed. Around 40 per cent of the microbial biomass is converted to organic soil components, write researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Technische Universität Dresden (Technical University of Dresden) , the University of Stockholm, the Max-Planck-Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie (Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology) and the Leibniz-Universität Hannover (Leibniz University Hannover) in the ...

This press release is available in German. All a question of timing: When bushcrickets mate, the male attaches a sticky package, the so-called spermatophore, to the female's abdomen. Alongside the sperm themselves, this 'bridal present' consists of a protein-rich mass that the female eats after mating. It then takes several hours for the sperm to find their way into the female's reproductive tract. But, who decides when that will happen? A study by the Bielefeld biologists Professor Dr. Klaus Reinhold and Dr. Steven Ramm suggests that it is the male who determines the ...

Montréal, December 14, 2012 – Dr. Marie Kmita and her research team at the IRCM contributed to a multidisciplinary research project that identified the mechanism responsible for generating our fingers and toes, and revealed the importance of gene regulation in the transition of fins to limbs during evolution. Their scientific breakthrough is published today in the prestigious scientific journal Science. By combining genetic studies with mathematical modeling, the scientists provided experimental evidence supporting a theoretical model for pattern formation known as the ...

New research from North Carolina State University provides molecular-level insights into how cellulose – the most common organic compound on Earth and the main structural component of plant cell walls – breaks down in wood to create "bio-oils" which can be refined into any number of useful products, including liquid transportation fuels to power a car or an airplane. Using a supercomputer that can perform functions thousands of times faster than a standard desktop computer, NC State chemical and biomolecular engineer Dr. Phillip Westmoreland and doctoral student Vikram ...

Highlights In a study of African Americans with kidney disease, levels of mineral metabolites rose over time; those with faster rates of kidney function decline had the greatest increases in metabolites. Higher baseline levels of metabolites were linked with an increased risk for kidney failure or death independent of kidney function. Disordered mineral metabolism is more severe in African Americans with chronic kidney disease, which might partially explain why their disease progresses more rapidly to kidney failure. Washington, DC (December 13, 2012) — Abnormalities ...

Highlights Blocking the receptor for endothelin lowers novel cardiovascular risk factors in patients with chronic kidney disease independent of blood pressure. The findings suggest that blocking the receptor may provide heart-related benefits to these patients. 60 million people globally have chronic kidney disease. Washington, DC (December 13, 2012) — Blocking the receptor for proteins that constrict blood vessels reduces markers of heart-related problems in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue ...

A new study from the rainforests of Panama provides an unprecedented level of detail regarding the diversity and distribution of arthropod species from the soil to the forest canopy. Yves Basset, scientific coordinator of the CTFS Arthropod Initiative at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, led an international team on Project IBISCA-Panama to sample, sort, catalogue, and finally estimate that a 6,000 hectare forest hosts a total of around 25,000 arthropod species – a figure vastly outnumbering that of better-studied organisms. The study will be published online ...

People over age 65 with high psychosocial distress face increased risk of stroke, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. Psychosocial distress is a broad concept that includes depression, stress, a negative outlook and dissatisfaction with life. In their 10-year study, researchers followed 4,120 people in the Chicago Health and Aging Project for rates of death and stroke incidents. Due to some participants being involved in an HMO only 2,649 participants were analyzed for rates of incident stroke. Participants were 65 years and older ...

Washington, D.C. — When materials are stressed, they eventually change shape. Initially these changes are elastic, and reverse when the stress is relieved. When the material's strength is exceeded, the changes become permanent. This could result in the material breaking or shattering, but it could also re-shape the material, such as a hammer denting a piece of metal. Understanding this last group of changes is the focus of research from a team including Carnegie's Ho-kwang "Dave" Mao. Their breakthrough research on the behavior nickel nanocrystals under intense pressure ...

The Government and police efforts to tackle financial crime – from business fraud to tax evasion – are hampered by a lack of accurate data about the nature and extent of offending, according to new research. Most of the data available on financial crime is produced without a credible methodology, says Michael Levi, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, whose research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). "Typically, the information available on offending or threat is just a marketing hype," says Professor Levi. "It comes from business ...

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that male mice produce a pheromone that provokes females and competitor males to remember a preference for the place where the pheromone was previously encountered. Some animals, such as moths, use a sensitive tracking system to trace airborne sex pheromones to the source, while others, such as snakes, follow trails of pheromones left on the ground. A team from the University's Institute of Integrative Biology has discovered that mice use a different system to locate mates and competitors by remembering exactly where ...

Two major barriers to the advancement of DNA nanotechnology beyond the research lab have been knocked down. This emerging technology employs DNA as a programmable building material for self-assembled, nanometer-scale structures. Many practical applications have been envisioned, and researchers recently demonstrated a synthetic membrane channel made from DNA. Until now, however, design processes were hobbled by a lack of structural feedback. Assembly was slow and often of poor quality. Now researchers led by Prof. Hendrik Dietz of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) ...

Treating infection-prone patients over a 12-month period with high doses of vitamin D reduces their risk of developing respiratory tract infection – and consequently their antibiotic requirement. This according to a new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital published in the online scientific journal BMJ Open. "Our research can have important implications for patients with recurrent infections or a compromised immune defence, such as a lack of antibodies, and can also help to prevent the emerging resistance to antibiotics that ...

In a study published today in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens, researchers at Emory University have discovered a potentially important mechanism by which the Ebola virus alters and evades the immune response of its infected host. Ebola virus is the causative agent of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF), a disease with up to 90 percent mortality. While human outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever have been confined to Africa, Ebola virus infections in bats, the presumed natural reservoir of the virus, have also been detected in Europe and Asia. The high lethality of ...

ANN ARBOR — A new genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive human-caused climate warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out. However, the authors of the new study warn that extreme drought and forest fires will impact Amazonia as temperatures rise, and the over-exploitation of the region's resources continues to be a major threat to its future. Conservation policy for the Amazon should remain focused on reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions and preventing ...

In a study published today in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens, scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario have determined that a specialized class of immune cells, known as T cells, retains its functionality with age and can respond to virus infections with the same vigor as T cells from a young person. This is a valuable finding as it is generally believed that elderly individuals are at increased risk of infection because immunity deteriorates with age. T cells play an important role in defending the body from virus infections. For a long time, ...

New genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive man-made climate warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out. A study, published in the latest edition of Ecology and Evolution, reveals the surprising age of some Amazonian tree species – more than 8 million years – and therefore shows that they have survived previous periods as warm as many of the global warming scenarios forecast for the year 2100. The authors write that, having survived warm periods in the ...

Multiple myeloma is a type of leukaemia which affects B lymphocytes. There have been some indications that exposure to pesticides or chlorinated solvents increases the risk of developing this cancer. New research published in Biomed Central's open access journal Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology provides a large (from 22 centres across Europe), matched control study into lifetime risk of multiple myeloma. They find that risk of Multiple myeloma is related to farm work, printing and cleaning. But although exposure to pesticides seemed to be a risk, exposure ...

Wearable technology is not only for sports and fashion enthusiasts it can also be used to monitor and aid clinical rehabilitation according to new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BioMedical Engineering OnLine. Neurorehabilitation researchers from Italy have developed a low cost, wearable system, consisting of strain sensors made of conductive elastomers printed onto fabric. A low voltage battery powers the sensors, which are then able to send data to a computer via Bluetooth. In this case study a wireless inertial sensor (MEMS) containing ...

The origins of congenital heart defects could be traced right back to the first stages of embryonic development - according to University of East Anglia (UEA) research. Findings published today in the journal PLOS ONE show that the beginnings of important parts of the heart can be traced to very early stages of embryo development. The research has been funded by the British Heart Foundation. Biologists investigated chicken eggs at the gastrulation stage - between 12 and 14 hours after fertilisation. They found that some cells would go on to create the anterior ...

Survival of the fittest: longevity of Olympic medallists in the modern era Mortality in former Olympic athletes: retrospective cohort analysis Editorial: Everyone could enjoy the "survival advantage" of elite athletes Olympic medallists live longer than the general population, regardless of country of origin, medal won, or type of sport played, finds a study in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today. A second study comparing athletes who trained at different physical intensities, found that those from high or moderate intensity sports have no added survival ...

A detection dog to identify Clostridium difficile in stool samples and infected patients: proof of principle study Dogs can sniff out Clostridium difficile (the infective agent that is responsible for many of the dreaded "hospital acquired infections") in stool samples and even in the air surrounding patients in hospital with a very high degree of accuracy, finds a study in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today. The findings support previous studies of dogs detecting various types of cancer and could have great potential for screening hospital wards to help ...