Researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) have found a protein in the blood of pregnant women that can predict if they are likely to have a fetus that doesn't grow properly, and thus has a high risk of stillbirth and long-term health complications. The research, led by Dr. Andrée Gruslin, could lead to a widely available blood test and could help develop ways for improving the outcomes of women and their children who face this risk — estimated to be as many as one of every 20 pregnancies. Dr. Gruslin's study, ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Poor mothers will invest more resources in daughters, who stand a greater chance of increasing their status through marriage than do sons, suggests a study in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Masako Fujita, Michigan State University anthropologist, and her fellow researchers tested the breast milk of mothers in northern Kenya and found that poor mothers produced fattier milk for their daughters than for their sons. On the contrary, mothers who were better off financially favored sons over daughters. The results, also featured in ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For many adult women, supporting tissues in and around their vagina weaken to the point where the bladder and other organs descend from their normal position, creating a hernia into the vaginal wall known as pelvic organ prolapse. One in five women will undergo surgery to repair such prolapse. Vaginal surgery is one way to correct this condition, which often comes with age, but this surgery can also unmask another problem – urinary leakage. Now, new research by the University of Michigan Health System shows that patients who receive a mid-urethral ...

University of Southampton researchers are pioneering a new way of measuring and monitoring the impact of industrial and agricultural development on the environment. Working in collaboration with East China Normal University, the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology and the University of Dundee, the team has created the world's first long-term record of ecosystem health, which examines the past condition of environmental resources in China's Yangtze basin region, and helps develop forecasts for the future. "We have examined what effect modern intensive farming ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Selenium is an inexpensive element that naturally belongs in the body. It is also known to combat bacteria. Still, it had not been tried as an antibiotic coating on a medical device material. In a new study, Brown University engineers report that when they used selenium nanoparticles to coat polycarbonate, the material of catheters and endotracheal tubes, the results were significant reductions in cultured populations of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, sometimes by as much as 90 percent. "We want to keep the bacteria from generating ...

Children born by mothers who have of consumed between 1 and 6 alcohol units per week are just as intelligent and well-developed as children of abstaining mothers. Mothers who have been drinking 5 or more drinks on a single occasion a limited number of times before realizing that they were pregnant may also breathe a sigh of relief; their children have not been harmed. These are the findings of one of the most comprehensive studies done so far in this field on a global scale. The research project has resulted in a series of papers, which will be published today in the ...

In the midst of continued economic uncertainty, financial issues loom large on the minds of many Americans. According to a recent report from the Chicago Tribune, retirement planning is something that more and more Americans are beginning to think critically about. For many Americans, however, issues such as retirement savings and estate planning are daunting, at best. For this reason, many Americans are seeking the services of financial planners--and independent broker-dealer NEXT Financial Group Inc. (NEXT) is devoted to providing high standards of service and investment ...

A team of NOAA-supported scientists is predicting that this year's Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone could range from a low of approximately 1,197 square miles to as much as 6,213 square miles. The wide range is the result of using two different forecast models. The forecast is based on Mississippi River nutrient inputs compiled annually by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The smaller dead zone forecast, covering an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, comes from researchers from the University of Michigan. Their predicted size is based solely on the current ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients appear to have a lower cancer risk, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health. The study, published in the current issue of the journal Brain, is the first to investigate overall cancer risk in MS patients in North America. "Because the immune system plays important roles in both cancer and MS, we wanted to know whether the risk of cancer is different for people with MS," says Elaine Kingwell, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in the UBC Faculty of Medicine ...

According to researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, cancer is subject to the evolutionary processes laid out by Charles Darwin in his concept of natural selection. Natural selection was the process identified by Darwin by which nature selects certain physical attributes, or phenotypes, to pass on to offspring to better "fit" the organism to the environment. As applied to cancer, natural selection, a key principle of modern biology, suggests that malignancies in distinct "microhabitats" promote the evolution of resistance to therapies. However, these same evolutionary ...

Despite modest gains in lifespan over the past century, the United States still trails many of the world's countries when it comes to life expectancy, and its poorest citizens live approximately five years less than more affluent persons, according to a new study from Rice University and the University Colorado at Boulder. The study, "Stagnating Life Expectancies and Future Prospects in an Age of Uncertainty," used time-series analysis to evaluate historical data on U.S. mortality from the Human Mortality Database. The study authors reviewed data from 1930 through 2000 ...

A new type of paint made with carbon nanotubes at Rice University can help detect strain in buildings, bridges and airplanes. The Rice scientists call their mixture "strain paint" and are hopeful it can help detect deformations in structures like airplane wings. Their study, published online this month by the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters details a composite coating they invented that could be read by a handheld infrared spectrometer. This method could tell where a material is showing signs of deformation well before the effects become visible to the ...

Inspired by new industry partnerships and product launches, the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) has announced an expansion of the organization's educational programs. According to a new article from The Wall Street Journal, the NASM's Live Events team is preparing to launch a series of workshops for working professionals who want to learn through live activities. Set to begin this summer, the workshops offer a promising chance for new and veteran sports medicine professionals to learn about unexplored topics. Dr. Marvell Scott is a sports medicine expert and ...

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- Racial profiling has gained national attention in recent years, and a Kansas State University researcher is finding that it can involve an additional factor: gender. Jeremy Briggs, doctoral candidate in sociology, Topeka, is analyzing police actions during routine traffic stops to understand how race and gender are connected. Perhaps one of his most significant findings is that black and Hispanic women are just as likely as white men to be ticketed, arrested or searched during a traffic stop. "Racial profiling has really come back into political discussions, ...

WASHINGTON — Twelve years into a multibillion-dollar state and federal effort to save the Florida Everglades, little progress has been made in restoring the core of the ecosystem, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. Expedited restoration projects that improve the quality and amount of water in this area are necessary to reverse ongoing declines. A new federal pilot project offers an innovative approach to this challenge, although additional analysis is needed to maximize restoration benefits within existing legal constraints. ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – June 21, 2012 – Regenerative medicine researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have reached an early milestone in a long-term project that aims to build replacement kidneys in the lab to help solve the shortage of donor organs. In proof-of-concept research published online ahead of print in Annals of Surgery, the team successfully used pig kidneys to make "scaffolds" or support structures that could potentially one day be used to build new kidneys for human patients. The idea is to remove all animal cells – leaving only the organ structure ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered an association between a commonly prescribed blood pressure drug, Olmesartan, and severe gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and electrolyte abnormalities -- symptoms common among those who have celiac disease. The findings are published online today in the medical journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. From 2008-11, Mayo Clinic physicians treated 22 patients with symptoms similar to celiac disease, including intestinal inflammation and abnormalities. Patients came from 17 states, ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have confirmed what we knew all along – children in this country are increasingly sedentary, spending too much time sitting and looking at electronic screens. But it's not necessarily because of the newest gee-whiz gadgets – parents play a major factor in whether young children are on the move. In two studies out online today in a special issue of the journal Early Child Development and Care devoted to "Parental Influences of Childhood Obesity," OSU researchers examined how parenting style – whether a strict but ...

The Wall Street Journal reports that On The Line has released the nominees for the first Big Daddy Awards. A campaign created to raise awareness about prostate cancer, On The Line has nominated top celebrities across 33 categories. The award show, which airs on the Internet the day after Father's day, is expected to generate a great deal of interest. Dr. Jesse Stoff, who has conducted a large amount of research regarding prostate cancer, applauds the creative efforts of this project. The nominees that have been chosen are all celebrities who represent a variety of categories ...

Tablet2Cases.com, the Internet's definitive resource on tablet cases, today announces the availability of Happy Owl Studio tablet cases into its online shop. Founded in Venice Beach, California, in 2012 - "on the eve of the announcement of Apple's original iPad" - Happy Owl Studio was formed specifically to create and sell products for the tablet. Happy Owl Studio seeks to create cases that combine function and style, with its first cases being the Clutch and Wallet portfolio-style cases. The Happy Owl Studio Clutch iPad 2 / New iPad 3 Women's Portfolio ...

WASHINGTON - Don't let the hobbling, wobbling, and blubber fool you into thinking elephant seals are merely sluggish sun bathers. In fact, scientists are benefiting from these seals' surprisingly lengthy migrations to determine critical information about Antarctic melting and future sea level rise. A team of scientists have drilled holes through an Antarctic ice shelf, the Fimbul Ice Shelf, to gather the first direct measurements regarding melting of the shelf's underside. A group of elephant seals, outfitted with sensors that measure salinity, temperature, ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – JUNE 21, 2012 – A new study shows that natural language processing programs can "read" dictated reports and provide information to allow measurement of colonoscopy quality in an inexpensive, automated and efficient manner. The quality variation observed in the study within a single academic hospital system reinforces the need for routine quality measurement. The study appears in the June issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). Gastroenterology ...

Lung transplant patients who took part in a three-month structured exercise program when they were discharged from hospital improved their health-related quality of life and reduced their risk of cardiovascular problems. Those are the key findings of research published in the American Journal of Transplantation. "People who have received lung transplants often have weak muscles and limited endurance due to their sedentary lifestyle before their transplant and the drugs they need to take after surgery," explains lead author Dr. Daniel Langer, a Belgian expert in respiratory ...

Boston – A lung screening and surveillance task force, established by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) and led by medical professionals from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), is strongly recommending new guidelines for lung cancer screening. The guidelines were published this week in the online edition of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (JTCVS). Recent research has shown low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) is beneficial in reducing deaths from lung cancer. So the AATS task force recommends an annual lung cancer screening using ...

CEO of Northstar Consulting Group, Bart Yates and Corporate Trainer Bettina Tam participated in a Tough Mudder event in Pennsylvania to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project, with other members of the team looking on and offering their support. Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test individuals all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. The Wounded Warrior Project, who's mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors, is a charity strongly supported by Northstar Consulting Group. Their ...