BOSTON, MA—Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have published findings that question the reliability of a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measure. The study, "Assessment of Medicare's Imaging Efficiency Measure for Emergency Department Patients With Atraumatic Headache" finds that the CMS measure—an attempt to reduce computed tomography (CT) scans in emergency departments (ED)—does not accurately determine which hospitals are performing CT scans inappropriately. The study is electronically published in the February 23, 2012 issue ...

HUNTSVILLE, TX (2/23/12) – A Sam Houston State University professor is working on a series of studies that examine the effects of race and ethnicity on state and federal sentencing outcomes, including incarceration and sentence length decisions. In his most recent research published online by Justice Quarterly, Dr. Travis Franklin, an Assistant Professor at the College of Criminal Justice, studied the sentencing of Native American offenders in federal courts. Using data from the United States Sentencing Commission for the years 2006-2008, he found that Native Americans, ...

San Diego, Calif. – The street drug commonly referred to as "bath salts" is one of a growing list of synthetic and unevenly regulated narcotics that are found across the United States and on the Internet. New research on this potent drug paints an alarming picture, revealing that bath salts pack a powerful double punch, producing combined effects similar to both methamphetamine (METH) and cocaine. "This combination of effects is particularly novel and unexpected," said Louis J. De Felice of Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Medicine in Richmond. "Methamphetamine ...

San Diego, Calif. – Cigarette smoke has long been considered the main risk factor for heart disease. But new research from Brown University in Providence, R.I., shows that nicotine itself, a component of cigarette smoke, can contribute to the disease process by changing cell structure in a way that promotes migration and invasion of the smooth muscle cells that line blood vessels. In particular, invading cells can remodel structures called podosomes, and this leads to further degradation of vessel integrity. Ultimately, this cellular migration and invasion process gives ...

San Diego, Calif. – In H.G. Wells' classic science-fiction novel, The War of the Worlds, bacteria save the Earth from destruction when the Martian invaders succumb to infections to which humans have become immune through centuries of evolution. If a team led by researchers at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory's Center for Nanoscale Control of Geologic CO2 (NCGC) has its way, bacteria – with a little assist from science – will help prevent global destruction for real by trapping underground a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2 ), that threatens Earth's climate. The ...

MIAMI – (February 23, 2012) -- Sharks are among the most threatened of marine species worldwide due to unsustainable overfishing. Sharks are primarily killed for their fins alone, to fuel the growing demand for shark fin soup, which is an Asia delicacy. A new study by University of Miami (UM) scientists in the journal Marine Drugs has discovered high concentrations of BMAA in shark fins, a neurotoxin linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans including Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig Disease (ALS). The study suggests that consumption of shark fin soup and cartilage pills ...

VIDEO: Adam Levine, M.D., an emergency medicine physician with Rhode Island Hospital and a volunteer physician with International Medical Corps, was deployed to a field hospital near Misurata, Libya, during the... Click here for more information. PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Adam Levine, M.D., an emergency medicine physician with Rhode Island Hospital and a volunteer physician with International Medical Corps, was deployed to a field hospital near Misurata, Libya, during the conflict ...

San Diego, Calif. – HIV has eluded vaccine-makers for thirty years, in part due to the virus' extreme ability to mutate. Physical scientists and clinical virologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Ragon Institute in Cambridge, Mass., have identified a promising strategy for vaccine design using a mathematical technique that has also been used in problems related to quantum physics, as well as in analyses of stock market price fluctuations and studies of enzyme sequences. The team, led by Arup Chakraborty of MIT and Bruce Walker of the Ragon ...

While boys generally do better than girls in science and math, some studies have found that girls do better in arithmetic. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that the advantage comes from girls' superior verbal skills. "People have always thought that males' advantage is in math and spatial skills, and girls' advantage is in language," says Xinlin Zhou of Beijing Normal University, who cowrote the study with Wei Wei, Hao Lu, Hui Zhao, and Qi Dong of Beijing Normal University and Chuansheng Chen ...

San Diego, Calif. – For snakes, spiders, and other venomous creatures, the "business end," or active part, of a toxin is the area on the surface of a protein that is most likely to undergo rapid evolution in response to environmental constraints, say researchers from Ben Gurion University in Israel. Understanding these evolutionary forces can help researchers predict which part of unstudied toxins will do damage, and may also aid in the design of novel synthetic proteins with tailored pharmaceutical properties. The team will present its results at the 56th Annual Meeting ...

A small study of Latina women with young children led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center shows moms value a pediatrician's empathy and warmth far more than their ability to speak Spanish or other conveniences. A report on the findings is published online Feb. 15 in Maternal and Child Health Journal. The lead investigator a pediatrics fellow at Johns Hopkins, conducted the research during post-residency training at the University of Michigan as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar. The study involved interviews with 38 Latina mothers with ...

Calorie listings on fast-food chain restaurant menus might meet federal labeling requirements but don't do a good job of helping consumers trying to make healthy meal choices, a new Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON) study reports. The study, by Elizabeth Gross Cohn, RN, NP, DNSc, assistant professor of nursing at CUSON, and colleagues, was published online on February 16, 2012, in the Journal of Urban Health. The researchers studied the calorie counts for 200 food items on menu boards in fast-food chain restaurants in the New York inner-city neighborhood of ...

San Diego, Calif. – When bacteria wage a turf war, some of the combatants have an extra weapon. Certain strains of the bacteria E. coli produce proteins that kill competing E. coli and other like microbes, and researchers from Newcastle University in England have recently discovered something surprising about one of these lethal proteins: even after the toxic folded portion of the protein is removed, the unfolded end is still deadly. The finding may one day help scientists find new, more targeted ways to kill antibiotic-resistant microbes. The researchers will present their ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The deaths of at least 13 workers who were refinishing bathtubs have been linked to a chemical used in products to strip surfaces of paint and other finishes. An investigation started by researchers at Michigan State University in 2011 has found that 13 deaths since 2000 – including three in Michigan – involved the use of paint-stripping products containing methylene chloride, a highly volatile, colorless and toxic chemical that is widely used as a degreaser and paint stripper. The chemical, in addition to being used in industrial settings, is available ...

Lloyds TSB today announces that it will offer a Junior Cash ISA, making it the first of the major high street banks to do so. - Lloyds TSB is the first of the major high street banks to announce a Junior Cash ISA - Account available from 13th February, meaning parents can take full advantage of the GBP3,600 annual Junior ISA allowance for 2011 / 2012 - New research indicates young adults increasingly reliant on financial support from their parents in their adult life - Lloyds TSB urges the Government to allow parents to transfer Child Trust Fund accounts to Junior ...

In the developing world, allocating limited health care resources as effectively and equitably as possible is a top priority. To address that need, systems engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are using computer models to help resource-poor nations improve supply chain decisions related to the distribution of breast milk and non-pharmaceutical interventions for malaria. They are also forecasting what health care services would be available in the event of natural disasters in Caribbean nations. "We are using mathematical models implemented in user-friendly ...

The Bar Code News (www.barcode.com)--the online magazine dedicated to being the "Go-To Site for everything Bar Code "-- recently announced new email subscription options. Subscribers can now opt for free daily, weekly, or monthly electronic newsletters delivered to their email inbox. Free quarterly print editions of The Bar Code News will also be sent, beginning in 2012, to those who enter a valid mailing address into the subscription form. The Bar Code News, owned by Barcode Media Group, Inc., offers industry news, case studies, educational resources, videos, ...

San Diego, Calif. – Several neurodegenerative diseases – including Alzheimer's and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) – are caused when the body's own proteins fold incorrectly, recruit and convert healthy proteins to the misfolded form, and aggregate in large clumps that gum up the works of the nervous system. "For Star Trek fans, this is like the Borg, [a fictional race of cyborgs that abduct and assimilate humans and other species]," says Steven Plotkin, a biophysicist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver who studies the process of protein misfolding. Plotkin's ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a way to make a low-cost material that might accomplish negative refraction of light and other radiation – a goal first theorized in 1861 by a giant of science, Scottish physicist James Maxwell, that has still eluded wide practical use. Other materials can do this but they are based on costly, complex crystalline materials. A low-cost way that yields the same result will have extraordinary possibilities, experts say – ranging from a "super lens" to energy harvesting, machine vision or "stealth" coatings ...

As another cold British winter passes by many British tourists are making plans to head off on long weekends and trips to the sunshine during the spring. With that in mind Carrentals.co.uk has sourced new prices to let people rent a car for less on trips to the beaches of Cyprus or for long weekends on the north-west coast of England. The island of Cyprus remains as popular a destination as ever for UK travellers and tourists, with its mix of sunshine, beautiful beaches and a warm welcome from locals. Many Brits choose to fly into Cyprus' Larnaca Airport, and right now ...

San Diego, Calif. – Each year, phytoplankton blooms known as "red tides" kill millions of fish and other marine organisms and blanket vast areas of coastal water around the world. Though the precise causes of red tides remain a mystery, a team of researchers in the United States and Spain has solved one of the main riddles about these ecological disasters by uncovering the specific mechanism that triggers phytoplankton to release their powerful toxins into the environment. "Previous theories about how phytoplankton release toxins proposed a rather awkward, untested 'exudation' ...

Under a microscope, a tiny droplet slides between two fine hairs like a roller coaster on a set of rails until — poof — it suddenly spreads along them, a droplet no more. That instant of change, like the popping of soap bubble, comes so suddenly that it seems almost magical. But describing it, and mapping out how droplets stretch into tiny columns, is a key to understanding how liquids affect fibrous materials from air filters to human hair. And that knowledge allows scientists to better describe why water soaks into some materials, beads atop others and leaves others ...

Action dash Games' new website just launched with over 50 fast paced action games. Every subgenre of the action games scene is catered to on this site. For players who are into shooters, for instance, there's Dead Frontier, a top dozen zombie game that plays like Gears of War might have on the Sega Genesis. This game features dark, gritty graphics, hardcore shooting, and satisfyingly crunchy sound effects. If you want some running and jumping action, check out Stickicide 3, a stick figure platforming game that has you dodging traps and even driving vehicles to get from ...

Cooking Games 365 has recently launched its new website, which features free online action games related to cooking, baking, dessert and pizza decorating, and restaurant and catering administration. The site hosts links to hundreds of interactive food preparation-related video games that any Internet user can play completely free of charge. The gameplay of certain games is at times challenging, but anyone can learn to rise to the culinary challenges presented in each game. The content of the games is appropriate for all ages. Game players might be schoolchildren who dream ...

As the Earth's climate changes, the worst inundations from hurricanes and tropical storms could become far more common in low-lying coastal areas, a new study suggests. Researchers from Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that regions such as the New York City metropolitan area that currently experience a disastrous flood every century could instead become submerged every one or two decades. The researchers report in the journal Nature Climate Change that projected increases in sea level and storm intensity brought on by climate change ...