Sleep disturbance negatively impacts the memory consolidation and enhancement that usually occurs with a good night's sleep, according to a study published Mar. 28 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. It is becoming widely accepted that sleep is crucial for cementing long-term memory, so in this new study, the researchers went a step further to investigate whether these beneficial effects only arise after some minimum amount of continuous sleep. The authors, led by Ina Djonlagic at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, found that patients with sleep apnea, which leads ...

Distracted drivers are our country's number one road hazard. About a decade ago, all you ever heard about was drunk drivers and how many lives were lost each year due to drinking and driving. Now cell phones and driving has become arch enemy number one, and many states have enacted laws to punish those who commit the selfish act of texting or talking while driving. Talking on the phone has become a way of life for millions of Americans. More than 85% of the 100 million plus cell-phone subscribers regularly talk on the phone while driving, according to a survey by Prevention ...

A sudden increase in narcolepsy in Finnish children at the beginning of 2010 was likely related to the Pandemrix vaccine used in response to the H1N1 2009 flu pandemic, according to two reports published Mar. 28 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The authors of the studies, led by Markku Partinen of the Helsinki Sleep Clinic and Hanna Nohynek of the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland, found that the average annual incidence of narcolepsy between 2002 and 2009 among children younger than 17 was 0.31 per 100,000, and in 2010, this incidence was about ...

A class of compounds found in hops, the crop generally known for its role in beer production, reduces weight gain in obese and diabetic mice, according to a study published Mar. 28 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. Eight weeks of treatment with the compounds, called tetrahydro iso-alpha acids, also reduced gut permeability and normalized insulin sensitivity markers in the mice, among other beneficial metabolic effects. Hops have been known to contain anti-inflammatory compounds with potential medicinal uses for metabolic disorders, like insulin resistance and type ...

From toy cars to car seats to seat belts to cars themselves, defective products can come in widely varying forms. When consumers are harmed by defective products that are used as intended and according to instructions, they may be able to pursue financial compensation for their injuries through a product liability claim. While the range of products historically associated with product liability lawsuits is broad, product liability cases themselves typically stem from at least one of three factors: - Design defect - Manufacturing defect - Inadequate warnings or instructions In ...

The goal of cancer treatment is to match the right drug to the right target in the right patient. But before such "personalized" drugs can be developed, more knowledge is needed about specific genomic alterations in cancers and their sensitivity to potential therapeutic agents. Now an academic-industry collaboration is releasing the first results from a new and freely available resource that marries deeply detailed cancer genome data with predictors of drug response, information that could lead to refinements in cancer clinical trials and future treatments. The Cancer ...

Boston, MA – Paying hospitals to improve their quality of care, known as pay-for-performance, has gained wide acceptance in the U.S. and Medicare has spent tens of millions of dollars on bonuses and rewards for hospitals to improve. However, little is known about whether pay-for-performance actually improves patient outcomes over the long term. A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) finds no evidence that the largest hospital-based P4P program in the U.S. improved 30-day mortality rates, a measure of whether patients survive their hospitalization. Given ...

Weight loss and increased physical fitness nearly halved the risk of losing mobility in overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes, according to four-year results from the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial funded by the National Institutes of Health. The results are published in the March 29, 2012, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "Being able to perform routine activities is an important contributor to quality of life," said Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., director of the NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases ...

Liposuction is one of the most common plastic surgery procedures performed in the United States today. Liposuction is an effective way to remove up to ten pounds of fat from almost any area of your body, helping provide you with a slimmer, more attractive frame. Typically, liposuction is used to treat areas where deposits of stubborn fat will not respond to diet and exercise. These areas include: - Legs - Hips - Abdomen - Back - Arms - Chest/breasts - Neck and face The liposuction technology that will best suit your needs should be determined by an experienced, ...

More than half of all cancer is preventable, and society has the knowledge to act on this information today, according to Washington University public health researchers at the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. In a review article published in Science Translational Medicine March 28, the investigators outline obstacles they say stand in the way of making a huge dent in the cancer burden in the United States and around the world. "We actually have an enormous amount of data about the causes and preventability of cancer," says epidemiologist Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH, ...

American researchers have shown that prospective magnetic fusion power systems would pose a much lower risk of being used for the production of weapon-usable materials than nuclear fission reactors and their associated fuel cycle. The researchers, from Princeton University, found that if nuclear fusion power plants are designed to accommodate appropriate safeguards, there is little risk of fissile materials being produced for weapons, either secretly or overtly. Their results have been published today, 29 March, by IOP Publishing in the journal Nuclear Fusion. In ...

An improperly maintained truck provides ample opportunity for serious injuries to everyone else on the road. While not a leading cause of truck accidents, improper maintenance resulting in collision is far from rare. When an accident is caused by an unmaintained truck, it is possible that several parties share responsibility for resulting damages. Working with an experienced truck accident attorney, you can determine who is liable for your injuries and pursue compensation for related medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering. Proper Vehicle ...

In the largest study of its kind, researchers have profiled genetic changes in cancer with drug sensitivity in order to develop a personalised approach to cancer treatments. The study is published in Nature on Thursday 29 March 2012. The team uncovered hundreds of associations between mutations in cancer genes and sensitivity to anticancer drugs. One of the key responses the team found was that cells from a childhood bone cancer, Ewing's sarcoma, respond to a drug that is currently used in the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers. The lowered toxicity of this treatment ...

Genetic variants in a region of the genome linked to our immune response have been linked to increased risk of podoconiosis, a disfiguring and disabling leg swelling caused by an abnormal reaction to the minerals found in soil. An estimated 4 million people worldwide suffer from the condition. In a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland compared the genomes of 194 people affected by the disease from southern Ethiopia against 203 people who were ...

If you are a woman who has always felt cursed with small breasts, part of your motivation for getting breast augmentation was likely to get more attention from men. But how do you respond if you suddenly suffer from literally an embarrassment of riches? Ignore Random Catcalls--You will likely get a loft of random male attention on the street. This is annoying, but a fact of life for any pretty girl, and likely you were not a complete stranger to it before. Any time men get together, they are always looking for diversion in the form of an attractive woman, and their catcalls ...

Scientists working at the Institut Laue-Langevin, one of the world's leading centres for neutron science, have carried out the first investigation of two-dimensional fermion liquids using neutron scattering, and discovered a new type of very short wave-length density wave. The team believe their discovery, published in Nature, will interest researchers looking at electronic systems, since high temperature superconductivity could result from this type of density fluctuations. Fermi liquids are composed of strongly interacting fermion particles, a group that includes quarks, ...

Brazil and India pay a high price for rapid economic growth, according to experts speaking at a major international meeting in London, Planet Under Pressure. Between 1990 and 2008, the wealth of these two countries as measured by GDP per capita rose 34% and 120% respectively. But a myopic focus on economic capital is flawed, scientists and economists at the conference argue. Natural capital, the sum of a country's assets, from forests to fossil fuels and minerals, declined 46% in Brazil and 31% in India, according to a new "Inclusive Wealth Indicator" designed to augment ...

Similar to Englishmen in the 17th century, most New Yorkers probably consider their home to be their castle -- a refuge from the world. It is human nature to want to protect our "castles" from intruders. Perhaps rather unsurprisingly, this concept has a legal name called the Castle Doctrine. It is not a defined law, but a set of principles that has been adopted as some form of law in most states, including New York. Castle Doctrine laws allow people to use force, including deadly force if necessary, to protect themselves from intruders into their home, vehicles ...

The Law Offices of Scott Warmuth believes in serving the community through dedicated and professional legal services in the areas of personal injury, immigration, and elder abuse. Representing Southern Californians with easily accessible offices in East and West San Gabriel Valley, the multicultural law firm provides flexibility to its clients by offering services in Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, Taiwanese Chinese, English, and Spanish. Over the years, the firm has secured favorable settlements in hundreds of cases and have successfully filed hundreds of visa petitions. ...

The pregnant ichthyosaur female from Holzmaden (Germany) that perished 182 million years ago puzzled researchers for quite some time: The skeleton of the extinct marine reptile is almost immaculately preserved and the fossilized bones of the mother animal lie largely in their anatomical position. The bones of the ichthyosaur embryos, however, are a different story: For the most part, they lie scattered outside the body of the mother. Such peculiar bone arrangements are repeatedly found in ichthyosaur skeletons. According to the broadly accepted scientific doctrine, this ...

Every year, an estimated 250,000 Americans undergo a procedure to replace a damaged hip joint. The new, man-made joints implanted are meant to last problem-free for 15 years or more; yet, in one of the most endemic medical device fiascos in recent memory, one entire category of hip implants is failing at an incredible rate, causing widespread and devastating health consequences. An Overview of Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacements An artificial hip implant consists of two components: a socket, and a ball attached to the top of the femur bone that fits inside the socket. ...

Like people bustling around busy cities, the thousands of molecules inside our cells are constantly interacting with each other: turning each other on or off, working together, splitting up and networking. Understanding the countless ways in which they do so is a major challenge in biology, but it is fundamental to understanding life. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and colleagues in the International Molecular Exchange (IMEx) consortium are rising to the challenge by offering researchers a freely available ...

Some Florida homeowners insured through the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (CPIC) may receive some surprising offers from private insurance companies in the coming months. The Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is the insurer of last resort in the state of Florida. It is trying to depopulate its list of insured homeowners by encouraging private insurance companies, known as takeout companies, to take over their policies. The private insurance companies that qualify as takeout companies must be licensed and approved for Florida operation by the Office ...

ABC transporters are membrane proteins that actively pump a wealth of molecules across the membrane. Over 40 different ABC transporters perform vital functions in humans. Genetic defects in ABC transporters can trigger metabolic diseases such as gout, neonatal diabetes or cystic fibrosis, and certain ABC transporters also cause resistance to a wide range of drugs. In tumor cells, increased amounts of ABC transporters that pump chemotherapeutic substances out of the cell are often produced, thus rendering anticancer drugs ineffective. Analogous mechanisms play a key role ...

This press release is available in German. New guidelines on how to save some of Europe's most threatened butterfly species have been published by a team of scientists co-ordinated by Butterfly Conservation Europe. The report covers 29 threatened species listed on the EU Habitats Directive. Each Member State has a responsibility to conserve these species. The new report will provide crucial information on how to achieve this goal and meet their international biodiversity targets. The report entitled "Dos and don'ts for butterflies of the Habitats Directive of the ...