With an increased emphasis on grading hospitals and a push to withhold payments from hospitals who don't meet certain standards, two Johns Hopkins researchers argue that more attention needs to be paid to the quality of the measurement tools used to praise and punish. The science of outcomes reporting is young and lags behind the desire to publically report adverse medical outcomes, write Elliott R. Haut, M.D., an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Peter J. Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., a Johns Hopkins professor of anesthesiology ...

In an examination of trends of malpractice claims, there has been a greater decline in the rate of paid claims for inpatient settings than outpatient settings, and in 2009, the number of malpractice claims for events resulting in paid malpractice claims in outpatient and inpatient settings were similar, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA. Much attention has been given to patient safety, but most initiatives have centered around inpatient care. "For example, in the past 5 years, the number of studies funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ...

In an analysis of data from several studies, watching television for 2-3 hours per day or more was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular disease and all-cause death, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA. Television (TV) viewing is the most commonly reported daily activity apart from working and sleeping in many populations around the world. In the United States, the average number of daily hours of TV viewing has recently been reported to be 5 hours. "Beyond altering energy expenditure by displacing time spent ...

Patients in the early stages of chronic kidney disease who had elevated levels of the endocrine hormone fibroblast growth factor 23 (that regulates phosphorus metabolism) had an associated increased risk of end-stage renal disease and death, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA. Circulating levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) increase progressively as kidney function declines. A high level of FGF-23 is associated with mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease, but little is known about its relationship with adverse outcomes in the larger ...

Boston, MA – Watching television is the most common daily activity apart from work and sleep in many parts of the world, but it is time for people to change their viewing habits. According to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers, prolonged TV viewing was associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. The study appears in the June 15, 2011, edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "The message is simple. Cutting back on TV watching can significantly reduce risk of type ...

(14 June 2011) Singapore and Trondheim, Norway: Quantum key distribution (QKD) is an advanced tool for secure computer-based interactions, providing confidential communication between two remote parties by enabling them to construct a shared secret key during the course of their conversation. QKD is perfectly secure in principle, but researchers have long been aware that loopholes may arise when QKD is put into practice. Now, for the first time, a team of researchers at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at the National University of Singapore, the Norwegian University ...

People who use a mist inhaler to deliver a drug widely prescribed in more than 55 countries to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be 52 percent more likely to die, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests. The findings, published by BMJ, the British Medical Journal, raise concerns not only about the mist inhaler — a device that delivers the soluble form of the medication tiotropium — but also about the drug itself. The mist inhaler has not yet gained regulatory approval in the United States, but the drug in its powdered form is commonly used to treat ...

Researchers at North Carolina State University have figured out how copper induces misfolding in the protein associated with Parkinson's disease, leading to creation of the fibrillar plaques which characterize the disease. This finding has implications for both the study of Parkinson's progression, as well as for future treatments. The protein in question, alpha-synuclein, is the major component of fibrillar plaques found in Parkinson's patients. Researchers had already discovered that certain metals, including copper, could increase the rate of misfolding by binding ...

A new study from Mount Sinai School of Medicine has found that a cellular signaling pathway governs the differentiation of cells into fat tissue or smooth muscle, which lines the vascular system. Engaging this signaling pathway and its capacity to govern cell differentiation has important implications in preventing obesity and cardiovascular disease. The study is published in the June issue of Developmental Cell. This research, by Philippe M. Soriano, PhD, Professor, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Lorin E. Olson, PhD, previously ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Government guidelines published today on the use of dried blood spots collected during mandatory newborn screening underemphasize the importance of getting the public on board with the practice, according to University of Michigan researcher. Educating the public about the value of research on newborn blood as well as asking parents their preference on the storage and use of specimens would go a long way in eliminating government mistrust and opposition to the practice of using newborn blood for valuable research, says Beth A. Tarini, M.D., M.S., a ...

University of British Columbia researchers – using an innovative, atom-by-atom substitution method – have uncovered the mechanism by which a particular class of drugs controls irregular heartbeats. The findings, published today in the online journal Nature Communications, shed light on why certain anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs) have dramatically different effects on the heart's behavior compared to others, and why the same drug can be beneficial in some instances and fatal in others. The discovery points the way toward development of better treatments for the condition, ...

Sophia Antipolis, France: Tuesday 14 June : The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology has published a position paper to raise the profile of vulnerable plaques and the need for greater use of therapies to promote plaque stabilisation. The position paper, published online today in Thrombosis and Haemostasis, is also calling for more research into the causes of plaque rupture, and for the development of better diagnostics and treatments. "We want more medical professionals to understand the concept that stabilising ...

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a particular form of leukemia or cancer of the bone marrow, which can be treated with targeted imatinib. However, in some cases this medicine has no effect. Researchers at the VIB Vesalius Research Centre, K.U. Leuven, under the direction of Peter Carmeliet, have investigated the role of placental growth factor (PlGF) in mice with CML. Blocking this growth factor increases the life expectancy of these mice, even in those resistant to imatinib. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) In our body, white blood cells combat foreign intruders, ...

Telling your partner to watch her weight is not recommended-unless you're a male cleaner fish, reports a new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Cleaner fish feed in male-female pairs by removing parasites from larger 'client' fish. While providing this cleaning service, cleaners may get greedy and bite clients rather than sticking to parasites. This cheating by cleaners causes mealtimes to come to an abrupt end as the disgruntled client fish swims off. Females that bite clients receive aggressive punishment from their male partners for such greedy behaviour. Scientists ...

Tiny fibres used to strengthen everyday products such as bicycle frames and hockey sticks could pose health hazards to those involved in their manufacture. Certain types of carbon nanotubes – cylindrical molecules about one-thousandth of the width of a human hair – could cause cancer in the lining of the lung, University of Edinburgh researchers have found. The study in mice found that while short carbon nanotubes appeared relatively harmless if they entered lung cavities, longer nanotubes were more likely to get stuck there and ultimately cause a type of cancer known ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new method that can accurately predict the behavior of players in online role-playing games. The tool could be used by the game industry to develop new game content, or to help steer players to the parts of a game they will enjoy most. "We are able to predict what a player in a game will do based on his or her previous behavior, with up to 80 percent accuracy," says Brent Harrison, a Ph.D. student at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. The research team developed the data-driven predictive ...

Jerusalem, June 13, 2011 – Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have conducted an initial survey of what appears to be an important, ancient water source in a cave that was been discovered during excavation work for a new train station being constructed at the entrance to Jerusalem. The work was done by members of the Cave Research Unit of the university, headed by Prof. Amos Frumkin of the Department of Geography. The cave was exposed near the base of a deep service shaft that was dug for the train tunnel leading into the new station, located opposite the main ...

Evidence of beer making in Mediterranean France, as far back as the 5th century BC, has been unearthed by Laurent Bouby from the CNRS - Centre de Bio-Archeologie et d'Ecology in Montepellier, France, and colleagues. Their analyses at the Roquepertuse excavation site in Provence reveal the presence of poorly preserved barley grains suggesting germination, as well as equipment and other remains of deliberate malting in the home. Taken together, these findings suggest that, as well as regular wine making, the French had an early passion for beer brewing. The work has just ...

Swim centre personnel and lifeguards have higher stamina and carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation more effectively than personnel in the emergency healthcare services, even though they have undergone extreme exertion. Their life-saving efforts may be crucial while waiting for an ambulance. This is the conclusion of research carried out at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Swim centre personnel and lifeguards are trained in, and regularly practice, rescue from water and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR. A study has been carried out with the aid of the Swedish ...

WASHINGTON -- Freedom and personal autonomy are more important to people's well-being than money, according to a meta-analysis of data from 63 countries published by the American Psychological Association. While a great deal of research has been devoted to the predictors of happiness and life satisfaction around the world, researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand wanted to know one thing: What is more important for well-being, providing people with money or providing them with choices and autonomy? "Our findings provide new insights into well-being ...

ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell researchers have identified regions of a fish brain that reveal the basic circuitry for how humans and other vertebrates generate sound used for social communication. In a study of midshipman fish, published online today (June 14) in Nature Communications, the researchers identified two distinct groups of neurons that independently control the duration and the frequency of sounds used for calling. While human speech and bird songs are far more complex than the grunts and hoots produced by some fish, the study provides a very basic wiring diagram ...

PHILADELPHIA — Eating a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet may reduce the risk of cancer and slow the growth of tumors already present, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The study was conducted in mice, but the scientists involved agree that the strong biological findings are definitive enough that an effect in humans can be considered. "This shows that something as simple as a change in diet can have an impact on cancer risk," said lead researcher Gerald Krystal, Ph.D., a distinguished scientist ...

Every year, Nordicom at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden takes a barometer reading of media use in Sweden. Media Barometer data were first collected in 1979. These are some of the findings of the 2010 survey. Among 15- to 24-year-olds eight in ten use social media the average day, 15 per cent more than in 2009. An even sharper increase - from 32 to 49 per cent - is noted among 25- to 44-year-olds. The time people in these younger ages devote to the media overall has rested at about 6.5 hours a day over the past few years, but within these hours media habits have ...

New Rochelle, NY, June 14, 2011—E. coli bacteria exposed to three common antibiotics were more likely to develop antibiotic resistance following low-level antibiotic exposure than after exposure to high concentrations that would kill the bacteria or inhibit their growth, according to a timely article in Microbial Drug Resistance, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/mdr E. coli bacteria in food and water supplies have been responsible for disease outbreaks and deaths around the world in ...

Non-invasive tests for liver fibrosis, such as liver stiffness measurement or the FibroTest, can predict survival of patients with chronic hepatitis C, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. "Liver stiffness measurement and/or the FibroTest could replace liver biopsy for the evaluation of hepatitis C, regardless of the stage of the disease," said Victor de Lédinghen, MD, PhD, of the Centre d' Investigation de la Fibrose Hépatique and lead author of this study. "Thus, these tools ...