Rosemont, Ill. – Several health plans have introduced physician rating systems to offer consumers more information when choosing their doctors. However, a recent study presented in the September issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) reveals that physician-tiering guidelines and results are not consistent across insurance companies, do not fully define quality; and could confuse consumers. Since affordable and more accessible health care is a critical national challenge, the use of rating systems will increase as one response to rising costs. Doctors ...

Simply getting older is not the cause of mild memory lapses often called senior moments, according to a new study by researchers at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. The study, published in the September 15, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that even the very early mild changes in memory that are much more common in old age than dementia are caused by the same brain lesions associated with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. "The very early mild cognitive changes once thought to be normal aging ...

In the Life After Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) study, 1,897 participants diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer between 1997 and 2000 and recruited on average 2 years post-breast cancer diagnosis were evaluated for the association between alcohol intake and breast cancer recurrence and death. The women, who were generally light drinkers, were followed for an average of 7.4 years. The study reported an increase in risk of breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer death, but no effect on total mortality, to be associated with consumption of 3 to 4 or more drinks per week ...

AUDIO: When men outnumber women, the women tend to marry younger and men engage in riskier, more aggressive behavior. Click here for more information. ANN ARBOR, Mich..---When men outnumber women, females marry younger and the age gap between spouses grows, a University of Michigan study shows. "Women don't stay on the market long because men are more motivated to commit," said Daniel Kruger, research assistant professor in the U-M School of Public Health. "They want to secure ...

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Sept. 15, 2010 -- New insight into the structure of switchgrass and poplars is fueling discussions that could result in more efficient methods to turn biomass into biofuel. Researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Georgia Tech used small-angle neutron scattering to probe the structural impact of an acid pretreatment of lignocellulose from switchgrass. Pretreatment is an essential step to extract cellulose, which can through a series of enzymatic procedures be converted into sugars and then ethanol. The findings, published ...

Air Force Office of Scientific Research-sponsored researcher, Dr. Robert Wood of Harvard University is leading the way in what could become the next phase of high-performance micro air vehicles for the Air Force. His basic research is on track to evolve into robotic, insect-scale devices for monitoring and exploration of hazardous environments, such as collapsed structures, caves and chemical spills. "We are developing a suite of capabilities which we hope will lead to MAVs that exceed the capabilities of existing small aircraft. The level of autonomy and mobility ...

(PHILADELPHIA) A molecule known to be involved in progressive heart failure has now been shown to also lead to permanent damage after a heart attack, according to researchers at Thomas Jefferson University. To prove this novel conclusion, the research team used gene therapy to inhibit the small protein, kinase known as G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2), and found heart muscles cells in mice were substantially protected against destruction that would otherwise occur after an induced myocardial infarction (MI), or heart attack. Conversely, mice engineered to ...

Hurricane Julia intensified rapidly overnight and is now a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale and NASA's Aqua, Terra and TRMM satellites captured clues as they passed over her from space. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed over intensifying hurricane Julia during the afternoon of Sept. 14 and captured very heavy rain falling at 1807 UTC (2:07 p.m. EDT). That heavy rainfall was a clue that she would intensify overnight, and today, Sept. 15, she has become a Category Four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. TRMM's Precipitation ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Studies show that nearly half of all Americans have difficulty understanding health information. Confusing medical directions, such as dosage and timing of prescription medicine, can lead to serious consequences including health setbacks, inappropriate hospital admissions and, sometimes, death. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri School of Health Professions are examining what health care facilities can do to increase patient understanding and positive outcomes. Diane Smith, an assistant professor in MU's Department of Occupational Therapy ...

Now there's a new reason to grab a glass of milk when you're on diet, suggests a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In a 2-year weight loss study, milk drinkers had an advantage over those who skipped the milk. Israeli researchers found that adults who drank the most milk (nearly 2 glasses per day) and had the highest vitamin D levels at 6 months, lost more weight after 2 years than those who had little or no milk or milk products -- nearly 12 pounds weight loss, on average. Researchers also found that each additional 6-ounce serving of ...

VIDEO: This animation shows the development of the soliton over the course of about 2.7 nanoseconds. Current begins passing through the channel in the center, causing the magnetization to oscillate.... Click here for more information. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found theoretical evidence* of a new way to generate the high-frequency waves used in modern communication devices such as cell phones. Their analysis, if supported ...

HOUSTON -- (Sept. 15, 2010) -- In a new study this week, Rice University scientists bring the latest tools of computational biology to bear in examining how the processes of natural selection and evolution influence the way bacteria acquire immunity from disease. The study is available online from Physical Review Letters. It builds upon one of the major discoveries made possible by molecular genetics in the past decade -- the revelation that bacteria and similar single-celled organisms have an acquired immune system. "From a purely scientific perspective, this research ...

Recent puzzling observations of tiny variations in nuclear decay rates have led some to question the science of using decay rates to determine the relative ages of rocks and organic materials. Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), working with researchers from Purdue University, the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Wabash College, tested the hypothesis that solar radiation might affect the rate at which radioactive elements decay and found no detectable effect. Atoms of radioactive isotopes are unstable and ...

CHAMPAIGN, lll. – Researchers have found an association between physical fitness and the brain in 9- and 10-year-old children: Those who are more fit tend to have a bigger hippocampus and perform better on a test of memory than their less-fit peers. The new study, which used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the relative size of specific structures in the brains of 49 child subjects, appears in the journal Brain Research. "This is the first study I know of that has used MRI measures to look at differences in brain between kids who are fit and kids who aren't fit," ...

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are stepping up the pace for designing safer building evacuations by releasing large, numerical data sets that track the movement of people on stairs during high-rise building evacuation drills. The data sets will ensure that architects, engineers, emergency planners and others involved in building design have a strong technical basis for safer, more cost-effective building evacuations. "While stairs have been used in buildings for ages, there is little scientific understanding of how people use ...

Those looking for the latest product standards-related news, regulatory developments, events and workshops around the world now can turn to the new Global Standards Information (GSI) Web site (http://gsi.nist.gov). Launched on Sept. 1, 2010, the new site includes a variety of interactive tools and will serve as an essential "first stop" for users seeking up-to-date information on international product standards. "Given the rapid adoption and complexity of new product standards both locally and globally, we realized we needed to create a new way for our customers to find ...

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued its first Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security, which includes high-level security requirements, a framework for assessing risks, an evaluation of privacy issues at personal residences, and additional information for businesses and organizations to use as they craft strategies to protect the modernizing power grid from attacks, malicious code, cascading errors and other threats. The product of two formal public reviews and the focus of numerous workshops and teleconferences over the past 17 months, ...

New Haven, Conn.—Navigating our way down the street is something most of us take for granted; we seem to recognize cars, other people, trees and lampposts instantaneously and without much thought. In fact, visually interpreting our environment as quickly as we do is an astonishing feat requiring an enormous number of computations—which is just one reason that coming up with a computer-driven system that can mimic the human brain in visually recognizing objects has proven so difficult. Now Eugenio Culurciello of Yale's School of Engineering & Applied Science has developed ...

A new study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that women with low sexual arousal experienced clinically significant symptom changes after taking a placebo. Andrea Bradford, Ph.D., a psychologist at Baylor College of Medicine, along with co-author Cindy Meston, Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin, analyzed the behaviors and symptoms of 50 women who were randomly chosen to receive placebo in a large clinical trial of a drug treatment for low sexual arousal. Neither the women nor the study doctors knew whether they were taking the real drug or placebo. Results ...

DURHAM, N.H. – Whether or not a company's CEO holds a college degree from a top school has no bearing on the firm's long-term performance. And when it comes to getting canned for poor performance, CEOs with degrees from the nation's most prestigious schools are no safer than the average CEO, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire. Conducted by Brian Bolton, assistant professor of finance at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, the new research is presented in the working paper "CEO Education, CEO Turnover, ...

September 16, 2010 – (Toronto) – New research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), both in Toronto, Canada provides further clues as to why Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects four times more males than females. The scientists discovered that males who carry specific alterations of DNA on the sole X-chromosome they carry are at high risk of developing ASD. The research is published in the September 15 issue of Science Translational Medicine. ASD is a neurological disorder that affects brain functioning, ...

Oxtail, marinated in homemade spicy African seasoning, slowly cooked it until it falls off the bone. Where can you enjoy this delicious delicacy and other hard-to-find dishes? Only during a unique fine dining experience at Chef Point Cafe. Franson Nwaeze, the head chef at Chef Point Cafe, has never been afraid to try something new. He is giving curious diners the opportunity to take a walk on the wild side with his new, one-of-a-kind "Acquired Taste" Menu. The most popular dish on the special menu has been Liver and Onions. The dish of beef liver sauteed with mushrooms, ...

CiCi's Pizza, home of the $4.99 endless pizza, pasta, salad and dessert buffet, announces today its plans to add 500 restaurants in the next five to six years. "Our 'One Brand' mission is well underway, ensuring we have a repeatable approach to operations that gives guests across the country a consistent, high-quality experience with every visit," said Mike Shumsky, CiCi's Pizza CEO. "Our team of industry leaders will take CiCi's to the next level and grow the company." CiCi's has hired two industry veterans Bill Spae and Nancy Hampton to drive the expansion of the ...

In an article published in the Sept. 15 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, (JAMA), author Edward H. Shortliffe, MD, PhD, points out that although information underlies all clinical work, and despite the growing role that information management and access play in healthcare delivery and clinical support, there is a dearth of informatics competency being developed in America's future corps of physicians. Formalized education in the application of informatics and the use and methodologies of health information technology and exchange, Dr. Shortliffe ...

PULLMAN, Wash.—Diet and exercise have long been the top two elements of effective weight loss. Now add a third: reading the labels on packaged foods. Washington State University Economist Bidisha Mandal has found that middle-aged Americans who want to lose weight and who take up the label-reading habit are more likely to lose weight than those who don't. In some cases, label reading is even more effective than exercise. "I'm finding that reading labels is useful," said Mandal, an assistant professor in the WSU School of Economic Sciences. "People who are trying to lose ...