HOUSTON -- (Nov.15, 2010) – In 2009, a Collins County, Texas, jury sentenced Philippe Padieu to 45 years in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon – having sex with a series of women and not telling them he had HIV. An important part of the evidence that identified him as the source of the women's infection came from experts at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) and The University of Texas at Austin (www.utexas.edu/). In a report that goes online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (www.pnas.org), Dr. Michael Metzker (http://www.bcm.edu/genetics/?pmid=10947), ...

STANFORD, Calif. — A preservative-free alternative to standard nasal sprays — which routinely use preservatives that can cause unwanted side effects, such as allergies or damage to the mucosal lining of the nose — was found to be both safe and well-tolerated, in a short-term study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The alternative acidified solution also maintained sterility in the applicator bottle without the use of the chemical preservatives, according to the study, which will be published Nov. 15 in the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. "There ...

CHICAGO – Few children leave surgery with a foreign body left inside them, but such events appear most likely to occur during gynecologic operations, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This surgical error was associated with longer hospital stays and increased costs, but not with an increased risk of death. The Institute of Medicine identified medical errors as a significant contributor to costs, illness and death in a report issued in 1999, according to background information in the article. In response, ...

The amount of intra-abdominal fat appears to be associated with the risk of complications following major liver surgery, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, appearing overweight or having a high body mass index (BMI) were not associated with increased post-surgical risks. About 65 percent of the U.S. population is currently overweight, with half of those qualifying as obese, according to background information in the article. The increased incidence of obesity "requires surgeons to examine more ...

A small study of Japanese surgeons suggests that duration of surgery and the amount of blood loss are associated with increased stress scores, and that night duty is associated with reduced stress arousal scores, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the March print issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Young physicians are decreasingly likely to choose surgery as a specialty, according to background information in the article. About 80 percent fewer chose the profession in 2000 compared with the 1980s. "One of ...

A study involving 30 patients suggests that robotic-assisted surgery involving complex pancreatic procedures can be performed safely in a high-volume facility, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the March print issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Complex pancreatic surgery "remains the final frontier" for use of minimally invasive procedures, the authors write as background information in the article. These operations present two technical challenges: controlling bleeding from major blood vessels and reconstructing ...

Computer imaging to predict how patients will look following plastic surgery involving the nose appears to be moderately accurate, and patients value its inclusion in the preoperative consultation, according to a report in the November/December issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Preoperative computer imaging is now widely used throughout facial plastic surgery, according to background information in the article. The technique may improve communication between surgeon and patient, help reconcile differences between a patient's ...

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation levels may remain high during winter months, and conditions can change rapidly, suggesting that adults participating in outdoor sports should rely on the season and time of day when judging the need for protective clothing and sunscreen, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Over 62,000 new cases of melanoma will occur this year that will claim 8,000 lives, along with over a million cases of basal (a form of slow-growing skin cancer) and squamous (a form of cancer that may ...

Individuals with the autoimmune skin disease bullous pemphigoid appear more likely to have a diagnosis of neurologic disease, such as dementia and cerebrovascular disease, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Bullous pemphigoid is a debilitating autoimmune skin disease that is characterized by large, tense blisters on the skin of the elderly," the authors write as background information in the article. The condition affects about 43 per million individuals per year in the United Kingdom and 7 to 13 ...

Patients who undergo radiation therapy for head and neck cancer appear more likely to experience hearing loss and to be more disabled by its effects than those who do not receive such treatment, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide, according to background information in the article. Treatment methods include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, either alone or in combination. Choice of treatment depends ...

In a small, short-term study, a preservative-free, acidified nasal spray appears safe and well tolerated and maintained its sterility in an applicator used multiple times, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "The health of a topical nasal spray user relies on the prevention of contamination of the solution," the authors write as background information in the article. "Pharmaceutical manufacturers add various preservatives to destroy or inhibit the growth of micro-organisms that ...

Umbilical cord stem cells may be useful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Animal and in vitro experiments, described in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research and Therapy, have shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) taken from umbilical cord blood can suppress inflammation and attenuate collagen-induced arthritis. Professor Zhan-guo Li worked with a team of researchers, from Peking University People's Hospital, China, to carry out the study. He said, "Very little is known about umbilical cord MSCs, and there has been no previous report ...

A major obstacle to achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals is the weakness of the health systems in many low and middle income countries, and their struggle to effectively provide health care to populations in need. Research into health systems aims to improve health care delivery; however, multiple definitions of this type of research exist and this lack of clarity is negatively affecting the credibility, and hence progress, of this research. In a paper published in PLoS Medicine this week to coincide with the first Global Symposium on Health Systems ...

AUSTIN, Texas—The source of HIV infection in two separate criminal cases in which men were convicted of intentionally infecting their female sexual partners was confirmed by scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and Baylor College of Medicine using evolutionary forensics. The research shows it's possible to identify the source of a cluster of diseases by analyzing the evolution of a virus within its host and between individuals. This type of research is known broadly as phylogenetic analysis. In the cases, State of Washington vs. Anthony Eugene Whitfield ...

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore report that a new, highly sensitive investigative blood test may help predict the risk of heart failure and cardiovascular death much earlier than previously possible in older people who do not have symptoms of heart failure. Results of a study were presented at the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association on November 15, 2010, and simultaneously published online in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association. The new test measures troponin T, a marker for the biological process ...

A Queen's University neuroscientist is launching a medical tool at the world's largest neuroscience conference in San Diego on Monday, Nov. 15. The KINARM Assessment Station will greatly improve the way healthcare workers assess patients suffering from brain injuries and disease. The new technology, invented by Stephen Scott, is the only objective tool for assessing brain function, and clinical researchers need this tool to develop better therapies for treating brain injury or disease. "The beauty of this system is it that it captures subtle deficits caused by a ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – If researchers could determine how to send signals to cells responding to a spinal cord injury, they might be able to stop one type of cell from doing additional damage at the injury site and instead, coax it into helping nerve cells grow. That is the theory behind new research at Ohio State University, where scientists are trying to determine how to simultaneously stop damage and promote neuron growth with a single, targeted signal. The cells in question are macrophages, a type of white blood cell found in injured tissue. After a spinal cord injury, ...

Alzheimer's disease is widely believed to be caused by the gradual accumulation in the brain of amyloid-beta peptide which is toxic to nerve cells. Amyloid beta peptide is formed from a protein known as APP, which is found in three forms. Most research into APP – a key area of study for the disease – does not distinguish between the different forms of the protein. The findings, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, show that amyloid beta peptide is actually created mainly by just one form of APP – known as APP695 for the number of its amino acids. APP695 ...

People who take regular exercise could reduce their risk of developing around two dozen physical and mental health conditions - including some cancers and dementia - and slow down how quickly their body deteriorates as they age. An extensive research review, published in the December issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice, says that apart from not smoking, being physically active is the most powerful lifestyle choice any individual can make to improve their health. Physiotherapist and lecturer Leslie Alford from the University of East Anglia reviewed ...

Drug resistance is a major obstacle in curing ovarian cancer but new research from the Centenary Institute has discovered a treatment that kills ovarian cancer cells in a new way that can break the resistance mechanism. Published today in Autophagy, the researchers found the drug (FTY720) had a potent effect in human ovarian cancer cells, even in those resistant to cisplatin, the most commonly used chemotherapeutic drug currently available for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Centenary Institute Signal Transduction Head Associate Professor Pu Xia described the findings ...

Scientists have discovered the origin of a unique type of cell known for its ability to support regeneration in the central nervous system. Their findings, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), raise the possibility of obtaining a more reliable source of these cells for use in cell transplantation therapy for spinal cord injuries. Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), as the name suggests, ensheath and protect the nerve fibres in the olfactory nerve, which transmit olfactory (smell) information to the brain from ...

The study, by researchers from Imperial College London, involves a new class of materials called metamaterials, which can be artificially engineered to distort light or sound waves. With conventional materials, light typically travels along a straight line, but with metamaterials, scientists can exploit a wealth of additional flexibility to create undetectable blind spots. By deflecting certain parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, an image can be altered or made to look like it has disappeared. Previously, a team led by Professor Sir John Pendry at Imperial College ...

Mums who smoke heavily while pregnant run the risk of having kids who grow up to become repeat criminal offenders, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The findings held true, even after taking account of a comprehensive range of family and social factors, such as mental ill health and deprivation, which are likely to influence behaviours, the research showed. The authors base their findings on just under 4000 adults aged between 33 and 40, who were part of the Rhode Island cohort of the Collaborative Perinatal Project. ...

Non-smokers who regularly breathe in others' tobacco smoke are at increased risk of some degree of hearing loss, reveals research published online in Tobacco Control. Previous research indicates that former and current smokers are more likely to lose some of their full range of hearing, but it's not been known whether passive smokers are also prone to this. The authors drew on 1999-2004 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a yearly household survey combined with a physical examination of a representative sample of the US population. ...

US scientists are significantly more likely to publish fake research than scientists from elsewhere, finds a trawl of officially withdrawn (retracted) studies, published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics. Fraudsters are also more likely to be "repeat offenders," the study shows. The study author searched the PubMed database for every scientific research paper that had been withdrawn—and therefore officially expunged from the public record—between 2000 and 2010. A total of 788 papers had been retracted during this period. Around three quarters of these papers ...