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Social Science

Heavy alcohol use suggests a change in normal cognitive development in adolescents

Adolescence and puberty is a period of significant development in the brain New findings indicate that excessive alcohol use selectively damages the frontal lobe, which is responsible for the development of social skills and judgment This indicates that severe alcohol abuse may damage brain function, and the normal course of neural development in adolescents Alcohol, to an adolescent, is often seen as a rite of passage. Many teenagers view alcohol (as well as other drugs) as a gateway to adulthood, but are often blissfully unaware of the damage that it can cause ...

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Medicine

CYP2E1 gene found to be associated with alcohol response in the brain

The gene CYP2E1, which is located on the terminal region of chromosome 10, plays a major role in the metabolic processing of alcohol New findings show that this gene is linked with a low sensitivity to alcohol and increased risk for alcoholism CYP2E1 could therefore be used as a predictor for those who are at risk for alcoholism The research into how alcohol reacts with the brain is a complex one, and has been relentlessly studied for many years. But a new study has shown, through linkage and association analysis on various family groups, that a gene originally ...

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Science

New vision correction options for baby boomers

CHICAGO— Results of clinical research on new presbyopia treatments now available in Europe–and possibly available soon in the United States–were reported in today's Scientific Program of the 2010 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and Middle East-Africa Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO). The AAO-MEACO meeting is the world's largest, most comprehensive ophthalmic education conference and is in session October 16 through 19 at McCormick Place, Chicago. Presbyopia is Inevitable, but Blurry Vision is Not From age 40 onward our eyes' lenses gradually ...

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Medicine

Cataract surgery saves lives, dollars by reducing auto crashes

CHICAGO—Cataract surgery not only improves vision and quality of life for older people, but is also apparently a way to reduce the number of car crashes. The research will be presented today's at the Scientific Program of the 2010 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) – Middle East-Africa Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO) Joint Meeting. Cataract surgery not only improves vision and quality of life for older people, but is also apparently a way to reduce the number of car crashes. The research will be presented today's at the Scientific Program of the 2010 American Academy ...

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Medicine

Photovoltaic medicine

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Oct. 19, 2010) -- Micro-scaled photovoltaic devices may one day be used to deliver chemotherapeutic drugs directly to tumors, rendering chemotherapy less toxic to surrounding tissue. "In the first step, we were able to prove the concept," says Tao Xu, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Texas in El Paso. Xu and his colleagues will present their findings today at the AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition, which takes place this week at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico. Currently, chemotherapeutic drugs are piped ...

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Physics

Atomic-level manufacturing

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Oct. 19, 2010) -- The long-held dream of creating atomically precise three-dimensional structures in a manufacturing environment is approaching reality, according to the top scientist at a company making tools aimed at that ambitious goal. John Randall, Vice President of Zyvex Labs in Richardson, Tex., says his researchers have demonstrated a process that uses a scanning tunneling microscope tip to remove protective surface hydrogen atoms from silicon one at a time and then adds single atomic layers of silicon only to those meticulously cleared areas. ...

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Science

Nanotube thermopower

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Oct. 19, 2010) -- When weighing options for energy storage, different factors can be important, such as energy density or power density, depending on the circumstances. Generally batteries -- which store energy by separating chemicals -- are better for delivering lots of energy, while capacitors -- which store energy by separating electrical charges -- are better for delivering lots of power (energy per time). It would be nice, of course, to have both. Today at the AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition, which takes place this week at the Albuquerque ...

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Science

Batteries smaller than a grain of salt

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Oct. 19, 2010) -- Lithium-ion batteries have become ubiquitous in today's consumer electronics -- powering our laptops, phones, and iPods. Research funded by DARPA is pushing the limits of this technology and trying to create some of the tiniest batteries on Earth, the largest of which would be no bigger than a grain of sand. These tiny energy storage devices could one day be used to power the electronics and mechanical components of tiny micro- to nano-scale devices. Jane Chang, an engineer at the University of California, Los Angeles, is designing ...

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Science

Sterilizing with fluorescent lights

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Oct. 19, 2010) -- The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections is well known, causing an estimated 19,000 deaths and $3-4 billion in healthcare costs per year in the U.S. What is less well known is that this increased infection and resistance rate has not been met with a simultaneous development of novel antimicrobial and antibiotic agents; in fact, only three classes of antibiotics have been developed since the 1950s. To address this need, scientists at the University of New Mexico are working on a new type of antimicrobial ...

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Medicine

Disease in rural China linked to polluted coal

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Oct. 19, 2010) -- In remote, rural areas of southwestern China, villagers cook and dry their clothes by burning pieces of coal they pick up off the ground. This fuel releases a toxin that may be poisoning millions of people, according to an ongoing investigation by chemists at the University at Buffalo in New York. The researchers are presenting their work today at the AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition, which takes place this week at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico. The toxin in question is fluoride, which binds to calcium ...

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Medicine

Improved antibiotic coatings

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Oct. 19, 2010) -- Bacteria have a natural ability to attach themselves to surfaces, both natural and synthetic. Once attached, they often work cooperatively to form biofilms, thin layers of bacterial colonies that can coat the surface of a medical device and introduce the risk of infection. As a result, orthopedic implants, catheters, and even contact lenses can become vehicles for infection. Antibacterial materials on the surface can reduce the risk but generally these materials do not stick well to the devices. A research group at the University of ...

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Science

How batteries grow old

WASHINGTON, D.C., (Oct. 19, 2010) -- In a laboratory at Ohio State University, an ongoing experiment is studying why batteries lose their ability to hold a charge as they age -- specifically lithium-ion batteries, which have generated a lot of buzz for their potential to power the electric cars of the future. Preliminary results presented today at the AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition, taking place this week at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico, suggest that the irreversible changes inside a dead battery start at the nanoscale. Yann Guezennec ...

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Medicine

How parasites react to the mouse immune system may help to shape their control

How parasites use different life-history strategies to beat our immune systems may also provide insight into the control of diseases, such as elephantiasis and river blindness, which afflict some of the world's poorest communities in tropical South-East Asia, Africa and Central America. The research is due to be published next week in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology. The study, led by Dr Simon Babayan of the University of Edinburgh, showed using a mouse model of parasite infection (for diseases such as elephantiasis) that when the parasitic worms enter the ...

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Science

First direct evidence that response to alcohol depends on genes

UPTON, NY — Many studies have suggested that genetic differences make some individuals more susceptible to the addictive effects of alcohol and other drugs. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provide the first experimental evidence to directly support this idea in a study in mice reported in the October 19, 2010, issue of Alcoholism Clinical Experimental Research. The study compared the brain's response to long-term alcohol drinking in two genetic variants of mice. One strain lacked the gene for a specific brain receptor ...

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Science

Use of DHA fish oil capsules does not decrease postpartum depression in mothers

In contrast to the findings of some studies and the recommendations that pregnant women increase their intake of fish oil via dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) because of the possible benefits, a randomized trial that included more than 2,000 women finds that use of DHA supplements did not result in lower levels of postpartum depression in mothers or improved cognitive and language development in their offspring during early childhood, according to a study in the October 20 issue of JAMA. "Epidemiological investigations from the United States and Europe demonstrate ...

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Science

Implementing program for operating room staff emphasizing teamwork appears to reduce surgical deaths

Hospitals that had operating room personnel participate in a medical team training program that incorporates practices of aviation crews, such as training in teamwork and communication, had a lower rate of surgical deaths compared to hospitals that did not participate in the program, according to a study in the October 20 issue of JAMA. Adverse events related to surgery continue to occur despite the best efforts of clinicians, according to background information in the article. In 2006, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest national integrated health ...

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Medicine

Hormone therapy use by postmenopausal women may increase incidence of more advanced breast cancer

Follow-up of about 11 years of participants in the Women's Health Initiative finds that among postmenopausal women, use of estrogen plus progestin is associated with an increased incidence of breast cancers that are more advanced, and with a higher risk of deaths attributable to breast cancer, according to a study in the October 20 issue of JAMA. In the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized, placebo-controlled trial of estrogen plus progestin, after an average intervention time of 5.6 years and an average follow-up of 7.9 years, breast cancer incidence was increased ...

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Science

Scientists find gene linked to alcoholism

CHAPEL HILL – Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have discovered a gene variant that may protect against alcoholism. The variant, in a gene called CYP2E1, is associated with a person's response to alcohol. For the ten to twenty percent of people that possess this variant, those first few drinks leave them feeling more inebriated than the rest of the human population, who harbor a different version of the gene. Previous studies had shown that people who react strongly to alcohol were less likely to become alcoholics ...

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Medicine

Newborn hearing screening linked with improved developmental outcomes for hearing impaired children

Children with permanent hearing impairment who received hearing screening as newborns had better general and language developmental outcomes and quality of life at ages 3 to 5 years compared to newborns who received hearing screening through behavioral testing, according to a study in the October 20 issue of JAMA. Permanent childhood hearing impairment is a serious, relatively common condition. Auditory input is essential for development and social functioning, so early awareness of a child's hearing ability is important in creating opportunities for early amplification ...

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Medicine

Associations between drug company information and physicians' prescribing behavior

Information provided to physicians from the US and around the world directly by pharmaceutical companies can be associated with higher prescribing frequency, higher costs, and lower prescribing quality. Furthermore, exposure to pharmaceutical company information does not improve physician prescribing behavior. These are the findings of a systematic review by Geoffrey Spurling from The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues and published in this week's PLoS Medicine. After doing an extensive literature search, the authors analyze and describe the ...

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Medicine

Can effective treatments be found for intracerebral hemorrhage?

Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10% and 20% of strokes in high and low-to-middle income countries respectively, but ICH incidence and case fatality do not seem to be declining. In a Health in Action paper published in this week's PLoS Medicine magazine, Colin Josephson, Rustam Al-Shahi Salman, and colleagues (from the University of Edinburgh) discuss the effectiveness of treatments for intracerebral haemorrhage. Despite the lack of decline in ICH incidence and case fatality, the authors find that evidence supports organised stroke unit care and secondary prevention ...

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Medicine

TYRX AIGISRx antibacterial envelope shows low infection rate, high CIED procedure success

Monmouth Junction, NJ (October 19, 2010) – Patients undergoing CIED (Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device) implantation with TYRX, Inc.'s FDA-cleared AIGISRx Antibacterial Envelope enjoyed a 99.5% rate of successful implantation with an overall infection rate of 0.48% in the first 1.9 months following the procedure, as reported in newly published results of TYRX's COMMAND Clinical Study. There were no infections in patients receiving initial implantations of pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, or cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. The infection ...

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Why the leopard got its spots
Science

Why the leopard got its spots

Why do leopards have rosette shaped markings but tigers have stripes? Rudyard Kipling suggested that it was because the leopard moved to an environment "full of trees and bushes and stripy, speckly, patchy-blatchy shadows" but is there any truth in this just-so story? Researchers at the University of Bristol investigated the flank markings of 35 species of wild cats to understand what drives the evolution of such beautiful and intriguing variation. They captured detailed differences in the visual appearance of the cats by linking them to a mathematical model of pattern ...

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Technology

New nano techniques integrate electron gas-producing oxides with silicon

MADISON – In cold weather, many children can't resist breathing onto a window and writing in the condensation. Now imagine the window as an electronic device platform, the condensation as a special conductive gas, and the letters as lines of nanowires. A team led by University of Wisconsin-Madison Materials Science and Engineering Professor Chang-Beom Eom has demonstrated methods to harness essentially this concept for broad applications in nanoelectronic devices, such as next-generation memory or tiny transistors. The discoveries were published Oct. 19 by the journal ...

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Medicine

Prostate cancer patients are at increased risk of precancerous colon polyps

BUFFALO, NY -- Men with prostate cancer should be especially diligent about having routine screening colonoscopies, results of a new study by gastroenterologists at the University at Buffalo indicate. Their findings show that persons diagnosed with prostate cancer had significantly more abnormal colon polyps, known as adenomas, and advanced adenomas than men without prostate cancer. Results of the research were presented Oct. 19 at a 10:30 a.m. session at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting being held Oct. 15-20 in San Antonio, Texas. While most adenomas ...

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