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Beautiful but a threat: Tropical fish invasion destroys kelp forests

The migration of tropical fish as a result of ocean warming poses a serious threat to the temperate areas they invade, because they overgraze on kelp forests and seagrass meadows, a new study concludes.

The harmful impact of tropical fish is most evident in southern Japanese waters and the eastern Mediterranean, where there have been dramatic declines in kelps.

There is also emerging evidence in Australia and the US that the spread of tropical fish towards the poles is causing damage in the areas they enter.

Study finds wide variation in use of minimally invasive surgery in US hospitals

A study published on the bmj.com today finds wide variation in the use of minimally invasive surgery at hospitals across the United States, despite better outcomes with minimally invasive surgery compared with traditional open surgery for many common procedures.

This disparity in surgical care has important implications for quality improvement, say the authors.

The Lancet Global Health: Incidence of childhood tuberculosis could be 25 percent higher than previous estimates

New estimates indicate that over 650 000 children develop tuberculosis (TB) every year in the 22 countries with a high burden of the disease (HBCs)*—almost 25% higher than the total number of new cases worldwide estimated by WHO in 2012 (530 000)**. The research, published in The Lancet Global Health, also suggests that about 15 million children are exposed to TB every year, and roughly 53 million are living with latent TB infection, which can progress to infectious active TB at any time.

Minimally invasive surgery underused at many US hospitals

Hospitals across the country vary substantially in their use of minimally invasive surgery, even when evidence shows that for most patients, minimally invasive surgery is superior to open surgery, a new study shows. The finding represents a major disparity in the surgical care delivered at various hospitals, the study's authors say, and identifies an area of medicine ripe for improvement.

A Crohn's disease-associated gene expression profile and microbial community

Crohn's and other inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) can be painful and debilitating. There are no known cures for these diseases, but the symptoms can be managed. It is widely thought that IBDs develop as a result of an individual's genetic make-up, their gut microbiota, and environmental cues, though it is not fully understood how these factors promote IBDs.

Transmission of hepatitis C virus following antiviral treatment

Millions of people throughout the world are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Left untreated, infection results in serious complications such as cirrhosis of the liver and cancer. Many HCV-infected patients respond well to anti-viral therapy and remain virus free. However, trace amounts of HCV RNA are sporadically detected in patients thought to have successfully responded to HCV treatment.

Varenicline combined with nicotine patch improves smoking cessation rates

Combining the smoking cessation medication varenicline with nicotine replacement therapy was more effective than varenicline alone at achieving tobacco abstinence at 6 months, according to a study in the July 9 issue of JAMA.

The combination of behavioral approaches and pharmacotherapy are of proven benefit in assisting smokers to quit. Combining nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with varenicline has been a suggested treatment to improve smoking abstinence, but its effectiveness is uncertain, according to background information in the article.

Antibiotics after gall bladder surgery do not appear to reduce risk of infection

Among patients who underwent gall bladder removal for acute calculous cholecystitis, lack of postoperative antibiotic treatment did not result in a greater incidence of infections, according to a study in the July 9 issue of JAMA.

Study does not find increased risk of blood clot following HPV vaccination

Although some data has suggested a potential association between receipt of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and subsequent venous thromboembolism (VTE; blood clot), an analysis that included more than 500,000 women who received the vaccine did not find an increased risk of VTE, according to a study in the July 9 issue of JAMA.

"Safety concerns can compromise immunization programs to the detriment of public health, and timely evaluations of such concerns are essential," the authors write.

Health-care worker hand hygiene rates increase three-fold when auditors visible

Hand hygiene rates were found to be three times higher when auditors were visible to healthcare workers than when there were no auditors present, according to a study in a major Canadian acute care hospital.

LJI develops new approach to identify genes poised to respond in asthma patients

SAN DIEGO – July 8, 2014 In a study published yesterday in the scientific journal Nature Immunology, a group at the La Jolla Institute (LJI) led by Pandurangan Vijayanand, Ph.D. identify new genes that likely contribute to asthma, a disease that currently affects over 200 million people world wide.

Ancient hedgehog and tapir once inhabited British Columbia

The Earth has experienced many dramatic changes in climate since the dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago. One of the warmest periods was the early Eocene Epoch, 50 to 53 million years ago. During this interval, North American mammal communities were quite distinct from those of today.

CU-Boulder-led team identifies fossils of tiny, unknown hedgehog

Meet perhaps the tiniest hedgehog species ever: Silvacola acares. Its roughly 52-million-year-old fossil remains were recently identified by a University of Colorado Boulder-led team working in British Columbia.

The hedgehog's scientific name means "tiny forest dweller," said CU-Boulder Associate Professor Jaelyn Eberle of the geological sciences department, lead author on the study. The creature -- a new genus and species to science -- was only about 2 inches long, roughly the length of an adult thumb.

Updated: In the UK, signs of severe maternal sepsis should be regarded as an obstetric emergency

**Please note the following correction: The authors found an incidence of severe maternal sepsis of 4.7 women per 10,000.

Individuals who are extremely obese have higher rates of mortality

Class III obesity (BMI greater than 40 kg/m2) is linked to higher rates of mortality, according to a study published in this week's PLOS Medicine. Cari Kitahara and colleagues from National Cancer Institute, US, found that mortality rates for a wide range of diseases, particularly heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, were higher in individuals with class III obesity compared to those in the normal weight range.