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In Caesarean deliveries the placenta is usually removed by hand or by a technique known as 'cord traction'. A recent systematic review by Cochrane Researchers shows that cord traction poses less risk to the mother than manual removal.

Women often undergo early caesareans or induced labour following detection of decreased amniotic fluid volume, because this is seen as a sign of foetal distress. While no gold standard exists for measuring amniotic volumes, a new Cochrane Systematic Review suggests that the single deepest vertical pocket (SDVP) technique is better than the commonly used amniotic fluid index (AFI) method.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston believe they have uncovered the Achilles heel in the armor of the virus that continues to kill millions.

New research documents the decline in physical activity among children, with less than a third meeting recommended physical activity guidelines by the time they are 15 years old, according to a study in the July 16 issue of JAMA.

The activity level of a large group of American children dropped sharply between age 9 and age 15, when most failed to reach the daily recommended activity level, according to the latest findings from a long-term study by the National Institutes of Health.

The analysis is one of the largest, most comprehensive of its kind to date.

The researchers evaluated the children to determine whether they achieved the minimum 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommended for children.

WELLINGTON – Animals thrive on the banks of waterways. And those same tree-covered, green grassy areas are keys to maintaining healthy watersheds for creeks and rivers.

Landowners must learn how to manage these properties to strike an ecological balance that benefits wildlife and livestock and still protects watersheds, Texas AgriLife Research scientists say.

Dr. Bill Pinchak, AgriLife Research range animal nutritionist, said landowners should take a holistic approach.

Although sickle cell disease is a single-gene disorder, its symptoms are highly variable. In a study published online July 14 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at Children's Hospital Boston and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), in collaboration with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, report five gene variants that could potentially be helpful in predicting sickle cell disease severity, perhaps even leading to better treatment approaches in the future.

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers have identified a set ofgenes in breast and colon cancers with a deadly combination oftraditional mutations and "smothered" gene activity that may resultin poor outcomes for patients.

A new study in the Journal of Communication reveals that access to an integrated system of internet health resources helps patients more than simply providing a list of URLs to accredited sites..

Women exposed to high levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls – a group of banned environmental pollutants) are less likely to give birth to male children. A study published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health found that among women from the San Francisco Bay Area, those exposed to higher levels of PCBs during the 50s and 60s, were significantly more likely to give birth to female children.

The last 10 years has seen a huge increase in the popularity of exotic pets. Among the weird and wonderful animals being kept in our homes are monkeys, tarantulas, iguanas, salamanders, snakes, even hedgehogs.

And as animal collections and reserves around the world develop their conservation and captive breeding programmes there is an insatiable demand for expertise in the husbandry of exotic animals.

A large-scale genetic study of native North Americans offers new insights into the migration of a small group of Athapaskan natives from their subarctic home in northwest North America to the southwestern United States. The migration, which left no known archaeological trace, is believed to have occurred about 500 years ago.

New Orleans, LA – A ground-breaking study by researchers at the School of Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans published in the August 2008 issue of Resuscitation has major implications for the #1 cause of death of Americans -- sudden cardiac arrest. The researchers stopped the heart of laboratory swine kept at room temperature, declared them dead from cardiac arrest, waited 25 minutes, and then resuscitated them with high doses of oxygen using hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Philadelphia, PA, July 15, 2008 – A systematic literature review conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Connecticut, the Hispanic Health Council (Hartford), and the Connecticut Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos assessed the impact of peer education/counseling on nutrition and health outcomes among Latinos living in the United States.

Madison, Wis. – July 15, 2008 – A new study in the Journal of Communication reveals that access to an integrated system of internet health resources helps patients more than simply providing a list of URLs to accredited sites.

Breast cancer affects one in eight women and is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Led by David H. Gustafson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the study set out to examine what type of access to internet resources would be expected to help newly diagnosed breast cancer patients during these stressful months.