Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at greater risk of shingles compared with the general population, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101137.pdf. The risk is greatest for patients taking oral steroids to treat COPD.
Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a reactivation of the chicken pox virus resulting in a painful rash with lesions.
To speed implementation of an electronic health record system in Canada, e-health policy must be closely aligned with the major strategic direction of health care reform and must take a bottom-up approach to engage people from clinicians to administrators, states a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100856.pdf.
Health Canada's declaration that bisphenol A is a health hazard makes it unique in the world but it must now follow through with legislation to protect people from exposure, states an analysis published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101408.pdf.
Tiny Antarctic marine creatures collected 100 years ago by Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott give new clues about polar environmental change. By comparing present-day bryozoans – a sea-bed filter-feeding animal that looks like branching twigs – with specimens from Scott's expeditions scientists have found the first conclusive evidence of increased carbon uptake and storage by Antarctic marine life.
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- As the financial crisis continues, researchers have been focusing more attention on how individuals handle finances at home. Rui Yao, personal financial planning professor in the University of Missouri School of Human Environmental Sciences, surveyed the financial health of Chinese American households to gain a better understanding of how this particular group of people manages their personal finances.
Use of the blood clot-inhibiting medication tifacogin does not appear to improve outcomes of patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia (sCAP), according to a study conducted by researchers from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The drug had shown some potential benefit in the sCAP subgroup of an earlier trial involving sepsis patients.
The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Want to keep your boss happy? Smile at your customers. Want to keep yourself happy and productive? Smile like you mean it.
A new study led by a Michigan State University business scholar suggests customer-service workers who fake smile throughout the day worsen their mood and withdraw from work, affecting productivity. But workers who smile as a result of cultivating positive thoughts – such as a tropical vacation or a child's recital – improve their mood and withdraw less.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2011 — The latest ACS podcast Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions says it is a misconception that the estrogen hormones detected in drinking water supplies is related to birth control pills.
Further development of modern information technology requires computer capacities of increased efficiency at reasonable costs. In the past, integration density of the relevant electronic components was increased constantly. In continuation of this strategy, future components will have to reach the size of individual molecules. Researchers from the KIT Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) and IPCMS have now come closer to reaching this target.
Nanotechnology may open a new door on the treatment of liver cancer, according to a team of Penn State College of Medicine researchers. They used molecular-sized bubbles filled with chemotherapy drugs to prevent cell growth and initiate cell death in test tubes and mice.
Researchers evaluated the use of molecular-sized bubbles filled with C6-ceramide, called cerasomes, as an anti-cancer agent. Ceramide is a lipid molecule naturally present in the cell's plasma membrane and controls cell functions, including cell aging, or senescence.
AUSTIN, Texas—Texas leafcutter ants farm crops of fungus that evolved cold tolerance to Texas winters, just as northern farmers cultivate cold weather crops, researchers from The University of Texas at Austin show in a new paper published in the journal PNAS Early Edition.
Though the cold tolerant fungus gives the ants the ability to maintain winter gardens, the fungus is still sensitive enough to cold it limits the ant's ability to spread farther northward.
A group of researchers led by scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have developed a new technology that detects distinct genetic changes differentiating cancer patients from healthy individuals and could serve as a future cancer predisposition test.
A new study from the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine is shedding light on an underlying cause of heart disease.
Published research led by UCalgary's Dr. Todd Anderson and his colleagues at four sites across Canada finds that endothelial dysfunction (blood vessel lining) can predict who is at risk for developing coronary heart disease. By identifying this new marker in patients doctors may be able to intervene early to prevent the progression of heart disease.
An international research team, with Spanish participation, has discovered a new species of mollusc, Polyconites hadriani, in various parts of the Iberian Peninsula. The researchers say this species, which is the oldest in its genus, adapted to the acidification of the oceans that took place while it was in existence. This process could now determine the evolution of modern marine systems.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A cancer-causing retrovirus exploits key proteins in its host cells to extend the life of those cells, thereby prolonging its own survival and ability to spread, according to a new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) and Ohio State's College of Veterinary Medicine.