OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 20, 2010 -- Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving strains of microorganisms used to convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol, including a recent modification that could improve the efficiency of the conversion process.
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NEW YORK, NY. (May 20, 2010) – The 57 million Americans currently living with "pre-diabetes" could benefit from a group weight loss program, like Weight Watchers, according to a new study published in this month's American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. Researchers found that after a 6-month Weight Watchers group program, overweight or obese adults who attended at least two thirds of the weekly sessions, not only lost weight, but also significantly reduced fasting glucose and insulin levels – important indicators of diabetes risk.
In a study published today in the journal Addiction, researchers have determined that treatment for smoking dependence is as effective among people with severe mental illnesses as it is for the general population. Importantly, they also found that offering such treatments does not appear to cause deterioration in mental health.
Racial disparities in readmissions for heart failure are mainly seen at the site at which care is provided, researchers report.
Using national Medicare data from 2006-07, researchers designated hospitals as "minority-serving" based on the proportion of black patients treated. In the study, 40 percent of all black patients and 5 percent of all white patients were cared for at minority-serving hospitals.
The researchers found:
Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in neoplastic and non-neoplastic chronic inflammatory disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Several reports have shown that blockade of angiogenesis in preclinical models of IBD is a promising new therapeutic approach. Visualize angiogenesis in vivo may represent the first step for such a therapeutic approach. Narrow-band imaging (NBI) is a new endoscopic technology that highlights mucosal surface structures and microcapillaries.
Dietary factors have long been known to play a major role in the development of obesity. The global increasing prevalence of obesity suggests that there should be some common changes in diet worldwide. In fact, a significant, yet, often neglected worldwide change in dietary factors in the past few decades is the food fortification-induced marked increase in the content of niacin. However, the effect of long-term exposure to excess niacin on human health remains to be unclear.
Gastroesophageal reflux (GER), defined as passage of gastric contents into the esophagus is a normal process that occurs in healthy infants, children and adults. When GER causes troublesome symptoms and/or complications it is referred to as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). During infancy, GER is common and can manifest with specific symptoms as vomiting and non-specific symptoms as irritability and cough. Association of non-specific symptoms with GER is a main problem in the diagnosis of GERD.
The creatinine clearance (Ccr) test has been used as a gold standard for evaluation of preoperative renal function in patients with gastric cancer. However, it is known that Ccr is not strictly equivalent to glomerular filtration rate (GFR). It has been accepted that estimated GFR (eGFR) is equal to measured GFR in chronic kidney disease. However, there have been no studies regarding the reliability of eGFR as a preoperative renal function test in gastric cancer patients.
Within the next ten years, there will be deficiencies in healthcare provision in parts of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. This is the conclusion reached by Ulrike Siewert of Greifswald University and her coauthors in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[18]: 328-34). They emphasize that similar trends can be expected in other German federal states.
Scientists are reporting that mercury levels in a popular species of game fish in Lake Erie are increasing after two decades of steady decline. The study, the most comprehensive to date on mercury levels in Great Lakes fish, is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.
New York, NY, May 20, 2010 –. Children with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), in which urine flows backwards into the kidneys from the bladder, have been treated in the past with surgery or antibiotic therapy. Although this condition can lead to renal damage, there have been few controlled studies to help determine the most effective treatment of young children. A study, part of the Swedish Reflux Trial, is scheduled for publication in the July 2010 issue of the Journal of Urology.
The world's most ancient frogs may soon be mined to extinction, if the New Zealand government's plans to open up a conservation area for mining go ahead.
The primitive Archey's frog (Leiopelma archeyi) and Hochstetter's frog (Leiopelma hochstetteri) are two of the species that inhabit the area of 'high conservation value' on New Zealand's North Island where the mining is planned to take place.
Demented patients are often treated nonspecifically with psychoactive medications. Neuroleptic drugs are given even when they are not specifically indicated, as Tomislav Majic and his colleagues from the Charité Hospital, Berlin, show in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[18]: 320-7).
WASHINGTON, DC (20 May 2010)—As US policymakers consider scaling back on its historic initiative to fight AIDS around the world and downsizing goals to combat tuberculosis, next-generation treatment and prevention strategies to significantly reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis are now imminent. New science can dramatically change the trajectory of both deadly epidemics, according to a special new issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.