Not only land birds, but also some seabirds, cover enormous distances during migration: the sooty shearwater, for example, circumnavigates the earth one and a half times on its travels. Despite this, relatively little is known about the migratory behaviour of seabirds as compared with that of their land-living counterparts. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology have studied the migratory behaviour of thin-billed prions and discovered that the animals spend their moulting season in two areas that are at a considerable distance from each other.
Body
ATLANTA - Body size, gender and the complexity of heart disease significantly influence how much cumulative radiation skin dose that patients receive during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) therapy, also known as angioplasty, according to a new Mayo Clinic study. The study was undertaken as a quality control initiative to reduce the potential radiation risks of cancer to patients and PCI operators.
Many visits by dying cancer patients to the emergency department can be avoided with effective palliative care, states an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) (pre-embargo link only)http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091187.pdf. In Ontario, about 40% of cancer patients visit the emergency department in the last 2 weeks of life.
An estimated three to four million people – about one in every eight Canadians –drink water from private supplies.
Large amounts of frozen plasma are being used inappropriately, states a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj081933.pdf.
There has been increased attention given to the clinical use of red blood cells and platelets but not enough has been paid to the use of frozen plasma.
Public safety should win against personal choice especially when it comes to elderly seniors who shouldn't drive, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100273.pdf.
Seniors can be the safest drivers but that decreases with age as a growing number of medical conditions can lower a person's ability to drive.
By 2025, one in four Canadians will be 65 or older.
Aspiring moms may be advised to achieve a healthy weight before they become pregnant, and to gain only the recommended amount of weight during their pregnancy. Now ongoing studies by Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded investigator Kartik Shankar and colleagues could provide new insights into those recommendations.
Shankar is taking a new, closer look at how influences that occur in the womb–and perhaps during the first few months of life–might affect development of a child's ability to regulate his or her weight later in life.
In a breakthrough that may help fill a critical need in stem cell research and patient care, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have demonstrated that skin cells found in human amniotic fluid can be efficiently "reprogrammed" to pluripotency, where they have characteristics similar to human embryonic stem cells that can develop into almost any type of cell in the human body. The study is online now and will appear in print in the next issue of the journal Cellular Reprogramming, to be published next month.
CHICAGO (March 15, 2010) – New research findings published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons indicate that some breast cancers continue to be detected as a palpable lump rather than being found through mammographic screening. Patients who presented with palpable tumors – those detected as a result of breast complaint or during examination – had larger tumors and were at a more advanced stage at diagnosis.
CHICAGO (March 15, 2010) – New research findings published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons indicates that despite similar injury severity, uninsured patients were significantly more likely to die after hospital admission for gunshot injury than were insured patients. This difference could not be attributed to demographics or hospital resource use, and held true even after adjusting for the effects of race, age, gender, and injury severity.
Imaging epicardial adipose tissue, or the layer of fat around the heart, can provide extra information compared with standard diagnostic techniques such as coronary artery calcium scoring, according to research by cardiologists at Emory University School of Medicine. The size of the layer of fat around the heart can be measured by X-ray imaging techniques such as CT or MRI.
Shaking hands with a robotic arm could be a new way to help stroke patients learn to use their arms again. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation report a pilot trial of the 'Braccio di Ferro' (Iron arm) robot in 10 patients.
Doha, Qatar – A little-known Iranian salamander is poised to become the first example of a species requiring international government protection because of e-commerce – a major threat to endangered wildlife that authorities are struggling to address.
The Kaiser's spotted newt, found only in Iran, is considered Critically Endangered and is believed to number fewer than 1,000 mature wild individuals. The amphibian is being proposed for an Appendix I listing during a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Endangered Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Scientists from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa have identified a promising new approach for developing drugs to treat Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the leading inherited cause of death in infants and toddlers. Dr. Rashmi Kothary and his doctoral student Melissa Bowerman have found that an enzyme called RhoA is overly active in a mouse model of the disease and blocking this enzyme can greatly increase survival. The study is published in Human Molecular Genetics.
A person can reach a high level of spiritual development without being emotionally and psychologically mature. This has been shown in a new study presented by Prof. Ofra Mayseless at the 2nd Conference on the Study of Contemporary Spirituality that was held at the University of Haifa.