Culture | Page 2754 | Science Codex

Fish tracking by scientists will lead to better protection for species

Research expeditions by NOAA scientists to track the habitat preferences and movements of fish at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary may help managers protect overfished species such as red snapper and grouper. Research from the two expeditions appears in the Bulletin of Marine Sciences.

"It's important to know exactly what areas to protect," says Matt Kendall, principle investigator on the habitat mapping project. "Certain fish gravitate to certain bottom types. If you want to protect red snapper, for example, you have to know where they live."

Compromise is key to successful conservation efforts, economists find

URBANA - A lot of variables come into play when selecting a site for environmental conservation that yields benefits to people nearby such as wildlife needs, species and vegetation uniqueness, and costs to the government or community. When faced with a choice, University of Illinois researchers found that society and the environment can be better off if conservation agents choose sites that are closer to people because people are more willing to financially support something close to them.

Deaths from unintentional injuries increase for many groups

While the total mortality rate from unintentional injury increased in the U.S. by 11 percent between 1999 and 2005, far larger increases were seen in some subgroups analyzed by age, race, ethnicity and type of injury by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy. Their analysis found that white women between 45 and 64 years old experienced a 230 percent increase in the rate of poisoning mortality over the study period. White men in this age group experienced an increase of 137 percent.

Finding a better way to culture liver cells will enhance drug toxicity screening

A team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers has developed an innovative way to culture liver cells for drug toxicity screening. In a report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the investigators describe how liver cells grown in a high-oxygen environment and in a culture medium free of animal-derived serum quickly begin to function as they do within the liver.

Surgical reform associated with increased complication rate

A new study finds a 2003 reform of the length of resident on-duty hours has led to an increase in the rate of perioperative (the span of all three phases of surgery: before, during and after) complications for patients treated for hip fractures. Among other restrictions, this reform limited the resident workweek to 80 hours. The resulting complications vary significantly, with an increasing rate of worse outcomes seen in teaching hospitals, according to a study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS).

Maintaining and restoring Earth's ecosystems may be key to combating climate change

Berlin, 2 September 2009 - Investing in restoration and maintenance of the Earth's multi-trillion dollar ecosystems - from forests and mangroves to wetlands and river basins - can have a key role in countering climate change and climate-proofing vulnerable economies.

Hospital infections cost Australian healthcare system $1 billion in lost bed days

Infections caught in hospital are costing the Australian healthcare system more than 850,000 lost bed days, according to a new study by Queensland University of Technology.

Associate Professor Nick Graves, from QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, said there were 175,153 cases where patients had acquired an infection during their hospital stay.

"If rates were reduced by just one per cent, then 150,158 bed days would be released for alternative uses, allowing an estimated 38,500 additional admissions annually," he said.

AMP president updates CDC committee on H1N1 testing

Atlanta, GA—September 2-3, 2009 – Dr. Jan Nowak, President of the Association for Molecular Pathology presented public comments today at the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee meeting. During the initial weeks of the pandemic H1N1 influenza outbreak, community based molecular pathology laboratories developed diagnostic tests capable of rapidly detecting and confirming suspected cases of pandemic flu. Dr.

New report describes types of research conducted at academic medical centers

A study from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Institute for Health Policy gives the first detailed look at the types of research currently being conducted within U.S. academic medical centers – medical schools and their affiliated hospitals. The report in the Sept. 2 Journal of the American Medical Association describes how the traditional way of categorizing life-science researchers as either basic or applied clinical investigators does not adequately reflect the reality of today's academic medical research.

Confirming suspicions: cheaper alcohol increases drinking among college students

Cheap drinks can lead to higher intoxication levels and a host of related health and safety problems.
A new study has examined the relationship between alcohol prices at college bars and intoxication upon exit.
Findings show that, contrary to bar claims, students will purchase more expensive alcoholic drinks and when they do, become less intoxicated than those who purchase more drinks at cheaper prices.

Study evaluates use of corticosteroids and antiviral agents for treatment of Bell Palsy

Among patients with Bell Palsy, a facial paralysis with unknown cause, treatment with corticosteroids is associated with a reduced risk of an unsatisfactory recovery, and treatment with a combination of corticosteroids and antiviral agents may be associated with additional benefit, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of previously published studies, reported in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

Finds that research at academic medical centers is active, diverse

A survey indicates that research is active and diverse at U.S. academic medical centers and that a substantial proportion of faculty conduct research and publish without sponsorship, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

Cura personalis: where will systems medicine fit in with government health care?

Washington, DC – While medicine tends to focus on patients as a "collection of visceral organs and a nervous system," systems medicine provides a new approach to medical practice that is "anticipated to result in more comprehensive and systematic patient care", says a commentary published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Howard J. Federoff, MD, PhD, executive vice president for health sciences and executive dean of the School of Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, and Lawrence O.

Doctors who perform surgery while working overtime take a risk

Patients who have after-hour orthopaedic surgeries risk a slightly higher rate of necessary follow-up surgeries, according to a study published in the September 2009 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). The data also suggests that patients whose surgeries took place during the day have the same healing, recovery time, and major complication rates as patients who have surgery after hours.

Tiny pump means pain relief for zoo's big cats

Veterinarians from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo and the University of Tennessee have found a solution to the challenge of providing effective pain relief to some of their most difficult patients: big cats.

The answer: A surgically implanted, capsule-sized pump that provides continuous pain relief while the animal recovers from surgery, according to a new study appearing in the American Journal of Veterinary Research.