Culture | Page 1734 | Science Codex

New technology detects blood clots with simple in-home test

For millions of Americans at risk for blood clots, strokes and hypertension, routine lab tests to monitor blood-thinning medications can be frequent, costly and painful.

Two professors in a laboratory looking at a slide togetherAndrew Steckl with his student researcher Hua Li

But researchers at the University of Cincinnati -- supported by the National Science Foundation -- are developing materials and technology for a simple in-home screening that could be a game changer for patients with several life-threatening conditions.

How urban living affects children's mental health

DURHAM, N.C. -- Lower social cohesion among neighbors and higher crime rates contribute to higher rates of psychotic symptoms among urban children, a new study from researchers at Duke University and King's College London finds.

Previous research has also identified higher rates of psychotic symptoms among children in cities. The new study, available online this week in Schizophrenia Bulletin, is the first to examine why.

New study finds asthma patients rely heavily on rescue inhalers, difficult to diagnose

Philadelphia, May 12, 2016 - In a new national survey of asthma patients, Health Union, and its new online community Asthma.net, reveals that most were satisfied with the care they received; however, the most frequently used form of treatment, at 89%, is the rescue inhaler. The results also show the difficult path many people have prior to being correctly diagnosed with asthma.

Repair cartilage potentially can heal horribly broken bones

Stem cells could one day be stimulated to make a special type of cartilage to help repair large, hard-to-heal bone fractures - a potential boon for doctors treating big-money athletes, USC researchers say.

Gage Crump, senior author, and his colleagues used the regeneration of zebrafish jawbone to show that the processes required for embryonic development are not necessarily repeated during regeneration of damaged body parts like fractured bones. The study was published online in Development last month.

Treating sleep apnea could reduce emergencies in hospitalized patients

PHILADELPHIA - May 11, 2016 - According to research published today in PLOS ONE, treating high-risk hospitalized patients for sleep apnea may decrease the frequency of emergency rescues from hospital personnel, known as rapid response events.

Study of U2 could help music fans find what they're looking for

Music fans' emotions could be used to help them find new songs online, according to research at the University of Strathclyde.

A study of 150 music videos made by U2 fans uncovered a range of methods, both visual and musical, used to convey emotion, through location, style of music and video content.

Dr Diane Pennington, a Lecturer in Strathclyde's Department of Computer and Information Sciences, carried out the research. She said: "Although music holds no emotion in itself, it can elicit very deep emotions in listeners and performers."

New imaging technology allows scientists to peer even deeper into fatty arteries

WASHINGTON - As plaque accumulates on the inside of arteries, it can cause the arteries to thicken and harden. When that plaque ruptures, it can ultimately block blood flow and lead to a heart attack, stroke or other problem throughout the body.

The condition, known as atherosclerosis, is a major form of cardiovascular disease, which over the past century has become the leading cause of death worldwide. Currently, no imaging tools are available to consistently and accurately diagnose plaque at risk of rupturing in living patients.

Large reductions in prison population can be made without endangering public safety

A paper published in the journal Criminology & Public Policy addresses one of the most important crime policy questions in America: Can prison populations be reduced without endangering the public?

That question was examined by researchers who tested the impact on public safety of California's dramatic efforts to comply with court-mandated targets to reduce prison overcrowding

Lateral flow urine lipoarabinomannan assay for detecting TB in HIV+ adults

An international review team has prepared a Cochrane systematic review to assess the accuracy of a point-of-care urine test for diagnosing and screening tuberculosis (TB) in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Link between weekend hospital staffing and patient deaths represents 'major oversimplification'

The 'weekend effect' - that patients admitted to hospital over the weekend are at an increased risk of death - overshadows a much more complex pattern of weekly changes in quality of care, which are unlikely to be addressed by simply increasing the availability of hospital doctors on Saturdays and Sundays, according to two new studies published in The Lancet.

Stem cells from diabetic patients coaxed to become insulin-secreting cells

Signaling a potential new approach to treating diabetes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard University have produced insulin-secreting cells from stem cells derived from patients with type 1 diabetes.

People with this form of diabetes can't make their own insulin and require regular insulin injections to control their blood sugar. The new discovery suggests a personalized treatment approach to diabetes may be on the horizon -- one that relies on the patients' own stem cells to manufacture new cells that make insulin.

Northern Galapagos Islands home to world's largest shark biomass

In a study published today in the journal PeerJ, scientists from the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) and the National Geographic Society revealed that the northern Galapagos islands of Darwin and Wolf are home to the largest shark biomass reported to date (12.4 tons per hectare).

Public reporting measures fail to describe the true safety of hospitals

Common measures used by government agencies and public rankings to rate the safety of hospitals do not accurately capture the quality of care provided, new research from the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality suggests.

Chapman University research shows body image strongly linked to overall life satisfaction

Chapman University has just published the results of a national study on the factors linked to satisfaction with appearance and weight. In a survey of more than 12,000 Americans adults, the questions focused on personality, beliefs about romantic relationships, self-esteem, television viewing, and personal characteristics.

Unsafe sex is fastest-growing risk for ill health in teens

May 10, 2016--The Lancet Commission's groundbreaking report released today, "Our Future: A Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing," finds that years of neglect and underinvestment have had serious detrimental effects on the health and wellbeing of adolescents aged 10-24 years. Launched in London, the report shows that two-thirds of young people are growing up in countries where preventable and treatable health problems like HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, unsafe sex, depression, injury, and violence are an ongoing threat to their health and wellbeing.