Culture

A team of researchers at Northeastern University has developed an innovative 3-D printing technology that uses magnetic fields to shape composite materials--mixes of plastics and ceramics--into patient-specific products. The biomedical devices they are developing will be both stronger and lighter than current models and, with their customized design, ensure an appropriate fit. Their paper on the new technology appears in the Oct. 23 issue of Nature Communications.

In a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, an endovascular intervention (such as use of a very small catheter to remove a blood clot) compared to standard medical care (administration of a clot dissolving agent) was associated with improved functional outcomes and higher rates of functional independence at 90 days, but no significant difference in symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) or all-cause mortality, according to a study in the November 3 issue of JAMA.

Scientists have good news for patients who suffer from currently untreatable dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD). In a new study, researchers identified a potential target for future therapies to slow the progression of the blinding condition. Published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), the findings indicate that treatments currently used for other conditions could also work for dry AMD.

A continuing look at a Maya village in El Salvador frozen in time by a blanket of volcanic ash 1,400 years ago shows the farming families who lived there went about their daily lives with virtually no strong-arming by the elite royalty lording over the valley.

Preschoolers who score lower on a working memory task are likely to score higher on a dropout risk scale at the age of 13, researchers at Université Sainte-Anne and the University of Montreal revealed today. "Dropout risk is calculated from student engagement in school, their grade point average, and whether or not they previously repeated a year in school. Previous research has confirmed that this scale can successfully identify which 12 year olds will fail to complete high school by the age of 21," explained Caroline Fitzpatrick, who led the study as first author.

DURHAM, N.C. - Two Duke Global Health Institute faculty members have articles in the November issue of Health Affairs, which is devoted entirely to the subject of food and health, marking the first time the publication has covered the subject in this way.

Eric Finkelstein and colleagues look at the connection between the consumption of specific food and beverages and weight gain among children and adolescents. Mary Story and colleagues examine the complex relationship between food and health, and provide policy recommendations designed to help people to eat better.