Culture

A mathematical model that replicates Ebola outbreaks can no longer be used to ascertain the eventual scale of the current epidemic, finds research conducted by the University of Warwick.

Dr Thomas House, of the University's Warwick Mathematics Institute, developed a model that incorporated data from past outbreaks that successfully replicated their eventual scale.

New research presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria, shows that people suffering from diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN)—a complication of diabetes that affects the nerves in the limbs—are likely to sway more during stair climbing, and thus are more likely to fall. Steven Brown, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, is the lead author on this research, which has been conducted by researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester, UK.

A study of more than 18,000 patients with type 1 diabetes has shown that use of insulin pumps to administer insulin rather than treatment with multiple daily insulin injections results in a 29% reduction in all-cause mortality and 43% reduction in the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD, i.e. coronary heart disease or stroke). The study is presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Vienna, Austria, and was prepared by Dr Soffia Gudbjörnsdottir, University of Gothenburg, Sweden and colleagues.

The prevalence of abdominal obesity and average waist circumference increased among U.S. adults from 1999 to 2012, according to a study in the September 17 issue of JAMA.

Waist circumference is a simple measure of total and intra-abdominal body fat. Although the prevalence of abdominal obesity has increased in the United States through 2008, its trend in recent years has not been known, according to background information in the article.

Among older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly those with asthma, newly prescribed long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs) and inhaled corticosteroid combination therapy, compared with newly prescribed LABAs alone, was associated with a lower risk of death or COPD hospitalization, according to a study in the September 17 issue of JAMA.

In an analysis of the results of nearly 50 randomized trials that examined treatments of venous thromboembolisms (blood clot in a vein), there were no significant differences in clinical and safety outcomes associated with most treatment strategies when compared with the low-molecular-weight heparin-vitamin K antagonist combination, according to a study in the September 17 issue of JAMA.

Ottawa – September 16, 2014 – Physicians around the world now have guidance that can help them determine the best oral blood thinners to use for their patients suffering from blood clots in their veins, thanks to a patient of The Ottawa Hospital who asked his physician a question he couldn't answer. This new guidance is found in a study published today by JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

WASHINGTON, DC – September 16, 2014 – The first randomized trial to examine serial optical coherence tomography (OCT) in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was reported at the 26th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine.

WASHINGTON, DC – September 14, 2014 – A new study found that fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided provisional side branch (SB) stenting of true coronary bifurcation lesions yields similar outcomes to the current standard of care. The DKCRUSH-VI clinical trial is the first study to compare FFR-guided and angiography-guided stenting.

WASHINGTON, DC – September 14, 2014 – A new clinical trial comparing the use of everolimus-eluting stents (EES) and drug-eluting balloons (DEB) in treating in-stent restenosis (ISR) from drug-eluting stents found that EES provided superior late angiographic results and better late clinical outcomes.

Findings were reported today at the 26th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine.

Treatment with endocrine therapy and radiation therapy as part of breast conservation is the current standard of care for women with hormone-receptor positive (HR+) invasive breast cancer. A new study by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center, however, shows that combination may not be necessary for all patient populations with the disease.

Rice University scientists who created a deicing film for radar domes have now refined the technology to work as a transparent coating for glass.

The new work by Rice chemist James Tour and his colleagues could keep glass surfaces from windshields to skyscrapers free of ice and fog while retaining their transparency to radio frequencies (RF).

The technology was introduced this month in the American Chemical Society journal Applied Materials and Interfaces.

Using a pain clinic as a testing ground, researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that a management process first popularized by Toyota in Japan can substantially reduce patient wait times and possibly improve the teaching of interns and residents.

In a report on the pilot study, published online Sept. 9, in Pain Medicine, the researchers adopted the so-called "Just-in-Time" training and inventory process used now by many manufacturers and service industries to stem waste and keep complicated operations from bottlenecking.

A mathematical model that replicates Ebola outbreaks can no longer be used to ascertain the eventual scale of the current epidemic, finds research conducted by the University of Warwick.

Dr Thomas House, of the University's Warwick Mathematics Institute, developed a model that incorporated data from past outbreaks that successfully replicated their eventual scale.

Scientists make discoveries everyday, but that doesn't mean the findings are put into common practice.

In India, for example, the neonatal mortality rate is 10 times higher than in the developed world. While clinical trials found that applying an inexpensive topical solution of chlorhexidine to cleanse a newborn's umbilical cord reduced the neonatal mortality rate by 24 percent, many Indian parents did not receive or follow this information.