Culture

Researchers using fossils of a 410-million-year-old arachnid – one of the first predators on land – have created images and stitched them together to try and duplicate the animal walking.

The scholars used exceptionally preserved fossils from the Natural History Museum in London to create the video showing the most likely walking gait of the animal; the study is published in a special issue of the Journal of Paleontology.

DURHAM, N.C. – The changing dynamic of health studies driven by "big data" research projects will empower patients to become active participants who provide real-time information such as symptoms, side effects and clinical outcomes, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

Among patients with possible common duct stones, removal of the gall bladder, compared with endoscopic assessment of the common duct followed by gall bladder removal, resulted in a shorter length of hospital stay without increased illness and fewer common duct examinations, according to a study in the July 9 issue of JAMA.

In an analysis of about 460 patients with failed bioprosthetic aortic valves who underwent transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation, overall survival at one year was 83 percent, with survival associated with surgical valve size and mechanism of failure, according to a study in the July 9 issue of JAMA.

As the use of electronic health record becomes widespread across the United States, due in large to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the quantity of clinical data that will become available for research and analytic purposes will also dramatically increase. Additionally, experts in healthcare have become increasingly focused on clinical analytics that analyze large quantities of data for the purpose of gleaning insights that have the potential to improve the value of patient care – a process that is known as big data.

HOUSTON – (July 8, 2014) – Half of Texans who are eligible for premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and who looked for health plans in the ACA's Health Insurance Marketplace said cost was the main reason they didn't enroll in a plan. That's just one of the findings in a report released today by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.

Skin cells possess an olfactory receptor for sandalwood scent, as researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have discovered. Their data indicate that the cell proliferation increases and wound healing improves if those receptors are activated. This mechanism constitutes a possible starting point for new drugs and cosmetics. The team headed by Dr Daniela Busse and Prof Dr Dr Dr med habil Hanns Hatt from the Department for Cellphysiology published their report in the "Journal of Investigative Dermatology".

Daejeon, Republic of Korea, July 8, 2014 – At a busy shopping mall, shoppers walk by store windows to find attractive items to purchase. Through the windows, shoppers can see the products displayed, but may have a hard time imagining doing something beyond just looking, such as touching the displayed items or communicating with sales assistants inside the store. With TransWall, however, window shopping could become more fun and real than ever before.

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- The Obama administration's controversial travel-promotion program has generated a roughly $1 billion increase in the value of the hospitality industry and stands to benefit the U.S. economy in the long run.

So finds the first scientific evidence, from a Michigan State University-led study, showing a positive economic impact of the Travel Promotion Act. Congress is currently reviewing whether to extend the law, which went into effect in March 2010.

Premature newborns are 32% less likely to die if they are admitted to high volume neonatal units rather than low volume, according to new research.

The study, led by the University of Warwick and published in BMJ Open, analysed data from 165 neonatal units across the UK. It found babies born at less than 33 weeks gestation were 32% less likely to die if they were admitted to high volume units, compared to low volume.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disorders - the incidence of these non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is constantly rising in industrialised countries. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) is, therefore, in the process of developing a national prevention strategy with a view to improving the population's health competence and encouraging healthier behaviour. Attention is focusing, amongst other things, on the main risk factors for these diseases which are linked to personal behaviour – i.e.

Charlottesville, VA (July 8, 2014). A spinal mass was identified in a young woman with complete spinal cord injury 8 years after she had undergone implantation of olfactory mucosal cells in the hopes of regaining sensory and motor function. The case is reported and discussed in "Autograft-derived spinal cord mass following olfactory mucosal cell transplantation in a spinal cord injury patient. Case report," by Brian J. Dlouhy, MD, Olatilewa Awe, MD, Rajesh C. Rao, MD, Patricia A. Kirby, MD, and Patrick W.

City of Industry, CA – July 8, 2014 – Data presented at April's Experimental Biology 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting shows that KoACT, a dietary supplement that combines a proprietary formulation of calcium and collagen is optimal for bone strength and flexibility inpost-menopausal women. The research was conducted by Bahram H. Arjmandi, Ph. D, RD, who is currently Margaret A. Sitton Named Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences at The Florida State University (FSU).

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania interviewed a focus group of young adults to glean six suggestions for improving the Healthcare.gov website. The actionable improvements are discussed in an article being published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Alexandria, Va. — Tucked high in the Andes Mountains of northern Peru is a remarkable fossil locality: a 39-million-year-old petrified forest preserved in nearly pristine condition: stumps, full trees, leaves and all.

With its existence unknown to scientists until the early 1990s — and its significance unbeknownst to villagers — this ancient forest hosts the remains of more than 40 types of trees, some still rooted, that flourished in a lowland tropical forest until they were suddenly buried by a volcanic eruption during the Eocene.