Johns Hopkins researchers report concrete steps in the use of human stem cells to test how diseased cells respond to drugs. Their success highlights a pathway toward faster, cheaper drug development for some genetic illnesses, as well as the ability to pre-test a therapy's safety and effectiveness on cultured clones of a patient's own cells.
Culture
DETROIT – A Henry Ford Hospital study has found that better use of commonly accepted diagnostic guidelines for detecting cervical spine injuries could reduce unnecessary CT scans and spare patients from radiation exposure.
The multi-phase study showed that a significant number of CT scans could have been avoided if physicians adhered to the National Emergency X-Radiology Study (NEXUS) criteria, which aid Emergency Department physicians with determining whether C-spine injuries exist. Key findings:
Rates of hemorrhage for older patients on warfarin therapy are much higher than rates reported in clinical trials, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
"The rate of hemorrhage in our study is considerably higher than those reported in randomized controlled trials of warfarin therapy, which have ranged between 1% and 3% per person-year," writes lead author Tara Gomes, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Toronto, with coauthors.
Montreal, November 26, 2012 – What if factory foremen treated their workers less like the machines they operate, and more like people, with personality strengths and differences? Surely the workers would benefit, but might the employers also see positive results in the workplace, as well as being able to cut costs?
That's what Concordia researcher Mohammed Othman set out to prove in his paper "Integrating workers' differences into workforce planning," recently published in the journal Computers & Industrial Engineering.
Published on 19 November, Britain in 2013 - the nation in focus, showcases the diversity of ESRC-funded research on the state of the nation. The magazine is a mixture of academic opinion pieces alongside informed journalistic writing, offering a concise analysis of research and topical issues concerning Britain today.
Britain in 2013 reflects on, and offers possible solutions to, the most pressing problems British society faces.
This year's magazine features articles on:
Los Angeles, CA (23rd November, 2012) – The academic and professional publisher SAGE, has announced an agreement with the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) to acquire its journals. 28 titles formerly published by the Royal Society of Medicine Press will now be published by SAGE.
The Royal Society of Medicine is one of the largest providers of continuing medical education in the UK, reaching medical professionals and students from around the world.
Clinicians are being urged to ask about a patient's history of falls as new research shows that the information is valuable in determining their future risk of fracture.
The likelihood of an individual sustaining a fracture is determined by the strength of their bones and the forces applied to them. Bone strength is dependent on bone density: the lower the bone density the higher risk of fracture. However, a bone usually only breaks when it is subjected to trauma, which in the majority of cases results from a fall.
A doctoral thesis at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has found that one out of five patients with coronary artery disease experience such a great fear of movement (kinesiophobia) that their health may suffer as a result.
Due to fear that movement will harm them, many patients with coronary artery disease avoid exercise and physical activity. Kinesiophobia, which is a normal psychological reaction in the acute stage after a coronary event, prevents many patients from participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program.
Criminal behaviour in people with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) dropped sharply during periods when they were on medication, according to a new extensive registry study conducted at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The study that contained of over 25,000 individuals is published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Scientists may have discovered a new way to prevent strokes in high risk patients, according to research from the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW).
Work by a new research group, led by Professor Donald Singer, Professor of Therapeutics at Warwick Medical School and Professor Chris Imray from UHCW, has now been published in US journal Stroke.
The printing of three-dimensional tissue has taken a major step forward with the creation of a novel hybrid printer that simplifies the process of creating implantable cartilage.
The printer has been presented today, 22 November, in IOP Publishing's journal Biofabrication, and was used to create cartilage constructs that could eventually be implanted into injured patients to help re-grow cartilage in specific areas, such as the joints.
The quality of internet information available for women opting for "designer vagina" procedures is "poor," and in some cases, inaccurate, reveals a small study published in Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
The findings prompt the authors to urge that guidelines be drawn up to improve standards so that women can make fully informed choices about an increasingly popular procedure that has so far hardly been scrutinized.
Ottawa (November 23rd, 2012) - An in-depth, authoritative assessment of women in university research has found that although there has been significant progress in the representation of women in the university research ranks, there are still gender equity challenges that must be overcome and the passage of time will not be enough to ensure parity.
"Methods are required that take the social and environmental impacts of business operations better into account, both within the company and among its network of partners and stakeholders," says Uusitalo. "If a change cannot be effected, the current unsustainable way of life will continue, and we might also miss some opportunities for creating new business. Market share is at stake here."
According to Uusitalo, other companies and customers demand that companies take a wider view of sustainable development.
Researchers at Aalto University have developed a simple method for reducing the amount of phosphorus in the wastewater of a pulp mill. The method is called simultaneous precipitation using iron sulphate. A separate treatment stage is not required, as the precipitation takes place simultaneously with the actual biological wastewater treatment.