Montreal, June 7, 2011 – Sex work is unprotected, increasingly dangerous and needs to be decriminalized, according to a new report published in the Canadian Review of Sociology. Co-authored by Concordia University and University of Windsor researchers, the study calls for sweeping changes to sex work performed on and off the streets.
Culture
In search of a way to prevent the muscle wasting that comes with illness and aging, researchers have landed a natural compound that might just do the trick. The findings reported in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, identify a component of apple peels as a promising new drug candidate for the widespread and debilitating condition that affects nearly everyone at one time or another.
Whales are the earth's largest creatures, yet they are incredibly hard to study in the open ocean. For decades scientists have used boats, aircraft and even high cliffs to conduct visual surveys and gather data on whale and dolphin populations. Today, these live surveys form the basis of our knowledge of these marine mammals—what species live where in the world, which ones tend to live together and how abundantly they are represented.
Women who gain too much weight during pregnancy tend to have newborns with a high amount of body fat, regardless of the mother's weight before pregnancy, a new study finds. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.
High fat at birth is a possible risk factor for childhood obesity, said the study's principal investigator, Jami Josefson, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital and assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
The European eel is on the way to disappearing for good. The species is critically endangered, and there are strong scientific arguments for suspending all fishing. Despite this situation, Swedish eel fishery is allowed to continue. Analysis of the eel management plan by the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment identifies clear shortcomings. It is unlikely that Sweden will meet the target that has been set for silver eels capable of migrating back to the Sargasso Sea so that they can contribute to regeneration.
WASHINGTON – Women are not allowed in the U.S. combat arms ground units but in a military campaign against terrorists everyone can be a combatant. An analysis of the response of females who experienced combat show they are as resilient as the men they serve alongside psychologically.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – College students judge the quality and qualifications of psychotherapists simply by what their offices look like, a new study suggests. After only viewing photos of offices, they gave higher marks to psychotherapists whose offices were neat and orderly, decorated with soft touches like pillows and throw rugs, and which featured personal touches like diplomas and framed photos.
Los Angeles, CA (May 26, 2011) Doctors are more apt to recommend a more costly therapy to patients if it were determined to prolong the patient's life rather than just improve quality, according to a recent study from Medical Decision Making (published by SAGE).
Making healthcare more efficient: Many patients with advanced cancers get treatments that won't help
A study of more than 1,000 patients with colon cancer that had spread to distant sites found that one in eight was treated with at least one drug regimen that was not recommended. Those patients were exposed to significant risk without proven benefits, at an estimated cost—just for the drugs—of more than $2 million.
BERN, SWITZERLAND (7 JUNE 2011)—A comprehensive assessment of tropical forest management reports a 50 percent increase in the area of tropical forest under sustainable management in just five years, but cautions that key drivers of that increase—growing demand for certified timber and funding for climate change initiatives—could have only a marginal impact in the long-term.
The implementation of 'virtual water' into trading deals has been touted as a solution to solving the global 'inequality' - deserts have less than other areas - of renewable freshwater, but new research recognizes that it won't work.
Patients in residential treatment programs for drug and alcohol abuse may benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy for depressive symptoms, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
BOSTON – While overall emergency department use in Massachusetts continues to rise, the number of low-severity visits dropped slightly since the implementation of the state's health care reform law, according to an Annals of Emergency Medicine study published online.
"Our study suggests other factors play a role in determining access to care and use of the ED in addition to one's insurance status," writes Peter Smulowitz, MD, MPH, the study's lead author and an emergency physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Patients in the intensive care unit who do not tolerate adequate nutrition from tube feeding should wait a week before receiving intravenous (IV) feeding because, compared with early IV feeding, it enhances recovery from critical illness. Results of a new multicenter study from Belgium will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.
San Antonio, Texas (June 6, 2011)—Research introduced at SNM's 58th Annual Meeting may lead to much-needed cardiovascular disease screening for diabetic patients at risk of ischemic heart disease, a disorder marked by significantly reduced blood flow in the heart. Ischemia of the myocardium, or cardiac muscle, can signal diminished oxygenation of the heart tissue and trigger a heart attack if left untreated.