Body

DALLAS, April 12, 2016 -- Healthcare professionals performing x-ray guided cardiovascular procedures may be at higher risk for health problems including orthopedic problems, cataracts, skin lesions and cancers, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

TAMPA, Fla. (April 12, 2016) - Radiation is a commonly used therapeutic option to treat liver metastases, with the majority of tumors maintained under control after one year. However, some patients do not respond as well to radiation treatment, and the factors that predict patient outcomes are unclear. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers report that liver metastases have different sensitivities to radiation therapy based on the location of the primary tumor.

JACKSON, Tenn. - A new biotech trait currently in the development stage could provide improved control of thrips and plant bugs in cotton, according to researchers with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.

New York, NY, April 12, 2016: In a new paper published by The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Professor Melissa Schilling, a strategy and innovation expert at the NYU Stern School of Business, uncovers a surprising new connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease: hyperinsulinemia, which is most often caused by prediabetes, early or undiagnosed diabetes, or obesity, is responsible for almost half of all cases of Alzheimer's disease.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Typical toddlers simultaneously spend about three hours a day in physical activity, play and engagement with objects such as toys, while their peers with mobility disabilities are less likely to engage in all of those behaviors at the same time, new research from Oregon State University shows.

Fire, a tool broadly used for cooking, constructing, hunting and even communicating, was arguably one of the earliest discoveries in human history. But when, how and why it came to be used is hotly debated among scientists.

A new scenario crafted by University of Utah anthropologists proposes that human ancestors became dependent on fire as a result of Africa's increasingly fire-prone environment 2-3 million years ago.

Since the recent link to severe neurological defects in infants born to mothers infected during pregnancy, Zika virus (ZIKV) has become a public health and research priority. A study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases reports details from the 2015 Zika outbreak in Rio de Janeiro--the first with a high proportion of cases confirmed by molecular diagnosis--and proposes changes to the current diagnostic criteria for ZIKV disease.

Although the World Health Organization decided not to recommend the use of RTS,S/AS01, the most advanced malaria vaccine candidate that is in development, in infants within the Expanded Programme of Immunisations (EPI), termination of further development of RTS,S/AS01 would be a loss for malaria elimination efforts according to Roly Gosling of the UCSF Global Health Group's Malaria Elimination Initiative and Lorenz von Seidlein of the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Thailand.

A USC study that tracked Southern California children over a 20-year period has found they now have significantly fewer respiratory symptoms as a result of improved air quality.

April 12, 2016 - Single-cell embryos contain a set of maternal and paternal chromosomes, and as the embryo grows, daughter cells receive a copy of each. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers have discovered errors during the earliest stages of embryonic development can lead to entire sets of maternal and paternal chromosomes segregating into different cells, resulting in chimeric embryos.

Telemedicine - connecting health care providers and patients via computer or smart phone for diagnosis and treatment -- has been making it easier, and more cost-effective, to "see" the doctor. Using a camera-enabled computer or smart phone, patients with common health concerns can get some diagnoses without leaving their homes. Emergency room doctors and nurses are able to communicate with their peers in larger trauma centers via computer, as well.

The advent of targeted drugs for a specific type of breast cancer - HER2 positive - has dramatically improved survival rates for women with the disease. But a study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center reveals low rates of use of a targeted drug among older women with early-stage breast cancer of this type, and even lower rates for older black women.

MISSOULA - In groundbreaking new work, Natalie Wright, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Montana, has discovered a predictable trend in the evolution of bird shape.

Her research showing that birds on islands have evolved toward flightlessness was published April 11, 2016 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Her partners include Christopher Witt of the University of New Mexico and David Steadman of the University of Florida.

Multifaceted programs to prevent the use of potentially inappropriate medications, efforts to reduce certain unnecessary medical procedures, and novel interventions for linking particularly vulnerable older adults to Medicare are among headline presentations anchoring the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Annual Scientific Meeting (AGS16), held May 19-21 at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center in Long Beach, Calif.

International students attending universities in the United States, particularly females, may be less at risk for violent, non-sexual victimization than their domestic counterparts, due, in part, to their choices in lifestyles and activities, new research suggests.