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Critically ill patients who are exposed to higher daily levels of ozone are more likely to develop acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS), according to a new study published online ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. ARDS is a life-threatening inflammatory lung illness in which patients fail to obtain enough oxygen to the lungs.

MANHASSET, NY - Scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered a new, personalized approach to diagnosing low back pain. The findings from a clinical study show that serum levels of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) vary in individuals with lumbar intervertebral disc disease and that biochemical profiling of circulating cytokines may assist in refining personalized diagnoses of disc diseases. These findings are published in Arthritis Research and Therapy.

How more than 1,000 tree species may occur in a small area of forest in Amazonia or Borneo is an unsolved mystery. Their ability to co-exist may depend on how trees get along with their neighbors. A new study based, in part, on data from the Smithsonian's Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) network shows that trees worldwide compete in some of the same ways, making simpler models of forest response to climate change possible.

James Cook University researchers have found sex sells when it comes to luring male mosquitoes.

Senior Research Officer Brian Johnson and Professor Scott Ritchie set out to make a cheap and effective audio lure for scientists collecting male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes -- the species that carries dengue and yellow fever.

They found a tone of precisely 484 Hertz, the frequency of a female Aedes aegypti's wings, brought 95 percent of male mosquitoes to the trap.

DENVER (January 7, 2016) Dinosaurs engaged in mating behavior similar to modern birds, leaving the fossil evidence behind in 100 million year old rocks, according to new research by Martin Lockley, professor of geology at the University of Colorado Denver.

Miniature self-assembling "flasks" created at the Weizmann Institute may prove a useful tool in research and industry. The nanoflasks, which have a span of several nanometers, or millionths of a millimeter, can accelerate chemical reactions for research. In the future, they might facilitate the manufacture of various industrial materials and perhaps even serve as vehicles for drug delivery.

When you have a fever, your nose is stuffed and your headache is spreading to your toes, your body is telling you to stay home in bed. Feeling sick is an evolutionary adaptation according to a hypothesis put forward by Prof. Guy Shakhar of the Weizmann Institute's Immunology Department and Dr. Keren Shakhar of the Psychology Department of the College of Management Academic Studies, in a recent paper published in PLoS Biology.

For hundreds of years, Adélie penguins have been breeding in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), which has recently become one of the most rapidly warming areas on Earth.

At Palmer Station, a U.S. research base located along the WAP, scientists have been monitoring Adélie penguin population declines for decades. There were 15,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins in 1975; but today only a few thousand pairs are left.

Acoustics experts have created a new class of sound wave - the first in more than half a century - in a breakthrough they hope could lead to a revolution in stem cell therapy.

The team at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, combined two different types of acoustic sound waves called bulk waves and surface waves to create a new hybrid: "surface reflected bulk waves".

New York, NY, January 7, 2016 - To determine patient eligibility for heart transplant, the International Society for Heart Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) maintains a list of criteria, first issued in 2006, that acts as a guideline for physicians. A major 10-year update has now been issued and published in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, which is freely available at http://www.jhltonline.org.

Critically ill patients who are exposed to higher daily levels of ozone are more likely to develop acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS), according to a new study published online ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. ARDS is a life-threatening inflammatory lung illness in which patients fail to obtain enough oxygen to the lungs.

One in ten patients is at risk of having new post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to their ICU experience up to a year post-discharge. This was the finding from a multicenter, prospective cohort research study of veterans and civilians. The research was published online ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Cancer screening has never been shown to "save lives" as advocates claim, argue experts in The BMJ today.

This assertion rests on reductions in disease specific mortality rather than overall mortality, say Vinay Prasad, Assistant Professor at Oregon Health and Science University and colleagues.

They argue that overall mortality should be the benchmark against which screening is judged and call for higher standards of evidence for cancer screening.

Oral contraceptive use just before or during pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk of major birth defects, suggest the findings of a study published in The BMJ this week.

Oral contraceptives are a leading form of contraception worldwide. When used properly, these are over 99% effective.

However, around 9% of women become pregnant in the first year of use because of missing a dose, taking the pill with other medications, or illnesses.

Boston, MA - Oral contraceptives taken just before or during pregnancy do not increase the risk of birth defects, according to a new study by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark. They found that the prevalence of major birth defects was consistent (about 25 per 1,000 live births) across all pregnant women in the study population regardless of contraceptive use.