Culture

A team of researchers at Northeastern University has developed an innovative 3-D printing technology that uses magnetic fields to shape composite materials--mixes of plastics and ceramics--into patient-specific products. The biomedical devices they are developing will be both stronger and lighter than current models and, with their customized design, ensure an appropriate fit. Their paper on the new technology appears in the Oct. 23 issue of Nature Communications.

URBANA, Ill. - It may come as a surprise that, even after the Great Recession ended in 2009, almost 50 million people in the United States are food insecure -- that is, they lack access to adequate food because of limited money or other resources. University of Illinois economist Craig Gundersen and University of Kentucky's James Ziliak examined recent research on food insecurity and its association with poor health and offer suggestions, including that doctors screen for hunger.

In a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, an endovascular intervention (such as use of a very small catheter to remove a blood clot) compared to standard medical care (administration of a clot dissolving agent) was associated with improved functional outcomes and higher rates of functional independence at 90 days, but no significant difference in symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) or all-cause mortality, according to a study in the November 3 issue of JAMA.

Although the absolute risk was low, researchers found an increased risk of childhood-onset epilepsy among children in Denmark who had a hospital-diagnosed pertussis infection, compared with the general population, according to a study in the November 3 issue of JAMA.

Scientists have good news for patients who suffer from currently untreatable dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD). In a new study, researchers identified a potential target for future therapies to slow the progression of the blinding condition. Published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), the findings indicate that treatments currently used for other conditions could also work for dry AMD.

Over the past three decades, China has seen a significant migration of its population from rural areas to cities. During the same time period, poor air quality and other environmental problems in urban China have gained increased attention. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found a strong correlation between the influx of labor migrants from rural to urban areas and negative environmental effects on those destination cities.

A continuing look at a Maya village in El Salvador frozen in time by a blanket of volcanic ash 1,400 years ago shows the farming families who lived there went about their daily lives with virtually no strong-arming by the elite royalty lording over the valley.

A retrospective study of Ebola epidemics in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suggested that each day of delay in hospital admittance was associated with an 11% increased risk of death for Ebola patients during epidemics.

Preschoolers who score lower on a working memory task are likely to score higher on a dropout risk scale at the age of 13, researchers at Université Sainte-Anne and the University of Montreal revealed today. "Dropout risk is calculated from student engagement in school, their grade point average, and whether or not they previously repeated a year in school. Previous research has confirmed that this scale can successfully identify which 12 year olds will fail to complete high school by the age of 21," explained Caroline Fitzpatrick, who led the study as first author.

A large scale investigation by researchers at the University of York found that the use of Alexander Technique or acupuncture can significantly relieve chronic neck pain.

DURHAM, N.C. - Two Duke Global Health Institute faculty members have articles in the November issue of Health Affairs, which is devoted entirely to the subject of food and health, marking the first time the publication has covered the subject in this way.

Eric Finkelstein and colleagues look at the connection between the consumption of specific food and beverages and weight gain among children and adolescents. Mary Story and colleagues examine the complex relationship between food and health, and provide policy recommendations designed to help people to eat better.

Adjusting to family circumstances where there is less food available than previously can be a traumatic situation for children and can result in behavioral issues, according to new research from sociologists at Rice University. In addition, lack of regular access to food can also result in poorer health among children.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Chronic inflammation, closely associated with frailty and age-related diseases, is a hallmark of aging. Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that inhibiting key enzyme pathways reduces inflammation in human cells in culture dishes and decreases inflammation and frailty in aged mice. The results appear today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. While further studies are needed, researchers are hopeful that these findings will be a step toward treatments for frailty and other age-related chronic conditions.

A large-scale survey of African-American men and women found that those who rarely or never exercised had about twice the odds of abusing alcohol than those who exercised frequently, a finding that could have implications across all groups.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a model that could be used to predict a drug's side effects on different patients. The proof of concept study is aimed at determining how different individuals will respond to a drug treatment and could help assess whether a drug is suitable for a particular patient based on measurements taken from the patient's blood.