Culture

New research by health psychologists has shown that the beliefs and expectations of people with diabetic foot ulcers about their illness have a significant independent effect on their survival.

The study was led by researchers at The University of Nottingham. It set out to expand on an area of previous research which, in some studies, linked depression to poorer clinical outcomes for diabetic ulcer patients.

Most stream-resident fish stay throughout winter despite the ice. This has been shown by Christine Weber, previous researcher at Umeå University, by tagging trout and sculpins with transponders to follow fish migration. Fish's general state of health is the single most important factor for surviving winter. The findings have been published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Around the world, especially in developing nations, counterfeit medicines are a real problem. Until now, in many countries there hasn't been a standard protocol to conduct investigations and pursue prosecution.

New research, led by Michigan State University and featured in the current issue of the Journal of Forensic Science and Criminology, is providing the foundation to apply criminology theory to preventing the production and sale of fake and substandard medicines.

BEER-SHEVA, Israel... April 25, 2016 - Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have developed an innovative anti-biofilm coating, which has significant anti-adhesive potential for a variety of medical and industrial applications.

According to the research published in Advanced Materials Interfaces, anti-adhesive patches that are developed from naturally occurring biomaterials can prevent destructive bacterial biofilm from forming on metal surfaces when they are immersed in water and other damp environments.

A recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 74 percent of Americans think manners and behavior have deteriorated in the United States over the past several decades. A large majority of Americans believe that politicians should be held to a higher standard than the general public, but few think they are living up to that expectation. The Republican campaign is viewed as rude and disrespectful by nearly twice as many Americans as those who characterize the fight for the Democratic nomination in that way (78 percent vs. 41 percent).

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - April 22, 2016 - A quick, reliable and cost-effective mobility assessment tool may help to identify elderly patients at risk for adverse post-surgery outcomes, according to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers.

The article, titled "Waste not, want not, emit less," points out that overall, one third of the world's food is lost or wasted, and that food waste has serious environmental implications while contributing directly to global warming. Carbon is emitted to no avail in the production of the food, while disposal and decomposition in landfills of discarded food cause additional impacts to the environment. But something can be done, both at the societal and individual levels. This is where social science comes in.

RA is the commonest autoimmune arthritis affecting 1% of the general population. Despite its main articular manifestations, RA caninvolveextra-articular organs including the auditory system.

FINDINGS

Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA found that cardiovascular disease patients who have high muscle mass and low fat mass have a lower mortality risk than those with other body compositions. The findings also suggest that regardless of a person's level of fat mass, a higher level of muscle mass helps reduce the risk of death.

These findings indicate the importance of assessing body composition as a way to help predict cardiovascular and total mortality in people with cardiovascular disease.

Copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGSe) solar cells have the highest efficiency of polycrystalline thin-film solar cells. The four elements comprising CIGSe are vapour-deposited onto a substrate together to form a very thin layer of tiny chalcopyrite crystals. It is an exceedingly complex process controlled by many variables. This is why CIGSe modules in standard industrial formats have not yet attained the record efficiency already demonstrated at laboratory scale. One possible cause: defects that reduce the efficiency level can form during the course of fabrication.

Chimpanzees use manipulative dexterity to evaluate and select figs, a vital resource when preferred foods are scarce, according to a new Dartmouth-led study just published by Interface Focus. The action resembles that of humans shopping for fruits, and the study demonstrates the foraging advantages of opposable fingers and careful manual prehension, or the act of grasping an object with precision.

Philadelphia, PA, April 22, 2016 - The leading cause of death in the elderly, the fastest growing segment of the population, is cardiovascular disease (CVD). Prevention of cardiovascular events in elderly patients presents a therapeutic challenge because this age group is generally underrepresented in clinical trials, and doctors often assume that it is too late to initiate preventive therapy in the elderly.

Patients, especially children, who undergo blood transfusions in sub-Saharan Africa are at high risk of transfusion-transmitted malaria. A new trial, published in The Lancet today, suggests that treating donated blood with a new technology that combines UV radiation and vitamin B is safe and could minimise the risk of malaria infection following blood transfusions.

A technique for reducing the number of infectious malaria parasites in whole blood could significantly reduce the number of cases of transmission of malaria through blood transfusion, according to a collaboration between researchers in Cambridge, UK, and Kumasi, Ghana.

New York, NY - April 21, 2016: Complementary sources of data can be used to paint a more complete picture of a patient's health trajectory than a single source. Significant recent investment in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) took place on the assumption of improved patient safety, research capacity, and cost savings. However, most of these health systems and health records are fragmented and do not share patient information. While fragmentation and incomplete clinical data in EHRs are recognized problems, almost no published data estimate their extent.