Culture

Chinese fishing boats catch about US$11.5 billion worth of fish from beyond their country's own waters each year – and most of it goes unreported, according to a new study led by fisheries scientists at the University of British Columbia.

The paper, recently published in the journal Fish and Fisheries, estimates that China's foreign catch is 12 times larger than the catch it reports to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization, an international agency that keeps track of global fisheries catches.

Researchers from the universities of Granada and Murcia have confirmed the effectiveness of a spray containing 1% malic acid, which greatly improves xerostomy, or dry mouth, caused by anti-depressant drugs. This product, combined with xylitol and fluorides, in a spray format, stimulates saliva production in patients with this illness, thus improving their quality of life.

A new study of Hong Kong chronic pain patients suggests that targeting feelings of mental defeat could prevent severe depression, anxiety and interference with daily activities.

The concept of mental defeat has previously been associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, but the new study applies it to the experience of chronic pain.

Mental defeat occurs when pain patients view their pain as an 'enemy' which takes over their life and removes their autonomy and identity.

Among patients with painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, use of the anti-depressant drug duloxetine for 5 weeks resulted in a greater reduction in pain compared with placebo, according to a study in the April 3 issue of JAMA.

In an analysis that included data on more than 10 million Medicare beneficiaries admitted to acute care hospitals with a heart attack, congestive heart failure, or pneumonia between 2002 and 2010, 30-day mortality rates for those admitted to critical access hospitals (designated hospitals that provide inpatient care to individuals living in rural communities) increased during this time period compared with patients admitted to other acute care hospitals, according to a study in the April 3 issue of JAMA.

When surveying in the Upper Basin of the Grand Canyon National Park in April 2011, University of Cincinnati faculty and students discovered a previously unknown 17-room subterranean pueblo that likely dates back to the 12th century.

For UC anthropology graduate student Ryan Washam, that find – in which he took part – helped spark his current research in how federal agencies are conducting archaeological and environmental protection and preservation efforts in a time of tight budgets.

WASHINGTON — A survey of current and former college athletes finds depression levels significantly higher in current athletes, a result that upended the researchers' hypothesis. The finding published in Sports Health suggests the need for more research to understand depression among college athletes.

(Washington)- Newly identified pregnancy-related events, such as stillbirth or pre-term birth, may dramatically increase a woman's risk of developing a potentially deadly blood clot immediately after pregnancy, according to the results of a large, population-based study published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILL. (April 2, 2013) – Asthma is becoming an epidemic in the United States. The number of Americans diagnosed with asthma grows annually, with 26 million currently affected. And according to a new study, nearly two-thirds or more of all asthmatics also have an allergy, which can make this spring season particularly bothersome.

Boston, MA-- Despite their well-documented benefits, statins, drugs used to lower cholesterol, are commonly discontinued in routine care. Statin discontinuation has been linked to increased risk for cardiovascular events and death in patients with coronary artery disease; nevertheless, the reasons for discontinuation are only starting to be explored.

Seeing a doctor within a month of an emergency room visit for chest pain significantly reduced the risk of heart attack or death among high risk patients, according to research published the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

Chest pain is the most common reason people go to the emergency room in developed countries and accounts for more than 5 million ER visits each year in the United States.

As the long-term impact of the Arab Spring continues to take shape, research from political scientists at Princeton University and New York University warns that the protests that swept across the Middle East and North Africa could mark more of an isolated occurrence than a permanent rise of people power in the region.

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Medications used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, are some of the most widely used medications in children less than one year old.

But in a new study, researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Missouri concluded that physicians often label common symptoms in infants, such as crying and spitting up, as disease. Frequent use of the GERD label can lead to overuse of medication, according to study published today online ahead of print in the journal Pediatrics.

Most guns are not used for murder, nor are they used in hunting; most deaths related to guns are instead suicides, but a new paper says that many emergency room doctors and nurses don't routinely ask suicidal patients about their access to firearms.

The paper, published in the March edition of Depression and Anxiety, surveyed 631 emergency department doctors and nurses in eight American hospitals as part of the Emergency Department Safety Assessment and Follow-up Evaluation (ED-SAFE) trial.

Rochester, MN, April 1, 2013 – A retrospective study of patients who had in-hospital electroencephalography (EEG) has established that EEG is a valuable tool that could be deployed more widely to identify treatable causes of impaired consciousness in the hospital setting. The study is published in the April issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.