Culture

Each year, more than 10 million girls under the age of 18 marry, usually under force of local tradition and social custom. Almost half of these compulsory marriages occur in South Asia. A new study suggests that more than two decades of effort to eliminate the practice has produced mixed results.

Like countries throughout the world, Malaysia will need double its current food production by 2050 due to population growth and rising living standards.

At a meeting today in New York with Malaysia's Prime Minister and other senior leaders, a renowned international agricultural scientist says meeting that daunting challenge is possible but results will be gradual and efforts must begin now.

FAME II trial demonstrates the importance of targeting treatment to the right patients

A ground breaking international trial, presented yesterday at EuroPCR, has demonstrated for the very first time the true value of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with stable coronary artery disease. The study highlights the critical importance of targeting these interventions to patients with ischemia and may revolutionise the patient selection procedure for PCI.

Paris, 16 May 2012: Life saving primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) treatment is increasing in countries participating in the Stent for Life Initiative.

These achievements and other activities will be revealed at EuroPCR 2012, 15-18 May, in Paris, France. EuroPCR is the official annual meeting of the European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

"Le mélange des genres" - Mixing genres, Jacques Moret

SAN DIEGO, CA – May 16, 2012 – Cardium Therapeutics (NYSE Amex: CXM) today announced a late-breaking poster presentation at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 15th Annual Meeting being held May 16-19, 2012 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.

In a study about to be published in EPJ E¹, French physicists from the Curie Institute in Paris have demonstrated that the behaviour of a thin layer of cells in contact with an unfavourable substrate is akin to that of thin fluid or elastic films. Understanding the mechanism by which a thin layer of cells splits into disjointed patches, thus breaking the layer's structural integrity, bears great significance because the human tissue, or epithelium, covering organs can only fulfil its role if there are no holes or gaps between the cells.

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- The constant health education that dialysis patients receive can lead to boredom and noncompliance.

But a Loyola University Medical Center study has found that brief, casual chats can be a significant benefit to patients.

The technique is called "talking control support therapy." As patients were undergoing dialysis, researchers stopped by for informal chats. A typical conversation began with small talk, before moving on to general conversation about healthy dialysis lifestyles. Unlike conventional dialysis education, no specific education goals were set.

Bone cancer-related fractures and pain can be reduced by drug treatment, but no one drug is superior, according to a review published in The Cochrane Library. Researchers undertook a systematic review of the current evidence on bisphosphonate drugs, which are used to prevent bone damage in multiple myeloma.

Taxes on unhealthy food and drinks would need to be at least 20% to have a significant effect on diet-related conditions such as obesity and heart disease, say experts on bmj.com today. Ideally, this should be combined with subsidies on healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables, they add.

Their views come ahead of the 65th World Health Assembly taking place in Geneva on 21-26 May 2012 where prevention and control of non-communicable diseases will be a key issue for discussion.

UCLA researchers may have found a key to determining which Parkinson's disease patients will experience a more rapid decline in motor function, sparking hopes for the development of new therapies and helping identify those who could benefit most from early intervention.

• Neighborhoods with higher densities of alcohol outlets are more likely to have higher rates of violent crimes.
• A new study has compared on-premise with off-premise outlets across different types of crimes.
• Results show a stronger relationship between density of outlets and crime for on- than off-premise outlets.

DETROIT – An increasingly common and safer type of surgery for kidney cancer is not as likely to be used for older, sicker and poorer patients who are uninsured or rely on Medicare or Medicaid for their health care, according to a new study by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.

The treatment, partial nephrectomy (PN), involves surgically removing only the diseased portion of a cancerous kidney, leaving the unaffected part to continue to function.

COLUMBIA, Mo. ¬— More than 27 million adults currently suffer from osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of arthritis. In the past, doctors have been unable to diagnose patients with arthritis until they begin to show symptoms, which include joint pain and stiffness. By the time these symptoms are present, it is often too late for preventive and minimally invasive treatment options to be effective.

NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) is the most common type of liver disease in the developed world, affecting up to one-third of the US population. NAFLD is often associated with obesity and other parameters of the so-called "metabolic syndrome," which is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease.