A new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) found a 68% increase in the overall risk of miscarriage in pregnant women using antidepressants (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091208.pdf .
Antidepressants are widely used in pregnancy and up to 3.7% of women will use them at some point during the first trimester. Discontinuing treatment can result in a depressive relapse which can put mother and baby at risk.
SAN FRANCISCO — A 17-year-long community study looking at symptoms of enlarged prostate in over 2,000 men age 40 to 79 years suggests that surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) offers more relief from incontinence and obstruction symptoms than treatment from drug-based therapy, according to a new study by researchers at Mayo Clinic. The researchers presented their results today at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association.
MOSS LANDING, CA — MBARI's Division of Marine Operations, under an agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sent a high-tech robotic submersible to the oily waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The goal is to collect information about the oil plume from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig accident for NOAA.
Norman, Okla.—Scientists at the University of Oklahoma and the Fudan University in Shanghai, China, have found that reforestation and afforestation -- the creation of new forests -- may lower the potential of forests for climate change lessening.
Yiqi Luo, professor of ecology in the OU College of Arts and Sciences Department of Botany and Microbiology, and Changzhang Liao, Bo Li and Changming Fang, professors of ecology in the Fudon University Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, examined whether plantations have the same ecosystem carbon stock as natural forests.
The more efficient dairy farmers are in managing nitrogen, the more milk their cows will produce and the less nitrogen will be wasted in manure and urine, according a study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators.
A University of Alberta researcher says people generally do not act on information about the effects fossil fuel-based products are having on the environment. And the reason, says English and film studies researcher Imre Szeman, is because of the way discussions on environmental issues are structured.
In a recently published study, Szeman says the main assumption among scientists—that with knowledge comes behavioural change—is proving to be an ineffective premise in dealing with environmental problems resulting from oil production and use.
Following the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano that spewed huge amounts of ash and grounded numerous flights, more than 50 experts from around the world gathered at a workshop organised by ESA and EUMETSAT to discuss what has been learned and identify future opportunities for volcanic ash monitoring.
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Emergency workers in rugged, rural areas may never lose a cell phone call again thanks to a new antenna developed by Montana State University researchers in collaboration with Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Inc.
Dropped calls when using a cell phone in rough terrain is a common problem that can be addressed by the MSU antenna, according to the developers.
Crystal meth (methamphetamine) is a highly addictive drug that seduces victims by increasing self-esteem and sexual pleasure, and inducing euphoria. But once hooked, addicts find the habit hard to break. Barbara Sorg from Washington State University, USA, explains that amphetamines enhance memory. 'In addiction we talk about the "drug memory" as a "pathological memory". It is so potent as to not be easily forgotten,' she explains.
The first head to head study of the two H1N1 vaccines used in the UK during the recent pandemic finds that the adjuvanted split virus vaccine induced higher immune response rates in young children, but was associated with more reactions than the whole virus vaccine.
These data provide important information to guide immunisation policy in an influenza pandemic, say the researchers.
Many disease-causing microbes carry pumps that expel antibiotics, making the bugs hard to kill with standard drugs.
Ironically, these same pumps could be the bugs' Achilles heel.
University of California, Berkeley, scientists have found that the molecular pumps in Listeria bacteria, and perhaps in other pathogens, also expel small signaling molecules that stimulate a strong immune response in the cells they infect. A robust immune response, involving mobilization of killer cells and a host of other defenses, is needed to kill bad microbes before they can do damage
Students driving an electric supercar will tonight try to be the first to drive an all-electric vehicle around the M25 twice on one battery charge, in the lead up to the team's attempt to cross the Americas in July this year and break a world record.
The Racing Green Endurance (RGE) team, from Imperial College London, aim to drive two laps around the M25 in their specially modified electric Radical SRZERO supercar. This would break the current record held by a team in a Tesla electric car, which did one lap around the M25 on one battery charge.
CHICAGO –In 1989 a 29-year-old Michael Schrader had it all: steady job, a wife, and two wonderful children—daughter Courtney and son Cameron. He couldn't envision wanting more—that is, more children. Taking steps to keep his nuclear family intact, he underwent vasectomy— a procedure so routine he was back on the golf course the next afternoon. Divorce later frayed this family portrait, but in the years that followed Schrader would ultimately revisit the issue of having children with his soon to be second wife Liz.
