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Smoking is No Longer Considered Glamorous

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A new poll conducted in Britain has found that smoking a cigarette is no longer considered "cool or glamorous". Just one percent of smokers believe they look trendy when lighting up, the Daily Express cited the survey of 2,000 British smokers as saying. The poll, conducted on behalf of the British Heart Foundation, showed two-thirds of smokers - 67 percent - believe public attitudes towards smoking have become increasingly negative in recent years. "Smoking ...

Home Remedies for Food Poisoning - Slideshow

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A presentation on quick home remedies to get rid of food poisoning and the effects such as heart burn, stomach ache and vomiting with very common ingredients like ginger, cumin, lemon and some more.

Brucellosis

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Brucellosis is a contagious disease caused by Brucella. It is usually acquired following contact with an infected animal or animal products.

Health Care Options for Maine Residents

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Experts feel the 127,000 Maine residents without health cover have no cause to panic as there will be options in the Federal health care overhaul. 50% of the residents are covered by the employer provided health covers, 42% have individual health policies or come under the Medicaid or Medicare programs. According to nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation estimates, 10% of Main's population is uninsured and will be under the individual mandate covers. ...

Russia to Ban Energy Drinks Containing Caffeine, Alcohol

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Lawmakers in Russia are introducing a bill that calls for a ban on the production and sale of energy drinks that contain low levels of alcohol and caffeine. "We consider it necessary to prohibit the production and sale of energy drinks in whose composition there is alcohol (between 1.2 and 12 proof) and caffeine, taking into account the harm done to the health of young people, who are the main consumers," the bill says. The legislations authors ...

Caffeine Intake During Pregnancy

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Coffee consumption during pregnancy can affect the growth of babies, say researchers. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, conducted a study on 59,000 women in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. "The correlation between intake of caffeine and fetal growth was established even among women who followed the official recommendation that they limit caffeine consumption to 200 milligrams a day ...

Health Insurance Industry Needs to Change, Says Blue Cross Chief

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Join the health care revolution rather than fight it says Brad Wilson, the chief of Blue Crossand Blue Shield of North Carolina. He was in town to address the Triad Health Underwriters Association - a group of health insurance companies for corporate and individual customers. "We have an unsustainable model." Wilson endorsed the company's message. He felt the health care industry could join hands with the insurance industry to reduce costs and improve the ...

Women Have Smaller but More Efficient Brain: New Study

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Women can have the last laugh now! A new research from UCLA and Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain, indicated that although the brain in women is smaller than in men, women use their brain more efficiently. The study, published in the journal Intelligence, carried out a series of intelligence tests by applying a method for automated segmentation of the hippocampus in 3D high-resolution structural brain MRI scans. Hippocampus ...

Risk Factors for Sudden Cardiac Death

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The incidence of sudden cardiac death is greater in patients with diabetes. The root cause is yet to be known. Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a sudden, natural and unexpected death that arises due to a loss of functioning of the heart. It can occur in a person with no symptoms at all, as well as in those with advanced heart disease. SCD occurs when a structural abnormality of the heart is coupled with a disturbance in the electrical system of the heart. This ...

Fasting: Key to Weight Loss

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Intermittent fasting could be the secret to losing weight and reducing risk of cancer, heart disease, say scientists. Fat loss pills and strenuous exercise could be a thing of the past, with a new diet claiming to improve your waistline, as well as extend your life and keep wrinkles at bay. The 5:2 diet - also known as intermittent fasting - requires two non-consecutive days of "fasting" each week, when the dieter is to consume no more than 500 ...

Skin Cancer Risk Lowered in Women With Prolonged Intake of Aspirin

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Taking aspirin for a prolonged period could drastically reduce the risk of skin cancer n women, suggests a study recently published in the journal, Cancer. Dr Jean Tang, of Stanford University School of Medicine in California along with her team followed up the medical history of 59,806 Caucasian women aged between 50 and 79, enrolled in the study, for 12 years. Researchers took a note of aspirin intake and lifestyle of the women involved in the study. ...

Nasal Spray Offers Hope to Beat Dementia

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Nasal spray for diabetic patients could also have an effect on Alzheimer's disease, say scientists. Type 2 diabetes is a known risk factor for Alzheimer's and it is believed that impaired insulin signalling in the brain could damage nerve cells and contribute to the disease. Scientists from Northern Ireland, Sweden and the US have shown that some diabetes drugs can improve signs of the disease in mice and that intranasal insulin could be a new ...

Michelle Obama: Best Dressed Woman

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Michelle Obama has been named as the most stylish woman in the world. The 49-year-old was commended for using fashion as a "force for good" by Sunday Times Style magazine, reports contactmusic.com. She was described as "understanding that, as her primary role as the First Lady is visual, fashion can be a force for good used to inspire and entertain". Other names who made the top 25 include Spice Girls singer and fashion designer ...

Viagra: No Help Against Heart Failure

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Viagra - the erectile dysfunction drug is no help against heart failure and should not be taken for it, reveals study. Some early research had suggested the drug, which can increase blood flow to other parts of the body, might offer a benefit to people with diastolic heart failure in which the heart's lower chambers stiffen and cannot pump blood well, causing shortness of breath. But the randomized study of 216 patients at 26 sites in North America ...

Men in Same-sex Marriages are Living Longer: Study

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According to a recent study, the mortality rate for men in same-sex marriages has dropped markedly since the 1990s. The findings of the study have been published in iInternational Journal of Epidemiology/i. However, same-sex married women have emerged as the group of women with the highest, and in recent years, even further increasing mortality. Denmark implemented the world's first national law on registered same-sex partnerships in 1989. Mortality was ...

New Drug Reduces Heart Damage During Surgery

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A single dose of an anti-inflammatory treatment was found to reduce heart muscle damage during angioplasty procedures, says study. The antibody inclacumab, developed by Swiss lab Hoffmann-La Roche, significantly reduced levels of the standard molecular markers troponin I and CK-MB in patients, compared to those who took a placebo in a clinical trial. Patients who received the inclacumab dose saw troponin I levels drop 22.4 percent more after 16 ...

Flavored Energy Boost Chewing Gums With Caffeine by Wrigley to Hit the Markets Soon

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Wrigley, the leading chewing gum manufacturer making up nearly half of gum market, has planned to launch its new product, Alert Energy Caffeine Gum. U.S. gum sales have gone down by 3.8% since 2008, while sales of energy drinks are up by 41% during the same period, reports a global market research firm, Euromonitor International. Wrigley has attempted to bring in the flavors and benefits of energy drink in a chewing gum. The pack containing eight gum pieces ...

Blood Thinner, Cangrelor, Proves Efficient in the Third Attempt

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Medicines Co. has succeeded in proving the efficiency of the newly developed blood-thinning drug, Cangrelor, in a third attempt of phase III clinical trial. The clinical data was recently presented at the American College of Cardiology scientific meeting in San Francisco. The study involved 11,000 heart patients at 153 centers, who underwent angioplasty and stent placement procedures. The patients were treated with either Cangrelor or Plavix, a commonly used blood ...

Heart Damage Reduced Significantly by a New Drug Under Clinical Trial

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A new drug, inclacumab, developed by Swiss lab Hoffmann-La Roche, showed significant results in the phase II clinical trial in reducing the levels of inflammatory enzymes that mark heart damage. Most often, heart tissue is inflamed following angioplasty and an increase in the proteins, troponin I and CK-MB are noticed. Inclacumab is designed to reduce the levels of these biomarkers thereby reducing heart damage. The trial involved 530 heart patients with ...

Heart Disease - A Threat to Mankind Since the Ancient Times

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A recent research published in The Lancet, questions the common belief that sedentary lifestyle, smoking and consumption of high fat content fast food are the major risk factors for heart diseases. In an extensive research, a team of cardiologists examined 137 mummies from Egypt, Aleutian Islands in Alaska and parts of southwestern America. CT scans done on the mummies revealed that the arteries of most of the mummies, who lived nearly 4000 years ago, contained plaque, ...

French President Proposes 6 Months Paternity Leave for the Father After the Birth of a Child

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A new parental leave law has been proposed by The French President Francois Hollande, which will enable fathers to avail six months of paid leave following the birth of a child. France's president is working on the legislation to encourage more fathers to avail paternity leave so that mothers can join back work faster. Francois Hollande is also pressing for additional state aid for single parents whose partners are not providing any financial support ...

Reduce Salt in Breads, Meats and Sauces

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A University of Otago study has suggested the introduction of limits on the quantity of salt used in bread, meats and sauces and a tax on junk food to assist Kiwis in reducing their intake of salt. The study, published by the department of public health at the University's Wellington campus, found that people from New Zealand can eat a low salt diet on a (Dollar) 9 a day budget. A normal diet in New Zealand was a meat-based diet, including sausages for dinner, ...

Texting can Charge Your Phone

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It is now possible to charge your phone's battery without the use of power resources. It can be charged just by sending a text message. A company head quartered in London called, Buffalo Grid, has introduced a solar-power cell phone charging station. To make use of the energy of this station, all that needs to be done is to send a text message from the mobile phone. Using a technique called maximum power point tracking (MPPT), the battery is able to ...

Good-Looking Males Have Higher Salaries Than Average-Looking Counterparts

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A new study has said that good-looking male employees could earn 22 percent more than their average-looking colleagues doing an identical job. The senior economists, who conducted the study, said that men with below-average looks faced an uphill battle in the office, with ugliness reducing a man's earnings by 26 percent compared to an average-looking worker. Co-author Andrew Leigh, former economics professor at the Australian National University, told ...

Essential Role of IL-22 in Lung Repair After the Flu Highlighted in New Study

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Previous research has indicated that once the initial episode of influenza has passed, the chronic effects tend to be overlooked. The results of a new study indicate that the cytokine interleukin-22 (IL-22) plays a critical role in normal lung repair following influenza infection. This study is published in the April 2013 issue of the iAmerican Journal of Pathology/i. "With the increasing prevalence of more infective and/or virulent strains of influenza, ...

Sudden Death in Young Athletes Due to Inadequate Screening Process?

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Sudden death among young athletes is a major concern globally. Even though young athletes are required to receive health screens to be cleared to play sports, those tests failed to detect important cardiovascular abnormalities in cleared players, and many were allowed to play despite suspicions of dangerous cardiovascular conditions, according to a large registry study of patients who died from sudden death, being presented March 10 by Kevin Harris, MD, research ...

Bleeding Complications Reduced by Validated Pre-Procedure Risk Score

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A study presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions has revealed that a clinical decision support tool helped physicians identify patients at high risk of bleeding complications prior to undergoing a coronary intervention procedure. More than 1.3 million percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) are performed each year in the United States. Bleeding during and after these procedures is a common risk (3 - 6%). "Bleeding complications ...

Sweden Goes Up Stream for Its Music

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Observers have confirmed that Sweden is at the forefront of a global recovery in music sales driven by streaming music services such as Spotify. Legal downloading sites such as Apple's iTunes Store were once thought to be a panacea for the global music industry, providing an alternative to illegal download sites like Sweden's Pirate Bay. But if the high-tech Scandinavian nation is anything to go by, music downloads could soon be as obsolete as CDs or ...

Experts Warn Bright Comet Could Damage Your Eyes

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Experts have warned that comet Pan-Starrs, which will fly past the sun this week, could pose danger to the eyes of astronomers. The comet also known as C/2011 L4 will not be seen on earth again until the year 112,000. But experts have warned that amateur astronomers should not to try and see it too soon. Rev Kate Kay, chief astronomer at the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth, Devon, told the Independent that the comet is going around ...

Bacteria Found Underwater may Hold Key to TB Cure

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A US researcher has ventured deep underwater in the search for a cure for deadly infectious diseases like Tuberculosis. Brian Murphy, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is collecting actinomycete bacteria from water throughout the world in a hunt for new antibiotics. He and Scott Franzblau, director of UIC's Institute for Tuberculosis Research, are lead investigators on a new, three-year ...

What Will You Do for Kicking the Butt?

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A new poll has found that one in ten smokers have tried falling sick by chain-smoking through their last pack of cigarettes in a bid to kick the habit. And 35 percent have kept away from friends and family who smoke. The data, collected from 6,200 current and former smokers by Pfizer as part of its Don't Go Cold Turkey campaign, found that a quarter of smokers have avoided drinking any alcohol whilst trying to quit, the Daily Star reported. On ...

Electric Car Does Not Interfere With Implanted Cardiac Devices: Mayo Study

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Patients with implanted cardiac devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators can safely drive or ride in an electric car without risk of electromagnetic interference (EMI), says a Mayo study. The study, titled "Hybrid Cars and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators: Is It Safe?" is the first of its kind to address the interaction between these devices and electric cars. It will be presented at the 2013 American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific ...

Research Says Newly Recognized Heart Cardiomyopathy is Not Always Benign

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A study presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions says that although a newly recognized cardiomyopathy, is typically treatable, it can also be deadly when compounded by other co-morbidities, such as heart failure. This condition, formally known as Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) and informally known as stress cardiomyopathy or broken heart syndrome, has abrupt onset of symptoms and is characterized by a distinctive left ventricular ...

Scientists Device Method to Produce Healthy Mouse Clones

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Researchers from the RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan have zeroed in on a method to produce healthy mouse clones with the normal lifespan and which can also be cloned without any limit. Using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SNCT), the team headed by Dr Teruhiko Wakayama were able to produce 581 clones of one original 'donor' mouse, achieved through 25 consecutive rounds of cloning. SNCT is a famous technique of ...

Signaling Molecule may Help Stem Cells Focus on Making Bone Despite Age, Disease

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New research indicates that a signaling molecule that helps stem cells survive in the low-oxygen environment inside the bone marrow may hold clues to helping the cells survive aging processes. They hope the findings, reported in iPLOS ONE/i, will result in better therapies to prevent bone loss in aging and enhance success of stem cell transplants for a wide variety of conditions from heart disease to cerebral palsy and cancer. They've found that ...

Barack Obama: The Ultimate Global Power Player

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In the list of the 50 most powerful people in sports, US President Barack Obama has been placed at 44th position. This is put together by Sports Illustrated magazine. The magazine said that the 51-year-old politician might be the ultimate global power player, but he also wields significant influence in the Republic of Sports, Politico reported. "One relevant riff-on his NCAA tourney picks, on his desire for a college football playoff, on his concern ...

Random Workplace Drug Tests on the Rise in The Bay of Plenty

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The Bay of Plenty is seeing an increase in random workplace drug testing and nearly 8 per cent of all drug screening tests are turning positive. Workplace drug testing across the nation is twice as much now over the past two years and this is due to the increase in awareness among employers about the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol on health and safety. According to NZ Drug Detection Agency statistics, more then 75% of drug tests turned positive ...

Return to Work is a Stressful Experience for New Mums

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A new poll indicates that some women in the US face extra work stress from countering the stereotypes surrounding mothers in the workplace. The results of the annual survey by the American Psychological Association found that 32 percent of women said employers didn't provide enough opportunities for internal advancement, compared with 30 percent of men who said the same thing, ABC News reported. Out of the 1,501 employed adults surveyed online, 32 percent ...

Drug Used for the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis may Turn Fatal

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For treating multiple sclerosis, the drug natalizumab is effective but it increases the risk of a rare but potentially fatal brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). A study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013, suggests that early detection of PML may help improve survival and disability levels. The study examined 319 people ...

Mortality for Type A Acute Aortic Dissection Near 1 Percent Per Hour

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International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissections (IRAD) is a consortium of research centers, including MHI, where the management and outcomes of acute aortic dissection is evaluated. Established in 1996, IRAD currently has 30 large referral centers in 11 countries participating in the registry. The belief among medical professionals in the 1950s that the mortality rate for type A acute aortic dissection during the initial 24 hours was one to two ...

Energy Production in Melanoma Cells can Shift With BRAF Inhibitor Treatment

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BRAF-positive metastatic malignant melanomas develop resistance to treatment with drugs targeting the BRAF/MEK growth pathway via a shift in metabolism, a new study has found. The findings, which will be published in iCancer Cell/i and have been released online, suggest a strategy to improve the effectiveness of currently available targeted therapies. "We were surprised to find that melanoma cells treated with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib dramatically ...

Big Pharma Battle Delays Pacific Free Trade Pact

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Officials say that as a row between Big Pharma and activists supporting access to generic drugs erupts ahead of an October deadline, a US-led Pacific free trade pact faces further delays. Negotiators from the United States and 10 other countries are holding closed-door talks in Singapore from March 4-13 on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as they race to seal an accord. "It's getting tougher and more challenging towards the end. There might ...

Virus and Genes Involved in Development of Schizophrenia: Research

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The interaction between viruses and genes in a way may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia significantly. This happens in the developing foetus. An international team of scientists led by Aarhus University, Denmark, has made this discovery. As the first in the world, they scanned the entire genome of hundreds of sick and healthy people to see if there is an interaction between genes and a very common virus - cytomegalovirus - and to see whether the interaction ...

To Cope With Complicated Programs, Web-Based Database Help Robots

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Robots can now get help online, as they are confused about what they encounter in the world of humans. European scientists have turned on the first part of a web-based database of information to help them cope, the BBC reported. Called Rapyuta, the online "brain" describes objects robots have met and can also carry out complicated computation on behalf of a robot. Rapyuta's creators hope it will make robots cheaper, as they will not need ...

Insecticide-treated Bed Nets Could Eradicate Malaria

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Use of bed nets treated with insecticides was found to eliminate malaria, suggests study. The study from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), which uses a mathematical model, found that use of insecticide-treated bed nets or ITNs positively affected the infection's reproduction number, or R, which is the primary epidemiological number used to determine the degree which a disease can spread through a population. The ...

Report: Patients With Post-ACS Depression Benefitted from Active Treatment in Clinical Trial

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According to a report, a clinical trial of patients with post-acute coronary syndrome (ACS, heart disease) depression finds that a centralized, patient-preference program decreased depressive symptoms and may be cost-neutral over time. The report was published Online First by iJAMA Internal Medicine/i, a JAMA Network publication. The study is being released early to coincide with its presentation at the American College of Cardiology's annual Scientific Sessions. About ...

Report Finds That Hospitalizations for Congenital Heart Disease Increasing at Greater Rate Among Adults Than Children

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U.S. hospitalizations from 1998 through 2010 for children and adults with congenital heart disease were analyzed by Jared M. O'Leary, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and colleagues. "There are more than 787,000 adults with congenital heart disease in the United States. Adults with congenital heart disease remain at risk for frequent hospitalizations," the authors write in a Research Letter published online by iJAMA/i to coincide with its presentation ...

Planar Cell Polarity Genes Guide Gut Neurons: Research

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The "little brain" a.k.a the enteric nervous system (ENS) that resides within the gut wall is what governs motility, secretion, and blood flow in the human gastrointestinal tract. Failure of the ENS to develop normally leads to congenital megacolon (Hirschsprung Disease) while loss of normal gut innervation is thought to contribute to debilitating motility disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome. In order to prevent and treat these conditions, it is necessary ...

Researchers Find That Partner Abuse Counseling for Women Is Insufficient

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Only about one in five central Pennsylvania women who have experienced intimate partner violence is asked or counseled by a health care provider about abuse, according to Penn State medicine and public health science researchers. Overall, approximately only one in nine women has received preventive counseling about violence and safety. "Our research shows that we (as a healthcare community) haven't been doing a good job of identifying and counseling about intimate partner ...

Patient Reports Via Telemedicine Result in Lower Blood Pressure: Research

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According to research, using a telemedicine system to engage people in underserved, urban communities to measure and report their blood pressure remotely-outside of the doctor's office-appears to help them achieve blood pressure goals and improve adherence to lifestyle changes and medication recommendations. The research is being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Overall, researchers say that just being in a system ...

Source of Ovarian Stem-like Cells Prone to Giving Rise to Ovarian Cancer Uncovered By Scientists

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A team of cancer researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has discovered cells with stem-cell properties in the ovary that can mutate to form tumors. The research was made in collaboration with colleagues at Cornell University. The team demonstrated that when two important tumor suppressor genes are inactivated, a previously unknown subset of ovarian stem-like epithelial cells undergoes cancerous transformation. The findings, published today in the journal ...

Length of DNA Strands can Predict Life Expectancy: Intermountain Study

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Is it possible to predict life expectancy using the length of strands of DNA in patients with heart disease? Researchers from the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, who studied the DNA of more that 3,500 patients with heart disease, say yes it can. In the new study, presented Saturday, March 9, at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco, the researchers were able ...

Vedanta Hospitals Joined By US NGO for Free Cleft Lip Surgery

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A US-based NGO has partnered with Vedanta Hospitals to carry out cleft lip and palate surgeries. Vedanta Hospitals is a multi-specialty healthcare facility set up in Odisha by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd. Vedanta Hospitals at Lanjigarh in the state's Kalahandi district started these surgeries free of cost a year ago, VAL president Mukesh Kumar told IANS. "The partnership with Smile Train, a US-based international charity, will leave no stone unturned to treat ...

Bird Flu Outbreak in Bihar Leads To Hundreds of Chicken Being Culled

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Officials have said that hundreds of chicken were culled and large quantity of eggs destroyed in Bihar's Purnea district following an outbreak of avian flu. Purnea district magistrate Manish Verma said the administration had issued bird flu alert as a preventive measure. "We are fully prepared to deal with an outbreak," he said. He said bird flu was detected after 300 birds of a government poultry farm died suddenly a few days ago. "We ...

Study Explains How Flu Virus Spreads

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A new study has found that people may catch the flu through airborne particles and not just direct or indirect contact with a person who has the virus. The study also found that when flu patients wear a surgical mask, the release of virus in even the smallest airborne droplets can be significantly reduced. "People are generally surprised to learn that scientists don't know for sure how flu spreads," says Donald Milton, M.D., Dr.P.H., who directs the ...

Research: Viviparous Lizards Facing Mass Extinction Due to Global Warming

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Climate change could lead to dozens of species of lizards becoming extinct within the next 50 years warns a new research. Globally it has been observed that lizards with viviparous reproduction (retention of embryos within the mother's body) are being threatened by changing weather patterns. The new study suggested that the evolution of this mode of reproduction, which is thought to be a key successful adaptation, could, in fact, be the species' downfall ...

Major Breakthrough Aids In Diagnosing Alzheimer's 15 Years Before Symptoms Strike

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A major breakthrough was made by researchers from Melbourne in diagnosing Alzheimer's 15 years before symptoms strike, offering hope of avoiding dementia. The discovery gives drug companies a target to aim for as they search for a cure to Alzheimer's. A team from the Austin Hospital has tracked the build up of a waste protein called amyloid, discovering levels that can be detected accumulating in the brains of those who will go on to suffer dementia ...

Children With Hearing Loss may Develop Communicative Ability Due to Mom's Sensitivity

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One of the largest, most nationally representative studies of the effects of parenting on very young, deaf children who have received cochlear implants is being conducted by researchers led by University of Miami (UM) Psychologist Alexandra L. Quittner. The findings indicate that mothers who are most sensitive in their interactions with their children receiving cochlear implants have kids that develop language faster, almost "catching up" to their hearing peers. ...

Study Elaborates Why Some People Tend to Get Heart Attacks in Winter

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A new study has demonstrated that cholesterol levels seem to fluctuate significantly with the change of seasons, which may leave some people with borderline high cholesterol at greater risk of heart attacks during the winter months. While prior studies have shown that heart attacks and heart-related deaths increase during the winter months, researchers in Brazil were interested in finding out whether the prevalence of high cholesterol-a well-known cardiovascular ...

Cancer-Promoting Protein also Suppresses Cell Growth: Research

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Professor Adrian Krainer and colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have demonstrated that some cellular proteins have multiple, and occasionally opposing, functions. Their paper, published online today in iMolecular Cell/i, says that the oncogenic protein SRSF1 can also trigger a stop in cell growth and prevent cancerous proliferation by stabilizing p53, the powerful tumor-suppressor protein. SRSF1 is a protein with many jobs. It was first ...

Researchers Discover New Form of Animal Communication

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New research has indicated that sniffing, a common behavior in dogs, may also serve as a method for rats to communicate amongst themselves. This discovery might help scientists identify brain regions critical for interpreting communications cues and what brain malfunctions may cause some complex social disorders. Researchers have long observed how animals vigorously sniff when they interact, a habit usually passed off as simply smelling each other. ...

Hospital Readmissions in Heart Failure Patients may be Reduced by Electronic Discharge Tool

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Research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session has revealed that the use of electronic discharge orders helped increase compliance with quality care measures and lowered hospital readmission rates in heart failure patients. Despite more widespread use of standardized discharge orders and evidence suggesting their effectiveness, little is known about how they impact adherence to quality measures or hospital readmission ...

Women Not Treated Well at Work After Maternity Leave

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A recent poll among women has revealed the sad plight of women on maternity leave. Women said they faced discrimination at work when they were pregnant and are often replaced in their jobs during maternity leave. To many of them, maternity leave could well mean stress, loss of job or even a demotion. One out of seven women who took the survey said that they had lost their job while they were on maternity leave and nearly 40% admitted that their jobs ...

Research Highlights Advance in Re-Engineering Photosynthesis to Make Drugs, Compounds or Ingredients

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An advance in re-engineering photosynthesis to transform plants into bio-factories that manufacture high-value ingredients for medicines is being reported by scientists. They report on the research in the journal iACS Synthetic Biology/i. Poul Erik Jensen and colleagues explain that photosynthesis does more than transform carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen and generate energy. That process also produces a wealth of natural ...

Breakthrough Surgery Results in 75 Per Cent Skull Replacement by 3D-printed Implant

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A breakthrough surgery has helped a man receive 75 per cent replacement of his skull with a custom-made 3D-printed implant. A 3D scanner took an image of his skull after which a plastic prosthetic was made as per his features. Following the consent given by US regulators to Oxford Performance Materials in Connecticut, a surgery was performed to insert the printed bone in the skull. The company is now in a position to provide the 3D printouts ...