A new study from Iowa State University biomedical researchers illuminates the biological processes by which exposure to some metals can contribute to the onset of Parkinson’s-like symptoms. Focuses on the metal manganese, which has a range of industrial uses as an alloy. Anumantha Kanthasamy, a Clarence Hartley Covault Distinguished Professor in veterinary medicine and the…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has come up with plans and tools to help countries ensure safer surgery in their hospitals and clinics. These include the surgical safety checklist and safe childbirth checklist. But implementation is still poor in most African countries. A recent report in The Lancet medical journal suggests that at least 4·2 million people worldwide die within 30 days…
Beware the ball pit. Ball pits used in children’s physical therapy—similar to those made popular by restaurants catering to families—may contribute to germ transmission between patients, according to new research published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the journal of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. The popularity of ball pits has…
To directly compare the utility for therapeutic outcome prediction of dynamic first-pass contrast-enhanced (CE)-perfusion area-detector computed tomography (ADCT), MR imaging assessed with the same mathematical method and 2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography combined with CT (PET/CT) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thoracic radiation therapy patients treated with chemoradiotherapy Based on the evidence of a meta-analysis…
Cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) form unique patterns that can be used to track changes in this important layer of tissue in the back of the eye; researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have found. Using a combination of adaptive optics imaging and a fluorescent dye, the researchers used the RPE patterns…
The human body has a large surface area that is in contact with the outside world, much of this comes from the body’s largest organ our skin which protects us from a variety of potential threats. The other major sites of contact with the outside world come from the openings in the body and our nose…
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 spurred the rapid adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in U.S. hospitals. In 2008, 13% of hospitals in the country was using a basic EHR system; by 2015, nearly 90% of hospitals had one in place. Over the same 7-year period, the…
A team of researchers from Spain, the U.S. and the Netherlands has found that giving people propofol can lead to muddied memory recall of specific incidents. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes experiments they conducted with volunteers undergoing colonoscopy and what they found. Memories can be both a blessing and…
The aging of the world population and the consequent epidemiological transition in recent decades; have caused a marked increase in the prevalence of elderly patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD); especially the oldest old or very old (≥ 80 years), treated with or without renal replacement therapy (RRT). In the United States, the incidence of…
Do human beings have a magnetic sense? Biologists know other animals do. They think it helps creatures including bees, turtles and birds navigate through the world. Scientists have tried to investigate whether humans belong on the list of magnetically sensitive organisms. For decades, there’s been a back-and-forth between positive reports and failures to demonstrate the trait in people, with seemingly endless controversy. The…
When you flush the toilet, you probably don’t think about the traces of the medicine and personal care products in your body that are winding up in sewage treatment plants, streams, rivers, lakes, bays and the ocean. But Rutgers scientists have found that bacteria in sewage treatment plants may be creating new contaminants that have…
Adult depression has long been associated with shrinkage of the hippocampus, a brain region that plays an important role in memory and response to stress. Now, new research from Washington University in St. Louis has linked participation in team sports to larger hippocampal volumes in children and less depression in boys ages 9 to 11.…