Body

A brief behavioral treatment consisting of two in-person sessions and two phone calls appears to alleviate insomnia in older adults for at least six months, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the May 23 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

A cognitive behavioral therapy program focusing on stress management appears to decrease the risk of recurrent heart attacks and other cardiovascular events in patients with heart disease, according to a report in the January 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Seniors of Hispanic descent are far less likely to become immunized against the flu or pneumonia compared to similar White seniors, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Researchers found that Hispanic seniors who prefer speaking Spanish and live in linguistically isolated communities such as the Southeast that are newer immigrant destinations are least likely to be immunized. The findings suggest that such groups should be targeted with special education efforts in the future.

BOSTON (January 24, 2011) — Genetics in Medicine, the official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics, published this month a paper by Tufts University faculty calling for a moderate, strategic approach to teaching personalized genomic testing in medical school curricula.

MADISON — Future queen or tireless toiler? A paper wasp's destiny may lie in the antennal drumbeats of its caretaker.

While feeding their colony's larvae, a paper wasp queen and other dominant females periodically beat their antennae in a rhythmic pattern against the nest chambers, a behavior known as antennal drumming.

New research led by UC Davis scientists provides insight into why some body organs are more susceptible to cell death than others and could eventually lead to advances in treating or preventing heart attack or stroke.

In a paper published Jan. 21 in the journal Molecular Cell, the UC Davis team and their collaborators at the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins University report that Bax, a factor known to promote cell death, is also involved in regulating the behavior of mitochondria, the structures that provide energy inside living cells.

A new species of parrot-sized dinosaur, the first discovered with only one finger, has been unearthed in Inner Mongolia, China.

RICHLAND, Wash. -- The fresh scent of pine has helped atmospheric scientists find missing sources of organic molecules in the air -- which, it could well turn out, aren't missing after all. In work appearing in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition Online, researchers examined what particles containing compounds such as those given off by pine trees look like and how quickly they evaporate. They found the particles evaporate more than 100 times slower than expected by current air-quality models.

In an important study that may shed light on human ability to adapt to hypoxia, or inadequate levels of oxygen, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have proven that the genome of flies exposed to long-term hypoxia are changed to permanently affect gene expression. Their findings, to be published online by the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the week of January 24, 2011, may lead to new targets for development of therapies for hypoxia-induced disease in humans.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The success of a fungal pathogen in becoming a persistent and opportunistic source of infection in human beings may be due to a mating strategy that can best be described as "don't be too choosy." A new Brown University study finds that Candida albicans will respond to the pheromones of several different species, not just its own, and if an opposite-sex partner isn't around, it can switch over to same-sex mating. In affairs of DNA exchange — for the yeast has no heart — Candida is exquisitely pragmatic.

Antibodies are watchdogs of human health, continuously prowling the body and registering minute changes associated with infection or disease with astonishing acuity. They also serve as biochemical memory banks, faithfully recording information about pathogens they encounter and efficiently storing this data for later use.

(Garrison, NY) Can optimism be ethically problematic? Yes, according to a new study, which found unrealistic optimism prevalent among participants in early-phase cancer trials and suggested that it may compromise informed consent.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a recent survey of pharmacy professors, 100 percent of the respondents who had Facebook profiles said they would not send friend requests to their current students.

Just fewer than half of the responding faculty members had a Facebook profile, and of those, most said they also ignored friend requests from students – especially current students.

Canada's health care system could have saved $77 million in 2006 if it had adopted a more restrictive policy on the cardiovascular drugs angiotensin receptor blockers without a negative impact on cardiovascular health, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100787.pdf.

Preparing small doses of medication from syringes may be inaccurate and can result in crucial dosing errors for infants and children, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100467.pdf.