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Reduced or no "padding" during ECG-triggered coronary CT angiography (CTA) results in a substantial reduction in radiation dose without affecting image quality and interpretability, according to a study in the April issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org). ECG-triggered coronary CTA is a common, minimally invasive procedure that is used to evaluate blockages in the coronary arteries.

The imaging tests used in the diagnosis of possible pulmonary embolism (PE) vary by physician specialty and geographic region, which suggests that some of this imaging may be inappropriate, according to a study in the April issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (www.ajronline.org).

INDIANAPOLIS – Living wills and surrogate decision makers account for only a portion of the many factors weighed by physicians when making medical decisions for hospitalized patients lacking the capability to make their own decisions, according to a recently published study.

Researchers who queried 281 physicians report their conclusions in a study that appears in the March 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

WASHINGTON -- Tackling the increasing rates of cardiovascular disease in developing nations will require input from multiple partners, including the business community and international companies as well as global health and development agencies and the governments of these countries, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. More than 80 percent of deaths related to cardiovascular disease worldwide now occur in low- and middle-income countries; nearly 30 percent of all deaths in developing nations are caused by heart and circulatory disease.

A genetic accident in the sea more than 500 million years ago has provided new insight into diabetes, according to research from Queen Mary, University of London.

Professor Maurice Elphick, from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, says his findings could help to explain a rare form of the disease that causes sufferers to urinate more than three litres every day.

The ability of microbes, tiny organisms that do big jobs in our environment, to go dormant not only can save them from death and possible extinction but may also play a key role in promoting biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, Michigan State University's Jay Lennon and Stuart Jones described how they used a mathematical model and molecular tools to study how dormancy affects the biodiversity of natural microbial communities, especially in lakes.

A small but intrepid team of Exeter staff and students have returned from a six-week archaeological research expedition to a remote region of rural Andhra Pradesh in India.

The team, led by Dr Gill Juleff of the University of Exeter's Department of Archaeology, formed one half of a project to study the origins of high carbon steel-making in the southern Indian sub-continent. Funded by UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), the 'Pioneering Metallurgy' project is a joint venture between Exeter and the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore.

Many terrorist organizations, including Hamas, are using their children's websites in order to recruit girls for terrorist activities. This is part of a growing trend adopted by terrorist organizations and fundamentalist Islamic groups that are using the Internet with a focus on targeting women. This has been shown in a new study by Prof. Gabriel Weimann, a University of Haifa expert on terrorism on the Internet.

Scientists have discovered three genes that could shed light on the genetic causes of blood-clotting disorders such as thrombosis and some types of stroke.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have discovered that the three genes make a substantial contribution to how long it takes blood to clot.

The team thinks that identifying these genes that control the way blood clots could help further our understanding of conditions such as deep vein thrombosis, heart attacks, some types of stroke, and bleeding disorders.

An international team led by the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR) has produced MOPREDAS, the most complete database to date on monthly precipitations in the Iberian Peninsula. This has been used to analyse monthly rainfall trends between 1945 and 2005 in the Spanish part of the Iberian Peninsula.

Seen through western eyes, beliefs in supernatural forces are common in Ghana and other African countries. Death, suffering and diseases are often attributed to witchcraft. Over thirty per cent of its inhabitants believe such evil forces could be responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS.

When meeting Ghanian colleagues, professor and sociologist Knud Knudsen at the University of Stavanger was confronted with intellectually challenging issues.

A new study in the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB) identifies a cytokine signaling pathway that induces the breakdown of disused skeletal muscle. Blocking this pathway could prevent immobilized patients from losing their muscle tissue. The article appears in the March 22 issue of the JCB (www.jcb.org).

The TRAIL ligand is a promising anticancer agent that preferentially kills tumor cells without apparent damage to healthy cells. Many cancers exhibit resistance to TRAIL, however, thus limiting its therapeutic potential. According to a study in the March 22 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org), small molecules known to block Mcl-1 (induced myeloid leukemia cell differentiation protein) might represent a suitable means to overcome TRAIL resistance.

Researchers from Cornell University (NY) provide the first analysis of the function of Bloome syndrome protein (BLM) in mammalian meiosis. Bloome syndrome (BS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by stunted growth, cancer predisposition, and sterility that is caused by a mutation in the Blm gene and a deficiency of BLM. The study appears in the March 22 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org).

LOS ANGELES – The number of living donor organs available for transplant has progressively declined over the past five years, according to a new study. In addition, the study showed that for the first time, organs from deceased donors decreased in 2008.

"This decline has resulted in a widening gap between the number of organs available for transplant, and the number of patients who are awaiting a donor organ," said Andrew S. Klein, M.D., director of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Comprehensive Transplant Center and first author on the study.