Body

West Nile virus set the country abuzz when it rapidly spread from coast to coast just a few years after arriving in the United States. Most experts assumed birds were responsible for moving the virus across the country, but a paper published today in the journal Molecular Ecology finds that smaller wings may be to blame.

"This is one of the first studies to suggest that mosquitoes may have played a greater role in the rapid movement of West Nile virus," said Jason Rasgon, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and lead author of the study.

Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis do perceive a benefit from thiopurine treatment. A report in the open access journal BMC Gastroenterology has demonstrated improved health-related quality of life in 92 IBD patients.

Heart failure is by far the most prevalent chronic cardiac condition. Around 30 million people in Europe have heart failure and its incidence is still increasing: more cases are being identified, more people are living to an old age, and more are surviving a heart attack but with damage to the heart muscle.

As a result, heart failure represents one of the most common reasons for hospital admission today. However, one of its many challenges is that, following admission, there remains a high likelihood that many patients will be readmitted or die within one year.

Fossil corals, up to half a million years old, are providing fresh hope that coral reefs may be able to withstand the huge stresses imposed on them by today's human activity.

Reef ecosystems were able to persist through massive environmental changes imposed by sharply falling sea levels during previous ice ages, an international scientific team has found. This provides new hope for their capacity to endure the increasing human impacts forecast for the 21st century.

Each year, two in every 100,000 young athletes succumb to sudden cardiac death, fueling a debate over what constitutes a comprehensive health screening prior to sports participation. A new study by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Heart Center found the addition of electrocardiogram (ECG) testing to the standard medical history and physical examination for young athletes may better identify key cardiovascular abnormalities responsible for sports-related sudden death.

STANFORD, Calif. — A voluntary effort by the U.S. food service industry to reduce salt in processed foods could have far-reaching implications for the health of the U.S. population, preventing strokes and heart attacks in nearly a million Americans and saving $32.1 billion in medical costs, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that patients admitted to hospice care who have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) are rarely having their ICDs deactivated and are receiving electrical shocks from these devices near the end of life. This first-of-its-kind study of hospice patients with ICDs is published in the March 2, 2010 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

NEW YORK (March 1, 2010) — Robotic surgical technology with its three-dimensional, high-definition view gives surgeons the sensation of touch, even as they operate from a remote console. A new study describes the phenomenon, called intersensory integration, and reports that surgical outcomes for prostate cancer surgery using minimally invasive robotic technology compare favorably with traditional invasive surgery.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The remains of a new herbivorous sauropod dinosaur, discovered near the world-famous Carnegie Quarry in Dinosaur National Monument, may help explain the evolution of the largest land animals ever to walk the earth.

University of Michigan paleontologist Jeffrey Wilson and graduate student John Whitlock, along with coauthors from Brigham Young University and Dinosaur National Monument, describe the new species in a paper published online Feb. 24 in the journal Naturwissenschaften.

A newly identified cancer biomarker could define a new subtype of breast cancer as well as offer a potential way to treat it, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Their findings will be published in the March 1 online early edition issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University researchers have identified a way to improve thought processes that goes well beyond the "power of positive thinking." The technique, they argue, may help to navigate around biased ways of thinking and ultimately lead to better planning and decision-making.

Details are published online and will be included in the March 2010 issue of Psychological Science.

• Both genetic and environmental factors affect susceptibility to alcohol dependence (AD).
• To date, researchers have identified several genes associated with AD.
• Findings from a new genome-wide association study support an association between AD and a cluster of genes on chromosome 11.

• Multiple genetic, environmental and behavioral factors contribute to alcohol use disorders (AUDs).
• A person's level of response (LR) to alcohol can indicate a person's risk for developing AUDs.
• A new study has looked at "gene networks" instead of individual genes to confirm the influence of glutamate receptor signaling genes on a person's LR.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – New research shows women who don't receive a clot-busting drug after a stroke fare worse than men who are not treated. The study is published in the March 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Overexpression of the ARD1A gene (arrest-defective protein 1225) in mice reduced the number and size of both primary tumors and metastases, researchers report in a new study published online March 1in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.