Small print and poor printing on prescription labels handed out by pharmacists may be misread and may lead to errors in taking medication, according to new research by the University of Waterloo and CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind).
The study, published recently in the Canadian Pharmacists Journal, found that labels on prescription medications dispensed by pharmacies do not consistently follow professionally recommended guidelines for legibility.
Not even geckos and spiders can sit upside down forever. Nanophysics makes sure of that. Mechanics researchers at Linköping University have demonstrated this in an article just published in Physical Review E. Knowledge that can be of great industrial benefit.
In some countries, a region that can lay claim to being the birthplace of a country's political leader is likely to get preferential treatment – bias that shines out when the intensity of night lights is compared with that in other regions.
Big data can yield big savings, if they are used in the right ways. David W. Bates of the Brigham and Women's Hospital and coauthors analyzed six use cases with strong opportunities for cost savings—high-cost patients; readmissions; triage; decompensation (when a patient's condition worsens); adverse events; and treatment optimization when a disease affects multiple organ systems. They suspect that cost-savings benefits will vary widely, though the current costs associated with all six scenarios will be significant.
SAN FRANCISCO – July 9, 2014 – The first clinical trial to examine integrated low vision and mental health treatment has shown that the approach can reduce the incidence of depression by half among people with low vision due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The results of the study were published online today in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Researchers using fossils of a 410-million-year-old arachnid – one of the first predators on land – have created images and stitched them together to try and duplicate the animal walking.
The scholars used exceptionally preserved fossils from the Natural History Museum in London to create the video showing the most likely walking gait of the animal; the study is published in a special issue of the Journal of Paleontology.
DURHAM, N.C. – The changing dynamic of health studies driven by "big data" research projects will empower patients to become active participants who provide real-time information such as symptoms, side effects and clinical outcomes, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.
Among patients with possible common duct stones, removal of the gall bladder, compared with endoscopic assessment of the common duct followed by gall bladder removal, resulted in a shorter length of hospital stay without increased illness and fewer common duct examinations, according to a study in the July 9 issue of JAMA.
In an analysis of about 460 patients with failed bioprosthetic aortic valves who underwent transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation, overall survival at one year was 83 percent, with survival associated with surgical valve size and mechanism of failure, according to a study in the July 9 issue of JAMA.
As the use of electronic health record becomes widespread across the United States, due in large to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the quantity of clinical data that will become available for research and analytic purposes will also dramatically increase. Additionally, experts in healthcare have become increasingly focused on clinical analytics that analyze large quantities of data for the purpose of gleaning insights that have the potential to improve the value of patient care – a process that is known as big data.
HOUSTON – (July 8, 2014) – Half of Texans who are eligible for premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and who looked for health plans in the ACA's Health Insurance Marketplace said cost was the main reason they didn't enroll in a plan. That's just one of the findings in a report released today by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.
Skin cells possess an olfactory receptor for sandalwood scent, as researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have discovered. Their data indicate that the cell proliferation increases and wound healing improves if those receptors are activated. This mechanism constitutes a possible starting point for new drugs and cosmetics. The team headed by Dr Daniela Busse and Prof Dr Dr Dr med habil Hanns Hatt from the Department for Cellphysiology published their report in the "Journal of Investigative Dermatology".
Daejeon, Republic of Korea, July 8, 2014 – At a busy shopping mall, shoppers walk by store windows to find attractive items to purchase. Through the windows, shoppers can see the products displayed, but may have a hard time imagining doing something beyond just looking, such as touching the displayed items or communicating with sales assistants inside the store. With TransWall, however, window shopping could become more fun and real than ever before.
EAST LANSING, Mich. --- The Obama administration's controversial travel-promotion program has generated a roughly $1 billion increase in the value of the hospitality industry and stands to benefit the U.S. economy in the long run.
So finds the first scientific evidence, from a Michigan State University-led study, showing a positive economic impact of the Travel Promotion Act. Congress is currently reviewing whether to extend the law, which went into effect in March 2010.
Premature newborns are 32% less likely to die if they are admitted to high volume neonatal units rather than low volume, according to new research.
The study, led by the University of Warwick and published in BMJ Open, analysed data from 165 neonatal units across the UK. It found babies born at less than 33 weeks gestation were 32% less likely to die if they were admitted to high volume units, compared to low volume.