Body

It's easy to see that University of Cincinnati design students Alex Broerman and Ashley Ma are on to something with their new design and prototype for a prescription-medicine pill bottle that better serves the needs of the blind and visually impaired by means of a simple and inexpensive innovation.

SAN ANTONIO (May 21, 2012) — Behavioral support from peers and primary care office staff can help patients improve their blood pressure control by as much as starting a new drug, a new study found. Barbara J. Turner, M.D., M.S.Ed., M.A., M.A.C.P., of UT Medicine San Antonio, is the senior author.

Investment bankers often are stereotyped as greedy, overpaid leeches who will say or do anything for a quick buck.

However, despite certain biases, investment banks do add value to mergers and acquisitions and, in fact, produce important information for the M&A advisory process, according to new research by Matthew Cain, assistant professor of finance at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.

The tuberculosis vaccine is often used as a treatment for bladder cancer, and adding vitamin D might improve the vaccine's effectiveness, according to new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center presented today at the American Urological Association annual meeting.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) surgeons have developed a new technique for reconstructing the larynx after surgery for advanced cancer. In the May Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, they describe how this approach – which uses cryopreserved aortas from deceased donors to replace removed larynx tissue – allowed patients to avoid a permanent tracheotomy and maintain voice and swallowing function with no need for immunosuppressive medications.

Rochester, Minn. -- A study presented by Mayo Clinic researchers during Digestive Disease Week 2012 provides clear evidence that the number of people contracting the hard-to-control and treat bacterial infection Clostridium difficile (C. difficile or C. diff) is increasing, and that the infection is commonly contracted outside of the hospital.

Although scientists have made significant advances in understanding how plants elongate at high temperature, little is known of the physiological consequences of this response. To investigate these consequences, the researchers, led by Dr Kerry Franklin and Professor Alistair Hetherington in Bristol's School of Biological Sciences, studied thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), a small flowering plant which is a popular model species in plant biology and genetics.

Timing can affect whether females and minorities experience discrimination — says a study published today in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Flexible sigmoidoscopy, a screening test for colorectal cancer that is less invasive and has fewer side effects than colonoscopy, is effective in reducing the rates of new cases and deaths due to colorectal cancer, according to research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. In a study that spanned almost 20 years, researchers found that overall colorectal cancer mortality (deaths) was reduced by 26 percent and incidence (new cases) was reduced by 21 percent as a result of screening with sigmoidoscopy.

DURHAM, N.C. – Statins drugs prescribed to treat high cholesterol may also work to slow prostate growth in men who have elevated PSA levels, according to an analysis led by researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

CINCINNATI—University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have found that an imbalance in the regulation of certain T cells—the cells in the body that fight off infection or attack the system in certain autoimmune diseases—may put certain people at a higher risk of having recurrent cases of Clostridium difficile, or C. Diff, infection.

These findings are being presented via poster during Digestive Disease Week, Monday, May 21, 2012, in San Diego.

CINCINNATI—University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have found that some patients appear to be more predisposed for recurrent infection from the bacterium Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, and that it may advance to a more serious inflammatory condition in those individuals.

These findings are being presented via poster during Digestive Disease Week, Monday, May 21, 2012, in San, Diego.

Frank M. Brunkhorst, M.D., of Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany, and colleagues conducted a study to compare the effect of the antibiotics moxifloxacin and meropenem with the effect of meropenem monotherapy on sepsis-related organ dysfunction. Early appropriate antimicrobial therapy leads to lower mortality rates associated with severe sepsis. The authors hypothesized that maximizing the potential benefit and appropriateness of initial antibiotics by using 2 antibiotics would improve clinical outcomes compared with monotherapy.

Gordon D. Rubenfeld, M.D., of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Canada, and colleagues with the ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) Definition Task Force, developed a new definition of ARDS (the Berlin Definition) that focused on feasibility, reliability, validity and objective evaluation of its performance.

SAN DIEGO, CA (May 21, 2012) — Studies of technological innovations being presented for the first time at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) showed increased accuracy coupled with decreased cost, time or invasiveness of gastrointestinal procedures. Use of a new high-definition colonoscope, for example, improved physician confidence in diagnosing small polyps, potentially reducing the amount of polyps sent for pathology analysis and the associated costs.