Body

Toronto, Ontario - An international pilot study involving the Toronto General Hospital (TGH), a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto, and other hospitals from around the world, has found that using a Surgical Patient Safety Checklist significantly reduces surgical complications and mortality. The study, led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Dr. Atul Gawande of the Harvard School of Public Health, appears in the New England Journal of Medicine's (www.nejm.org) Online First on Wednesday, January 14, 2009.

BOSTON – Thirty years ago last summer, the world's first "test-tube" baby was born, and since then more than 1 million infants have been successfully conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), the technique in which a woman's eggs and man's sperm are fertilized in a laboratory and then implanted in the mother's womb.

When deciding whether or not to pursue IVF treatment, the obvious question of most patients is, "What is the chance that this therapy will result in a baby?" They now have an answer.

CHICAGO --- Charles Meadows measured his life in footsteps. How far to walk to reach the milk in the grocery store? Could he make it to the dairy case before cramps knifed through his left leg, immobilizing him and leaving him breathless in the aisle?

New Rochelle, NY, January 14, 2009— A special series of papers in the peer-reviewed journal Zebrafish provides a comprehensive look at future directions of research on pigment biology. Model organisms such as zebrafish advance the scientific understanding of the genetic basis of human skin color and race. The papers, which include historical findings and perspectives, are published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and are available online at www.liebertpub.com/zeb

If you have trouble keeping weight off and you're wondering why – the surprising answer may well be the cheeseburgers you ate – when you were a toddler.

Surprising new research by University of Calgary, Faculty of Kinesiology researcher Dr. Raylene Reimer, published in an international journal, indicates a direct connection between an adult's propensity to put on weight and our early childhood diet.

Xi'an, China – January 14, 2009 - A new study suggests that adult bone marrow stem cells can be used in the construction of artificial skin. The findings mark an advancement in wound healing and may be used to pioneer a method of organ reconstruction. The study is published in Artificial Organs, official journal of the International Federation for Artificial Organs (IFAO), the The International Faculty for Artificial Organs (INFA) and the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps (ISRBP).

Scientists at the MUHC and McGill University have identified a gene essential for the uptake of vitamin B12 in human cells. The discovery of this gene finally completes a 24 year-old hunt for the cause of an incredibly rare genetic disorder called, cblF combined homocystinuria and methylmalonic aciduria (cblF-Hcy-MMA), first documented in a Quebec infant in 1985. The work, which was funded in part by the CIHR and involved collaboration among researchers in Canada, Germany, Switzerland and France, was published online in Nature Genetics this week.

New research provides valuable insight into the molecular mechanisms that allow experience to influence behavior. The study, published by Cell Press in the January 15th issue of the journal Neuron, shows that a normally repressive protein can promote plasticity in sensory neurons by linking odor stimulation with the synthesis of a key adaptation protein.

MADISON -- Global yields of most biofuels crops, including corn, rapeseed and wheat, have been overestimated by 100 to 150 percent or more, suggesting many countries need to reset their expectations of agricultural biofuels to a more realistic level.

That's according to a study led by Matt Johnston and Tracey Holloway of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Jon Foley of University of Minnesota, which drew on actual agricultural data from nearly 240 countries to calculate the potential yields of 20 different biofuels worldwide.

The ability of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the safety of dietary supplements using nanomaterials is severely limited by lack of information, lack of resources and the agency's lack of statutory authority in certain critical areas, according to a new expert report released by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN).

A new mathematical model of the physiological regulation of body weight suggests a potential mechanism underlying the difficulty of losing weight, one that includes aspects of two competing hypotheses of weight regulation. In the January issue of Cell Metabolism, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators outline a system in which there may be several steady states to which an animal's weight tends to gravitate, rather than a single "set point."

CHICAGO (January 14, 2009) – New research published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that morbidly obese patients are at higher risk than normal weight patients for complications after colectomy – surgical removal of all or part of the colon – for the treatment of cancer.

CHICAGO (January 14, 2009) – New research published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that laparoscopic removal of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is safe and effective, with a disease-free survival rate of nearly 80 percent after an average follow-up time of three and a-half years.

Montreal, January 14, 2009 – Canadian researchers have identified a new protein in the progression of breast cancer. According to a recent study from the Université de Montréal and the University of Alberta, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the protein ARF1 plays a critical role in cancer cell growth and the spread of tumours. Targeting this protein with drug therapy may provide hope to women with breast cancer.

Columbus, OH – January 14, 2009 – Obesity continues to increase for women in the United States, particularly among African-American and Mexican-American women. Between the ages of 35-44, there are approximately 3.3 million white women, 1.4 million African-American women, and 575,000 Mexican-American women who are obese. A new study published in the journal Public Health Nursing reveals that there is an increased risk for midlife obesity among Mexican-American and White women who were poor as children and adults. However, this did not hold true for African-American women.