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It is estimated that more than 1 billion individuals worldwide in 2005 had presbyopia, or age-related difficulty in seeing objects nearby, with an estimated 410 million with the condition unable to perform tasks requiring near vision, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Clinicians using an electronic prescribing system appear more likely to prescribe lower-cost medications, reducing drug spending, according to a report in the December 8/22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Based on projected increases in the prevalence of diabetes, the number of people with diabetes-related retinal disease, with glaucoma and with cataracts is estimated to increase significantly by 2050, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

While an estimated 2.3 million people in the United States take part in clinical trials every year, there currently exists no formal requirement to inform them of study results, an oversight that leaves participants confused, frustrated, and, in some cases, lacking information that may be important to their health. In an article published today in the Archives of Neurology, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have proposed a novel and effective approach to disseminate the results of clinical trials to study volunteers.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Typically, tobacco companies market harm-reduction cigarettes as being safer than traditional "full-flavored" brands, leading many smokers to conclude that the use of harm-reduction brands lowers their exposure to toxicants.

But a UC Riverside study now shows that smoke from these "light" or "low-yield" harm-reduction cigarettes retains toxicity and that this toxicity can affect prenatal development.

CHICAGO (December 8, 2008) – New research published in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS) suggests that surgical procedures that are shorter in duration and the use of fewer blood transfusions characterize hospitals that have a lower incidence of surgical site infections (SSI). Furthermore, the study concludes that strategies to reduce the length of operations and the number of blood transfusions should complement basic aseptic techniques in the operating room.

Cells are filled with membrane-bound organelles like the nucleus, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticula. Over the years, scientists have made much progress in understanding the biomolecular details of how these organelles function within cells, but understanding the actual physical forces that maintain the structures of these organelles' membranes continues to be a challenge.

Pregnancy and surgery patients with a serious blood disorder that causes excessive clotting have responded well to treatment with a man-made anti-clotting protein. Results from a study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine and other institutions were presented December 6 at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Francisco.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University scientists found that mice raised in cages may relieve stress with behaviors associated with mice in the wild. And for researchers using lab mice, this may mean that by allowing mice to express these behaviors they can conduct research with animals that act and respond more naturally, hopefully making research data more reliable.

Laboratory mice live in sterile environments controlled by humans. Joseph Garner, assistant professor of animal sciences, said that can be stressful for the animals because they do not have much control.

SAN FRANCISCO - Taking blood stem cells collected from an umbilical cord into the lab and expanding their number before transplanting them to replace a patient's blood supply is as safe as a standard cord blood transplant, researchers reported today at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

Annie knocks Melissa to the floor to get her doll. Alexis screams at the kid who grabbed his toy truck. Every day, in daycares across Quebec, similar scenes are witnessed by early childhood educators who try to foster calm by encouraging kids to express their anger and frustration in more contructive ways.

Childhood sexual abuse victims with a strong religious upbringing often report feeling terrible guilt about their assault, which doesn't surprise Jean-Guy Nadon. A professor of theology and religious sciences at the Université de Montréal, Nadon has conducted dozens of interviews with women who were sexually abused as children and found the impact of religious beliefs can produce varying reactions.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers from Purdue and Stony Brook universities have determined the precise atomic-scale structure of the poliovirus attached to key receptor molecules in human host cells and also have taken a vital snapshot of processes leading to infection.

The virus binds to a receptor on the cell to form a single complex.

Having kids believe there's a jolly man in a red suit who visits on Christmas Eve isn't detrimental, although some parents can feel they're outright lying to their children, according to a new analysis by Serge Larivée.

"When they learn the truth, children accept the rules of the game and even go along with their parents in having younger children believe in Santa," says Larivée, a psycho-education professor at the Université de Montréal. "It becomes a rite of passage in that they know they are no longer babies."