Body

Anyone who runs for Prime Minister or President should have an independent health examination to ensure their ability to govern, argues a doctor on bmj.com today.

Lord David Owen, a trained doctor and member of the House of Lords, says that millions of people are affected by the decisions of people in high public office, and these leaders have an obligation to the general public to ensure that their decision making is not impaired by physical or mental illness.

Gender matching between donors and recipients is important to short- and long-term survival in heart transplantation, according to a retrospective study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.

Do the biological underpinnings of heart failure share more in common with cancerous tumors than other cardiovascular diseases?

Research presented at American Heart Association meeting may show why heart failure treatments fail

A team of Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) researchers and cardiologists are presenting a number of studies at the American Heart Association conference that point toward new treatments for heart failure patients.

The findings of a study funded by the National Environment Research Council and led by Dr Louise Allcock at Queen's School of Biological Sciences and colleagues from Cambridge University and British Antarctic Survey will be reported at a conference in Spain this week.

The World Conference on Marine Biodiversity is taking place in Valencia between 11 and 15 November.

The Queen's research forms part of a decade-long global research programme to learn more about the world's oceans.

CHARLESTON, SC—Root-knot nematodes are extreme parasites. These microscopic, omnipresent worms cause major damage to horticultural and field crops in sub-tropical regions, resulting in significant financial losses to growers and gardeners.

PHILADELPHIA - A novel protein marker has been found that identifies rare adult liver stem cells, whose ability to regenerate injured liver tissue has the potential for cell-replacement therapy. For the first time, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine led by Linda Greenbaum, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, have demonstrated that cells expressing the marker can differentiate into both liver cells and cells that line the bile duct.

St. Louis, MO – November 12, 2008 – In an attempt to reinvent itself as a "responsible corporate citizen," tobacco company Philip Morris supports regulation of tobacco products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Blood levels of resistin, a hormone produced by fat cells, can independently predict an individual's risk of heart failure, cardiologists at Emory University School of Medicine have found.

Their findings were presented Nov. 12 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions conference in New Orleans.

DURHAM, N.C. – Heart failure patients who regularly exercise fare better and feel better about their lives than do similar patients who do not work out on a regular basis, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

The findings, reported today at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008, go a long way toward addressing concerns about the value of exercise for the nation's five million patients with heart failure. They also raise important policy questions for the country's Medicare program and other insurers.

Adults with severe heart failure see almost three times as many Medicare providers each year compared to a typical beneficiary, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.

An analysis conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado and Scios, Inc. showed that:

Ikerlan-IK4, Gaiker-IK4 and the Donostia hospital in representation of Bioef are taking part in a European project the goal of which is to design a portable device that will revolutionise the manner of controlling flu epidemics internationally, thanks to a significant reduction in the time needed for their detection from the current 24 hours to a period of between 30 and 60 minutes, and to an increase in the number of control points.

Measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence is an effective way of determining how well plants can cope with low-water conditions. The technique described in the open access journal Plant Methods, published by BioMed Central, allows a quantitative and precise determination of viability in intact, drought-stressed plants.

Scientists from the universities of Leicester and Cambridge and from the British Geological Survey have published new research in the journal Geology this month (November) shedding new light on a 500-million year old mystery.

The 500 million year-old fossils of the Burgess Shale in Canada, discovered over a century ago, still provide one of the most remarkable insights into the dawn of animal life. The beautiful silvery fossils show the true nature of the life of that time, just after the "Cambrian explosion" of animal life.

According to a paper published in the November issue of the Springer journal Osteoporosis International, Medicare reimbursement for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry has been cut to levels substantially below the cost to perform the procedure. As a result, many physicians and clinics around the country are likely to discontinue this critical health service, greatly limiting the public's access to the test and jeopardizing those at risk for a fracture.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Nov. 12, 2008 –– Hot on the heels of a new supercomputer, plans for a new light-speed data line between the Translational Genomics Research Institute and Arizona State University could slash the time is takes to transfer genetic information.

Accelerating the flow of information could help speed discoveries that eventually could help produce treatments and cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, autism, diabetes and various cancers.