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Almost two-thirds of women in British Columbia filled at least one prescription at some point in their pregnancy, including drugs with potential risks, according to a new study by University of British Columbia researchers.

The study, published today in the journal Clinical Therapeutics (www.clinicaltherapeutics.com), is the first of its kind in Canada. Researchers analyzed population-based outpatient prescription claims data for patterns of prescription drug use during pregnancy in B.C. from 2001 to 2006.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Believed critical for determining which individuals can -- or cannot -- successfully reproduce with each other, genitalia not only figure prominently in the origin of new species, but are also typically the first type of trait to change as new species form.

Today, new international research led by Indiana University shows that as populations and species diversify, the exact shape and fit of genitalia steals the show over size.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study has identified a gene mutation that researchers estimate dates back to 11,600 B.C., making it the second oldest human disease mutation yet discovered.

Researchers with the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute led the study and estimate that the mutation arose in the Middle East some 13,600 years ago. Only a mutation seen in cystic fibrosis that arose between 11,000 and 52,000 years ago is believed to be older.

No one likes being bitten by whining mosquitoes, but have you ever considered what the experience is like for them as their cold-blooded bodies fill with our warm blood? Now researchers reporting online on December 15 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have uncovered the mosquitoes' secret to avoiding heat stress: they give up cooling droplets of their hard-won meals.

The study shows for the first time that blood-feeding insects are capable of controlling their body temperature, the researchers say.

DURHAM, N.C. – A discovery in fruit flies may be able to tell us more about how animals, including humans, sense potentially dangerous discomforts.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Millions of Americans suffer from wounds that don't heal, and while most are typically associated with diabetes, new research has identified another possible underlying cause – autoimmune diseases. The finding, published online Dec. 14th in the International Wound Journal, represents an unappreciated link that could lead to important new insights in wound healing, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. (Data from this study were presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.)

Montreal -- It seems history has once again repeated itself. The recent introduction of a 'statement of values' by one of Quebec's biggest cities, Gatineau, harkens back to the 2007 outbreak of race anxiety when the village of Hérouxville drafted its own code of conduct for newcomers.

The intolerance and racism unleashed by the Hérouxville charter and its subsequent reasonable accommodation controversies, which coloured the 2007 provincial election, saw ethnic minorities painted as a threat to Québécois society.

WASHINGTON -- Given that chimpanzees are so closely related to humans and share similar behavioral traits, the National Institutes of Health should allow their use as subjects in biomedical research only under stringent conditions, including the absence of any other suitable model and inability to ethically perform the research on people, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Behavioral interventions aimed at reducing sexual risk behaviors, such as unprotected sex, are effective at both promoting condom use and reducing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) long after the initial intervention, according to a new report in the December 15 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

NEW YORK -- Patients need less blood after surgery than is widely thought. A new study comparing two plans for giving blood transfusions following surgery showed no ill effects from postponing transfusion until patients develop signs of anemia or their hemoglobin concentration falls below 8 g/dL.

Deterioration and damage to cellular telecommunications cables cost organizations and customers millions in lost revenue and services in the always-on digital economy. A new sensor device, smaller than a quarter, might alleviate some of the impact.

Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology and PPC Corp. have developed the Smart Connector, a new sensor that once installed in the connecting units of coaxial cables can provide information about equipment damage and pinpoint the exact location through self-diagnosing technologies—some of the most advanced in the field today.

Scientists have uncovered a critical genetic mutation in some patients with myelodysplastic syndromes — a group of blood cancers that can progress to a fatal form of leukemia.

The research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis also found evidence that patients with the mutation are more likely to develop acute leukemia. While this finding needs to be confirmed in additional patients, the study raises the prospect that a genetic test could one day more accurately diagnose the disorder and predict the course of the disease.

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 15 – The association between the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis and a gene that makes certain cell surface proteins has been pinpointed to a variant amino acid in a crucial binding site that profoundly influences immune response to antigens, including gut bacteria, reports a team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Cleveland Clinic, Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard Medical School. They published the findings today in the online version of Genes & Immunity.

Centennial, CO (Dec. 15, 2011) A new study published in the January 2012 edition of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that beef can play a role in a cholesterol-lowering diet, despite commonly held beliefs. The study found that diets including lean beef every day are as effective in lowering total and LDL "bad" cholesterol as the "gold standard" of heart-healthy diets (DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).

The double terrorist attack in Norway last July, which claimed 77 lives, has moved violent acts committed by single individuals up the political, media and now research agendas. Known as "lone wolf terrorism," these acts are carried out independently of established terrorist organizations. In his new report 'Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism,' Dr. Ramón Spaaij, from La Trobe University in Australia and the University of Amsterdam, examines this so-far largely unexplored phenomenon.