Body

In this week's PLOS Medicine, Sabine Gabrysch from the University of Heidelberg, Germany and colleagues draw upon a literature review, expert survey, and consensus method to recommend new signal functions to monitor and track facilities' provision of routine and emergency newborn care.

CINCINNATI—A University of Cincinnati (UC) Cancer Institute lung cancer research team reports that lung cancer stem cells can be isolated—and then grown—in a preclinical model, offering a new avenue for investigating immunotherapy treatment options that specifically target stem cells.

John C. Morris, MD, and his colleagues report their findings in the Nov. 13, 2012, issue of PLOS One, a peer-reviewed online publication that features original research from all disciplines within science and medicine.

The Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses are commonly referred to as emerging diseases, but leading scientists say these life-threatening viruses have been around for centuries.

In a perspective in the Nov. 9 issue of the journal Science, researchers including a professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) say it would be more appropriate to refer to these viruses as emerging diagnoses.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A study led by a Michigan State University researcher offers the strongest evidence yet that reflexology – a type of specialized foot massage practiced since the age of pharaohs – can help cancer patients manage their symptoms and perform daily tasks.

Funded by the National Cancer Institute and published in the latest issue of Oncology Nursing Forum, it is the first large-scale, randomized study of reflexology as a complement to standard cancer treatment, according to lead author Gwen Wyatt, a professor in the College of Nursing.

ATLANTA (November 13, 2012) -- Polio cases worldwide reached historic lows in 2012, and for the first time there were no new outbreaks beyond countries already harboring the disease, leaving researchers confident that a massive and re-energized international campaign to eradicate polio is on a path to success, according to presentations today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

Globally there were 177 polio cases through October 2012, a drop from 502 during the same period last year.

ATLANTA (November 13, 2012) In a breakthrough that could accelerate malaria vaccine and drug development, scientists announced today that, for the first time ever, human volunteers were infected with malaria via a simple injection of cryopreserved sterile parasites that were harvested from the salivary glands of infected mosquitoes in compliance with regulatory standards. The parasites had been frozen in a vial for more than two years.

African Americans with heart disease who practiced Transcendental Meditation regularly were 48 percent less likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from all causes compared with African Americans who attended a health education class over more than five years, according to new research published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

CHICAGO – Findings from a study suggest that certain variations in vitamin D metabolism genes may modify the association of low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations with health outcomes such as hip fracture, heart attack, cancer, and death, according to a study appearing in the November 14 issue of JAMA.

BOSTON –– Terminally ill cancer patients who have an early talk with their physician about care at the end-of-life are less likely to receive aggressive therapy – and more likely to enter hospice care – than patients who delay such discussions until the days and weeks before death, a new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers suggests.

On the night of Aug. 5, 2010, as residents slept, water began rushing through Leh, an Indian town in a high desert valley in the Himalayas.

Average total rainfall in the area for August is about a half-inch. During this 24-hour period more than 8 inches fell, causing severe damage and leaving 193 dead, hundreds missing and thousands homeless.

Obesity and dental cavities increase and become epidemic as children living below the poverty level age, according to nurse researchers from the Case Western Reserve University and the University of Akron.

"It's the leading cause of chronic infections in children," said Marguerite DiMarco, associate professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

Researchers Sheau-Huey Chiu, assistant professor, and graduate assistant Jessica L. Prokp, from the University of Akron's College of Nursing, contributed to the study.

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 13, 2012 — UC Irvine biologists have discovered that fats within cells store a class of proteins with potent antibacterial activity, revealing a previously unknown type of immune system response that targets and kills bacterial infections.

CINCINNATI—People living near a former uranium ore processing facility in Ohio are experiencing a higher than average rate of lupus, according a new study conducted by scientists at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, nervous system and other organs of the body. The underlying causes of lupus are unknown, but it is usually more common in women of child-bearing age.

Sacramento, CA | November 13, 2012 – California has seen marked improvements in rates of preterm birth according to a March of Dimes Preterm Birth Report Card released at the State Capitol today. Vermont, Oregon, New Hampshire and Maine rank ahead of California in rates of preterm birth. California and Washington tied for 5th place with a rate of 9.8 percent. While preterm birthrates fell to 9.8 from 10.3, the improvements were not enough to warrant an "A" grade in 2012.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — In a sobering study published in the journal Environmental Health, researchers at UC Davis and UCLA measured food-borne toxin exposure in children and adults by pinpointing foods with high levels of toxic compounds and determining how much of these foods were consumed. The researchers found that family members in the study, and preschool children in particular, are at high risk for exposure to arsenic, dieldrin, DDE (a DDT metabolite), dioxins and acrylamide.