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The effects of Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PACs) on terrestrial and benthic invertebrates are used to estimate the risks of soil and sediment contamination. Effects are assessed exposing the organisms to PACs in life cycle tests. In seventy percent of cases this results in highly predictable effects on development of the exposed invertebrates. León Paumen has now demonstrated that the effects of prolonged exposure can be very different and so risk assessments based on such measurements are more accurate.

Worms, springtails and chironomids

In recent years it has become increasingly more obvious that school management teams exert relatively little influence on school effectiveness, certainly compared to the influence of pupils' background. Moreover, detecting the influence of school management teams is far from easy. Nevertheless, Ten Bruggencate has now established a small but significant effect of school management teams on school effectiveness.

With adequate financial and political support, renewable energy technologies like wind and photovoltaics could supply 40 percent of the world's electricity by 2050, according to findings from the International Scientific Congress "Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges & Decisions." However, if such technologies are marginalized, its share is likely to hover below 15 percent.

Rapid growth of cancer cells and their frequent divisions have their price: Cancer cells need considerably more energy than healthy cells. Their metabolism runs at full speed and requires large amounts of micronutrients, particularly iron. However, high levels of iron in the cell lead to the production of extremely harmful free radicals. To protect itself from these, the cell inactivates free iron by binding it to what are called iron storage proteins.

Researchers have used a common laboratory technique for the first time to detect genetic changes in embryos that could predispose the resulting children to develop certain cancer syndromes. Current preimplantation genetic diagnosis techniques can detect mutations in very small bits of genes or DNA, but, until now, it wasn't easy to detect deletions involving whole genes or long sections of DNA in embryos.

Adolescent girls reveal alarmingly high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which remain largely undetected by recommended screening guidelines. A study in Brazil, reported in the open access journal BMC Medicine, has shown that the syndromic approaches for screening and treating chlamydia and gonorrhoea are woefully inadequate.

Women who suffer migraines are at an increased risk of stroke during pregnancy as well as other vascular conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and blood clots, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.

Migraine headache occurs in up to 26% of women of childbearing age and around one third of women aged between 35 and 39. Although it is very common in this age group, little is known about the prevalence of migraine during pregnancy.

Young women undergoing cosmetic breast reduction surgery are being screened for cancer without their informed consent, according to a paper published on bmj.com today.

Breast reduction surgery (mammoplasty) is one of the most common procedures performed by plastic surgeons all around the world. For decades it has been common practice to test the removed tissue for cancer.

From a health perspective, going to college is the best option for young people during times of mass unemployment, says a senior researcher in an editorial published on bmj.com today.

Unemployment is bad for health, writes Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield.

Clinicians have an important role to play in reducing hospital waste and should not be discouraged by lack of knowledge or the threat of legal liability, according to a paper published on bmj.com today.

In 2005-6, the NHS produced 408,218 tonnes of waste, 29% of which was clinical waste, and spent nearly £73m (€80m; $103m) on its disposal. Concerns about the risk of prion transmission and sterility have also led to large increases in both the amount of anaesthetic packaging and the use of disposable devices over the past 5-10 years.

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Screening for breast cancer risk in all postmenopausal women, using a combination of risk factors and breast density, can identify women at high risk of disease, according to systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses reported in the March 10 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The reviews and meta-analyses also support the use of chemoprevention in women at high risk of disease and the value of positive lifestyle changes in all women irrespective of their breast cancer risk.

In prostate cancer, estimates of lead time (how long screening advances diagnosis of cancer) and overdiagnosis (the fraction of cancers detected by screening that would not have been diagnosed during the patient's lifetime without screening) vary widely, depending on the definition of lead time used, the population, and the estimation methodology, according to a report in the March 10 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Identifying and treating depression, including increasing physical activity, may improve quality of life and reduce cardiovascular disease and death in African Americans, according to reports presented at the American Heart Association's 2009 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.