Body

In the latest clinical trial for a technique to detect pancreatic cancer, researchers found they could differentiate cells that are cancerous from those that are benign, pre-cancerous, or even early stage indicators called mucinous cystic lesions.

Pancreatic cancer is dangerous to screen for, yet deadly if ignored. The pancreas is extremely sensitive--biopsies can lead to potentially fatal complications--but with few symptoms, the cancer is usually detected too late.

WASHINGTON -- The evidence shows more clearly than ever that having health insurance is essential for people's health and well-being, and safety-net services are not enough to prevent avoidable illness, worse health outcomes, and premature death, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Moreover, new research suggests that when local rates of uninsurance are relatively high, even people with insurance are more likely to have difficulty obtaining needed care and to be less satisfied with the care they receive.

Roman artefacts which are nearly two thousand years old with similarities to ancient remains found at Pompeii in Italy have been examined at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's ISIS neutron source (21-22 February). Researchers are hoping to learn more about our heritage by discovering whether the items were imported from southern Italy, or manufactured using similar techniques in Britain.

Richard Hawkins, Canada Research Chair in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, says there is no evidence that information technologies necessarily reduce our environmental footprint. His research will provide input into the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) initiative on IT and sustainability at the United Nations' Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark later this year.

Philadelphia, PA, 24 February 2009– A new study conducted at the Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, and published by Elsevier in the February 2009 issue of The Journal of Emergency Medicine (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jemermed) shows that there is a lack of education and understanding in what sets a living will in motion in a pre-hospital setting. Education and implementation of code status designations can clarify this confusion.

In the past 50 years individual levels of wealth have increased by but so have crime, deprivation, depression and addictions to alcohol and drugs. Most of us believe that more money will make us happier; however, as societies become richer, does that wealth positively impact on our happiness?

The 'Recession: health and happiness' event on 26th February, may well provide a surprising answer. Lord Professor Richard Layard who has spent years researching the impact of wealth on wellbeing will argue the answer is 'not necessarily'.

Older African American women who have experienced high levels of family violence throughout their lives are more likely to suffer worse physical and mental health than their counterparts, found a Temple researcher in the February issue of the Journal of Women's Health.

"In general, there is a higher incidence of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, and more chronic pain syndromes," said lead author Anuradha Paranjape, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of medicine at Temple University School of Medicine and Hospital.

A new risk management tool can help software developers identify security vulnerabilities in their programs early in the planning process, effectively solving problems before they exist, simply by having the developers lay their cards on the table. The system, called "Protection Poker," was developed by computer security experts at North Carolina State University and is already being used in a pilot project to identify security problems.

Measuring kidney function in children can be expensive, time-consuming for clinicians, and tedious for children, who may be exposed to radioactivity and subjected to a large number of blood draws. A new calculation eliminates many of these obstacles, relying instead on various blood tests that can be performed in a clinical setting to offer an accurate estimate of a child's kidney function.

(New York, NY – February 24, 2009) David H. Adams, MD, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, performed the first two implantations of the Carpentier-Edwards Physio II ring in the United States yesterday. Dr. Adams co-invented the ring, which was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration last month, with Alain F. Carpentier, MD PhD, Chairman Emeritus of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Hôptial Europeen Georges Pompidou in Paris.

Fewer than one in four consumers now believe the U.S. food supply is safer than it was a year ago, according to new data from the University of Minnesota's Food Industry Center.

After January's national salmonella outbreak, just 22.5 percent of consumers in the study said they were confident the food supply is safer than a year ago, the lowest reading since the study began in May 2008. Eight people died and more than 500 have become ill in the most recent outbreak, which may have originated in a Georgia peanut plant and spread through peanut-butter products sold nationwide.

CSIRO Plant Industry scientists and international collaborators have discovered the key to overcoming three major cereal diseases, which in epidemic years cost wheat growers worldwide in excess of AUS$7.8 billion.

In a paper published today in the prestigious journal Science, scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry, the University of Zurich and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center have identified a wheat gene sequence which provides protection against leaf rust, stripe rust and powdery mildew.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Women who've had a breast biopsy know the anxiety of waiting for the results, but that stress may cause adverse health effects, according to a new study published in the March issue of Radiology.

Researchers at the University of Vermont Cardiovascular Research Institute, Colchester, Vermont have found that increased expression in the heart of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) is profibrotic. The results, which appear in the March 2009 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, implicate PAI-1 overexpression, known to accompany insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, as a factor contributing to the high incidence of heart failure after myocardial infarction in people with diabetes. The research team, Dr. A.K.M. Tarikuz Zaman, a research associate, Mr.

The evolutionary tendency of corals to alter their skeletal structure makes it difficult to assign them to different species. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have used genetic markers to examine coral groupings and investigate how these markers relate to alterations in shape, in the process discovering that our inaccurate picture of coral species is compromising our ability to conserve coral reefs.