Body

Scientists have developed a new community resource that may act as a Rosetta stone for revealing the genetic basis of traits and disease.

SAN FRANCISCO – Increased pain following surgery has long been linked to anxiety and "catastrophizing," an extreme response to stress.

In a new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), 97 patients – men and women – who were about to undergo minimally invasive total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, completed a brief survey to quantify their level of anxiety, as well as their typical level of anxiety and potential for catastrophizing. Pain data was then collected for seven days following surgery.

Biologists have found new evidence of why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs--even though some of those genes make vertebrate animals susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases.

"Major histocompatibility complex" (MHC) proteins are found on the surfaces of most cells in vertebrate animals. They distinguish proteins like themselves from foreign proteins, and trigger an immune response against these foreign invaders.

SAN FRANCISCO – Patients taking antidepressants up to three years prior to undergoing a total hip replacement (THR) were more likely to report greater pain before and after surgery and less satisfaction with their procedure, according to new research presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

In the study, 1,657 patients (13 percent of the study population) used antidepressants up to three years before surgery.

Scientists have developed a new kind of tiny motor — which they term a "microrocket" — that can propel itself through acidic environments, such as the human stomach, without any external energy source, opening the way to a variety of medical and industrial applications. Their report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society describes the microrockets traveling at virtual warp speed for such devices. A human moving at the same speed would have to run at a clip of 400 miles per hour.

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2011) – A description of the projects and studies resulting from a research partnership initiated in 2005 between Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and the Ponce School of Medicine in Ponce, Puerto Rico, has been published in a recent issue of Health Promotion Practice. The partnership, which included three outreach cancer education projects and two pilot research studies aimed at reducing cancer health disparities in Hispanic populations in both Tampa and Ponce, was funded by the National Cancer Institute's Minority/Cancer Center Partnership Program.

Scientists are reporting development of a new form of buckypaper, which eliminates a major drawback of these sheets of carbon nanotubes — 50,000 times thinner than a human hair, 10 times lighter than steel, but up to 250 times stronger — with potential uses ranging from body armor to next-generation batteries. Their report appears in the journal ACS Nano.

Historians, archivists and experts in computer science from the Universities of York and Brighton are teaming up to develop new ways of exploring digital historical records.

Together with colleagues from Canada, the United States, and the Netherlands, the researchers will be developing tools to allow people to work effectively and efficiently with the vast amounts of historic material currently being digitized.

A voluntary substance prevention program held after school and presented by trained facilitators can help reduce alcohol use among young adolescents, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Results suggest that if prevention researchers build programs with developmentally relevant content, and provide this content in an engaging, confidential and non-judgmental way, it can help middle school-aged children avoid alcohol. The article is published online in the journal Prevention Science.

A study led by the University of Leicester has found that anti-obesity drugs coupled with lifestyle advice are effective in reducing weight and BMI.

Dr Laura Gray and colleagues from the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Leicester have published a paper in the journal Obesity Review which looks at the effectiveness of anti –obesity drugs and a modified lifestyle on weight loss and body mass index. The research was funded by an National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme.

AMSTERDAM, February 8, 2012 – A two-part Special Issue of the journal Information Polity (ISSN: 1570-1255) aims to revisit the 'surveillance camera revolution'. It presents contemporary thinking and research on the use of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV), and draws out issues relating to governance and public policy.

The special issue consists of two issues: 16:4 and 17:1. 16:4 is available online now, 17.1 will be published in February 2012.

The great artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci once said that "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) research engineer Javier Atencia certainly believes in the wisdom of what da Vinci preached; he has a reputation for creating novel microfluidic devices out of ordinary, inexpensive components. This time, he has combined a glass slide, plastic sheets and double-sided tape into a "diffusion-based gradient generator"—a tool to rapidly assess how changing concentrations of specific chemicals affect living cells.*

SAN FRANCISCO – Increased pain following surgery has long been linked to anxiety and "catastrophizing," an extreme response to stress.

In a new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), 97 patients – men and women – who were about to undergo minimally invasive total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, completed a brief survey to quantify their level of anxiety, as well as their typical level of anxiety and potential for catastrophizing. Pain data was then collected for seven days following surgery.

Researchers at the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Neiker-Tecnalia, have confirmed that the use of semi-composted manure in combination with the plastic sealing of the soil is an effective control for Phytophthora capsici, a fungus responsible for a disease that seriously affects greenhouse-grown peppers. The research developed in the PhD thesis by the biologist Mireia Núñez-Zofío, evaluates soil bio-disinfectants that not only combat the proliferation of pathogens, but are also environmentally friendly and economically viable.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Exposure to low-frequency ship noise may be associated with chronic stress in whales, according to a study published today in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The study, conducted in Canada's Bay of Fundy, has implications for all baleen whales in areas with heavy ship traffic, and for the recovery of the endangered North Atlantic right whale population.