Body

Just 5 in every 1,000 NHS doctors prompt performance concerns each year

Just five in every 1000 NHS doctors—less than 1% of the workforce—prompt concerns about their performance every year, sufficient to warrant the need for outside help, indicates an analysis of 11 years of data, published in BMJ Quality & Safety.

But doctors in the late stages of their career are six times more likely to be referred for remedial help, the figures show.

Methane seeps of the deep sea: A bacteria feast for lithodid crabs

The bottom of the deep sea is largely deserted. Oases occur for example at cold seeps where water transports dissolved elements from the seabed: Specialized microbes convert methane and sulfate from sea water to hydrogen sulfide releasing carbon dioxide. Highly adapted bacteria, many of which live in symbiosis with worms and clams, use the hydrogen sulfide for their growth. In their cells, they incorporate carbon originating from the chemical reaction of methane. "The co-existence of organisms that have settled at the cold seeps is already well understood", says Dr. Peter Linke.

Building a better fish trap: WCS reduces fish bycatch with escape gaps in Africa

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Kenyan Marine and Fisheries Research Institute have achieved a milestone in Africa: they've helped build a better fish trap, one that keeps valuable fish in while letting undersized juvenile fish and non-target species out.

Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy may not significantly increase life expectancy

WASHINGTON, DC—Women with early-stage breast cancer in one breast are increasingly opting to undergo a more aggressive operation to remove both breasts called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM). Rates of double mastectomies have more than doubled over the last decade for women with early-stage cancer, but for women with cancer in one breast, having the healthy breast removed may not provide a survival benefit, according to new research findings presented today at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

Delayed aging is better investment than cancer, heart disease

On the heels of an announcement from Google that the company's next startup, Calico, will tackle the science of aging, a new study shows that research to delay aging and the infirmities of old age would have better population health and economic returns than advances in individual fatal diseases such as cancer or heart disease.

Incentives help Mass. General's physicians organization reach quality-improvement goals

A program offering modest financial incentives to salaried Massachusetts General Hospital-affiliated physicians who achieve specific quality improvement targets has helped the organization meet goals related to the adoption of electronic health technology, improved quality and efficiency, and communication with patients and other providers. In their report in the October issue of Health Affairs, leaders of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO) describe results of the first six years of the MGPO Quality Incentive Program.

Study examines probiotics to prevent or treat excessive infant crying

There still appears to be insufficient evidence to support using probiotics (Lactobacillus reuteri) to manage colic or to prevent crying in infants, especially in formula-fed babies, but it may be an effective treatment for crying infants who are breastfed exclusively and have colic, according to a study by Valerie Sung, M.P.H., of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and Royal Children's Hospital, Australia, and colleagues.

Study tracks factors linked to creation of accountable care organizations

Regions of the U.S. where doctors and hospitals are consolidated into large networks are more likely to have accountable care organizations, medical practice structures intended to improve medical care and cut costs, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The findings may help policymakers craft new policies to accelerate growth of accountable care organizations, a key cost control strategy promoted under the federal Affordable Care Act.

Meals for more seniors could save some states money

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Home-delivered meals bring not only food to seniors but also the opportunity to remain in their homes. A new study by Brown University public health researchers projects that if every U.S. state in the lower 48 expanded the number of seniors receiving meals by just 1 percent, 1,722 more Medicaid recipients avoid living in a nursing home and most states would experience a net annual savings from implementing the expansion.

Scientists invent a better way to make antibody-guided therapies

LA JOLLA, CA—October 7, 2013—Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have devised a new technique for connecting drug molecules to antibodies to make advanced therapies.

Antibody-drug conjugates, as they're called, are the basis of new therapies on the market that use the target-recognizing ability of antibodies to deliver drug payloads to specific cell types—for example, to deliver toxic chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells while sparing most healthy cells. The new technique allows drug developers to forge more stable conjugates than are possible with current methods.

A new, clinically validated diagnostic test for detecting BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations

Philadelphia, PA, October 7, 2013 – The recognition of a causal link between mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer has intensified the demand for genetic testing. Identifying mutations in these large genes by conventional methods can be time consuming and costly.

Wedded bliss or blues? UC Berkeley scientists link DNA to marital satisfaction

What makes some people more prone to wedded bliss or sorrow than others? Researchers at UC Berkeley and Northwestern University have found a major clue in our DNA. A gene involved in the regulation of serotonin can predict how much our emotions affect our relationships, according to a new study that may be the first to link genetics, emotions, and marital satisfaction. The study was conducted at UC Berkeley.

New more effective antimicrobials might rise from old

By tinkering with their chemical structures, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have essentially re-invented a class of popular antimicrobial drugs, restoring and in some cases, expanding or improving, their effectiveness against drug-resistant pathogens in animal models.

Scientists find soaring variety of malaria parasites in bats

Researchers have discovered a surprising diversity of malaria parasites in West African bats as well as new evidence of evolutionary jumps to rodent hosts. Led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, and the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, the new study reveals that two bat-infecting parasites are closely related to parasites in rodents that are commonly used to model human malaria in laboratory studies. The results will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Explosive dynamic behaviour on Twitter and in the financial market

Over the past 10 years, social media has changed the way that people influence each other. By analysing data from the social networking service, Twitter, and stock trading in the financial market, researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute have shown that events in society bring rise to common behaviour among large groups of people who do not otherwise know each other The analysis shows that there are common features in user activity on Twitter and in stock market transactions in the financial market.