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Killer whales (Orcinus orca) nearing the menopause may be more successful in rearing their young. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology shows that estimated survival rates for calves born to these older mothers were 10% higher than those for other calves.

RICHLAND, Wash. – An international collaboration of researchers has discovered a new enzyme in a species of bacteria with potential environmental cleanup and energy roles. This is the first multi-protein enzyme of its kind. Although many microbes use a single-protein version to consume certain food, the new study suggests that dozens of bacteria use only the multi-protein one instead. This advance in understanding of the microbe's metabolism will help researchers use the bugs to clean up toxic or radioactive pollutants.

The shapes of some of the tiniest cellular structures are coming into sharper focus at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus, where scientists have developed a new imaging technology that produces the best three-dimensional resolution ever seen with an optical microscope.

Reza Zarnegar and colleagues, at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, have determined that genetic variation in a piece of DNA that regulates activity of the HGF gene might be a useful marker to identify individuals with an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

(Boston)-Researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have designed a process to minimize discharge failures. The Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) program reduces hospital utilization within 30 days of discharge by over 30 percent, by redesigning the discharge workflow process. These findings appear in the February issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

For many cancer patients, chemotherapy can be worse than cancer itself. A patient may respond to one drug but not another -- or the tumor may mutate and stop responding to the drug -- resulting in months of wasted time, ineffective treatment and toxic side effects.

A new study funded by NOAA and the National Science Foundation reveals that a part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates Washington state from Canada's British Columbia, is a potential "hot spot" for toxic harmful algal blooms affecting the Washington and British Columbia coasts. Understanding where and how these blooms originate and move is critical for accurate forecasts that could provide early warning to protect human and ecosystem health, according to NOAA scientists.

DURHAM, N.H. – The existing infrastructure for responding to maritime accidents in the Arctic is limited and more needs to be done to enhance emergency response capacity as Arctic sea ice declines and ship traffic in the region increases, according to new report released today by the University of New Hampshire and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 2, 2009) – Researchers conducting a large, ongoing study to improve detection and prevention of sudden cardiac death were surprised to discover that a specific heart rhythm abnormality – idiopathic QT interval prolongation – increased risk five-fold among patients with coronary artery disease.

In what is believed to be a first-ever procedure, surgeons at Johns Hopkins have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.

"The kidney was successfully removed and transplanted into the donor's niece, and both patients are doing fine," says Robert Montgomery, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the transplant division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who led the team that performed the historic operation.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University biomedical engineers can now grow and assemble living microtissues into complex three-dimensional structures in a way that will advance the field of tissue engineering and may eventually reduce the need for certain kinds of animal research.

The team, led by Brown professor Jeffrey Morgan, successfully used clusters of cells grown in a 3-D Petri dish also invented by the group, in order to build microtissues of more complex shapes.

The prevalence of quinolone-resistant gonorrhea has increased rapidly in Ontario – Canada's most populous province – from a rate of 2% in 2001 to 28% in 2006, found a study published in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg287.pdf. Infections in heterosexual men appear to have contributed to the increased rate of resistance.

Other studies have associated quinolone-resistant gonorrhea with men having sex with men, antibiotic use, over 35 years of age and travel to Asia.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may reduce the risk of suicide in depressed adults, according to a study by researchers from the World Health Organization and the University of Verona, Italy published in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg291.pdf.

The study, a meta-analysis of 8 large-scale observational studies, was undertaken to explore whether SSRIs reduce or increase the risk of suicide in depressed people.

Genes, psychological adversity in childhood, and recent or ongoing psychological stress may combine to cause major depression, write Dr. Sanjay Mathew and colleagues from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York in a review published in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg298.pdf.

"Major depressive disorder is thought to result from the complex interplay of multiple inherited factors and subsequent exposure to a wide range of environmental variables through life," write Dr. Mathew and coauthors.

Cuba's comprehensive approach to maternal health and early childhood development can be a model for Canada, writes Dr. Wilbert Keon, chair of Canada's Senate Subcommittee on Population Health in an analysis in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg314.pdf.

Healthy development for all Cuban children is a priority – health management occurs even before conception and support continues for children and families with preschool education programs and more.