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LEBANON, NH – Graduate Medical Education (GME) has fallen short in training physicians to meet changes in the U.S. population and health care delivery systems. But a new proposed funding mechanism coupled to a competitive peer-review process may be the best way to reform the process, according to an analysis and commentary in the November issue of Health Affairs.

The new federal health-care law gives millions of Americans access to medical insurance. However, choosing the right coverage — a daunting task for most people — could be even more difficult for those who have never had health insurance, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The health of dairy cows after giving birth plays a big factor in the quantity and quality of the milk the cows produce. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that subclinical hypocalcemia, which is the condition of having low levels of calcium in the blood and occurs in many cows after giving birth, is related to higher levels of fat in the liver. John Middleton, a professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, says these higher levels of fat are often precursors to future health problems in cows.

Chronic inflammation has long been known as a key risk factor for cancer---particularly colon cancer---but the exact mechanisms of how inflammation heightens the immune response, and ultimately influences the initiation and progression of cancer have remained elusive. It is well established that anti-inflammatory drugs, like aspirin, reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

By integrating high-resolution X-ray imaging (termed microCT), 3D image segmentation, and computer animation, a new study conducted by Carole Gee at the University of Bonn, Germany, demonstrates the visualization of fossils without destroying the material. Traditional techniques, such as thin-sectioning, require investigators to physically cut up the fossil in order to observe internal structures. Dr. Gee, however, has now successfully applied microCT to visualize silicified conifer seed cones as old as 150 million years without cutting, sawing, or damaging the specimens in any way.

PHILADELPHIA—A large study co-authored by Penn Medicine published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine found that African Americans with the APOL1 gene variant experience faster progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and have a significantly increased risk of kidney failure, regardless of their diabetes status.

Young males in the work environment are at greatest risk of sustaining a nail gun injury to their non-dominant hand, a new study has found.

Writing in the latest Early View issue of Emergency Medicine Australasia, the journal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Dr James Ling, Dr Natalie Ong, and Dr John North, all from Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital, said nail guns are commonly used in the building and construction industry because they increase productivity and are technically easy to operate.

On the continental margins, where the seafloor drops hundreds of meters below the water's surface, low temperatures and high pressure lock methane inside ice crystals. Called methane hydrates, these crystals are a potential energy source, but they are also a potential source of global warming if massive amounts of methane were released during an earthquake or by rising ocean temperatures.

A valuable role exists for the use of social media in medicine, new research has shown.

Dr Joe-Anthony Rotella, in a letter to the editor in the latest Early View issue of Emergency Medicine Australasia, the journal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, describes his investigation into the use of Twitter by individuals or organisations involved in clinical toxicology and poison control.

A recent report issued by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) estimates that more than 22 million women aged between 50-84 years in the European Union (EU) have osteoporosis (1). Postmenopausal women are at greatest risk of broken bones due to the hormonal changes that occur at menopause which result in rapid loss of bone mass (2).

In the eyes of a female poison-dart frog, a red male isn't much brighter than a green one. This does not however mean that the mating behavior of the green and red variants of the same species of frog is exactly the same. A study in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, led by Beatriz Willink of the Universidad de Costa Rica in Costa Rica, sheds light on these findings.

Artificial materials based on simple synthetic polymers can disrupt the way in which bacteria communicate with each other, a study led by scientists at The University of Nottingham has shown.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Chemistry, could further our knowledge on how better to control and exploit bacteria in the future and will have implications for work in the emerging field of synthetic biology.

A collaboration among researchers in Israel and the United States has resulted in the discovery of a new pathway that has broad implications for treating allergic diseases – particularly eosinophil-associated disorders.

PRINCETON, NJ—Since 9/11, the United States has seen the largest sustained deployment of military service men and women in the history of the all-volunteer force, and our knowledge of military children and their families – one of the largest American subcultures, affecting 2 million children – has become outdated.

Teenagers who go to bed late during the school year are more prone to academic and emotional difficulties in the long run, compared to their earlier-to-bed counterparts, according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley.

Berkeley researchers analyzed longitudinal data from a nationally representative cohort of 2,700 U.S. adolescents of whom 30 percent reported bedtimes later than 11:30 p.m. on school days and 1:30 a.m. in the summer in their middle and high school years.