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Philadelphia, Pa. (October 28, 2013) – Minimally invasive surgical techniques have revolutionized the treatment paraesophageal hernia—but there's continued controversy over some key technical aspects of the procedure. To inform the debate, leading surgical specialists outline their approaches to laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repair in the October issue of Surgical Laparoscopy, Endoscopy & Percutaneous Techniques.

Taxonomic descriptions, introduced by Linnaeus in 1735, are designed to allow scientists to tell one species from another. Now there is a new futuristic method for describing new species that goes far beyond the tradition. The new approach combines several techniques, including next generation molecular methods, barcoding, and novel computing and imaging technologies, that will test the model for big data collection, storage and management in biology.

New cocaine and cannabis research reveals that regular cannabis users have increased levels of impulsive behaviour. It had previously been argued that this increased impulsivity after cannabis administration was only experienced by occasional users, but that regular users were no longer affected in this way. Published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, the results provide evidence for how drug use may trigger addictive behaviours.

If you often find yourself running after a bus, escaping a burning building or taking part in competitive athletics in high-heeled footwear, you may be storing up knee problems for later in life, according to a study published this month in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.

Physiological processes in soft tissue pain such as chronic tennis elbow can be explored using diagnostic imaging methods. This is demonstrated by researchers from Uppsala University and the results are now being published in the prestigious journal PLOS ONE. The pain physician and researcher Magnus Peterson is presenting a new use of positron emission tomography (PET) and a tracer for the signal receptor NK1 for visualising a physiological process associated with pain.

"We believe that cancer cells release a unique chemical signature related to the tumor-growing process," said Peter J. Mazzone, MD, FCCP, director of the lung cancer program for the Respiratory Institute at Cleveland Clinic. "We are currently developing a breath-based test based on the results of our research."

"We found that of smokers of long or ultralong cigarettes have higher concentrations of tobacco specific carcinogens in their urine than smokers of regular or king size cigarettes," said Constantine Vardavas, MD, senior research scientist, Harvard School of Public Health.

NATIONAL HARBOR, M.D. – Two subtypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) prevented by vaccines are half as likely to be found in African-American women as in white women with precancerous cervical lesions, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

The findings, presented on Oct. 28, 2013, at the 12th annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research, suggest that African-American women may be less likely to benefit from available HPV vaccines to prevent cervical cancer.

BOSTON – A fine-grained scan of DNA in lung cancer cells has revealed a gene fusion – a forced merger of two normally separate genes – that spurs the cells to divide rapidly, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Colorado Cancer Center report in a new paper in the journal Nature Medicine. Treating the cells with a compound that blocks a protein encoded by one of those genes – NTRK1 – caused the cells to die.

Could being socially isolated affect how well you do and the amount of pain you experience after surgery? Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) set out to test this hypothesis. They found that people who lacked good social ties were much more likely to experience serious, ongoing pain following total hip replacement surgery two or more years after the procedure.

(Chicago, Illinois) October 28, 2013 - A recent study shows that patients given beta-blockers may actually be at increased risk of having an adverse cardiac event during a noncardiac surgical procedure. Risk of irregular heartbeat and worsening of symptoms in patients with existing heart disease also seemed to increase, but to a lesser degree. Beta-blockers are drugs commonly prescribed to treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.

Boulder, CO, USA – In response to devastation caused by unprecedented heavy rains between 9 and 13 September 2013, and the resulting catastrophic flooding that hit Colorado's Front Range, The Geological Society of America will present a late-breaking session on Tuesday morning, 29 October, during their 125th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Denver.

Two fossilized footprints found at Dinosaur Cove in Victoria, Australia, were likely made by birds during the Early Cretaceous, making them the oldest known bird tracks in Australia.

The journal Palaeontology is publishing an analysis of the footprints led by Anthony Martin, a paleontologist at Emory University in Atlanta who specializes in trace fossils, which include tracks, burrows and nests. The study was co-authored by Patricia Vickers-Rich and Michael Hall of Monash University in Victoria and Thomas Rich of the Museum Victoria in Melbourne.

Sydney, Australia and Phoenix, AZ, USA – October 28, 2013 – VisionGate, Inc., a company developing a revolutionary non-invasive test for the early detection of lung cancer, today reported clinical data showing that its automated 3D cell imaging platform, the Cell-CT™, can detect lung cancer in sputum samples with high sensitivity and specificity. The data was presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer.

The California Current System along the U.S. west coast is among the richest ecosystems in the world, driven by nutrient input from coastal upwelling and supporting a great diversity of marine life. Like coastal regions in general, it is also heavily impacted by human activities. A new study led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, reveals areas along the west coast where human impacts are highest on marine predators such as whales, seals, seabirds, and turtles.