Culture

IVF breakthrough to hit the world market

A University of Adelaide reproductive biologist has achieved a major breakthrough in IVF technology that is expected to help millions of women around the world who have suffered previous miscarriages after IVF treatment.

Professor Sarah Robertson, an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow and member of the University's Robinson Institute, has partnered with a Danish company to develop a product which improves IVF embryo implantation rates for some women by up to 40%.

School-based interventions for obesity

St. Louis, MO, January 6, 2011 – Thanks to the Let's Move initiative, society is becoming more aware of alarming statistics like 1 in 4 children are obese and childhood obesity has nearly doubled over the past two decades! With this platform, nutrition education and physical activity in the classroom have taken the forefront against this growing epidemic. A study in the January/February 2011 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior explores twenty-six school-based nutrition interventions in the United States.

This new year, how motivated are you?

Personal motivation may be the biggest factor in determining the length of time it takes for a patient to return to work following a total knee replacement, according to new research published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS).

"Although the physical demands of a patient's job certainly have some influence on their ability to return to work following a primary total knee replacement, the patient's characteristics, particularly motivation, play a more important role," said study author Joseph F. Styron, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University.

Where MRSA colonizes on the human body

PROVIDENCE, RI – When methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is carried in the nose (nares), it is a risk factor for an invasive infection, including a surgical site infection. Some studies have found that the heavier the carriage of MRSA in the nose, the greater the risk of transmission to others and the greater risk of infection to the patient. Few studies to date have assessed the differences in quantity of MRSA at different body sites.

U of Minnesota center releases nation's first long-term framework for statewide water sustainability

The University of Minnesota's Water Resources Center has authored a first-ever, comprehensive report designed to protect and preserve Minnesota's lakes, rivers and groundwater for the 21st century and beyond. The report is being formally presented to the Minnesota House of Representative's Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee today at 8:15 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 5 in Room 5 of the State Office Building, St. Paul.

Extreme obesity associated with higher risk of death for 2009 H1N1 patients

[EMBARGOED FOR JAN. 5, 2011] For those infected with the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus, extreme obesity was a powerful risk factor for death, according to an analysis of a public health surveillance database. In a study to be published in the February 1, 2011, issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, researchers associated extreme obesity with a nearly three-fold increased odds of death from 2009 H1N1 influenza. Half of Californians greater than 20 years of age hospitalized with 2009 H1N1 were obese. (Please see below for a link to the study online.)

Yale researchers find double doses of chicken pox vaccine most effective

When vaccinating children against varicella (chicken pox), researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found, two doses are better than one. In fact, the odds of developing chicken pox were 95 percent lower in children who had received two doses of the vaccine compared with those who had received only one dose.

Published in the February 1 issue of Journal of Infectious Diseases, the study was led by Eugene D. Shapiro, M.D., professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Yale and his colleagues at Yale and Columbia universities.

Environmental Science Technology special issue on environmental policy now online

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2011 — A special edition of the American Chemical Society journal, Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T), one of the world's premier environmental journals, is available now for a limited time online without charge.

Porphyromonas gingivalis accelerates inflammatory atherosclerosis in a mouse model

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the developed world. While a number of risk factors for atherosclerosis have been defined, scientists continue to study other possible risk factors for this disease. Recent epidemiological and experimental studies link infectious agents with the development of inflammatory atherosclerosis. A hallmark of chronic infection with the oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis is the induction of a chronic inflammatory response. P.

CEOs rewarded for wrong kind of growth, Rotman paper finds

Toronto – Growth is good, right?

Not always.

But compensation committees still tend to reward CEOs when their companies grow due to investments – even though that has been found to hurt long-term shareholder value – rather than only rewarding growth due to improved profitability, says a paper co-authored by a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

Study finds problems with reviewing medical images from portable media

Radiologists and referring clinicians frequently use portable media (CDs, DVDs) to review patient medical images acquired at outside imaging centers, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans, but issues regarding access, importability, and viewing of these portable media exist, according to a study in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (www.jacr.org).

Authorities often aware of previous incidents of victimization among children and adolescents

DURHAM, N.H. – Almost half of U.S. youth who experience violence, abuse or crime have had at least one of their victimizations known to school, police or medical authorities, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire Crimes against Children Research Center.

The research is reported in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Clostridium bacteria infecting increasing numbers of hospitalized children

Hospitalized children in the United States are more frequently becoming infected with the bacteria Clostridium difficile, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Child and youth victimization less hidden from authorities

Almost half of U.S. youth who experience violence, abuse or crime have had at least one of their victimizations known to school, police or medical authorities, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Banks not all bad - the default rate could be much higher

COLUMBUS, Ohio – While the nation's foreclosure crisis has focused blame on bad loan practices by some lenders, new research shows how some banks may have actually reduced the default risk of their homebuyers.

Researchers found that low-income homeowners who received a mortgage from a local lender were less likely to default on their loans than are those who borrowed from a more distant bank or mortgage company.