Tech

Having a pathologist on-site during ultrasound-guided thyroid biopsies can decrease the number of repeat biopsies that are often performed due to an inadequate sample from the first procedure, according to a study to be presented at the ARRS 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.

Arabinoxylan, the major dietary fibre component of wheat bran, is important both from the technological and nutritional point of view. New enzymatic technologies were developed in the HEALTHGRAIN project to partly and selectively degrade arabinoxylan. The results offer potential for a new soluble fibre ingredient based on wheat bran.

The bioactive compounds of cereals are concentrated in the peripheral layers of the grains (bran) but most of them have a low bio-accessibility. In the HEALTHGRAIN project of the European Union, new tools for process monitoring were developed that support commercial implementation of innovative milling techniques including partial grain debranning, fine grinding and classification of grain fractions, resulting in flours and ingredients with enhanced nutritional properties.

Older married adults whose spouse has dementia are at significantly higher risk for developing dementia themselves, compared to similar older married adults whose spouse never develops dementia. This is the key finding of a study published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Patients who have gastric cancer surgery followed by chemotherapy have an associated decreased risk of death and improved disease-free survival compared to patients who have surgery alone, according to an analysis of previous studies, reported in the May 5 issue of JAMA.

HOUSTON – Early life exposure to ultraviolet A light does not cause melanoma in a fish model that previously made that connection, scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported today in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

MADISON, WI, May 3, 2010-Conventional agriculture production relies heavily on fossil fuels, particularly in its ability to provide energy at a low cost. However, the uncertain future of fossil fuel availability and prices point to need to explore energy efficiencies in other cropping systems.

Researchers have developed an automated 3-D mapping and labeling system that reduces scan time and improves the work flow, efficiency, and accuracy of routine freehand ultrasound exams, according to a study to be presented at the ARRS 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.

With millions of gallons crude oil being spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the focus now is on shutting down the leak. However, in the cleanup efforts to come, "extreme caution" must be exercised so as not to make a bad situation even worse, says a leading bioremediation expert with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

NEW ORLEANS, LA (May 4, 2010) – Endoscopic radiofrequency ablation is an effective treatment in eliminating Barrett's esophagus, an electronic "nose" offers a fast and effective way to detect inflammatory bowel disease, artificial replacements are now being developed to replace gastrointestinal tissue that is removed, and researchers find that endoscopic ampullectomy for treating ampullary adenoma (tumors of the bile duct) is more precise than surgery with fewer side effects. These are among the studies being presented at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW®) 2010.

About half of all bird nests don't survive due to predators, particularly in fragmented forest areas, but why? University of Illinois researchers monitored both the prey and predator to find an answer.

The hairs on the surface of water ferns could allow ships to have a 10 per cent decrease in fuel consumption. The plant has the rare ability to put on a gauzy skirt of air under water. Researchers at the University of Bonn, Rostock and Karlsruhe now show in the journal Advanced Materials (doi: 10.1002/adma.200904411) how the fern does this. Their results can possibly be used for the construction of new kinds of hulls with reduced friction.

SEATTLE—In a two-year evaluation at Group Health Cooperative, transforming primary care into a "patient-centered medical home" model paid off. Published in the May 2010 Health Affairs, the evaluation compared the medical home prototype to Group Health's other medical centers, showing:

Low levels of prenatal tobacco smoke exposure are associated with a higher risk of developmental problems for African American children than white children, according to new research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

The findings were presented at noon ET Saturday, May 1, at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver, Canada.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Severely obese adolescents may desire or potentially benefit from bariatric surgery. However, half of primary care physicians say they would not recommend the procedure to a patient under the age of 18, according to research published in Obesity Surgery.

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically since the 1970s. Obese adolescents are more likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes, hypertension, non-alcoholic steotohepatitis, sleep apnea, choleolithiasis and premature death as adults.