Tech

Patient deaths at three London hospitals have been cut by almost 15% after introducing treatment checklists (known as care bundles), finds a study published on bmj.com today.

The researchers say their methods could be used to reduce mortality in many other hospitals.

NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the remnants of ex-tropical storm Paul early today, April 1 and noticed its circulation and form had weakened in the last 24 hours. All weather warnings for the mainland in the Northern Territory have been cancelled.

A University of Iowa study found that one-third of sexual relationships in the Chicago area lack exclusivity. One in 10 men and women reported that both they and their partner had slept with other people.

Lovers in "friends with benefits" situations or those "hooking up" with a stranger or acquaintance proved much more likely to have multiple partners, according to the survey of 783 heterosexual adults.

A closer look at a promising nanotube coating that might one day improve solar cells has turned up a few unexpected wrinkles, according to new research* conducted at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and North Dakota State University (NDSU)—research that also may help scientists iron out a solution.

Experimenting on a university dormitory that was scheduled to be torn down, fire researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated that the correct combination of automatic fire sprinkler systems, smoke alarms and closed doors provided enough time and safe conditions for residents to escape safely and for firefighters to perform their job without undue hazard.

In readiness for launch on 8 April, ESA's CryoSat-2 ice satellite has now joined the rest of the Dnepr rocket in the launch silo at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The 'space head module' was transported from the integration facilities to the underground launch silo this morning. Although it is only 7 km between the two sites, the specialised lorry, nicknamed the 'crocodile', takes well over an hour to complete the journey.

Ann Arbor, Mich. — More than one in four elderly Americans lacked the capacity to make their own medical care decisions at the end of life, according to a study of 3,746 people to be published April 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Online communities could easily be used to offer people with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes , wireless healthcare services via mobile phones and the internet. The approach, outlined in the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, would reduce healthcare costs and empower many patients to manage their condition more effectively.

WESTCHESTER, Ill. — A study of healthy new mothers in the April 1 issue of the journal Sleep found that the perception of poor sleep and the conscious awareness of its impact on daytime functioning might be stronger predictors of immediate postpartum mood disturbances than actual sleep quality and quantity.

Advanced imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might shorten the length of a person's hospital stay and decrease the high costs associated with hospitalization if used early, according to a study in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (www.jacr.org).

Occupational exposure to certain chemicals and pollutants before a woman reaches her mid-30s could treble her risk of developing cancer after the menopause, suggests research published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine .

Women exposed to synthetic fibres and petroleum products during the course of their work seem to be most at risk, the research suggests.

Name a human gene, and you'll find a movie online showing you what happens to cells when it is switched off. This is the resource that researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and their collaborators in the Mitocheck consortium are making freely available, as the result of a study in which they have identified the genes involved in mitosis – the most common form of cell division – in humans. Published today in Nature, their work begins to unravel the molecular workings of one of the most fundamental processes of life: how one cell becomes two.

Ann Arbor, Mich. — More than one in four elderly Americans lacked the capacity to make their own medical care decisions at the end of life, according to a study of 3,746 people to be published April 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

When Walter O'Brien was a young boy, he recalls a moment of complete exhilaration when he was able to design and build a balsa wood airplane model that actually flew from his parents' front porch, across the street, and landed on the neighbor's deck. That boy of 10 is now in his early 70s, but he remains as excited about his engineering prowess now as he was then.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Despite high levels of poverty and unemployment rates that are nearly double that of their urban counterparts, working families in rural Oregon tend to make less use of public assistance, especially childcare subsidies, according to researchers with Oregon State University's Family Policy Program.