News Articles

WASHINGTON --Older adults who go to the emergency department with cognitive impairment, a change in disposition plan from admit to discharge, low blood pressure and elevated heart rate were more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) or to die within 7 days. The results of a matched case-control study of patients age 65 or older who died or were admitted to the ICU within 7 days of being evaluated in the emergency department were published online Wednesday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Poor Outcomes Following Emergency Department Discharge of the Elderly: A Case-Control Study").

WA, Seattle (March 4, 2016) - Peanut allergy prevention achieved from early peanut consumption in at-risk infants persists after a one-year period of avoiding peanut, a clinical trial has found. The LEAP-ON clinical trial (Persistence of Oral Tolerance to Peanut) was conducted by the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), a research consortium supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and led by Dr. Gideon Lack from Kings College London. The results were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Shoulder and elbow injuries in adolescent pitchers are becoming more and more prevalent each year. Researchers presenting their work today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day, highlight how fatigue can affect pitching mechanics and potentially result in injuries. 
"Our study simulated a 90-pitch game for 28 elite, adolescent pitchers and investigated how their shoulder and elbow motions affected pitching speed, accuracy, pain, and pitching mechanics. As expected, the boys became progressively more fatigued and painful with additional pitches. We also found that their pitching mechanics changed, which may ultimately contribute to injury" said lead author, Peter Chalmers, MD from Rush University Medical Center, in Chicago.

Repairing massive rotator cuff tears is often a tricky proposition, especially for those who have failed prior surgery. Researchers presenting their work at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day today, discussed how a new arthroscopic procedure to treat large rotator cuff tears may help patients return to sports and work quicker. 
"Our work on utilizing an arthroscopic superior capsule reconstruction (ASCR) restored shoulder function at a greater rate than previous forms of treatment and helped return our patients to recreational sport and work faster," said Teruhisa Mihata, MD, PhD from the Osaka Medical College

Preseason prevention programs are beneficial to young baseball pitchers, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day. The study, the first to analyze a well-monitored preseason training program, showed numerous arm flexibility and strength improvements in participating athletes that could ultimately diminish the risk of injuries.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- The twin birth rate in the U.S. has surged over the last 30 years, mostly because of reproductive technologies including in vitro fertilization. Though it's partly the cause, IVF could also be the most promising solution to reducing unintended twin births, argues Dr. Eli Adashi in a new editorial in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

There are two premises.
First, scientific research has demonstrated that when we look at other people's facial expressions, we tend to imitate them in an imperceptible and subconscious manner through a process known as facial mimicry. The hypothesis is that this behaviour helps us understand the emotions we are watching.
The second thing we need to know is that our expressions, just like our face, are asymmetrical: they are more pronounced and begin earlier (facial expression is a dynamic process) on one half of the face compared to the other. This asymmetry is thought to give expressions a special "flavour": those that begin and are more pronounced on the left, for example, are judged as being more authentic.

Consuming a diet with a high glycemic index, a classification of how rapidly carbohydrates elevate blood sugar levels, was independently associated with an increased risk of developing lung cancer in non-Hispanic whites, according to a new epidemiologic study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

ORLANDO, Fla.--High school football players with ill-fitting helmets are at greater risk for more severe concussions, according to a study presented today at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
"This study suggests that incorrect helmet fit may be one variable that predisposes a football player to sustain a more severe concussion," said senior study author Joseph Torg, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine at Temple University Health System, who has identified acceptable tackle techniques for the NFL.

Researchers have developed an artificial skin that can stretch, sense pressure, and emit light, demonstrating a level of multi-functionality seen in the skin of cephalopods like octopuses. The artificial skin, which outperforms some previous models in terms of stretchiness, could be used on soft electronics and robots that change their shape and color display. The development that made the skin's creation possible is a hyperelastic, light-emitting capacitor (HLEC), which Chris Larson and colleagues designed using two ionic, hydrogel electrodes embedded in a matrix of silicone. The HLEC device is many times more elastic than existing stretchable light emitters based on organic semiconductors.

An analysis of more than 14 million reviews on RateMyProfessors.com, a site where students write anonymous reviews of their professors, found that words like "brilliant" and "genius" are most often used to describe male professors, and in academic disciplines in which there are fewer women and African-Americans.
The findings are reported in PLOS ONE, a pay-to-publish journal which has been criticized recently for a lack of peer review and, ironically, being biased against female authors.

In areas that undergo rapid urbanization in low-income countries the safe management of wastewater and fecal sludge is vital to ensure the health of the growing population. In particular, contact with human and animal fecal waste is a risk factor for parasitic infections such as hookworms and intestinal protozoa. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases reports a cross-sectional survey done by researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and colleagues from Uganda who examined the prevalence and risk factors for intestinal parasitic infection in the growing suburbs of Kampala, the capital of this East African country.