In a fascinating study appearing in the November issue of the American Naturalist, biologists investigated the response of small animals to climate change on a remote sub-Antarctic Island. From an evolutionary standpoint, acclimatizing to a change in circumstances seems to make evolutionary sense. However, Steven Chown and Jacques Deere (both of Stellenbosch University) found that terrestrial animals don’t adapt. Why not?
A University of Washington professor contends that penalties imposed upon public companies that falsify accounting records are miniscule compared with the costs incurred when news of a company’s misdeeds spreads and its reputation spoils.
Six percent of obese kidney transplant patients die in the first year and 14 percent suffer transplant failures. The figures for non obese patients are three percent and eight percent. Experts from seven university hospitals in the Netherlands studied 2067 patients. Their finding appear in the November issue of Transplant International.
A new combination of a potent anticoagulant and an antidote that stops its action, has proved to be safe in its first clinical trial in humans, according to the team conducting the trial.
Two nearly 6-foot tall, remote-controlled robots are now on staff at The Methodist Hospital, caring for critically ill patients suffering from stroke or other neurological problems.
Women with systemic lupus who become pregnant are at significantly greater risk for death or other medical complications than are pregnant women without lupus, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found in a nationwide study of more than 18 million women.
Experts believe the world is overdue for influenza pandemic. However, unless effective action against pandemic flu is taken now, we are in “dire straits,” according to a paper published in the November 10 issue of Science. The articled titled, “Next Flu Pandemic: What to Do Until the Vaccine Arrives?,” calls for research during the regular season flu season to better understand the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, hand washing, face masks, and the like.
University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health researchers have determined that firefighters are significantly more likely to develop four different types of cancer than workers in other fields. Their findings suggest that the protective equipment firefighters have used in the past didn’t do a good job in protecting them against cancer-causing agents they encounter in their profession, the researchers say.
The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) has drafted the Worldwide Charter for Action on Eating Disorders, an international bill of rights for people with eating disorders and their families, that seeks an end to discrimination against people with eating disorders by insurance and treatment providers.
The part of the brain responsible for making most decisions about how to behave seems to develop less quickly in children exposed to cocaine before they were born, University of Florida researchers have found.