Findings challenge age-based treatment guidelines

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and 48 eye centers across North America report that many children between the ages of 7 and 17 with amblyopia, or “lazy eye,” may benefit from treatments usually prescribed for younger children.
“Previously, many eye specialists thought treating amblyopia in older children would be ineffective, but we found that many teenagers responded to treatment,” says Michael Repka, M

Desert blooms–plants that flourish in arid areas after rains–might reduce water accumulation in soil should the climate shift toward wetter conditions, according to a study conducted by a team led by University of Texas at Austin hydrogeologists.

By the same token, such vegetation keeps water from reaching the water table deep below the surface in such areas. “Monitoring soil-water response to extreme El Niños in Nevada indicates that vegetation response will dampen the impact

Girls steer away from careers in math, science and engineering because they view science as a solitary rather than a social occupation, according to a University of Michigan psychologist.

“Raising girls who are confident in their ability to succeed in science and math is our first job,” said Jacquelynne Eccles, a senior research professor at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) and the U-M Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

“But in order to increase the num

Entrepreneurs who are quick to think along new lines, invest in new technology, and who dare to take risks are more successful than more traditional small-scale business people. This was found in a study carried out among 14 manufacturing companies mainly in the Mälaren Valley in central Sweden.

The focus of the study is on the so-called strategic resources of the companies and the purpose is to develop a model that identifies competitive advantages in small and medium-sized m

A Ugandan drug trial’s findings that the AIDS medication nevirapine is effective and safe in preventing HIV transmission from mother to unborn child during birth were well-supported, according to a new, independent analysis by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The IOM’s analysis of the design and methodology of the 1997 drug study in Uganda, called HIVNET 012, determined that policy-makers and other scientists can rely on the resulting data and conclusions, despite some flaws

An anti-poverty program in Milwaukee, Wisc., substantially increased marriage rates among single mothers who have never been married, according to research by New York University psychology professor Hiro Yoshikawa and Anna Gassman-Pines, a doctoral candidate in psychology. The findings, the result of an unprecedented five-year study of Milwaukee’s “New Hope Project,” will be presented on Sat., April 9, at the Society for Research in Child Development conference in Atlanta, Ga.

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A baby’s understanding of language may begin with its own name, which a baby uses to break sentences into smaller parts so it can learn other words, according to new research by Texas A&M University psychologist Heather Bortfeld, who studies language development in infants and children.

Bortfeld’s research, which appears in the upcoming April issue of “Psychological Science,” shows that babies use familiar words such as their names as a sort of “anchor” into the speech s

Study supports physical activity programs for preventing disability among elderly patients

Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States. Nearly 60 percent of Americans ages 65 and older suffer with some form of this progressive joint disease. For more than 1 in 10 sufferers, arthritis makes simple, everyday tasks, from walking up a flight of stairs to bathing and dressing, extremely difficult. By 2010, arthritis is projected to affect almost 40 million Americans

Study suggests a common viral infection may increase risk of lupus in African Americans. Findings also show that genetic variation may affect the immune response to Epstein-Barr virus in lupus patients.

Almost everyone has been infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpes family and one of the most common human viruses. Symptoms of initial infection range from a typically mild childhood illness with a fever and sore throat to mononucleosis in teenagers or adults. A

New research on prions, the infectious proteins behind “mad cow” disease and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease in humans, suggests that the ability of prions in one species to infect other species depends on the shape of the toxic threadlike fibers produced by the prion. Two studies on the topic appear in the 8 April issue of the journal Cell.

Although research suggests that prions from one species rarely infect other species, some scientists believe the species barrier was breached when a n

A major new Dutch study has found that smoking adds the equivalent of ten years to a 20-year-old subfertile woman’s reproductive age and has a “devastating” impact on a couples’ chances of having a live birth after IVF. Being overweight also seriously damages their chances.

The harmful effects of smoking or being overweight were strongest among those women who had no obvious cause for not conceiving, according to the research, published today (Thursday 7 April) in Europe’s lea

New highly sensitive approach shows no evidence of SV40 in tumors – SV40 unlikely to be factor in asbestos related cancers

SV40 does not have a role in the majority of malignant mesotheliomas — a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos – according to a study in this month’s Cancer Research. The study, led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers used a scrupulous protocol that eliminated contamination that has likely been the reason previous studies have implicated

A study at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston may lead to a better understanding of how antidepressants like Prozac work – and how to make them more effective.

According to results published in today’s issue of the journal Neuron, a study in mice proposes that dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitter systems in the brain occasionally get their signals crossed, causing delays in stabilizing mood. “This study provides a new site for drug discovery in one of the biggest marke

OHSU scientists compared rural transfers to level I, II centers in Oregon, Washington

Head injury patients transferred to level I trauma centers are more likely to survive than if they’re transferred to level II facilities, an Oregon Health & Science University study has found.

The study published in the April issue of the journal Health Services Research found that mortality risk dropped 10 percent among patients with head injury transferred from rural trauma cen

An outgrowth of the 1960s alternative school movement, homeschooling, is on the upswing in the United States, and a Penn State researcher is trying to piece together a snapshot of the movement where in many cases, states require little record keeping.

“Until the 1980s, most of the students kept out of regular schools to be homeschooled were breaking state laws,” says JoAnn C. Vender, graduate student in geography. “In research on the geography of education, there are very few

The multiple “litter” births of mice, versus the normal singleton pregnancy of humans, is due to defective processing in mice of a common mammalian protein called bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP-15), according to new study by University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine researchers.

Published online the week of April 4, 2005 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and appearing in the journal’s April 12, 2005 print edition, the study provides one