Researchers from Imperial College London have developed a system using statistical control charts to help monitor mortality rates in general practice.

Although the system, details of which are published online today in The Lancet, was developed as a practical response to monitoring issues raised by the Harold Shipman case, it can also be used to monitor variations in the quality of care between GPs and practices.

Dr Paul Aylin, one of the paper’s authors, from Imperial Co

A study of microbes that thrive in hot, acidic conditions has overturned a long-held view that species of micro-organisms do not differ by geographic location like other forms of life. The research by the University of Cincinnati and the University of California-Berkeley has just been published online by the journal Science.

When it comes to plant life and animal life, a species usually shows genetic differences in different parts of the world. For the tiny form of life known as micro-org

Some thirty million species now live on Earth, but their spatial distribution is highly uneven. Biologists since Darwin have been asking why. Now, scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), have discovered part of the answer: how plant and animal communities originally assembled is a predictor of future biodiversity and ecosystem productivity.

“Despite its importance, species diversity has proven difficult to understand, in large part because multiple processes operating at

Scientists at the MPI-CBG in Dresden and EMBL in Heidelberg map forces that help cells divide

“Cells obey the laws of physics and chemistry,” begins a famous biology textbook, and one of the main goals of molecular biology is to link the properties of single molecules to the behavior of cells and the lives of organisms. So it is probably no surprise that an important new discovery about the physical forces that underlie cell division comes from a physics student-turned biologist, usi

Researchers have discovered a novel class of compounds that affects the cell’s garbage disposal system which degrades proteins and opens a window for understanding a vital cell function as well as for treating heart disease and cancer.

The distinctive mechanisms of these compounds are reported in the July 29 issue of Biochemistry and online earlier this month by Dr. Michael Simons, professor of medicine and of pharmacology and toxicology at Dartmouth Medical School and head of ca

Professor Lance Lanyon, Principal of The Royal Veterinary College, Karla Lee, Helen Jessop, Rosemary Suswillo, Gul Zaman from the Department of Basic Sciences at The Royal Veterinary College have shown in their research that the Estrogen Receptor has a fundamental role in bone cells by adjusting the bone architecture to match the loads individuals place on them. Their paper is published in the latest edition of Nature.

The strain imposed by mechanical loading on bone tissue normally stimulat

The scientist from the Institute of Plants and Animals Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences (Ural Branch), has made a description of the giant dear remains, found in the Ural, and has determined their age. Giant deer Megaloceros giganteus originated as a species in the preglacial epoch, lived through the glaciation period and died out about 8-9 thousand years ago after the climate had become warmer. The remains will help to investigate how the giant dear lived and why this species disappeared. The r

Two University of Iowa Health Care physicians are calling attention to the issue of polyherbacy, the excessive or inappropriate ingestion of herbs for the treatment or prevention of disease, especially in older patients.

Jose Ness, M.D., UI assistant professor (clinical) of internal medicine, and Nicole Nisly, M.D., associate professor (clinical) of internal medicine and director of the UI Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Clinic, published a letter on polyherbacy in the May issu

Thought to be the most addictive form of nicotine in tobacco smoke, free-base nicotine is found at a wide range of levels in popular brands

When it comes to nicotine content, all cigarettes are not created equal, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University. In fact, the study finds that some commercial cigarette brands contain 10 to 20 times higher percentages of nicotine in the so-called “free-base” form — the form thought to be most addictive — t

Older adults with anemia are twice as likely to have a significant decline in physical performance that could threaten their independence, report researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in the current issue of the American Journal of Medicine.

“Our results suggest that anemia is an independent risk factor for physical decline, which puts older adults at higher risk for nursing home admission, disability and death,” said Brenda Penninx, Ph.D., associate professor

In an article appearing in a special issue of the Journal of Neuro-oncology, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute describe a complex cell-level process that allows malignant brain tumors to protect themselves by damaging the thymus, rapidly degrading the immune system. In a second article, Institute scientists identify a molecular mechanism that causes cell death of cancer-fighting lymphocytes as they infiltrate a brain tumor.

“We are

For decades, scientists have hunted for signals that guide nerve cells’ tentacle-like axons, hoping to understand how these cell tips reach out to distant targets. It’s knowledge that might one day help researchers learn how to rebuild nerves lost to spinal cord injuries or diseases like Huntington’s.

Now, a Johns Hopkins team studying a family of proteins best known for repelling axons and inhibiting their growth reports finding one member that unexpectedly promotes axon growth ins

Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) was identified as a novel gene disrupted by a (1;11)(q42.1;q14.3) translocation that segregated with schizophrenia in a Scottish family. Predicted DISC1 product has no significant homology to other known proteins. Here, Dr. Katayama and colleagues in Osaka, Japan, demonstrated the existence of DISC1 protein and identified fasciculation and elongation protein zeta-1 (FEZ1) as an interacting partner of DISC1 by a yeast two-hybrid study. FEZ1 and its nematode homolog

There is more to losing weight than diet and exercise, according to investigators the Research Institute at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Their study is the first to identify a new receptor protein present on fat cells that may play a role in fat metabolism. The findings, published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, have implications for the many individuals suffering from obesity.

“We have identified a receptor protein on fat cells that when stimulated may increa

People who previously were not considered good candidates for LASIK because of large pupils can now get the procedure, according to a study appearing in the July issue of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Eye M.D. Association. By using a larger laser treatment zone on the underlying layers of the cornea, surgeons can avoid inducing night vision disturbances such as haloes and glare that patients with large pupils often experience.

In this study

The new Director-General of WHO is calling for global collaboration to tackle the crisis identified by The Lancet’s Child Survival Series, which concludes in this week’s issue.

The series has highlighted a global public-health disaster: over 10 million children under five years dead every year; the majority from easily preventable causes. In a Commentary in this week’s issue, Dr JW Lee highlights three key priorities for action. He comments: “First, the health of children and mothers must be