Transforaminal steroid injection for lumbar radicular pain proves superior to placebo

A recent study from Australian researchers determined that transforaminal injection of steroids was a viable alternative to surgery for lumbar radicular pain due to disc herniation. Full details of the study appear in the August issue of Pain Medicine, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, and the International Spine Intervention Society.

eurekalert.org - 2010-07-30 05:24:08 GMT
Clinical trials can be improved by managing the learning curve

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center looked for a learning curve phenomenon in the data record of a large, multi-site clinical trial. Their findings point to ways to improve the quality of future trials through better training and simulation exercises.

eurekalert.org - 2010-07-30 05:24:08 GMT
30 million women to benefit from health reform law

Thirty million women will benefit from the new health reform law over the next decade, either through new or strengthened insurance coverage, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. The law will stabilize and reverse the growing exposure to health costs that women now experience by subsidizing health insurance for up to 15 million currently uninsured women, and strengthening existing coverage for 14.5 million women who are considered underinsured.

eurekalert.org - 2010-07-30 05:24:08 GMT
New study: Tools that assess bias in standardized tests are flawed

Overturning more than 40 years of accepted practice, new research proves that the tools used to check tests of "general mental ability" for bias are themselves flawed. This key finding challenges reliance on such exams to make objective decisions for employment or academic admissions even in the face of well-documented gaps between mean scores of white and minority populations.

eurekalert.org - 2010-07-30 05:24:08 GMT
Polarstern expedition: Autonomous underwater vehicle dives under the Arctic ice

The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association for the first time sent its Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) on an under-ice mission at about 79° North. The four-metre-long, torpedo shaped underwater vehicle was deployed from the research icebreaker Polarstern under heavy pack ice. The vehicle was subsequently recovered by helicopter.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Women in their 40s have lower mammographic tumor detectability, study finds

The reduced effectiveness of mammographic screening in women in their 40s is primarily due to lower detectability instead of faster tumor growth rate, according to a new study.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Protein complex reveals molecular mechanism of innate immune response

A team of researchers at the RIKEN Plant Science Center and the Institute of Cancer Research has uncovered details of a protein complex governing innate immune response in plants and animals, with applications in the development of disease-resistant crops and treatment of human diseases.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Graphene exhibits bizarre new behavior well suited to electronic devices

Graphene, a sheet of pure carbon, has been touted as a possible replacement for silicon-based semiconductors because of its useful electronic properties. Now, physicists have shown that graphene has another unique and amazing property that could make it even more suitable for future electronic devices. When contorted in a specific way it sprouts nanobubbles in which electrons behave as if they are moving in a strong magnetic field.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Best hope for saving Arctic sea ice is cutting soot emissions, say researchers

Soot from the burning of fossil fuels and solid biofuels contributes far more to global warming than has been thought, according to a new study. But, unlike carbon dioxide, soot lingers only a few weeks in the atmosphere, so cutting emissions could have a significant and rapid impact on the climate. Controlling it may be the only option for saving the Arctic sea ice before it all melts.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Key enzyme in DNA repair pathway identified

Researchers have discovered an enzyme crucial to a type of DNA repair that also causes resistance to a class of cancer drugs most commonly used against ovarian cancer.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Chemicals are likely cause of feminization of fish present in two rivers in Alberta, Canada, researchers find

Chemicals present in two rivers in southern Alberta are likely the cause of the feminization of fish, say researchers.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy for localized prostate cancer

NYU Langone Medical Center has begun a clinical trial offering vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy to patients with localized prostate cancer. This novel, minimally invasive procedure uses a light-activated drug to deliver light energy waves by way of laser fibers in order to destroy prostate cancer cells.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Fluorescent biosensor to aid in drug development

Scientists have developed a new fluorescent biosensor that could aid in the development of an important class of drugs that target a crucial class of proteins called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are popular drug targets because of the pivotal role they play in cells\' communication circuits responsible for regulating functions critical to health, including circuits involved in heart and lung function, mood, cognition and memory, digestion and the inflammatory response.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Cell-of-origin for human prostate cancer identified for first time

Scientists have identified for the first time a cell-of-origin for human prostate cancer, a discovery that could result in better predictive and diagnostics tools and the development of new and more effective targeted treatments for the disease.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT
Black carbon implicated in global warming

Increasing the ratio of black carbon to sulfate in the atmosphere increases climate warming, suggests a new study.

sciencedaily.com - 2010-07-30 03:27:08 GMT