http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Heart function significantly improved in children and young adults with single-ventricle congenital heart disease who have had the Fontan operation following treatment with sildenafil, a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension, say researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. http://www.physorg.com/news177772537.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:40:01 EST news177772537 A woman who suffers sudden cardiac arrest is significantly less likely than a man to exhibit the decrease in the heart's pumping ability that is widely recognized as a precursor, says a new study in the Nov. 24 Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://www.physorg.com/news177663733.html Medicine & Health Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:20:01 EST news177663733 The electrical measurements on the electrocardiogram can often mislead physicians in diagnosing the heart condition left ventricular hypertrophy, causing other screening tests to be ordered before a definitive conclusion can be made, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. http://www.physorg.com/news177596514.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:25:29 EST news177596514 Most of the linguistic functions in humans are controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere. A study of captive chimpanzees at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center (Atlanta, Georgia), reported in the January 2010 issue of Elsevier's Cortex, suggests that this "hemispheric lateralization" for language may have its evolutionary roots in the gestural communication of our common ancestors. A large majority of the chimpanzees in the study showed a significant bias towards right-handed gestures when communicating, which may reflect a similar dominance of the left hemisphere for communication in chimpanzees as that seen for language functions in humans. http://www.physorg.com/news177592801.html Biology Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:30:04 EST news177592801 Aside from aging itself, obesity appears to be the most powerful predictor of left atrial enlargement (LAE), upping one's risk of atrial fibrillation (the most common type of arrhythmia), stroke and death, according to findings published in the November 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://www.physorg.com/news177016245.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:11:25 EST news177016245 Surgery performed in fetuses predicted to be born with a syndrome causing severely underdeveloped hearts helped some avoid developing the full-blown disorder and improved heart growth and function, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. http://www.physorg.com/news173455732.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:30:02 EST news173455732 Structural cardiovascular abnormalities present at birth are the leading cause of heart failure in children. Nearly half a million children in the United States have structural heart problems ranging in severity from relatively simple issues, such as small holes between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, including complete absence of one or more chambers or valves. http://www.physorg.com/news166193096.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:20:01 EST news166193096 The injection of bone marrow cells into the heart of patients with chronic myocardial ischemia (reduced blood flow to some areas of the heart) was associated with modest improvements in blood flow and function of the left ventricle, according to a study in the May 20 issue of JAMA. http://www.physorg.com/news161975077.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 May 2009 18:12:05 EST news161975077 A congenital heart disease that often leads to death in newborns is significantly more common during the summer, leading researchers to believe that the environment, and not just genes that affect the heart, may play a role in causing "mini-epidemics" of this disease. http://www.physorg.com/news157626855.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:15:08 EST news157626855 Under Darwinian pressure, genes that don't help the struggle to survive get squeezed out of the genetic code, leaving the ones that are fitter. http://www.physorg.com/news154937681.html Biology Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:15:47 EST news154937681 Patients with abnormal diastolic function (when the heart is relaxed and expanded) in the left ventricle of the heart have a substantially lower maximum capacity for exercise, according to a study in the January 21 issue of JAMA. http://www.physorg.com/news151691468.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:31:53 EST news151691468 A new study provides a novel theory for how delusions arise and why they persist. NYU Langone Medical Center researcher Orrin Devinsky, MD, performed an in-depth analysis of patients with certain delusions and brain disorders revealing a consistent pattern of injury to the frontal lobe and right hemisphere of the human brain. The cognitive deficits caused by these injuries to the right hemisphere, leads to the over compensation by the left hemisphere of the brain for the injury, resulting in delusions. The article entitled "Delusional misidentifications and duplications: Right brain lesions, left brain delusions" appears in the latest issue of the journal of Neurology. http://www.physorg.com/news151069576.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:46:16 EST news151069576 A new clinical trial suggests that long-term use of candesartan, a drug currently used to treat hypertension, may significantly reduce the symptoms of genetic heart disease. The related report by Penicka et al, "The effects of candesartan on left ventricular hypertrophy and function in non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a pilot, randomized study," appears in the January issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. http://www.physorg.com/news149838893.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:54:53 EST news149838893 (PhysOrg.com) -- Increased government support for families has coincided with a rise in births among women who left school at 16 compared to those who stayed in education after the age of 18. http://www.physorg.com/news149182094.html Other Sciences Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:28:14 EST news149182094 (PhysOrg.com) -- Biologists have tracked down genes that control the handedness of snail shells, and they turn out to be similar to the genes used by humans to set up the left and right sides of the body. http://www.physorg.com/news149090509.html Biology Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:01:49 EST news149090509 Since the historical discovery of the speech center in the left cortex in 150 years ago, functional differences between left and right hemisphere have been well known; language is mainly handled by left hemisphere, while spatial recognition is more specialized to the right hemisphere. However, the structural differences of synapses underlying left-right difference of the brain remained unknown. http://www.physorg.com/news146162164.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:36:04 EST news146162164 The controversial No Child Left Behind law has forced teachers in low-income school districts to craft a curriculum that marginalizes writing at the expense of teaching to the test, resulting in educators who feel straitjacketed by a high-stakes test, according to a U. of I. education professor who has studied the issue. http://www.physorg.com/news145122757.html Other Sciences Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:52:37 EST news145122757 University of Utah researchers have developed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based method for detecting and quantifying injury to the wall of the heart's left atrium in patients who have undergone a procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. The results of the study are published in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://www.physorg.com/news142605646.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:40:46 EST news142605646 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying social insect behaviour have discovered a remarkable example of self-sacrifice in a species of ant found in Brazil. http://www.physorg.com/news141485303.html Biology Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:28:23 EST news141485303 Panasonic has developed the world's first 3D full HD Plasma Theater System, which enables the viewing of true-to-life 3D images by using a 103-inch plasma television and a Blu-ray Disc (BD) player, distributing full high-definition (HD) (1920 x 1080 pixels) images to left eye and right eye. Panasonic will present this system at CEATEC JAPAN 2008, which is due to be held at Makuhari Messe from September 30 to October 4, 2008. http://www.physorg.com/news141483705.html Electronics Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:01:45 EST news141483705 Converting livestock manure into a domestic renewable fuel source could generate enough electricity to meet up to three per cent of North America's entire consumption needs and lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), according to US research published today, Thursday, 24 July, in the Institute of Physics' Environmental Research Letters. http://www.physorg.com/news136084589.html Space & Earth Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:16:29 EST news136084589 On June 16, 2008, Barbara Ganschow of Palatine, IL, became the first person in the world to be successfully treated with a new device designed to make it safer and easier for heart specialists to create a hole in the cardiac atrial septum. The hole, created by the NRGTM Transseptal Needle, allows cardiac catheters to cross from the right side of the heart to the left side. http://www.physorg.com/news135439159.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:59:19 EST news135439159 A less invasive test commonly used to diagnose coronary disease also may be used to detect one of the leading causes of heart failure, say researchers at the Medical College of Georgia. http://www.physorg.com/news135252302.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:05:02 EST news135252302 Thanks to salt and hot chili peppers, researchers have found a calculus-computing center that tells a roundworm to go forward toward dinner or turn to broaden the search. It's a computational mechanism, they say, that is similar to what drives hungry college students to a pizza. http://www.physorg.com/news134223076.html Biology Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:11:16 EST news134223076 Can split liver transplantation reliably yield grafts for two adults? Experts consider this question alongside new findings about the procedure in the July issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal by John Wiley & Sons. http://www.physorg.com/news134063043.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:44:03 EST news134063043