imperfect

Researchers Discover the Tale Behind Short Dogs

...hysical trait that has been conserved over time." Retrogenes occur when a transcription error in the creation of DNA code causes a functional, but imperfect duplicate of a gene to be inserted into the code. A type of virus, called a retrovirus, often causes the error to occur. The team theorizes that this ...

Test May Predict Moms Who Will Deliver Prematurely

...abbad, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology and chief of maternal/fetal medicine at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City. Doctors now use imperfect clinical measures, such as cervix length, to predict when a birth will occur. For the study, the researchers took samples of amniotic and cervical...

Patients Often Not Told About Abnormal Test Results

...of the nonprofit National Patient Safety Foundation, said that the test results issue falls into the broader context of patient safety concerns in "an imperfect system with any number of opportunities for things to go wrong or fall through the cracks." Pinakiewicz said, "In the past -- 10 or 15 years ago --...

For Some, Virtual Colonoscopy May Be Just As Good

...y of individuals in the United States who meet the criteria for colorectal cancer screening and surveillance not undergoing recommended procedures, an imperfect test that has a lower risk profile and greater acceptance among patients seems to be an appealing solution." However, people on Medicare or Medica...

For Some, Virtual Colonography May Be Just As Good

...y of individuals in the United States who meet the criteria for colorectal cancer screening and surveillance not undergoing recommended procedures, an imperfect test that has a lower risk profile and greater acceptance among patients seems to be an appealing solution." However, people on Medicare or Medica...

Hospital volume inconsistent predictor of quality care

...e and mortality, the review finds that individual studies often fail to show such an association, leading the authors to conclude volume is at best an imperfect proxy for healthcare quality. For years, a large body of research has examined the relationship between surgical volume and outcome. After early st...

Cigarette smoke may alter immune response in COPD exacerbations

...rs that is of concern, as it may lead to lung damage." The researchers note that the NTHI bacterium is an obligate human pathogen, and therefore an imperfect fit for a mouse model of COPD. "In the context of this present study, NTHI challenge was used as a tool to address the hypothesis of cigarette smoke e...

'Who Lives?' to Open at Pico Playhouse on World Kidney Day This Thursday

...se, and his struggle to overcome a system of determining who lives, and who dies, in order to save his own life. What he uncovers in the process is an imperfect system ridden with decision-making challenges that are relatable in all aspects of modern society. "This committee represented the birth of moder...

Rectal Cancer Outcomes Best With Short-Course Radiation

...ation and surgical tuition." The findings of these studies show that "perioperative radiation can mitigate but not eliminate the adverse effects of imperfect surgery," Dr. Robert Madoff, of the University of Minnesota, wrote in an accompanying comment in the journal. "The best outcomes occurred when preoper...

Also in the Feb. 24 JNCI

...d randomized trials suggest that randomized controlled trials "do not always validate what we believe biology indicates and that our model systems are imperfect measures of clinical outcomes in the real world," the editorialist concludes. Contacts: Article: Scott Merville, SMerville@mdanderson.org , 713-7...

imperfect in Medical Technology

Schering-Plough Announces Imperfect Contraceptive Use Impacts Women's Emotional Well-Being

Study Published in April 2008 Issue of Contraception KENILWORTH, N.J., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Schering-Plough Corporation today announced results of a recently completed study showing that non-compliance with combined hormonal contraceptives has noticeable effects on wome...

Lenetix Launches Screening Study of New Down Syndrome Test

...fered to patients in the first and/or second trimester of pregnancy. These evaluations rely on indirect ultrasound and biochemical exams, which are of imperfect accuracy. Patients deemed "at risk" by these tests are generally referred for genetic counseling and amniocentesis or CVS, invasive testing procedures...

Samaritan Announces Positive Data in Nonclinical (IND) In-Vitro Studies for Promising Alzheimer's Drug

... late-stage preclinical/nonclinical testing of Caprospinol (SP-233), with well recognized in-vitro models. Although nonclinical research results are imperfect predictors of clinical responses, laboratory animals remain the best experimental models for identifying and measuring a compound's biological activit...

Avian (Bird) Flu: Is There a Role for Rapid Tests?

... number of rapid tests for influenza A. In theory, any of these products can detect the H5N1 subtype, but it should be emphasized that sensitivity is imperfect (see Technology Spotlight, below, for sensitivity and specificity figures). Most of these tests employ immunoassay methods, while the Zstat test asse...

imperfect in Medical Dictionary

Leukodystrophy

...strophy refers to a group of disorders characterized by progressive degeneration of the white matter of the brain. The leukodystrophies are caused by imperfect growth or development of the myelin sheath, the fatty covering that acts as an insulator around nerve... leukodystrophy ( ′lükə′distrəfē ) ( m...

Candida

... the most common. Candidiasis encompasses infections that range from superficial, such as oral thrush and... candida n. Any of the yeastlike imperfect fungi of the genus Candida that are normally present on the skin and in the mucous membranes of the mouth, Candida --- at least 70% of Ameri...

imperfect in Biological News

Older female fish prefer imperfect male mates, study finds

There's hope for the less-than-perfect male ?if you're a swordtail fish, that is. As the size and age of female swordtail fish increase, so does the preference for males with asymmetrical markings, according to a new Ohio University study. Molly Morris, associate professor of biological sciences,...

Time series identify population responses to climate change

...abundance records extending over, ideally, 25 years or more. Still, the authors note, refinements in statistical techniques are starting to allow more imperfect data to be analyzed, and data are accumulating, so the outlook for time-series analysis is promising. ...

Analysis finds strong match between molecular, fossil data in evolutionary studies

...h wolves and dogs belong to the genus Canis , for example). No matter how they looked at it, the lineages defined by their fossil forms "showed an imperfect but very good fit to the molecular data," Jablonski said. The fits were generally far better than random. The few exceptions included freshwater clams...

Why the 'perfect' body isn't always perfect

... Having an imperfect body may come with some substantial benefits for some women, according to a new article in the December issue of Current Anthropology . The hormo...

ORNL supercomputer simulation wins prize for fastest-running science application

...wer to move beyond ideal, perfectly ordered materials. By looking at materials with disorder--or impurities--the team is moving toward the necessarily imperfect materials found in the real world. "The real materials are very inhomogeneous," noted team member Thomas Maier of ORNL. Specifically, the team f...

Amphibians in losing race with environmental change

...ct to and recover from the new environmental insults, Blaustein said, if they don't go extinct first. But evolution is an erratic, often slow and imperfect system, and the complexities of amphibian life cycles makes them more immediately vulnerable than many other species, the researchers said. ...

No carrier necessary: This drug delivers itself

... especially those containing surfactants, commonly used with HPPH and many other drugs, may add to the toxicity in the body, they have been considered imperfect solutions. “Unlike formulations that require separate delivery systems, once this drug is approved, no additional approvals will be needed,?said ...

Paleontologists learn how not to become a fossil

...tion. Their work is intended to enhance evolutionary studies by determining what's missing from the fossil record and why. "Everyone talks about how imperfect the fossil record is, but not many people do anything about it," said David Jablonski, the William Kenan Jr. Professor in Geophysical Sciences at the ...

Agricultural antibiotic use contributes to 'super-bugs' in humans

...other foods are cross-contaminated because of common, unsafe handling practices. Following ingestion, bacteria occasionally survive the formidable but imperfect gastric barrier to colonize the gut - which in turn may transmit the resistant bacteria to humans. Smith and colleagues say that the transmission o...

Stem cells bring fast direct improvement, without differentiation, in acute renal failure

...ument, is sufficient to greatly ameliorate the course" of I/R ARF and also note that the rat model of ARF used in the study is "a suitable if somewhat imperfect model of the most common and the most treatment-resistant type of human ischemic ARF." Next steps * Current studies are investigating the co...

imperfect in Biological Technology

Living in the Unreal World: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs

...es of the people you bring in. Theres no doubt that start-ups, especially in the tech sector, suffer from the problem of choosing between working with imperfect but available resources, and waiting indefinitely for perfect but as-yet unidentified resources. Dont operate off a single recommendation for someone ...

Cities unsure about voter registration software

.... Although city election officials in contacted cities reported problems, all said they will be ready to hold elections despite complications posed by imperfect SVRS processes, and the operation of parallel registration systems. Milwaukee Accenture's software has processed voter registration applicatio...

imperfect in Biological Definition

Natural selection

...inorganic conditions of life. We see nothing of these slow changes in progress, until the hand of time has marked the long lapses of ages, and then so imperfect is our view into long past geological ages, that we only see that the forms of life are now different from what they formerly were. Darwin ends hi...

Thermoregulation

...akly, ill-developed children it either remains stationary or falls. The cause of the variable temperature in infants and young immature animals is the imperfect development of the nervous regulating mechanism. The average temperature falls slightly from infancy to puberty and again from puberty to middl...

imperfect in Biological Dictionary

Transposable element

...ments in Peas. McClintock. Break-bridge-fusion cycle due to Ac-Ds ... The Ac transposable element is 4563 bases long with two 11- base pair imperfect ... Definition of Transposable element in the Online Dictionary. Meaning of Transposable element . ... element (redirected from Transposa...

Right atrium

...eptal defect, ... right ventricle, right atrium , inferior third of interventricular septum ... opening into right atrium is guarded by an imperfect valve, (Latin, coronary ... ...

Bilateral symmetry

... to fall in one of two categories. ... Highlights from book ' Symmetry ' -- A new way to see the world. ... Forward Motion: Bilateral Symmetry . imperfect Bilateral Symmetry ... Highlights from book ' Symmetry ' -- A new way to see the world. ... For this reason bilateral symmetry is also call...