Health News: Six firms selling pesticide tainted imported produce ♦ Predict amount of nicotine emitted from e-cigarettes ♦ Cheaper, high-performance prosthetic knee

Six firms selling pesticide tainted imported produce The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has fined six companies that ignored warnings and repeatedly sold imported fruits and vegetables with illegal pesticide residues to predominantly ethnic minority customers. According to an agency statement released July 28, the fines range from $10,000 to more than $20,000 for violating pesticide laws and potentially endangering consumers....

When surgeons listen to their preferred music, their stitches are better and faster From classical to rock, music can be heard in operating rooms across the world. When plastic surgeons listen to music they prefer, their surgical technique and efficiency when closing incisions is improved.

Novel model developed to predict amount of nicotine emitted from e-cigarettes Researchers have developed the first ever, evidence-based model that can predict with up to 90 percent accuracy the amount of nicotine emitted by an electronic cigarettes.

Paralyzed men move legs with new non-invasive spinal cord stimulation Five men with complete motor paralysis were able to voluntarily generate step-like movements thanks to a new strategy that non-invasively delivers electrical stimulation to their spinal cords. The strategy, called transcutaneous stimulation, delivers electrical current to the spinal cord by way of electrodes strategically placed on the skin of the lower back. This expands to nine the number of completely paralyzed individuals who have achieved voluntary movement while receiving spinal stimulation.

Cheaper, high-performance prosthetic knee Researchers report that they have designed a cheap prosthetic knee that mimics normal walking motion. They have calculated the ideal torque that a prosthetic knee should produce, given the mass of the leg segments, in order to induce able-bodied kinematics, or normal walking

Children's Health: Music training alters the teenage brain ♦ For kids with injured ankles, less treatment may be more ♦ Antibiotic exposure could increase the risk of juvenile arthritis

How music training alters the teenage brain Music training, begun as late as high school, may help improve the teenage brain's responses to sound and sharpen hearing and language skills, suggests a new study. The authors say that these results highlight music's place in the high school curriculum.

Teens' overall substance use declining, but marijuana use rising Marijuana use in teenagers is on the rise, while cigarette and alcohol use are stable or declining, according to health statistics researchers. In particular, black teens are using more marijuana than in recent decades.

For kids with injured ankles, less treatment may be more Emergency physicians can safely reduce X-rays in children with hurt ankles by as much as 23 percent and save emergency patients both money and time.

Antibiotic exposure could increase the risk of juvenile arthritis Taking antibiotics may increase the risk that a child will develop juvenile arthritis, according to a study. Researchers found that children who were prescribed antibiotics had twice the risk of developing juvenile arthritis compared to children the same age who were not prescribed antibiotics. The more courses of antibiotics prescribed, the higher the associated risk.

Seniors Health: Hip fracture patients in long-term care ♦ Music to the ears of dementia suffers:♦ Clues to aging from long-lived lemurs + more

Music to the ears of dementia suffers: learning to play saxophone after diagnosis  Researchers have revealed details of an usual case that offers new insights into frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The story revolves around a patient who, with no prior musical training, learned to play the saxophone after being diagnosed with a behavioural variant of FTD.

Hip fracture patients in long-term care are less likely to receive osteoporosis therapy Canadian researchers calculated the proportion of high-risk residents of long-term care homes receiving osteoporosis medications and vitamin D supplementation according to specific high-risk categories. Marked undertreatment was found, especially in hip-fracture patients.

Clues to aging from long-lived lemurs Researchers combed through more than 50 years of medical records on hundreds of lemurs for clues to their longevity. They found that how long these primates live and how fast they age correlates with the amount of time they spend in a state of suspended animation known as torpor. The research may eventually help scientists identify 'anti-aging' genes in humans.

Eating green leafy vegetables keeps mental abilities sharp Something as easy as adding more spinach, kale, collards and mustard greens to your diet could help slow cognitive decline, according to new research. The study also examined the nutrients responsible for the effect, linking vitamin K consumption to slower cognitive decline for the first time.

Alzheimer's: The killer protein, properly explained Researchers hope to be able, one day, to fight the pathogenic action of the amyloid-beta protein, whose buildup is associated with Alzheimer's disease. In the meantime, scientists have synthesized the knowledge acquired about this protein over the last few decades in a review paper that is destined to become a milestone for future research.