Hospital nurses are often so busy that they have trouble finding time for a bathroom break. Over an eight- to 12-hour shift, they're keeping tabs on multiple patients: checking their vital signs, administering medication, and chatting with family members who've come to visit. Occasionally, a patient seems off, looking tired or pale or drowsier than normal. But if objective measures such as blood pressure and heart rate are normal, it's hard for a nurse to justify pulling the physician out of rounds to check on the patient. Plus, there's not much time to interrogate a gut feeling before moving on to the next room.

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a blood-based method that may help detect germ cell tumors, the most common type of testicular cancer, including cases that do not show up on standard blood tests, according to a study published in Nature Communications.

When someone is infected with Ebola, the body mounts a strong immune response, as it does in response to many pathogens. Researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) have now made an important discovery that could help doctors tell Ebola apart from other infections more quickly. The findings are published in Frontiers in Genetics.

While, historically, men in the United States have tended to drink more than women, that trend has reversed over the last decade, prompting a University of Rhode Island behavioral science psychology student to study the implications of the shift, and examine how emotion and craving are impacting alcohol use among women.

Many common mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety, are associated with a tendency to internalize problems or, in other words, to direct feelings inwards instead of expressing them and sharing them with others. Past studies suggest that this tendency to withdraw from others and suppress emotions often emerges early, during childhood and adolescence.

Most parents are aware of the current advice to switch off all screens at least an hour before bed. However, a recent study reveals this may not be necessary for every child. The study, from Deakin's Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition in partnership with The University of Queensland, revealed the interaction between screens and sleep may be more complex than first thought, with the impact of screens on children potentially being less pronounced.

Immunotherapy has become a standard of care in treating high-risk, early-stage breast cancers, yet it has had limited success in shrinking tumors. New biomarkers that can improve outcomes for patients are urgently needed. Now, a study led by researchers at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has found that repeated blood sampling—essentially, a liquid biopsy—can assess and predict the evolving antitumor immune response to therapy.

Staying active is known to improve sleep, but the research findings are mixed regarding the best workout. Some studies say light walking or stretching is best, others prefer moderate-intensity workouts like jogging—and some even find that vigorous exercise such as swimming makes sleep worse.

Rural youth experience higher rates of firearm exposure, handgun-carrying and associated mental health risks, according to Rutgers researchers. Their study, published in Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, has examined recent literature on rural youth firearm exposure and its association with health risk behaviors and outcomes, including violence and suicide.

Scientists at The Wistar Institute and clinical researchers from ChristianaCare's Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute have discovered a vulnerability in pancreatic cancer that could be targeted as a potential therapy. In a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show how defective mitochondria within cells spark a process that triggers inflammation. They also show how cancer cells become so dependent on this inflammation to grow that without it, they die.