Medical and Pharmacy Costs for New Hire Nurses Following a Physical Strength Evaluation Screening in a Large Health System.

Nurses often encounter situations that require lifting patients, often using awkward body positions. Hiring nurses with strength suitable for these jobs decreases nurses' risk for illness and injury and would be expected to result in more appropriate and lower health care, pharmacy, and disability costs. The physical strength of new hire nurse applicants was assessed using a defensible isokinetic evaluation in the years 2011 and 2012.

Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium identified genotyping error of the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) promoter polymorphism.

We analyzed the putative functional promoter polymorphism of the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) in two large autism spectrum disorder samples and a control sample. A Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium was detected for 5-HTTLPR in the unaffected founders of both autism spectrum disorder samples and control samples. When we lowered the total magnesium concentration in the polymerase chain reaction below levels reported in previously published studies, we observed a shift in relative allele frequencies and restoration of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

Exercise Programs for Children: A Way to Prevent Heart Disease?

In brief Physical activity patterns of 59 children were determined by recording heart rates before and during an exercise intervention program for coronary heart disease risk. Twenty-six children engaged in 25-minute aerobic activity sessions four days a week for eight months; the control group took regular physical education classes. Baseline data revealed that both groups had similar activity patterns, that the children seldom attained a heart rate greater than 160 beats min, and that the boys expended significantly more energy per day than the girls.