New Haven and Greenwich, CT, USA. Human beings naturally wonder how others might perceive our appearance — and to what extent that might imply estimates by others of the the state of our feelings. Do the indicators suggest we are withdrawn or hostile (e.g., do we look tired or angry)? Our comfort in social situations might well depend on the answer to that question. Recent research suggests that looking tired or angry may have more to do with facial aesthetics than how we actually feel.

How a beholder's eye perceives our beauty has scientific support. This was most recently shown in a recent study pubished in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (

Montreal, Quebec, CAN. Researchers performed the world’s first totally automated administration of an anesthetic. Nicknamed “McSleepy,” the new system administers drugs for general anesthesia and monitors their separate effects completely automatically, with no manual intervention. The anesthetic technique was used on a patient who underwent a partial nephrectomy, a procedure that removes a kidney tumor while leaving the non-cancerous part of the kidney intact, over a period of three hours and 30 minutes.

The work was done at McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). "We have been working on closed-loop systems, where drugs are administered, their effects continuously monitored, and th

Chicago, IL, USA. The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS) has published the results of its 2007 Procedural Data, a survey of US-based AACS members completed in December 2007.

The annual survey shows that the average age for patients receiving invasive cosmetic surgery has increased since 2002. Through late 2007, the mean age of patients seeking the top ten most performed invasive procedures has increased by two years.

“Cosmetic surgeons are seeing anywhere between a one to three year increase in our patient’s age,” said Dr. Steven Hopping, MD, AACS President. “It appears that as baby boomers grow older, so does our clientele.”

Bristol, UK. New research shows that by suppressing one of the genes that normally switches on in wound cells, the wounds can heal faster and with reduced scarring. When skin is damaged, whether by accident or surgery, a blood clot forms and cells underneath the wound start to repair the damage, leading to scarring. Scientists and medical care practitioners have worked to alleviate this problem, but problems remain, not just for wound victims but also for people with organ tissue damage through illness or abdominal surgery.

Tissue damage triggers an inflammatory response by white cells to protect skin from infection by killing microbes. The same white cells guide the production of layers of collagen. These laye