Increased consumption leads to increase in body mass index of 9 to 14 year olds; puts children at risk for chronic disease later in life
New research shows that adolescents who eat large amounts of fried food away from home are heavier and more likely to have a poor-quality diet. Among 14,355 children surveyed over three years, researchers from the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention (at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care) found that 9 to 14 year olds w
Researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center have discovered a mechanism in the body that could lead to autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or diabetes. The research team, led by John Cambier, Ph.D., found that potentially harmful B cells circulating in the body are not permanently silenced as previously thought; they can awaken and regain the ability to launch an attack against the body’s own tissue. The findings were published online October 2 by Nature Immunolog
Researchers at Jefferson Medical College and at the Wadsworth Center in New York have identified a gene defect in mice resulting in a range of abnormalities, from cyclical hair loss and skin cancer to severe problems in normal skin development. The work may lead to improved treatments for skin injuries, including burns, and might have implications for diseases such as eczema and psoriasis, as well as certain cancers.
Linda Siracusa, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology an
The molecular roots of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as asthma, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis (MS) have been discovered by a team of researchers led by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. They say their findings may point to ways to effectively treat these diseases – if not stop them before they start.
In a lead article in the November issue of Nature Immunology (released online on Oct. 2), the scientists report finding a novel type of “T helper”
For the rats of Hamelin, it was the Pied Piper’s tune. For the destructive sea lamprey of the Great Lakes, it’s a chemical attractant, or pheromone, released by lamprey larvae living in streambeds. Following the pheromone trail, adults are drawn to streams favorable for spawning. Researchers have long wanted to identify the pheromone so it could be synthesized and used to control the sea lamprey, which laid waste to Great Lakes fisheries of lake trout and other species in the mid-20th century. Now
The largest-ever experimental analysis of duplicated genes provides insight into mechanisms of evolution
When Mother Nature creates an identical copy of a gene in an organism’s genome, the duplicated copy is usually deleted, inactivated, or otherwise rendered nonfunctional in order to prevent genetic redundancy and to preserve biological homeostasis. In some cases, however, gene duplicates are maintained in a functional state. Until now, the biological and evolutionary force
Microarray technology could be used to tailor therapy according to the individual, and prevent breast cancer patients from having to undergo painful unsuccessful therapies. In a study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research, researchers analysed tumour tissue samples and identified a group of 64 genes that can be used to predict a patient’s response in the five years after adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. Identifying patients whose breast tumours express these genes could potenti
How heavy a man is at the time he is diagnosed with prostate cancer, as well as his history of weight gain, appear to play significant roles in how aggressive his cancer may become, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
While a link between weight and initial development of prostate cancer already has been made, this report, published in the Oct. 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, is the first to associate a man’s body mass at different ages and
Authors call for urgent reform of agency practices to improve ecological monitoring
Massive dredge-and-fill projects have become a common method of combating shoreline erosion as sea level rises and major storms become more common. Such “beach nourishment” projects deposit millions of cubic meters of fill in beach systems. This can bury shallow reefs and degrade other beach habitats, depressing nesting in sea turtles and reducing the densities of prey for shorebirds, fishes, and cra
Fast, highly reliable detection of residues that could indicate the presence of explosives and other hazardous materials inside luggage is now possible with technology under development at Purdue University.
A research team led by R. Graham Cooks has found a way to determine the presence on a surface of trace quantities of chemicals – such as those found in biological and chemical warfare agents, as well as several common explosives – within a few seconds. The researchers
University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemists have developed an approach that allows them to measure with unprecedented accuracy the strengths of hydrogen bonds in a protein. The scientists were then able to predict the function of different versions of the protein based on structural information, a novel outcome that was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Professor of biochemistry John Markley, along with a team that included graduate student I-
Cassini performed back-to-back flybys of Saturn moons Tethys and Hyperion last weekend, coming closer than ever before to each of them. Tethys has a scarred, ancient surface, while Hyperion is a strange, spongy-looking body with dark-floored craters that speckle its surface. New images, mosaics and a movie of these bodies are available at http://ciclops.org, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini.
Images of Tethys taken during Cassini’s close approach to
Study does not discount the suspected contributions of ’greenhouse gases’ in elevating surface temperatures
At least 10 to 30 percent of global warming measured during the past two decades may be due to increased solar output rather than factors such as increased heat-absorbing carbon dioxide gas released by various human activities, two Duke University physicists report.
The physicists said that their findings indicate that climate models of global warming need to be co
The latest issue of The Biochemist is all about live cell imaging. Articles range from studying whole embryos – using an entirely new technique – to tracking individual molecules: all this, and a broadside on the honesty of images in the digital age. Comment, reviews, days out – something for everyone in the October Biochemist.
Single molecule detection
By Laurent Groc, Daniel Choquet, Brahim Lounis and Laurent Cognet
Over the last decade, Single-Molecule Detection (S
Two satellite sensors work better than one for the study of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere and land – that was the message of a major ESA workshop bringing together scientific users of Envisat’s MERIS and AATSR instruments.
Launched three and a half years ago, ESA’s Envisat satellite was built with a synergistic approach in mind. Its ten onboard instruments observe the Earth in a variety of ways, but Envisat’s two most closely aligned sensors are the Medium Resolu
Do giant flashes of lightning striking upwards from thunder clouds merely pose an extraordinarily spectacular view? Or do they actually alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere, playing a role in ozone depletion and the climate on Earth? This is the key question that may be answered by specially designed cameras, which ESA proposes to place on board the International Space Station.
The International Space Station (ISS) is the ideal setting for studies of spectacular na
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