Milk is an essential source of minerals, vitamins, energy, and protein in children. The reasons young children avoid drinking cow milk include lactose intolerance or a parent’s lifestyle choice. A recent study published by Black et al. in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared New Zealand children who were long-term “milk avoiders” with children who habitually drank milk, by evaluating the daily calcium intake, bone mineral content, bone size, stature, and skeletal size of both grou
Daily consumption of whole grains has been associated in a number of studies with reductions in risk for ischemic stroke, coronary artery disease, and type 2 diabetes. The cereal fiber found in whole grains slows digestion, producing a greater feeling of fullness and helping to prevent obesity, a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In a long-term study of male health professionals published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Fung et al. found that men who ate several servings of whole
A new study of marine ecosystems suggests that the preservation of biodiversity is more than just a lofty goal – it’s an absolute necessity to keep the system healthy and prevent both local or regional extinction of multiple species.
The population balance between various fish species, their competitors and their predators are all essential to the proper functioning of the ecosystem, the study showed, and overfishing of any one species can have ripple effects that destabilize the whole
UC Irvine researchers are leading the effort to understand the causes and effects of one of the world’s leading environmental problems — air pollution. They are studying both regional and worldwide air pollution issues, ranging from the effects of freeway exhaust to the role dust storms and forest fires may play. UCI is also involved in a large-scale commuter transportation project designed to cut back on auto emissions and is home to the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory, which continues
Researchers have shown how tiny wires and metallic spheres might be arranged in various shapes to form “nanoantennas” that dramatically increase the precision of medical diagnostic imaging and devices that detect chemical and biological warfare agents.
Engineers from Purdue University have demonstrated through mathematical simulations that nanometer-scale antennas with certain geometric shapes should be able to make possible new sensors capable of detecting a single molecule of a chemical or
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have obtained the most complete protein coverage of any organism to date with the study of a radiation-resistant microbe known to survive extreme environments. This research potentially could open up new opportunities to harness this microorganism, called Deinococcus radiodurans , for bioremediation.
A study published in the Aug. 20 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences observed a
A new study by scientists at The Wistar Institute links the genes responsible for neurofibromatosis, a common neurological disorder, to a protein thought to play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
In establishing a connection between the two diseases, the research opens new lines of thinking for investigators studying both diseases, while also providing basic biological insights into vital cellular processes. A report on the study was published electronically on August 20 in the Journal of
Important ocean process examined with newly developed ’BubbleCam’
The relaxing atmosphere of a walk along the shore, especially the sounds of waves breaking on the beach, has seemingly forever lured people to coastlines.
For Grant Deane and Dale Stokes, oceanographers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, the seaside sounds of hundreds of millions of air bubbles bursting at the shoreline represent an important key to und
Carbohydrate activates body’s defenses, causing inflammation
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) have shown that certain types of naturally occurring carbohydrates in the body may cause rheumatoid arthritis, a debilitating, painful disease affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Although there have been promising advances in treating the symptoms of arthritis, the exact causes of arthritic inflammation, swe
The hassle of removing and cleaning your contacts every night, or even every month, could become a thing of the past, based on a study involving a new contact lens coating that kills bacteria.
The study involved rabbits. The coating: an extremely thin layer of selenium, a naturally occurring element found in soil, some plants and many foods we eat.
The rabbits showed no ill effects after two consecutive months of wearing the coated lenses, according to Ted Reid, Ph.D., of Texas Te
Natural soaps are an important weapon in the armoury that plants deploy to protect against disease attack, but a report today, in the international journal Nature, describes how disease-causing microbes can turn these plant defences to their own advantage. Scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory (SL)[1] Norwich, UK, have discovered that fungi that attack tomatoes break down the natural soaps that help protect the plant against infection. Even worse for the plant, these breakdown products then interfe
A new way researchers have developed to make dense ceramics in complex shapes could lead to light, tough, and hard ceramic parts at lower cost.
The recently patented technique, called “displacive compensation of porosity,” or DCP, uses a chemical reaction between molten metal and a porous ceramic to generate a new composite material. The technique fills the tiny pores inside the ceramic with additional ceramic material. The resulting super-dense part retains the shape of the original ceramic
Researchers are developing a marijuana-derived synthetic compound to relieve pain and inflammation without the mood-altering side effects associated with other marijuana based drugs.
They say the compound could improve treatment of a variety of conditions, inctluding chronic pain, arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Their findings were presented at the 224th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.
The compound, called ajulemic
People living in the north and west of Britain in poor quality housing are at a significantly greater risk of high blood pressure than those living in warmer climates, and better quality housing, say scientists today.
The research, published recently in the International Journal of Epidemiology, shows how scientists from Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh and University College London identified an `inverse housing law` in Britain, whereby people in colder climates such as
Internet websites promoting `alternative` cures for cancer can seriously harm patients who follow their advice . And some are downright dangerous – according to an editorial published today in the British Journal of Cancer. A survey of 13 sites relating to alternative or complementary medicine and cancer found that patients were not only discouraged from using conventional cancer therapies but were not informed about alternative remedies that have been shown to be ineffective. The w
Events like the September 2000 discovery of biologically engineered corn in fast food tortillas have focused media attention and stirred controversy about genetically modified organisms. While new approaches in agricultural biotechnology have improved crop quality and yield, the incorporation of genes from other organisms into food plants has raised concerns about possible health risks and environmental consequences. A new report from the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) looks at the case of a
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