Dieters have higher metabolism, feel less hungry

Preliminary data from Children’s Hospital Boston and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, published in the November 24 JAMA, suggest that weight-loss diets may be more effective when dieters seek to reduce glycemic load – the amount their blood glucose rises after a meal – rather than limit fat intake. The findings indicate that a low-glycemic diet may overcome the body’s natural tendency to slow metabolism and turn on hunger cues to “mak

Researchers at Purdue University have shown that artificial joints might be improved by making the implants out of tiny carbon tubes and filaments that are all aligned in the same direction, mimicking the alignment of collagen fibers and natural ceramic crystals in real bones.

The researchers already have shown in a series of experiments that bone cells in Petri dishes attach better to materials that possess smaller surface bumps than are found on conventional materials used t

You may not yet have heard of chylomicrons, but a nutritional scientist at the University of Alberta believes you will soon–especially if you care about preventing a stroke or heart attack.

Dr. Spencer Proctor says chylomicrons gather on arterial walls and may be as dangerous or more dangerous than low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in causing strokes and heart attacks. “We were the first in the world to label chylomicrons remnants with florescence and visually show tha

While scientists work to find the ’perfect’ solution to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, a reasonable option–the female condom–is not being promoted, especially in African and southeast Asian countries where the deadly virus is most prevalent, according to a new study. “While we’re waiting for perfection, people are dying,” said Dr. Amy Kaler, a sociology professor at the University of Alberta.

In a paper published in the November/December issue of Culture,

Patients with cancers previously next to untreatable may have new hope because of a license agreement between Isotron of Norcross, Ga., and UT-Battelle, which manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The license allows Isotron to market a treatment called neutron brachytherapy, which enables physicians to deliver a highly concentrated dose of californium-252 neutrons to the site of a tumor instead of having to treat the tumor with conventional gamma rays, which often are not as effec

New study isolates gene mutation responsive to cocaine

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and New York University have discovered a gene mutation in fruit flies that alters sensitivity to crack cocaine and also regulates their internal body clock. The findings, reported in the December issue of Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology, may have implications for understanding innate differences in sensitivity to cocaine in humans, potentially prov

’Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what does it do?’

A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis has found surprisingly tough enzymes in a bacterium that “just says no to acid.” Acid resistance is a valued trait for both pills and human pathogens. The bacterium Acetobacter aceti makes unusually acid-resistant enzymes in spades, which could make the organism a source for new enzyme products and new directions in protein chemistry.

A. aceti has been used for millennia to mak

To get a better look at how proteins gather into clusters called amyloid fibrils – which are associated with important human diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and the so-called prion diseases like Mad Cow – researchers at North Carolina State University decided to make movies.

Dr. Carol Hall, Alcoa Professor of chemical engineering at NC State and Hung D. Nguyen, a graduate student in Hall’s lab, used a computer simulation technique, discontinuous molecular dynamics,

Open up a pint of strawberries from the grocery store, and more often than not you’ll find a fuzzy berry or two in the mix. A blast of chlorine dioxide gas, however, promises to not only keep those berries fuzz-free, but also to kill off harmful bacteria living on their surface more efficiently than methods currently used by the food industry, say Purdue University researchers.

“Strawberries are tricky,” said Rich Linton, professor of food science and one of the leaders of

A groundbreaking technique developed at The University of Manchester, which uses crystals to map ‘invisible’ parts of molecules, is set to revolutionise drug discovery.

The technique, which involves sending beams of neutrons through crystals at freezing temperatures, just a few degrees above ’absolute zero’, will for the first time allow scientists to see complete structures of protein molecules, right down to the last atom.

The problem faced by scientists

Women with hereditary breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy appear to have no increased risk for recurrence in the treated breast, according to results from a prospective study published in the January 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. However, the risk of breast cancer in the opposite breast is significantly increased.

Breast conserving therapy (BCT), consisting of lumpectomy and radiation, has been demonstrated to b

A team of Dartmouth researchers has developed a new computational tool to help authenticate works of art, specifically paintings, prints and drawings.

Using high resolution digital images of drawings by Bruegel and some of his imitators, as well as a painting by Perugino, the computer scientists captured data about pen or pencil stroke patterns and other elements that represent an artist’s style or aesthetic signature. This signature was then used to discover consistencies a

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh are seeking people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) to help them better understand how mood– particularly depression– affects their symptoms. The study will investigate the way depression impacts on the thinking processes of those with PD, and look at how this mood disorder can be treated.

Research psychologist Anthoula Lioni said: ” Depression is very common in people with PD and we believe that their problems with elaborate thinking processes

Diet found especially beneficial for female offspring

It has been estimated that up to 32 million Americans have adopted the low-carb style of eating, in part because of its quick and dramatic results. Converts often maintain components of low-carb eating long after they’ve officially finished dieting.

Not surprisingly, a growing number of pregnant women now explore ways to continue low-carb routines through gestation, in fact there are several chat rooms devoted

Mount Sinai researchers identify a new mechanism that contributes to the development of some breast and ovarian cancers

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered a new mechanism of activation of a pathway known to be implicated in many cancers. Additionally, the researchers found that when this mechanism is blocked cells may become more sensitive to radiation and chemotherapeutic agents, thus making them easier to destroy. The research was published in the Novem

A promising experimental compound prevents cholesterol gallstone disease in mice by stimulating the biochemical pathway that controls bile acid secretion by the liver, according to new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

The findings suggest new approaches to developing drugs to prevent the disease, which afflicts some 20 million people a year. The studies also propose novel strategies for developing diagnostic tests to identify people with a genetically in