SEATTLE, WA, AUGUST 10, 2015 - The world's population will increase from today's 7.3 billion people to 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion at century's end, John R. Wilmoth, the director of the United Nations (UN) Population Division, told a session focused on demographic forecasting at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM 2015) today in Seattle. The UN projection suggests there will not be an end to world population growth this century unless there are unprecedented fertility declines in those parts of sub-Saharan Africa that are still experiencing rapid population ...

This news release is available in German. Chromosomes differentiate men from women. A woman's somatic cells have two X chromosomes, while a man's carry only one. If both X chromosomes and all of their genes were to be active in women, they would have twice as many copies of the proteins that they produce in men. This would consequently result in a disequilibrium that would disrupt the finely balanced biochemistry of the human body. Nature ensures this does not happen: one of the X chromosomes is completely and permanently inactivated during a female's early development ...

Beijing, China, August 10, 2015 - A recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Sciences (JES) shows that embryonic stem cells could serve as a model to evaluate the physiological effects of environmental pollutants efficiently and cost-effectively. The use of stem cells has found another facade. In the world we live in today, people are constantly exposed to artificial substances created by various industrial processes. Many of these materials, when exposed to humans, can cause acute or chronic diseases. As a consequence, validated toxicity tests to address ...

Philadelphia, PA, August 10, 2015 - Venous thromboembolism (VTE), encompassing deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), or blood clots in leg veins, and pulmonary embolism (PE), or clots that travel to the lungs, is the most common cause of preventable death in hospital settings. While these clots can be prevented by an approach called VTE prophylaxis, and this reduces mortality by as much as 80%, VTE prophylaxis is not universally prescribed for high-risk patients. In a study in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, researchers found that even after educating healthcare providers about ...

Research reveals that most individuals with cancer have religious and spiritual beliefs, or derive comfort from religious and spiritual experiences. But what impact does this have on patients' health? Recent analyses of all published studies on the topic--which included more than 44,000 patients--shed new light on the associations of religion and spirituality with cancer patients' mental, social, and physical well-being. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the analyses indicate that religion and spirituality have significant ...

Drugs used to treat common complaints could delay the recovery of brain injury patients according to research led by University of East Anglia (UEA) scientists working with other UK universities including Aston and the NHS, published today in Brain Injury. Prescribed for up to 50 per cent of older people, medications with anticholinergic properties are used to treat a broad range of common conditions including bladder problems, depression and insomnia. Anticholinergics are already known to have side effects such as temporary cognitive impairment, dizziness and confusion. ...

While the risk of suicide by offenders in prison has been identified as a priority for action, understanding and preventing suicides among offenders after release has received far less attention. A study undertaken by Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, supported by the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula (CLAHRC SWP/PenCLAHRC), addresses this issue for the first time. It is published today on-line in the journal Sociology of Health and Illness. The ...

Marked rescue effect of the drug UDCA on cell batteries (mitochondria) in Parkinson's disease patient tissue First study to demonstrate beneficial effects of UDCA on the nerve cells affected in Parkinson's disease in a genetic animal model of Parkinson's disease UDCA is already approved for use in human liver disease Results of the study support fast track of UDCA to clinical trials and could save years of research and hundreds of millions of pounds A drug which has already been in use for decades to treat liver disease could be an effective treatment to slow ...

Giving all pregnant women iodine supplements, even in mildly iodine deficient countries like the UK, could result in huge cost savings for health care systems and society, according to new modelling research published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal. The new estimates suggest that introducing iodine supplementation in pregnancy in the UK could save the National Health Service (NHS) around £200 per expectant mother and provide monetary benefits to society of around £4500 per child from increased lifetime earnings and lower public sector costs. ...

This news release is available in Spanish and French. MONTREAL AND LOS ANGELES, AUGUST 9, 2015 - Researchers at the University of Montreal have developed techniques that enable computer cursors to interact in 3D in single or multiuser, local or remote collaboration scenarios. The system, unveiled today at the SIGGRAPH 2015 Conference in Los Angeles, is not so much about turning Word into an IMAX experience as offering designers an opportunity to navigate through and modify their creations manipulating 3D objects with 3D interactions. "Our new technology challenges ...

TORONTO -- The brains of people with epilepsy appear to react to music differently from the brains of those who do not have the disorder, a finding that could lead to new therapies to prevent seizures, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association's 123rd Annual Convention. "We believe that music could potentially be used as an intervention to help people with epilepsy," said Christine Charyton, PhD, adjunct assistant professor and visiting assistant professor of neurology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, who presented the ...

SEATTLE, WA, AUGUST 9, 2015 - A new statistical method for analyzing next-generation sequencing (NGS) data that helps researchers study the genome of various organisms such as human tumors and could help bring about personalized cancer treatments was presented today at a session of the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM 2015) in Seattle. Yuan Ji, director of the Program for Computational Genomics and Medicine Research Institute at NorthShore University HealthSystem and associate professor of biostatistics at The University of Chicago, described the new technique--called ...

SEATTLE, WA, AUGUST 9, 2015 - Linking survey data with administrative records will enable the federal government to better gauge the effectiveness of social welfare programs such as food stamps and federal housing assistance, as well as the overall reach of federal antipoverty initiatives, Bruce D. Meyer today told a session audience at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM 2015) in Seattle. During a presentation titled "Using Linked Survey and Administrative Data to Better Measure Income: Implications for Poverty, Program Effectiveness, and Holes in the Safety Net," ...

TORONTO -- The practice of sexting may be more common than generally thought among adults. More than eight out of 10 people surveyed online admitted to sexting in the prior year, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association's 123rd Annual Convention. "Given the possible implications, both positive and negative, for sexual health, it is important to continue investigating the role sexting plays in current romantic and sexual relationships," said Emily Stasko, MS, MPH, of Drexel University, who presented the research. Stasko and her co-author, ...

Researchers shed light on why some plants thrive in different environments while others become extinct Plants with C4 photosynthesis can thrive in a range of ecological conditions Discovery could be key in helping improve vital food security A team of international researchers, led by the University of Sheffield, has moved one step closer to discovering how physiological attributes allow some plants to thrive in a variety of conditions - something that could be the key to future food sustainability. Climate change strongly impacts on biodiversity, putting some ...

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill, August 7, 2015 -The FDA recently approved two new endoscopic bariatric therapies (EBT) for the treatment of obesity. According to the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), this development provides important new, minimally invasive tools for combating the obesity epidemic and offers many patients an alternative to surgery. The ReShape™ Integrated Dual Balloon System (ReShape™ Dual Balloon) was approved by the FDA on July 29. The ORBERA™ Intragastric Balloon was approved by the FDA on August 6. Many new and emerging ...

Athens, Ga. - Recent research published in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering could eventually change the way people living with prosthetics and spinal cord injury lead their lives. Instead of using neural prosthetic devices--which suffer from immune-system rejection and are believed to fail due to a material and mechanical mismatch--a multi-institutional team, including Lohitash Karumbaiah of the University of Georgia's Regenerative Bioscience Center, has developed a brain-friendly extracellular matrix environment of neuronal cells that contain very little foreign ...

When the right gene is expressed in the right manner in the right population of stem cells, the developing mouse brain can exhibit primate-like features. In a paper publishing August 7th in the Open Access journal PLOS Biology, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) succeeded in mimicking the sustained expression of the transcription factor Pax6 as seen in the developing human brain, in mouse cortical progenitor cells. This altered the behavior of these cells to one that is akin to that of progenitors in the developing primate ...

The common baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is used to make bread, wine and beer, and is the laboratory workhorse for a substantial proportion of research into molecular and cell biology. It was also the first non-bacterial living thing to have its genome sequenced, back in 1996. However, when the sequence of that genome emerged it appeared that the scientists were seeing double - the organism seemed to have two very different versions of many of its genes. How could this have happened? Researchers from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) Barcelona, Spain, ...

Berkeley -- While the eyes may be a window into one's soul, new research led by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that the pupils could also reveal whether one is a hunter or hunted. An analysis of 214 species of land animals shows that a creature's ecological niche is a strong predictor of pupil shape. Species with pupils that are vertical slits are more likely to be ambush predators that are active both day and night. In contrast, those with horizontally elongated pupils are extremely likely to be plant-eating prey species with eyes on ...

This news release is available in French and German. Every year, more than a million fish are used for toxicity testing and scientific research in the EU alone, and around 400 fish are needed for a single fish early-life stage test. Such toxicity tests are often required by regulatory authorities for new chemical substances, as fish are particularly sensitive to contaminants in water at early developmental stages. However, the increasing use of experimental animals is ethically questionable. In addition, conventional tests are complex, expensive and take ...

Coral Gables, FL (August 7, 2015)--Two new studies show that the tone of a candidate's voice can influence whether he or she wins office. "Our analyses of both real-life elections and data from experiments show that candidates with lower-pitched voices are generally more successful at the polls," explains Casey Klofstad, associate professor of political science at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences, who is corresponding author on both studies. The first study, published online in Political Psychology, shows that candidates who ran in the 2012 U.S. ...

CRG researchers have proposed a new theory to explain the origin of whole genome duplication at the beginning of the yeast lineage. Yeasts are single-celled fungi that originated over 100 million years ago. The ability of these organisms to ferment carbohydrates is widely used for food and drink fermentation. Yeasts are also one of the most commonly used model organisms in research. For example, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is used to make bread, wine and beer, was the first eukaryotic organism to be sequenced (in 1996) and is a key model organism for studying ...

Medulloblastoma, the most commonly occurring malignant brain tumor in children, can be classified into four subgroups--each with a different risk profile requiring subgroup-specific therapy. Currently, subgroup determination is done after surgical removal of the tumor. Investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have now discovered that these subgroups can be determined non-invasively, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The paper will be published online by the journal Neuro-Oncology (Oxford Press) on August 7. "By identification of the tumor subgroup ...

TORONTO - Hearing loss in adults is under treated despite evidence that hearing aid technology can significantly lessen depression and anxiety and improve cognitive functioning, according to a presentation at the American Psychological Association's 123rd Annual Convention. "Many hard of hearing people battle silently with their invisible hearing difficulties, straining to stay connected to the world around them, reluctant to seek help," said David Myers, PhD, a psychology professor and textbook writer at Hope College in Michigan who lives with hearing loss. In a ...