Avoiding power struggles in the grocery store with children begging for sweets, chips and other junk foods – and parents often giving in – could be helped by placing the healthier options at the eye level of children and moving the unhealthy ones out of the way. A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that this dynamic is particularly frustrating for caregivers on limited budgets who are trying to save money and make healthy meals. The study, part of a project designed to encourage healthy food purchasing ...

A team of researchers led by a Wayne State University School of Medicine associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology has published findings that provide novel insight into the cause of preeclampsia, the leading cause of maternal and infant death worldwide, a discovery that could lead to the development of new therapeutic treatments. Nihar Nayak, D.V.M., Ph.D., is the principal investigator of the study, "Endometrial VEGF induces placental sFLT1 and leads to pregnancy complications," published Oct. 20 in the online version of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – John Boekamp, Ph.D., clinical director of the Pediatric Partial Hospital Program (PPHP) at Bradley Hospital recently led a study that found sleep difficulties - particularly problems with falling asleep - were very common among toddlers and preschool-aged children who were receiving clinical treatment for a wide range of psychiatric disorders. The study, titled "Sleep Onset and Night Waking Insomnias in Preschoolers with Psychiatric Disorders," is now published online in the journal Child Psychiatry & Human Development. "The most common sleep ...

Having later sunsets may lead to an increase in children's physical activity, according to research by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the University of Bristol. Over 23,000 children aged 5-16 years were studied in nine countries (England, Australia, USA, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Switzerland, Brazil and Madeira, Portugal). The researchers examined associations between the time of sunset and physical activity levels, measured via waist-worn accelerometers (electronic devices that measure body movement). Published in the open access journal International ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Here are three disaster scenarios for zoo or aquarium managers: One, a wildfire lunges towards your facility, threatening your staff and hundreds of zoo animals. Two, hurricane floodwaters pour into your basement, where thousands of exotic fish and marine mammals live in giant tanks. Three, local poultry farmers report avian influenza (bird flu) in their chickens, a primary source of protein for your big cats. What do you do? These are among the many potential disasters the managers of zoos and aquariums ponder in their emergency preparedness ...

A clinical drug trial conducted in five Sub-Sahara African countries shows that a shortened (four month) treatment for tuberculosis (TB) is well tolerated and may work well in subsets of TB patients, but overall could not be considered as an alternative to the current six month standard treatment. The results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. TB remains a significant public health problem worldwide. There were an estimated 8.6 million people who developed TB and 1.3 million died from the disease in 2012. The study was designed to verify ...

New Rochelle, NY, October 23, 2014–Rapid lowering of body temperature following an acute myocardial infarction (MI) can be an effective therapeutic strategy to minimize damage to the heart muscle caused by the loss and restoration of blood flow to the heart. While hypothermia shows clinical promise, current methods to cool the heart are insufficient. Faster, more effective techniques are needed to realize the full cardioprotective potential of this emerging intervention, as described in an article in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study finds that most U.S. adults fail to meet recommended daily levels of 10 key nutrients, and those with disabilities have even worse nutrition than average. An estimated 10 to 25 percent of U.S. adults fit into one or more category of disability, from those who have difficulties with activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing and eating, to those who cannot use their legs or struggle to accomplish routine tasks, such as money management or household chores. To determine how these physical or mental difficulties can affect ...

URBANA, Ill. – Although it would seem logical that large numbers of roosting birds would attract more mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus and contract the disease when bitten, recent research at the University of Illinois found the opposite to be true. That is, when large groups of birds roost together the chances that an individual bird will get bitten by mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus and subsequently contract the disease actually go down. "Our study is the first field-based evidence to support what's called the 'encounter-dilution effect' acting in a ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio: Astronomers have gotten the closest look yet at what happens when a black hole takes a bite out of a star—and the star lives to tell the tale. We may think of black holes as swallowing entire stars—or any other object that wanders too close to their immense gravity. But sometimes, a star that is almost captured by a black hole escapes with only a portion of its mass torn off. Such was the case for a star some 650 million light years away toward Ursa Major, the constellation that contains the "Big Dipper," where a supermassive black hole tore ...

Using a technique that illuminates subtle changes in individual proteins, chemistry researchers at Cornell University have uncovered new insight into the underlying causes of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Brian Crane, professor of chemistry and chemical biology, led one study and co-authored a follow-up on a spectroscopic method that detects subtle changes to copper-containing proteins in solution. He and Jack Freed, professor of physical chemistry, have developed the method together with Petr Borbat, associate director of Cornell's National Biomedical Center for ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – To solve a mental puzzle, the brain's executive control network for externally focused, goal-oriented thinking must activate, while the network for internally directed thinking like daydreaming must be turned down to avoid interference – or so we thought. New research led by Cornell University neuroscientist Nathan Spreng shows for the first time that engaging brain areas linked to so-called "off-task" mental activities (such as mind-wandering and reminiscing) can actually boost performance on some challenging mental tasks. The results advance ...

Researchers at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering have broken new ground in the development of proteins that form specialized fibers used in medicine and nanotechnology. For as long as scientists have been able to create new proteins that are capable of self-assembling into fibers, their work has taken place on the nanoscale. For the first time, this achievement has been realized on the microscale—a leap of magnitude in size that presents significant new opportunities for using engineered protein fibers. Jin Kim Montclare, an associate professor ...

In this image taken by the Aqua satellite of the southern United States actively burning areas as detected by MODIS's thermal bands are outlined in red. Each red hot spot is an area where the thermal detectors on the MODIS instrument recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire. These fires are a combination of small wildfires and prescribed fires. On the U.S. Forest Service website a prescribed fire is set to reduce tree overcrowding, revive fire-dependent species and reduce ...

Despite a dramatic increase in public awareness and anti-bullying legislation nationwide, the prevalence of bullying is still one of the most pressing issues facing our nation's youth, according to a report by researchers from Clemson University and Professional Data Analysts Inc., and published by the Hazelden Foundation. "Bullying continues to affect a great number of children in all age groups, with the highest prevalence observed in third and fourth grades, where roughly 22 percent of schoolchildren report that they are bullied two or three times or more per month," ...

A new test, developed by University of British Columbia researchers, could help physicians predict within an hour if a patient will develop severe sepsis so they can begin treatment immediately. Sepsis, a syndrome caused by infection, leads to organ failure and is responsible for up to five million deaths annually. There are 18 million cases of sepsis worldwide every year. The discovery could cut back on the lengthy diagnostic time usually required to confirm if a patient is suffering from sepsis and increase the odds that they will respond to treatment. "We identified ...

Scientists have found a molecule that could potentially accelerate clinical trials to combat autoimmune diseases. Researchers from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Italy believe the molecule, called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), could play a key role. Autoimmune diseases occur when a group of immune cells called pro-inflammatory T-effector cells become sensitised to specific cells in the body, identifying them as foreign and attacking them as if they were invading ...

Sediments associated with dredging and flood plumes could have a significant impact on fish populations by extending the time required for the development of their larvae, according to Australian researchers. "Sediment concentrations at levels found in plumes from dredging or in floods cause a significant delay in the development of clownfish larvae," says study lead author, Dr Amelia Wenger, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University. "This in turn could significantly reduce the numbers of larvae competent to settle ...

Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from Cape Verde start their life with a swimming sprint and a ride on favourable ocean currents. In this way, they escape quickly from predator-rich coastal areas and make their way to the safer open ocean where they spend several years feeding and growing. In this study, tiny acoustic transmitters provided direct insight into these pathways for the first time. "Thanks to the new technology we can start to fill in key information gaps about the so-called 'lost years' Dr. Rebecca Scott states. Funded by the Kiel Cluster of Excellence ...

From basketball to handball, rugby to American football, teams in a variety of sports huddle together to agree tactics in secret. Cells, too, can huddle to communicate within a restricted group, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have found. The study, published today in Nature, is the first demonstration that the way cells organise themselves influences their ability to communicate. The researchers propose that this strategy, which they discovered in developing zebrafish, could be much more widespread, influencing processes ...

Successful techniques for cryopreserving bulk biomaterials and organ systems would transform current approaches to transplantation and regenerative medicine. However, while vitrified cryopreservation holds great promise, practical application has been limited to smaller systems (cells and thin tissues) due to diffusive heat and mass transfer limitations, which are typically manifested as devitrification and cracking failures during thaw. Here we leverage a clinically proven technology platform, in magnetically heated nanoparticles, to overcome this major hurdle limiting ...

Narrowband or hyperspectral imaging is a valuable technique used in planetary science for characterizing surfaces and surrounding environments. For example, it can be used to spatially map molecular species of interest on the surface of a solid or icy body, or to sound to different depths in a giant planet atmosphere. However, conducting narrowband or hyperspectral imaging of solar system targets from a balloon-borne platform presents several technical challenges, including mechanical failures and power requirements. These risks can be mitigated with the use of an electronically ...

Amsterdam, October 23, 2014 - Herbal medicines such as licorice, Indian rennet and opium poppy, are at risk of contamination with toxic mould, according to a new study published in Fungal Biology. The authors of the study, from the University of Peshawar, Pakistan say it's time for regulators to control mould contamination. An estimated 64% of people use medicinal plants to treat illnesses and relieve pain. The herbal medicine market is worth $60 billion globally, and growing fast. Despite the increasing popularity of herbal medicine, the sale of medicinal plants is mostly ...

Needham, MA.–JBJS Case Connector, an online case journal published by the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, has issued a "Watch" regarding concerns over flexible reamer breakage during anatomic single-bundle ACL reconstruction. Flexible reamers help surgeons achieve optimal femoral-tunnel parameters, but they are prone to breakage in certain situations, as the "Watch" article explains. This "Watch" is based largely on a report published in the October 22, 2014 issue of JBJS Case Connector by Lee, et al., examining two cases of single-bundle anatomic ACL reconstruction ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Pay attention to the implication of these new research results: People who pay more attention to their feelings and experiences tend to have better cardiovascular health. As noted more precisely in a new study in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, researchers at Brown University found a significant association between self-reported "dispositional mindfulness" and better scores on four of seven cardiovascular health indicators, as well as a composite overall health score. Dispositional mindfulness is defined as ...