San Diego, CA-- The skeletons of obese adolescents are usually more dense than those of normal weight teens, but after gastric bypass surgery, most return to normal density within two years, a new study finds. The results will be presented Thursday, March 5, at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in San Diego. "In the short term, the participants' bone density decreased proportionally to the successful weight reduction resulting from surgery. After two years, though, their average bone density was back in the normal range," said lead study author Eva ...

San Diego, CA-- A letrozole pill once a week restored fertility in obese, infertile men and led to their partners giving birth to two full-term, healthy babies, according to a new study from Canada. The results will be presented Thursday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. "To our knowledge, this is the first report of successful pregnancies with the use of letrozole at this low dose in men," said the study's lead investigator, Lena Salgado, MD, an endocrinology fellow at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM). Letrozole ...

San Diego, CA-- A new study finds that after weight loss surgery, people whose breath has high concentrations of both hydrogen and methane gases have a lower percentage weight loss than other bariatric surgery patients do. The study results will be presented Thursday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. "Our new study suggests that gastrointestinal colonization with methanogens makes it harder to lose weight after bariatric surgery," said lead investigator Ruchi Mathur, MD, director of the Diabetes Outpatient Treatment and Education Center at Cedars-Sinai, ...

San Diego, CA-- The extract of onion bulb, Allium cepa, strongly lowered high blood glucose (sugar) and total cholesterol levels in diabetic rats when given with the antidiabetic drug metformin, according to a new study. The study results will be presented Thursday at The Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. "Onion is cheap and available and has been used as a nutritional supplement," said lead investigator Anthony Ojieh, MBBS (MD), MSc, of Delta State University in Abraka, Nigeria. "It has the potential for use in treating patients with diabetes." To ...

A new study finds that not only low but also high maternal thyroid hormone levels during early pregnancy may significantly lower the infant's IQ later in childhood. The study results, which will be presented Thursday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego, suggest that the common practice of treating pregnant women who have mild thyroid hormone deficiency may pose unexpected risks to the developing baby's brain. Doctors already know that low thyroid hormone levels in pregnant women are linked to lower child IQ scores as well as other risks to the ...

San Diego, CA-- Abaloparatide-SC, an injectable drug being studied for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, reduces the rate of new spinal fractures by a statistically significant 86 percent and as well as statistically significant reductions in the fracture rate at other parts of the body, a phase 3 clinical trial finds. Results of the ACTIVE fracture prevention trial will be described in a late-breaking oral presentation Thursday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego. "The investigational drug abaloparatide-SC, if approved, may offer patients ...

The ability of some breathalyzers widely sold to the UK public to detect potentially unsafe levels of breath alcohol for driving, varies considerably, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The findings call into question the regulatory process for approving these sorts of devices for personal use, say the researchers, particularly as false reassurance about a person's safety to drive could have potentially catastrophic consequences. The researchers compared the diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity) of three personal use breathalysers to detect alcohol ...

Before Charlotte the spider spelled the word "humble" in her web to describe Wilbur the pig, she told Templeton the rat that the word meant "not proud." That's probably what most people say if you put them on the spot. But if you give them time to think about it deeply, like a new study just did, other themes emerge that have a lot to do with learning. And these intellectual dimensions of humility describe the spider as well or better than the pig. "Wilbur has many of the dimensions of humility in general: regard for others, not thinking too highly of himself - but ...

The sun emitted a mid-level flare on Dec. 18, 2014, at 4:58 p.m. EST. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. To see how this event may affect Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at http://spaceweather.gov, ...

New UCLA research indicates that lost memories can be restored. The findings offer some hope for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. For decades, most neuroscientists have believed that memories are stored at the synapses -- the connections between brain cells, or neurons -- which are destroyed by Alzheimer's disease. The new study provides evidence contradicting the idea that long-term memory is stored at synapses. "Long-term memory is not stored at the synapse," said David Glanzman, a senior author of the study, and a UCLA professor of integrative ...

Not all species may suffer from climate change. A new analysis shows that Dolly Varden, a species of char common in southeast Alaska, adjust their migrations so they can keep feasting on a key food source - salmon eggs - even as shifts in climate altered the timing of salmon spawning. The resiliency of species to climate change may depend on how well they adapt to climate-driven changes in their food and habitat, such as altered growth of plants they feed on. A mismatch in timing between predators and the availability of prey could cause some species to lose access to ...

About 15 percent of women in the United States suffer from anxiety disorders and depression during their pregnancies, and many are prescribed antidepressants. However little is known about how early exposure to these medications might affect their offspring as they mature into adults. The answer to that question is vital, as 5 percent of all babies born in the U.S. - more than 200,000 a year - are exposed to antidepressants during gestation via transmission from their mothers. Now, a UCLA team has studied early developmental exposure to two different antidepressants, ...

HOUSTON - (Dec. 19, 2014) - An atomically thin material developed at Rice University may lead to the thinnest-ever imaging platform. Synthetic two-dimensional materials based on metal chalcogenide compounds could be the basis for superthin devices, according to Rice researchers. One such material, molybdenum disulfide, is being widely studied for its light-detecting properties, but copper indium selenide (CIS) also shows extraordinary promise. Sidong Lei, a graduate student in the Rice lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan, synthesized CIS, a single-layer matrix ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, are the immune system's all-terrain vehicles. The cells are recruited to fight infections or injury in any tissue or organ in the body despite differences in the cellular and biochemical composition. Researchers from Brown University's School of Engineering and the Department of Surgery in the Warren Alpert Medical School collaborated to devise a new technique for understanding how neutrophils move in these confined spaces. The technique involves two hydrogel sacks sandwiched together with ...

PHILADELPHIA - (Dec. 19, 2014) - A common polymorphism - a variation in a person's DNA sequence that is found with regularity in the general population - can lead to a chain of events that dictates how a tumor will progress in certain types of cancer, including a form of breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer, according to new research from The Wistar Institute that was published online by the journal Cancer Cell. The research reveals a more explicit role about the symbiotic relationship humans have with the various bacteria that inhabit our body and their role during ...

(Edmonton) For millions of people around the world, televised medical talk shows have become a daily viewing ritual. Programs such as The Dr. Oz Show and The Doctors have attracted massive followings as charismatic hosts discuss new medical research and therapies while offering viewers their own recommendations for better health. For show producers it's a winning ratings formula, but for viewers eager for a healthier life, the results aren't so clear cut. "The research supporting any of these recommendations is frequently absent, contradictory or of poor quality," says ...

Women whose loved ones are critical of their weight tend to put on even more pounds, says a new study on the way people's comments affect our health. Professor Christine Logel from Renison University College at the University of Waterloo led the study, which appears in the December issue of the journal Personal Relationships. "When we feel bad about our bodies, we often turn to loved ones--families, friends and romantic partners--for support and advice. How they respond can have a bigger effect than we might think," said Professor Logel, who teaches social development ...

WASHINGTON D.C., December 19, 2014 - Researchers at Montana State University and Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany have created a simple mathematical model based on optical measurements that explains the stunning colors of Yellowstone National Park's hot springs and can visually recreate how they appeared years ago, before decades of tourists contaminated the pools with make-a-wish coins and other detritus. The model, and stunning pictures of the springs, appear today in the journal Applied Optics, which is published by The Optical Society (OSA). If ...

Despite showing interest in web or mobile apps to help manage their Type 2 diabetes, only a small number of older adults actually use them, says a new study from the University of Waterloo. Approximately 2.2 million Canadians are living with Type 2 diabetes, 2 million of whom are age 50 or older. The study, which appears in the online edition of the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, found that although more than 90 per cent of research participants owned a computer or had daily Internet access, just 18 per cent used applications on this technology to help manage ...

The lithium-ion batteries that mobilize our electronic devices need to be improved if they are to power electric vehicles or store electrical energy for the grid. Berkeley Lab researchers looking for a better understanding of liquid electrolyte may have found a pathway forward. A team led by Richard Saykally, a chemist with Berkeley Lab's Chemical Sciences Division, David Prendergast, a theorist with Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry, and Steven Harris, a chemist with the Lab's Materials Sciences Division, found surprising results in the first X-ray absorption spectroscopy ...

It's like a scene from a gamer's wildest dreams: 12 high-definition, 55-inch 3D televisions all connected to a computer capable of supporting high-end, graphics-intensive gaming. On the massive screen, images are controlled by a Wii remote that interacts with a Kinnect-like Bluetooth device (called SmartTrack), while 3D glasses worn by the user create dizzying added dimensions. But this real-life, computer-powered mega TV is not for gaming. It's for engineering. Welcome to Brigham Young University's VuePod, a 3D immersive visualization environment run by BYU's Department ...

New research indicates that reducing emergency surgery for three common procedures by 10 percent could cut $1 billion in health care costs over 10 years. As hospitals and health systems increasingly focus on addressing the rising cost of health care in the United States, and with the expense of surgical care playing a major role, physician researchers and others across the healthcare industry are working to identify innovative ways to reduce surgical costs. In new findings published online in the journal Annals of Surgery on December 19, 2014, researchers determined ...

Researchers from the University of Southampton have revealed a breakthrough in optical fibre communications. Academics from the University's Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) have collaborated with colleagues at Eblana Photonics Inc, in Ireland, to develop an approach that enables direct modulation of laser currents to be used to generate highly advanced modulation format signals. The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, explores a radically new approach to the generation of spectrally-efficient advanced modulation format signals as required ...

Carnivorous plants catch and digest tiny animals in order and derive benefits for their nutrition. Interestingly the trend towards vegetarianism seems to overcome carnivorous plants as well. The aquatic carnivorous bladderwort, which can be found in many lakes and ponds worldwide, does not only gain profit from eating little animals but also by consuming algae and pollen grains. This results in survival in aquatic habitats where prey animals are rare, and in increased fitness if the animals and algae are caught in a well-balanced diet. An Austrian research group around ...

Researchers at the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore (NUS) have identified a novel mechanosensitive regulation of epithelial tube contraction. These findings are published on 19 December 2014 in Current Biology (Pei Yi Tan and Ronen Zaidel-Bar. Transient membrane localization of SPV-1 drives cyclical actomyosin contractions in the C. elegans spermatheca, Current Biology, 19 Dec 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.11.033) Regulating tube constriction Many of the fundamental processes of life rely on biological structures known as epithelial ...