VIDEO: What is Nutrigenomix? Here's a primer. Click here for more information. Researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T) report that personalized dietary advice based on a person's genetic makeup improves eating habits compared to current "one-size-fits-all" dietary recommendations. The findings were published online today in the journal PLoS One. "We conducted the first randomized controlled trial to determine the impact of disclosing DNA-based dietary advice on ...

Each year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) receives about 50,000 proposals for research funding in all fields of science and engineering from all corners of the country. NSF distinguishes among the proposals through a competitive review process built on two criteria: intellectual merit and broader impacts--will the research advance knowledge and will it benefit society? Today, NSF released a special report to showcase broader impacts and examples of the diverse and far-reaching ways NSF-supported science touches our lives. "Intellectual merit and broader impacts ...

Baltimore, Md., November 14, 2014--Most research on spinal cord injuries has focused on effects due to spinal cord damage and scientists have neglected the effects on brain function. University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) researchers have found for the first time that spinal cord injuries (SCI) can cause widespread and sustained brain inflammation that leads to progressive loss of nerve cells, with associated cognitive problems and depression. The research, published recently in two articles, one in of the Journal of Neuroscience, the other in Cell Cycle, ...

Boston (Nov. 14, 2014) - After two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, acute trauma to the ears - such as ruptured eardrums - was immediately apparent to those caring for the victims. However, the full extent of the effect on the ears and hearing of victims was not fully recognized for weeks. In the end, more than 100 patients were evaluated for blast-related otologic injuries. Almost immediately, Boston researchers set out to detail the types of otologic injury and report on the outcomes of patients undergoing otologic treatment. ...

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Hailstones from three Rocky Mountain storms formed around biological material, then bounced around the clouds picking up layers of ice, according to a new Montana State University study. The discovery of a biological embryo extends previous findings about the formation of snow and rain, applies to hailstones globally and provides basic information about a little-studied topic, said the researchers who published their findings Nov. 6 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. "This is the first paper to really show that biological material ...

Researchers at Western University are using cutting-edge genetic mutation-analysis software developed in their lab to interpret mutations in tumour genome that may provide insight into determining which breast cancer tumours are more likely spread to other parts of the body and which ones won't. Their findings are published today in the journal, Nature Scientific Reports. "We are using a unique software program in our lab that looks at a type of mutation called a splicing mutation that is typically overlooked using current methods," said lead author on the study, Stephanie ...

Dartmouth researchers have developed a fluorescence imaging technique that can more accurately identify receptors for targeted cancer therapies without a tissue biopsy. They report on their findings in "Quantitative in vivo immunohistochemistry of epidermal growth factor receptor using a receptor concentration imaging approach," which was recently published in Cancer Research. "Protein overexpression is a hallmark of certain cancers and is used in clinical oncology to personalize treatment through tumor detection, molecular therapies, and therapeutic monitoring," said ...

November 14, 2014 - While noninvasive alternatives are increasingly available, liver biopsy still provides essential information in some children with liver disease, according to a new position paper in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, official journal of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. The position paper was ...

'We are now living in a world of ubiquitous location: from sat-navs to GPS enabled tablets and smartphones, our everyday activities leave digital and spatially located footprints. This presents tremendous opportunities for explicitly geographical analyses of all kinds of data.' -Professor Lex Comber, University of Leicester The work of geographers at the University of Leicester has helped to identify a postcode lottery that increases your risk of developing diabetes or obesity. This and other aspects of how geography can advance our understanding of society will form ...

Devavrat Shah's group at MIT's Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) specializes in analyzing how social networks process information. In 2012, the group demonstrated algorithms that could predict what topics would trend on Twitter up to five hours in advance; this year, they used the same framework to predict fluctuations in the prices of the online currency known as Bitcoin. Next month, at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, they'll present a paper that applies their model to the recommendation engines that are familiar from websites ...

A team of scientists specializing in cave biodiversity from the South China Agricultural University (Guangzhou) unearthed a treasure trove of rare blind cave beetles. The description of seven new species of underground Trechinae beetles, published in the open access journal ZooKeys, attests for the Du'an karst as the most diverse area for these cave dwellers in China. "China is becoming more and more fascinating for those who study cave biodiversity, because it holds some of the most morphologically adapted cavernicolous animals in the world. This is specifically true ...

Athens, Ga. - Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that a chemical compound commonly found in coffee may help prevent some of the damaging effects of obesity. In a paper published recently in Pharmaceutical Research, scientists found that chlorogenic acid, or CGA, significantly reduced insulin resistance and accumulation of fat in the livers of mice who were fed a high-fat diet. "Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption may lower the risk for chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease," said Yongjie Ma, a postdoctoral ...

Today's herbaria, as well as all other collections-based environments, are now transitioning their collections data onto the web to remain viable in the smartphone-in-my-pocket age. A team of researchers have examined the importance of these online plant-based resources through the use of Google Analytics (GA) in a study that was published in the open access Biodiversity Data Journal (BDJ). The amount of plant biodiversity resources freely accessible has exploded in the last decade, but validating an impact factor for these web-based works has remained difficult. A new ...

Philadelphia, PA (November 14, 2014) -- In a study of blacks with normal kidney function, those with severe periodontal disease developed chronic kidney disease (CKD) at 4 times the rate of those without severe periodontal disease. The study that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 November 11¬-16 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. Periodontal disease is a chronic bacterial infection of the oral cavity, and it disproportionately affects African Americans. It's also been implicated as a potential risk factor for CKD. To investigate this ...

Philadelphia, PA (November 14, 2014) -- Acute kidney injury occurs frequently in Ebola virus disease; however, providing hemodialysis to these patients was previously thought to be too risky because it involves large needles or catheters and potential contact with highly infectious blood. Clinicians recently accomplished the first known successful delivery of renal replacement therapy with subsequent recovery of kidney function in a patient with Ebola virus disease. Their protocol will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, ...

Prostate cancer patients carrying inherited mutations in the BRCA genes respond less well to conventional treatment, including surgery and/or radiotherapy - and they also have a lower survival rate than those who are non-carriers of these genetic mutations. Data from the study, which has been published in the journal European Urology, points to the need for new clinical trials aimed at targeting these mutations in order to tailor treatment for these patients. The study has been led by David Olmos and Elena Castro at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) ...

November 14, 2014 - After the Boston Marathon bombings, more than 100 people were treated for trauma affecting the ears and hearing--with many having persistent or worsening hearing loss or other symptoms, reports a study in the December issue of Otology & Neurotology. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. Dr. Aaron Remenschneider and principal investigator Dr. Alicia Quesnel of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary led a Boston-wide collaboration that reviewed the experience with otologic injuries caused by the 2013 ...

This news release is available in German. For their study, the scientists investigated diseased nerve cells using high precision methods and subsequently simulated their electrical properties on the computer. In their view, medical interventions that preserve the structural integrity of neurons may constitute an innovative strategy for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Inside the brain, the nerve cells, which are also called "neurons," are woven into a network in which they relay signals to one another. Thus, neurons form intricate projections that enable ...

This interview was conducted in August, released as a Web First, and appears in the November issue of Health Affairs. Health Affairs has previously published Cheng's interviews with other world health ministers, including Thomas Zeltner of Switzerland (2010) and Chen Zhu of China (2012). In this interview, Minister Nguyen noted that the Vietnamese parliament has voted to spend about 30 percent of the country's state fund for public health. However, that goal has yet to be reached. She also confirmed that Vietnam's 2008 Law of Health Insurance requires patients use ...

Managing childhood asthma is difficult. Rather than giving daily medications -- even when children feel well -- many parents treat asthma only when symptoms become severe. This practice can lead to missed school days, trips to the ER and hospitalizations. But a novel program at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that peer trainers who coach parents over the phone on managing their children's asthma can sharply reduce the number of days the kids experience symptoms. The program also dramatically decreased ER visits and hospitalizations among ...

DUBLIN, Ireland, November 14th, 2014 - TB is an infectious disease that kills 1.5 million people each year, and smoking is the biggest driver of the global TB epidemic. Medical scientists at Trinity College Dublin and St James's Hospital in Ireland have unlocked the mechanism underlying the connection between smoking and Tuberculosis (TB). This discovery will considerably strengthen anti-smoking efforts to control TB and uncovers new therapy and vaccine options for TB. Their research has just been published in the top respiratory Journal, the American Journal of Respiratory ...

Philadelphia, PA (November 14, 2014) -- Sleep apnea may accelerate kidney function decline in diabetic patients with kidney disease, according to a study that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 November 11¬-16 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. Type 2 diabetes often contributes to the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Because obstructive sleep apnea is common in patients with type 2 diabetes, investigators wonder whether disordered sleep might play a role in the link between diabetes and kidney dysfunction. To investigate, ...

Philadelphia, PA (November 14, 2014) -- Many young patients with chronic conditions don't take their medications correctly, but 2 new studies point to ways to address such medication non-adherence. The studies will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 November 11¬-16 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. In one study, researchers led by Frederick Kaskel, MD, PhD (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) and Oleh Akchurin, MD (Weill Cornell College of Medicine) looked to see how young patients are using smart phones to help them take their medications. ...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2014--Quick Response (QR) codes -- the box-shaped symbols that appear on signs, posters, and even business cards -- are a convenient and efficient way of accessing specific web pages with a smartphone or other mobile device. However, new research published today in The Optical Society's (OSA) new high-impact journal Optica, explains how QR codes can do much more. By adding an array of tiny lenses to an ordinary smartphone, a team of optical engineers from the University of Connecticut has found a way to securely display three-dimensional (3-D) images ...

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that screening for Ebola at airports could be an effective method for preventing the spread of the disease into the UK and US, but due to the long incubation period of the virus, screening won't detect all cases. Published in the Lancet medical journal, the study used a mathematical model to test the probability of infected travellers from West Africa entering the UK and US. The team, from the University's Institute of Infection and Global Health, examined the current growth rate of the epidemic in West Africa alongside ...