"Epithelial cell layers line all of the inner and outer body and organ surfaces in the human body, for example in the lung, intestine, pancreas and in the inner ear," said Moritz Gegg. Cilia – small, hair-like, microtubule-based structures – project from BBs and are precisely positioned on many of these epithelial cells. "Only through this exact positioning can cilia movements be coordinated so precisely that for example mucus can be transported from the lung or sound can be perceived from sensory inner ear hair cells," added Heiko Lickert. Cilia are anchored ...

Philadelphia, PA (October 28, 2014) — Home blood pressure monitors may be inaccurate in up to 15% of patients, according to a study that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 November 11¬–16 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. Major guidelines recommend home blood pressure monitoring to guide diagnosis and treatment of patients with hypertension; however, little is known about the real-world accuracy of home blood pressure monitors that patients use. Researchers led by Swapnil Hiremath, MD, MPH (Ottawa Hospital and University ...

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have discovered a new reproductive mode in frogs and toads - breeding and laying direct developing eggs in live bamboo with narrow openings - which was observed in the white spotted bush frog (Raorchestes chalazodes). This critically endangered frog is currently only one of two species known to adopt this novel reproductive strategy. The findings were published in The Linnean Society of London's Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, in October 2014. Life history strategies to increase reproductive success ...

Individual differences in moving activity in a novel environment are linked to individual differences in vulnerability to angling, according to an experimental study completed at the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute. The study used novel, long-term observations of individual behaviour in groups and authentic angling trials to analyse if behaviours predict the vulnerability to fishing in brown trout reared in traditional and enriched hatchery rearing environments. Based on the results, it can be predicted that fishing modifies ...

Experts agree that it's a great way of staying fit and healthy at any age, but when faced with higher prices people are likely to swim less often, while other forms of physical activity such as working out or walking are barely affected. According to a study by Brunel University London's Health Economics Research Group (HERG), swimming is the individual activity that most people would drop if they faced higher prices. The study included interviews with 1,683 people, 83% of whom took part in physical activity in some form. It found that people facing 10% higher entry ...

Tea and citrus fruits and juices are associated with a lower risk of developing ovarian cancer, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). Research published today reveals that women who consume foods containing flavonols and flavanones (both subclasses of dietary flavonoids) significantly decrease their risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer, the fifth-leading cause of cancer death among women. The research team studied the dietary habits of 171,940 women aged between 25 and 55 for more than three decades. The team found that those ...

VIDEO: A study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has found that the introduction of generic aromatase inhibitors (the most common type of hormone therapy), which are considerably less expensive... Click here for more information. NEW YORK, NY (October 27, 2014)—Although oral hormonal therapy is known to substantially reduce breast cancer recurrence in women with hormone receptor–positive tumors, about one-half of patients fail to take their medications ...

New research by the University of California, Davis, shows that chimpanzees plan ahead, and sometimes take dangerous risks, to get to the best breakfast buffet early. The study co-authored by Leo Polansky, an associate researcher in the UC Davis anthropology department, reveals that chimpanzees will find a place to sleep en route to breakfast sites and risk travel in the dark when predators are active to obtain more desired, less abundant fruits such as figs. The study is being published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. "As ...

Boston, MA — People who swap 5% of the calories they consume from saturated fat sources such as red meat and butter with foods containing linoleic acid—the main polyunsaturated fat found in vegetable oil, nuts, and seeds—lowered their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events by 9% and their risk of death from CHD by 13%, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. Substitution of 5% of calories from carbohydrate with linoleic acid was associated with similar reductions in risk of heart disease. "There has been ...

Is generosity less stressful than being stingy? QUT research, published in scientific journal Public Library of Science (PLOS) ONE, examined the physiological reactions of participants in a financial bargaining game and found that not only those receiving relatively low offers experienced stress but also those that make low offers, when compared to people who made more generous offers. Participants were asked to play the Ultimatum Bargaining Game, in which players decide how to divide a sum of money given to them. Player one (the proposer) proposes how to divide ...

Spices and herbs can play a significant role in improving America's health by helping to reduce sodium, calorie and fat intake while making healthy eating more appealing, conclude the authors of a scientific supplement published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrition Today. The publication, entitled Spices and Herbs: Improving Public Health Through Flavorful Eating, is based on the conference proceedings of a Science Summit convened by the McCormick Science Institute in partnership with the American Society for Nutrition in Washington, D.C., on May 20-21, ...

CAPE TOWN, October 28, 2014 – The risk of acquiring herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) was reduced by half among women in the VOICE trial who used a vaginal gel containing the antiretroviral (ARV) drug tenofovir regularly, according to researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) who conducted the study. The findings provide additional evidence that tenofovir gel, a product developed to protect against HIV, could potentially help in preventing one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections affecting sexually ...

A global research effort has finally resolved a major biosecurity issue: four of the world's most destructive agricultural pests are actually one and the same. For twenty years some of the world's most damaging pest fruit flies have been almost impossible to distinguish from each other. The ability to identify pests is central to quarantine, trade, pest management and basic research. In 2009 a coordinated research effort got underway to definitively answer this question by resolving the differences, if any, between five of the most destructive fruit flies: the Oriental ...

Antibiotic-producing bacteria in soil are the source of many antibiotics used to combat diseases in humans and plants. But, surprisingly little is known about how these microbes impact tropical plant communities and ecosystems, where plant diversity, competition, and pathogen pressures are high. A study published October 28 in the journal Biotropica represents a step toward a better understanding of the role antibiotic-bacteria play in the ecology of tropical forests. University of Minnesota researchers, led by Kristen Becklund, found that antibiotic production by soil ...

Every day for more than 20 years, an average of 2,000 hectares of irrigated land in arid and semi-arid areas across 75 countries have been degraded by salt, according to a study by UN University's Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health, published Oct. 28. Today an area the size of France is affected -- about 62 million hectares (20%) of the world's irrigated lands, up from 45 million hectares in the early 1990s. Salt-degradation occurs in arid and semi-arid regions where rainfall is too low to maintain regular percolation of rainwater through the ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Adding tomosynthesis to biennial digital mammography screening for women with dense breasts is likely to improve breast cancer detection at a reasonable cost relative to biennial mammography screening alone, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. Mammography remains the only screening test proven to decrease mortality from breast cancer. However, mammography is less accurate in women with dense breasts for whom cancers may be masked by overlapping breast tissue. Moreover, dense breasts compared to average density ...

PISCATAWAY, NJ – Teenagers who live in communities with strict "social host" laws are less likely to spend their weekends drinking at parties, according to a study in the November issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Many U.S. states and local communities have passed social host laws, which hold adults responsible when underage drinkers imbibe on their property. The details of the laws vary, however, and research has been mixed as to whether they actually keep kids from drinking. In the new study, investigators focused on 50 communities in California, ...

VANCOUVER ─ Robotically assisted coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery is a rapidly evolving technology that shortens hospital stays and reduces the need for blood products, while decreasing recovery times, making the procedure safer and less risky, says a study presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. "Robotically assisted CABG is a safe and feasible alternative approach to standard bypass surgery in properly selected patients. It is a less traumatic and less invasive approach than regular CABG," says cardiac surgeon and researcher Dr. Richard ...

For the first time, researchers have found that exposure to radioactive iodine is associated with more aggressive forms of thyroid cancer, according to a careful study of nearly 12,000 people in Belarus who were exposed when they were children or adolescents to fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Researchers examined thyroid cancers diagnosed up to two decades after the Chernobyl accident and found that higher thyroid radiation doses estimated from measurements taken shortly after the accident were associated with more aggressive tumor features. "Our ...

VANCOUVER ─ When heart symptoms strike, men and women go through similar stages of pain but women are more likely to delay seeking care and can put their health at risk, according to a study presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. "The main danger is that when someone comes to the hospital with a more severe or advanced stage of heart disease, there are simply fewer treatment options available," says Dr. Catherine Kreatsoulas, lead author of the study and a Fulbright Scholar and Heart and Stroke Foundation Research Fellow at the Harvard School of Public ...

This news release is available in French. Compared to men who have had only one partner during their lifetime, having sex with more than 20 women is associated with a 28% lower risk of one day being diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to researchers at the University of Montreal and INRS - Institut Armand-Frappier. However, having more than 20 male partners in one's lifetime is associated with a twofold higher risk of getting prostate cancer compared to those who have never slept with a man. Marie-Elise Parent and Marie-Claude Rousseau, professors at university's ...

PULLMAN, Wash. - Politicians who discredit global warming risk losing a big chunk of the female vote. A new study found women who consider the long-term consequences of their actions are more likely to adopt a liberal political orientation and take consumer and political steps to reduce global warming. Jeff Joireman, associate professor of marketing at Washington State University, demonstrated that "future-oriented" women are the voting bloc most strongly motivated to invest money, time and taxes toward reducing global warming. Previous studies have shown that women ...

Both agave nectar and a placebo were more effective than no treatment for young children's cough symptoms, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine. The findings suggest that a placebo could help children more than "watchful waiting." The Food and Drug Administration recommends against the use of over-the-counter cough and cold medications in children under two years old due to safety concerns and a lack of evidence for their effectiveness in this age group. As part of a voluntary change announced in 2008 by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, ...

Astronomers with the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) captured pictures not only of Thursday's partial solar eclipse, but also of the "monster" sized active region or sun spot that has many comparing it to one of a similar size that occurred 11 years ago. The sun spots were earlier reported by scientists with the NSF-supported National Solar Observatory. According to astronomers Frank Hill and Kiran Jain, "As of Oct 21, 2014, a very large active region is currently on the solar disk and producing flares as strong as ...

A large active region on the sun erupted with another X-class flare on Oct. 27, 2014 -- its fourth since Oct. 24. The flare peaked at 10:47 a.m. EDT. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc. To see how this event may affect Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at http://spaceweather.gov, the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings. Continuing a week's worth ...