DALLAS – July 16, 2013 – UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have unlocked some of the mysteries of West Nile virus outbreaks and shown that use of a mosquito vector-index rating system works well to identify the best time for early intervention. West Nile infections in humans can cause long-term neurological damage and even death. The investigation analyzed a decade of West Nile infections, weather, and housing data. The 2012 data – from the nation's largest West Nile outbreak that occurred in Dallas County, Texas – revealed that the best way to avoid an outbreak ...

WHAT: The length of time a young adult is obese is associated with the development of silent, or subclinical, heart disease in middle age, independent of body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference, according to National Institutes of Health-supported research. Each year that a young adult is obese increases that person's risk of developing coronary artery calcification, a subclinical predictor of heart disease, by 2 to 4 percent. These findings were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Obesity is a risk factor for subclinical heart ...

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have shown how to make nanoscale measurements of critical properties of plasmonic nanomaterials—the specially engineered nanostructures that modify the interaction of light and matter for a variety of applications, including sensors, cloaking (invisibility), photovoltaics and therapeutics. Their technique is one of the few that allows researchers to make actual physical measurements of these materials at the nanoscale without affecting the nanomaterial's function. Plasmonic ...

Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that specific types of bacteria that live in the gut are major contributors to lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells. Published online ahead of press today in the journal Cancer Research, the study was led by Robert Schiestl, member of the Jonsson Cancer Center and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, environmental health sciences, and radiation oncology. In rodents, intestinal bacteria influence obesity, intestinal inflammation and certain types of epithelial cancers. (Epithelial ...

Magnets could be a tool for directing stem cells' healing powers to treat conditions such as heart disease or vascular disease. By feeding stem cells tiny particles made of iron oxide, scientists at Emory and Georgia Tech can use magnets to attract the cells to a particular location in the body after intravenous injection. The results are published online in the journal Small and will appear in an upcoming issue. The paper was a result of collaboration between the laboratories of W. Robert Taylor, MD, PhD, and Gang Bao, PhD. Taylor is professor of medicine and biomedical ...

Environmental conditions have a much stronger influence on the mix of microbes living in various parts of your body than does competition between species. Instead of excluding each other, microbes that fiercely compete for similar resources are more likely to cohabit the same individual. This phenomenon was discovered in a recent study of the human microbiome – the vast collection of our resident bacteria, fungi, and other tiny organisms. The findings were published in the early online edition of PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– A chemical analysis of oil sheens recently found floating at the ocean's surface near the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster indicates that the source is pockets of oil trapped within the wreckage of the sunken rig. First reported to the U.S. Coast Guard by British Petroleum (BP) in mid-September 2012, the oil sheens raised public concern that the Macondo well, which was capped in July 2010, might be leaking. However, both the Macondo well and the natural oil seeps common to the Gulf of Mexico were confidently ruled out, according to researchers ...

A drug already approved to treat multiple sclerosis may also hold promise for treating cardiac hypertrophy, or thickening of the cardiac muscle--a disorder that often leads to heart failure, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine report. The findings are published in the July 16 issue of Circulation: Heart Failure. Cardiac hypertrophy is a slow thickening of the heart muscle that shrinks the interior volume of the heart, forcing the organ to work harder to pump a diminishing volume of blood. "There comes a day when the heart just ...

CHICAGO – Adding just a small amount of everyday herbs and spices to vegetables and reduced-calorie meals may make those foods more appetizing to consumers, which could ultimately help Americans cut down on dietary fat and choose more foods in line with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, according to research presented at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® John Peters, Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of Colorado and chief of strategy and innovation at the school's Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, presented ...

CHICAGO—Almonds may still be considered one of the highest energy food sources but it's not about how much you bite off, instead it's about how much you chew, according to a July 14 panel discussion at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® held at McCormick Place. "Particle size has bioaccessibility of the energy of the food that is being consumed," said Dr. Richard Mattes (CQ), professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. "The more you chew, the less is lost and more is retained in the body." Each ...

(Edmonton) Moms-to-be who gain too much weight early into their pregnancy are nearly three times as likely to give birth to bigger and fatter babies, warns a University of Alberta researcher. A study of 172 expectant mothers found that women who gained excessive weight during the first half of pregnancy gave birth to heavier and longer babies with more body fat than babies of women who either did not gain as much weight or put it on later in their pregnancy. The results underscore the need to educate expectant mothers about the dangers of early weight gain during pregnancy ...

The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences (JGR-G), Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans (JGR-C), Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth (JGR-B), and Water Resources Research (WRR). In this release: Why freshwater organisms survived the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs Constraining bubbling of methane from thermokarst lakes Low-cost solution optimizes water quality of reservoir effluent Characterizing the dynamics of geyser eruptions Seismic studies provide new detail ...

PHILADELPHIA – They say you can pick your friends, but not your family. The same may hold true for related proteins. The protein TAp73 is a relative of the well-known, tumor-suppressor protein p53. It shares extensive common gene sequences with p53 and, as suggested by some previous studies, it may function similar to p53 to prevent tumor formation. However, unlike p53, which is the most commonly mutated gene in human tumors, TAp73 is rarely mutated, and instead is frequently overexpressed in a wide range of human tumors, including breast, colon, lung, stomach, ovarian, ...

More than a decade ago, Thomas Vogt and Yongjae Lee, then colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory, uncovered a counter-intuitive property of zeolites. When they put these porous minerals in water, and then put the water under high pressure, the tiny cavities within the zeolites actually grew in size. Pressure failed to crush, and even caused expansion. In the years since, Vogt and Lee, now at the University of South Carolina and Yonsei University (Seoul), respectively, have followed up with cation exchange experiments, placing a series of alkali metal ions into the ...

It's easier to feel positive about the endangered tiger in your backyard if you live on the good side of town. Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) study what influences people's attitudes toward the tigers that share their neighborhood in Nepal's Chitwan National Park, home to some 125 adult tigers. In the scientific journal AMBIO, the researchers took a novel approach to putting people's attitudes on a map. "Harmonizing human-wildlife relationships is key to sustainably conserving wildlife such as the endangered tigers," said Jianguo "Jack" Liu, MSU's Rachel ...

Singapore - A team of international researchers from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (USA) has identified a self-perpetuating signaling circuit inside connective tissue cells that allows these cells to form a front and a back and propel themselves in a particular direction over a long period of time. This propulsion is the same movement that tumor cells use to invade healthy tissue during cancer metastasis so cracking the code to this signaling network may lead to new therapeutic strategies against cancer and ...

CHICAGO – Putting a new spin on the concept of "stress eating," research presented at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo® found that people who eat during times of stress typically seek the foods they eat out of habit – regardless of how healthy or unhealthy that food is. The research co-authored and presented by David Neal, Ph.D., a psychologist and founding partner at Empirica Research, contradicts the conventional wisdom that people who are stressed-out turn to high-calorie, low-nutrient comfort food. "Habits don't change in a high-pressure ...

CHICAGO — A new presentation today at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo in Chicago® focused on the health benefits of short-chain fructooliogosaccharides (scFOS), which are low-calorie, non-digestible carbohydrates that can improve food taste and texture while aiding immunity, bone health and the growth and balance of important bacteria in the digestive track. Fructooliogosaccharides are naturally found in chicory, onions, asparagus, wheat, tomatoes and other fruits, vegetables and grains. They also can be derived from cane sugar and ...

CHICAGO — Because of a diet low in fish and seafood, children and adults in North America and other parts of the world, have a "nutrition gap" of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA),according to a presentation at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo in Chicago®. Numerous studies have found that DHA and EPA can prevent or minimize the effects of inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, promote cardiovascular health and limit the effects of heart disease, said Bruce J. ...

CHICAGO- Vitamin and mineral supplements can enhance mental energy and well-being not only for healthy adults but for those prone to anxiety and depression, according to a July 15 panel discussion at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® held at McCormick Place. Bonnie Kaplan, Ph.D., professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, said Monday vitamins and mineral supplements can be the alternative to increasing psychiatric medicines for symptom relief of anxiety and depression. The supplements, she ...

CHICAGO – People with impaired glucose tolerance—the precursor to Type 2 diabetes—often show impaired cognitive function that may be alleviated through a diet designed specifically for their condition, according to a panel discussion at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo®. Impaired glucose tolerance is a pre-diabetic state of hyperglycemia that is associated with insulin resistance and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. It can precede Type 2 diabetes by several years, and some lifestyle changes, such as getting to a normal weight ...

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have coaxed stem cells into forming networks of new blood vessels in the laboratory, then successfully transplanted them into mice. The stem cells are made by reprogramming ordinary cells, so the new technique could potentially be used to make blood vessels genetically matched to individual patients and unlikely to be rejected by their immune systems, the investigators say. The results appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "In demonstrating the ability to rebuild a microvascular bed in a clinically ...

CHICAGO—Healthy snacks that promote a feeling of fullness (satiety) may reduce the amount of food intake at subsequent meals and limit overall food consumption, according to a presentation today at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo in Chicago®. "Appetite control is an area of weight management that is receiving increased attention as the food industry aims to provide consumers with foods that will keep them fuller for longer, reducing inter-meal hunger and overall energy intake," said Roberta Re, Ph.D., nutrition research manager ...

Downy mildew (Pernospora belbahrii Thines) is a relatively new disease to North America. First reported in 1933 in Uganda, downy mildew has spread rapidly across the globe. Early detection of downy mildew is crucial for control of the disease, which can devastate both greenhouse and field basil crops. However, the signs and symptoms of basil downy mildew can be difficult to differentiate from those caused by environmental stresses such as nutrient deficiency. As part of an ongoing project to develop downy mildew–resistant plants, researchers at The City University of New ...

CHICAGO – Sweet and salty flavors, repeat exposure, serving size and parental behavior are the key drivers in children's food choices, according to a July 15 panel discussion at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® held at McCormick Place. A standing-room only crowd of more than 200 conference attendees heard new insights into how children choose the foods they eat, what their eating behaviors are and how the industry and parents can give children access to healthy food environments that shape those food choices. "Children's decision ...