Researchers have been able to reconstruct the genome sequence of an outbreak strain of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC), which caused over 50 deaths in Germany, using an approach known as metagenomics which bypasses the need for growing bacteria in the lab. An international team coordinated by Mark Pallen, Professor of Microbial Genomics at Warwick Medical School, was able to reconstruct the genome sequence through the direct sequencing of DNA extracted from microbiologically complex samples. The study, published in a genomics-themed issue of JAMA on 10 April, ...

More than 1 in 5 seniors with Medicare Advantage plans received a prescription for a potentially harmful "high risk medication" in 2009, according to a newly published analysis by Brown University public health researchers. The questionable prescriptions were significantly more common in the Southeast region of the country, as well as among women and people living in relatively poor areas. The demographic trends in the analysis, based on Medicare data from more than 6 million patients, suggest that differences in the rates of prescription of about 110 medications deemed ...

This press release is available in German. The craft of glassmaking extends way back in time. It was over five-thousand years ago when mankind learned how to make glass. Even prior to this discovery, humans had been using naturally occurring glass for tool making. Despite this long and rich history and widespread use of glass, surprisingly little is known about the interplay between the mechanical properties of glasses and their inner structures. For the first time, researchers from Amsterdam University (The Netherlands) and DESY have now monitored subtle structural ...

SAN ANTONIO (April 10, 2013) — Baby marmoset monkeys that began eating solid food earlier than their peers were significantly more likely to be obese at 1 year of age, scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute found. This early life obesity resulted in metabolic damage such as insulin resistance and poor blood sugar control, a companion study showed. Marmosets on track for obesity appeared to be more efficient in their feeding behavior. "Although all animals consumed the same amount of ...

Computational models of the human heart can be very useful in studying not just the basic mechanisms of heart function, but also to analyze the heart in a diseased state, and come up with methods for diagnosis and therapy. Dr. Natalia Trayanova's Computational Cardiology Lab at the Johns Hopkins University is doing just that—her group uses mathematical models to look at cardiac function and dysfunction, examining the mechanisms behind disorders such as cardiac arrhythmias and pump dysfunction. In a plenary lecture at the SIAM Conference on Computational Science and ...

The results may help to explain why certain medications have strong side effects on sperm and eggs, and why certain organisms remain unaffected by environmental changes. This is shown by studies that researchers from the University of Gothenburg, together with researchers from Norway and France, are now publishing in the journal PLOS Genetics. All cells in our bodies contain copies of the genetic information. However, different cells contain different numbers of the complete genetic information. Normal human cells usually contain two copies of the genetic information, ...

MAYWOOD, Il. – The economic crash in Cuba following the fall of the Soviet Union has provided researchers with a unique natural experiment on obesity, diabetes and heart disease. In the early 1990s, shortages of food and gasoline forced Cubans to eat less and do more walking and cycling. Adults lost, on average, 9 to 11 pounds, and type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease dropped sharply. But after the economy began a slow but steady recovery, adults gradually gained back the weight they had lost, and then some. This weight gain was accompanied by a 116 percent increase ...

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania has shown that children as young as 2 understand basic grammar rules when they first learn to speak and are not simply imitating adults. The study also applied the same statistical analysis on data from one of the most famous animal language-acquisition experiments — Project Nim — and showed that Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee who was taught sign language over the course of many years, never grasped rules like those in a 2-year-old's grammar. The study was conducted by Charles Yang, a professor of linguistics in the School ...

Exit-screening at 36 airports would have assessed all air travelers at risk of transporting H1N1 out of Mexico at start of 2009 pandemic Screening at 99 per cent of the world's international airports could have been forgone with negligible missed opportunities to prevent or delay the spread of disease Screening at just eight airports worldwide would have led to the assessment of 90 per cent of all at-risk air travelers TORONTO, April 10, 2013—Researchers have developed a simple new tool to help governments worldwide decide whether to screen airplane passengers leaving ...

Combined research efforts by scientists involved in the Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project, funded by NOAA's Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) program, and administered by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), have led to enhanced understanding of toxic algal blooms on Georges Bank. This new information, coupled with an at-sea and dockside testing protocol developed through collaboration between GOMTOX and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigators, has allowed fishermen to harvest ocean quahogs and surf clams ...

New Orleans, LA – New discoveries by a team of scientists at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans for the first time reveal the inner workings of a master regulator that controls functions as diverse as the ability of nerve cells to "rewire" themselves in response to external stimuli and the mechanism by which certain viruses hijack normal cellular processes to facilitate their replication that can ultimately lead to cancer. The research will be published in the April 12, 2013 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The complex genetic programs controlling the ...

In almost 90 per cent of cases, novel drugs tested on humans by pharmaceutical companies do not work as intended and must be scrapped. Often the drugs do not work, while at worst, test subjects die. New research from the University of Southern Denmark now shows that this number can be reduced. The secret is to test the drug on cells grown as 3D structures. In 1993, five out of 15 liver patients who participated in a medical trial following the American Federal Drug Administration's (FDA's) instructions died. The patients had been treated with the substance fialuridin ...

As if trapped in a never-ending B movie about evil invaders, Cincinnatians have been tormented by a six-legged scourge for years. To the chagrin of many throughout the Queen City, this monster isn't an actor in a rubber alien costume; it's the real thing – Cimex lectularius, better known as the common bed bug. The tiny, bloodsucking arthropods have burrowed so deeply and so broadly into the cracks, crevices and cushions of Greater Cincinnati's households, they've literally given the city an itch it can't scratch enough to make it go away. But there's hope. Regina Baucom, ...

CHICAGO --- Systemic sclerosis, also known as scleroderma, is a rare autoimmune connective tissue disorder that's difficult to treat. However, thanks to new research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, doctors may be able to treat some patients more effectively. Characterized by thickening of the skin, scleroderma can also cause significant complications in the joints and internal organs—particularly the esophagus, lower gastrointestinal tract, lungs, heart and kidneys. There is no cure—and the one drug commonly ...

WASHINGTON – Effective leaders' brains may be physically "wired" to lead, offering the promise of more precise identification and training, according to studies of U.S. Army officers published by the American Psychological Association. Researchers have linked adaptive leadership skills with brain functioning and psychological complexity measures among active leaders. Those leaders who were found to be more adaptable and complex in psychological studies appeared to have brains that function differently from those of less adaptable leaders, according to an article published ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. ¬— With nearly one billion users worldwide, Facebook has become a daily activity for hundreds of millions of people. Because so many people engage with the website daily, researchers are interested in how emotionally involved Facebook users become with the social networking site and the precursors that lead to Facebook connections with other people. Russell Clayton, now a doctoral student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, found that anxiety and alcohol use significantly predict emotional connectedness to Facebook. Clayton's master's thesis, ...

Cambridge, Mass. – April 10, 2013 – New research from Harvard University helps to explain how waterborne bacteria can colonize rough surfaces—even those that have been designed to resist water. A team of materials scientists and microbiologists studied the gut bacterium Escherichia coli, which has many flagella that stick out in all directions. The researchers found that these tails can act as biological grappling hooks, reaching far into nanoscale crevices and latching the bacteria in place. The scourge of the health care industry, bacteria like E. coli are adept at ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Translating a Mayo Clinic stem-cell discovery, an international team has demonstrated that therapy with cardiopoietic (cardiogenically-instructed) or "smart" stem cells can improve heart health for people suffering from heart failure. This is the first application in patients of lineage-guided stem cells for targeted regeneration of a failing organ, paving the way to development of next generation regenerative medicine solutions. Results of the clinical trial appear online of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The multi-center, randomized ...

WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2013)—Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have identified a host of small molecules critical to metabolism in cells of triple-negative breast cancer—one of the least understood groups of breast cancer. These molecules, called metabolites, include key players in energy regulation and lipid synthesis. They could help pave the way for helping researchers differentiate among different forms of the disease and ultimately point to new targets for treatment. Jeffrey Peterson, PhD, a cancer biologist at Fox Chase, led the new studies, which also included ...

WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2013)—A new preclinical technology enables researchers to quickly determine if a particular treatment is effective against gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), providing a boost to animal research and possibly patient care, according to new findings presented by Fox Chase Cancer Center at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 on Tuesday, April 9. The advantage of the tool, explains study author Lori Rink, PhD, assistant research professor at Fox Chase, is that it tells researchers if a particular compound is killing tumor cells in mice as early as ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — There is no specific drug to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a family of motor neuron diseases that in its most severe form is the leading genetic cause of infant death in the United States and affects one in 6,000 people overall. But a new multispecies study involving a drug that treats amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has pinpointed a mechanism of SMA that drug developers might be able to exploit for a new therapy. The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, reports that the drug Riluzole advanced neural cell ...

Hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, is the primary cause of heart disease. It is caused by calcium accumulation in the blood vessels, which leads to arteries becoming narrow and stiff, obstructing blood flow and leading to heart complications. Although many risk factors for atherosclerosis have been identified, the cause is not known and there is currently no way to reverse it once it sets in. In a new study published 9th April in the open access journal PLOS Biology, researchers have characterized the cells responsible for driving this calcium build-up in vessel ...

Irvine, Calif. – Inspired by a traditional Balkan bedbug remedy, researchers have documented how microscopic hairs on kidney bean leaves effectively stab and trap the biting insects, according to findings published online today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Scientists at UC Irvine and the University of Kentucky are now developing materials that mimic the geometry of the leaves. Bedbugs have made a dramatic comeback in the U.S. in recent years, infesting everything from homes and hotels to schools, movie theaters and hospitals. Although not known to transmit ...

NEW YORK – African-Americans with a variant of the ABCA7 gene have almost double the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease compared with African-Americans who lack the variant. The largest genome-wide search for Alzheimer's genes in the African-American community, the study was undertaken by the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium and led by neurologists from Columbia University Medical Center. It will be published in the April 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study was primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health ...

In a meta-analysis of data from nearly 6,000 African Americans, Alzheimer disease was significantly associated with a gene that have been weakly associated with Alzheimer disease in individuals of European ancestry, although additional studies are needed to determine risk estimates specific for African Americans, according to a study in the April 10 issue of JAMA, a Genomics theme issue. "Late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) is the most common cause of dementia, increasing in frequency from 1 percent at age 65 years to more than 30 percent for people older than 80 years," ...