About 90 percent of children with two copies of a common genetic variation and who wheezed when they caught a cold early in life went on to develop asthma by age 6, according to a study to be published March 28 by the New England Journal of Medicine. These children, all from families with a history of asthma or allergies, were nearly four times as likely to develop the disease as those who lacked the genetic variation and did not wheeze. The effects of each—the genetic variation and wheezing illness caused by a human rhinovirus infection—are not merely additive but also ...

Changes in the population of microbial organisms in the gastrointestinal tract may underlie some of the benefits of gastric bypass surgery, reports a team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard University. In the March 27 issue of Science Translational Medicine, the investigators describe experiments in mice finding that previously observed post-bypass alterations in the microbial population (also called the microbiota) are caused by the surgery itself, not by weight loss, and that transferring samples of the changed microbiota to mice raised ...

VIDEO: Three-dimensional volume renderings of the platinum nanoparticle are reconstructed from 104 experimental projections in which nearly all the atoms of the nanoparticle are visible. Furthermore, 3-D atomic steps at twin... Click here for more information. A team of scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Northwestern University has produced 3-D images and videos of a tiny platinum nanoparticle at atomic resolution that reveal new details ...

Single-celled archaea are invisible to the naked eye, and even when using a microscope, great care must be taken to observe them. An international team of researchers led by the Center for Geomicrobiology, Aarhus University, Denmark, has nevertheless succeeded in retrieving four archaeal cells from seabed mud and mapping the genome of each one. "Until now, nobody knew how these widespread mud-dwelling archaea actually live. Mapping the genome from the four archaeal cells shows they all have genes that enable them to live on protein degradation," says Professor Karen Lloyd, ...

A strain of probiotic bacteria that can fight harmful bacterial infections in poultry has the ability to change its coat, according to new findings from the Institute of Food Research. The probiotic is currently being taken forward through farm-scale trials to evaluate how well it combats Clostridium perfringens – a cause of necrotic enteritis in poultry and the second most common cause of food poisoning in the UK The researchers at IFR, which is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, had previously found that the probiotic ...

Self-management interventions delivered by computer and mobile phone currently provide limited benefits for people with diabetes, according to a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. Although computer and mobile phone-based self-management programmes had small positive effects on blood sugar levels, these effects seemed to be short-lived. 347 million adults worldwide live with diabetes and are at higher risk of heart disease and serious complications such as heart attacks and stroke because of their condition. There is some evidence to suggest that providing ...

In women who have a potentially or mildly abnormal cervical smear, using a DNA-based test can identify those at higher risk of having precursors of cervical cancer, according to a new Cochrane systematic review. The authors found that the DNA-based test identified patients in possible need of treatment more accurately than a repeat smear test. Cervical smear ("Pap") tests are carried out to identify women who might be at high risk of developing cervical cancer. Cells collected in the smear test are examined under the microscope. If abnormalities are seen, a patient may ...

Prebiotic supplements in infant formula may help to prevent eczema, according to a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. However, the review highlights a lack of high quality evidence for the effects of prebiotics in preventing allergies. It is thought that bacteria lining the gut may play an important role in a child developing sensitivities to certain foods and allergens, regulating immune responses and determining how they will react to the same substances in later life. Prebiotics are indigestible components of breast milk, fruit and vegetables that ...

Scientists at Harvard may have new hope for anyone who's tried to fight the battle of the bulge. New research, conducted in collaboration with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, has found that the gut microbes of mice undergo drastic changes following gastric bypass surgery. Transfer of these microbes into sterile mice resulted in rapid weight loss. The study is described in a March 27 paper in Science Translational Medicine. "Simply by colonizing mice with the altered microbial community, the mice were able to maintain a lower body fat, and lose weight ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers have identified genetic risk factors that may accelerate a teen's progression to becoming a lifelong heavy smoker. The team of scientists from the U.S., the U.K. and New Zealand examined earlier studies by other research teams to develop a genetic risk profile for heavy smoking. Then they looked at their own long-term study of 1,000 New Zealanders from birth to age 38 to identify whether individuals at high genetic risk got hooked on cigarettes more quickly as teens and whether, as adults, they had a harder time quitting. Study participants ...

Boston – Effective health screening and preventive care is known to reduce health care costs and improve health outcomes, yet new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) shows that restrictive Medicaid policies are associated with patients delaying needed medical care due to cost. States and counties with the most restrictive Medicaid eligibility criteria (where individuals must be far below the federal poverty level to qualify for Medicaid) have the highest rates of delayed care. This research appears in the March 28, 2013 issue of the New England Journal of ...

Since the plate tectonics revolution of the 1960s, scientists have known that new seafloor is created throughout the major ocean basins at linear chains of volcanoes known as mid-ocean ridges. But where exactly does the erupted magma come from? Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego now have a better idea after capturing a unique image of a site deep in the earth where magma is generated. Using electromagnetic technology developed and advanced at Scripps, the researchers mapped a large area beneath the seafloor off Central America at the ...

Living in colder climates in the US is more energy demanding than living in warmer climates. This is according to Dr Michael Sivak at the University of Michigan, who has published new research today, 28 March, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters. Dr Sivak has calculated that climate control in the coldest large metropolitan area in the country – Minneapolis – is about three-and-a-half times more energy demanding than in the warmest large metropolitan area – Miami. Dr Sivak calculated this difference in energy demand using three parameters: ...

The genome of the western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) one of the most widespread, abundant and well-studied turtles in the world, is published this week in Genome Biology. The data show that, like turtles themselves, the rate of genome evolution is extremely slow; turtle genomes evolve at a rate that is about a third that of the human genome and a fifth that of the python, the fastest lineage analyzed. As a group, turtles are long-lived, can withstand low temperatures including freezing solid, can survive for long periods with no oxygen, and their sex is usually ...

Self perceived masculinity is higher in men with muscle dysmorphia, popularly called 'bigorexia', than other gym users, while male patients with anorexia nervosa had elevated association with feminine stereotypes, finds research in Biomed Central's open access journal Journal of Eating Disorders. Research over the last several decades has shown that increasingly men are admitting to being unhappy with their body image. This may show itself in either a desire to lose weight and become thinner, or to gain weight and become more muscular. This can become harmful when the ...

Although smoking prevalence has declined in the United Kingdom over recent decades, it has changed little among people with mental health disorders, remaining substantially higher than the national average. Yet a study published in the journal Addiction, presenting work carried out for a report released today by the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Psychiatrists called 'Smoking and Mental Health', suggests that general practitioners (GPs) are missing opportunities to help smokers with mental health disorders to quit. Though smokers with mental health problems ...

Fresh fruit and vegetables carry an abundance of bacteria on their surfaces, not all of which cause disease. In the first study to assess the variety of these non-pathogenic bacteria, scientists report that these surface bacteria vary depending on the type of produce and cultivation practices. The results are published March 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Jonathan Leff and Noah Fierer at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The study focused on eleven produce types that are often consumed raw, and found that certain species like spinach, tomatoes and strawberries ...

Higher temperatures in cities can be a key driver of insect pest outbreaks on trees in urban areas, according to research published March 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Emily Meineke from North Carolina State University and colleagues from other institutions. The researchers found that a scale insect that exclusively feeds on oak trees was 13 times more abundant on willow oaks in the hottest parts of the city of Raleigh, North Carolina than in cooler areas of the same city, even when other factors, like natural enemies that would kill the insects, were similar ...

Encouraging young people at high-risk of criminal offending and delinquency to see happiness rather than anger in facial expressions results in a decrease in their levels of anger and aggression, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The study, led by Marcus Munafò and Ian Penton-Voak of the University of Bristol, explored the relationship between recognition of emotion in ambiguous facial expressions and aggressive thoughts and behaviour, both in healthy adults and in adolescent youth considered ...

HOUSTON -– Smokers have a higher probability of quitting smoking and a better overall cessation experience when taking varenicline compared to bupropion and to placebo – unmedicated assisted smoking cessation –according to a study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. A team led by Paul Cinciripini, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Behavioral Science at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, investigated the relative efficacy of varenicline and bupropion – both popular anti-smoking drugs on the market – plus intensive counseling to assess the drugs' ...

The next generation of computers promises far greater power and faster processing speeds than today's silicon-based based machines. These "quantum computers" — so called because they would harness the unique quantum mechanical properties of atomic particles — could draw their computing power from a collection of super-cooled molecules. But chilling molecules to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero, the temperature at which they can be manipulated to store and transmit data, has proven to be a difficult challenge for scientists. Now, UCLA physicists have pioneered ...

Toxicity problems and adverse side effects when taking lithium, the mainstay medication for treating bipolar disorder, are fostering a scientific hunt for insights into exactly how lithium works in the body — with an eye to developing a safer alternative. That's the topic of the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. Bethany Halford, C&EN senior editor, explains that lithium often is the first-line medication used to calm the highs and ...

BOSTON--Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists and colleagues have discovered that pancreatic cancer cells' growth and spread are fueled by an unusual metabolic pathway that someday might be blocked with targeted drugs to control the deadly cancer. Cancer cells are known to "rewire" their metabolic circuits differently from normal cells to provide energy for cancerous growth. A study published today in Nature reveals that pancreatic tumor cells are dependent on an amino acid, glutamine, which they utilize via a molecular pathway that has no apparent backup system. "Pancreatic ...

A new look at conditions after a Manhattan-sized asteroid slammed into a region of Mexico in the dinosaur days indicates the event could have triggered a global firestorm that would have burned every twig, bush and tree on Earth and led to the extinction of 80 percent of all Earth's species, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study. Led by Douglas Robertson of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES, the team used models that show the collision would have vaporized huge amounts of rock that were then blown high above Earth's atmosphere. ...

BOSTON – March 27, 2013 – In a study of patients with type 1 diabetes, Joslin researchers found that dietary fat can affect glucose levels and insulin requirements. These findings, which appeared in the April edition of Diabetes Care, have major implications for the management of type 1 diabetes. Research has shown that dietary fat and free fatty acids (FFAs) impair insulin sensitivity and increase glucose production. Most studies have focused on the role of fat in the development of type 2 diabetes. However, studies of people with type 1 diabetes have shown that higher-fat ...