EUGENE, Ore. -- (Sept. 18, 2012) -- An interdisciplinary team of scientists from seven U.S. institutions says a disregard of three critical protocols, including sorting samples by size, explains why a group challenging the theory of a North American meteor-impact event some 12,900 years ago failed to find iron- and silica-rich magnetic particles in the sites they investigated. Not separating samples of the materials into like-sized groupings made for an avoidable layer of difficulty, said co-author Edward K. Vogel, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon. The ...

Geneva, 18 September 2012 – Agreement by governments, by the end of 2012, on a set of ambitious global targets to curb the growing scourge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which includes cardiovascular disease (CVD; heart disease and stroke), is critical to avoiding the millions of premature deaths worldwide. This, according to a new paper published by the Global Cardiovascular Disease Taskforce a group of eminent experts who represent five leading heart-health organizations. On the occasion of the first anniversary of the second ever United Nations High-Level Meeting ...

NEW YORK, September 18, 2012 – Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have revealed a significant association between obesity and children and adolescents with higher concentrations of urinary bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic chemical recently banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from sippy cups and baby bottles. Still, the chemical continues to be used in aluminum cans, such as those containing soda. The study appears in the September 19 issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), dedicated to the theme of obesity. "This is the first ...

HEIDELBERG, 18 September 2012 – The absence of a specific type of neuron in the brain can lead to obesity and diabetes in mice report researchers in The EMBO Journal. The outcome, however, depends on the type of diet that the animals are fed. A lack of AgRP-neurons, brain cells known to be involved in the control of food intake, leads to obesity if mice are fed a regular carbohydrate diet. However, animals that are deficient in AgRP-neurons but which are raised on a high-fat diet are leaner and healthier. The differences are due to the influence of the AgRP-neurons on ...

NEW YORK – In a nationally representative sample of nearly 3,000 children and adolescents, those who had higher concentrations of urinary bisphenol A (BPA), a manufactured chemical found in consumer products, had significantly increased odds of being obese, according to a study in the September 19 issue of JAMA, and theme issue on obesity. Leonardo Trasande, M.D., M.P.P., of the NYU School of Medicine, New York City, presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing. "In the U.S. population, exposure [to BPA] is nearly ubiquitous, with 92.6 percent of persons ...

NEW YORK – Severely obese patients who had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery had significant weight loss that was sustained for an average of 6 years after the surgery and also experienced frequent remission and lower incidence of diabetes, hypertension, and abnormal cholesterol levels, compared to participants who did not have the surgery, according to a study in the September 19 issue of JAMA, and theme issue on obesity. Ted D. Adams, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the University of Utah School of Medicine and Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, presented the findings of the ...

NEW YORK – Addressing the obesity epidemic by preventing excess calorie consumption with government regulation of portion sizes is justifiable and could be an effective measure to help prevent obesity-related health problems and deaths, according to a Viewpoint in the September 19 issue of JAMA, and theme issue on obesity. Thomas A. Farley, M.D., M.P.H., Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, presented the article at a JAMA media briefing. "Americans consume many more calories than needed, and the excess is leading to diabetes, cardiovascular ...

NEW YORK – Obese adults with excess visceral fat (fat located inside the abdominal cavity, around the body's internal organs) and biomarkers of insulin resistance had an associated increased risk for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, while obese individuals with higher amounts of total body fat and subcutaneous fat (underneath the skin) did not have this increased risk, according to a study in the September 19 issue of JAMA, and theme issue on obesity. James A. de Lemos, M.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, presented the findings ...

DALLAS – Sept. 18, 2012 – Obese individuals with excess visceral fat (abdominal fat that surrounds the body’s internal organs) have an increased risk for the development of Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. By contrast, persons with excess abdominal subcutaneous fat (fat underneath the skin) were not at higher risk for the onset of diabetes. The study, published in the September obesity-themed issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, is one of the largest of its kind to assess a multiethnic population ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Twenty minutes of daily, vigorous physical activity over just three months can reduce a child's risk of diabetes as well as his total body fat - including dangerous, deep abdominal fat – but 40 minutes works even better, researchers report. "If exercise is good for you, then more exercise ought to be better for you and that is what we found for most of our outcomes," said Dr. Catherine Davis, clinical health psychologist at the Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Georgia Health Sciences University. Pediatric and adult studies have shown the ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Obesity is a major contributor to heart disease that substantially hinders the disease's proper diagnosis and treatment, says a cardiologist researching the impact of obesity and weight loss on the heart. With obese youth as the fastest-growing demographic group, the country's problem is only going to get worse, said Dr. Sheldon Litwin, a preventive cardiologist and Chief of the Medical College of Georgia Section of Cardiology at Georgia Health Sciences University. About half of Litwin's patients at GHS Health System have obesity-related heart disease, ...

September 18, 2012, Shenzhen, China – BGI Tech Solutions Co., Ltd. (the "BGI Tech"), a subsidiary company of BGI, announced today that they have achieved whole exome sequencing analysis of total degraded DNA as low as 200 ng from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples. This advancement enables researchers to efficiently uncover the genetic information from FFPE disease samples such as cancers and infectious diseases, with the advantages of high reliability, accuracy and fast turnaround time. FFPE samples are the most common biological materials for disease diagnoses ...

The p53 gene plays a key role in the prevention of cancer, by blocking cell growth and triggering programmed cell death or apoptosis. If, however, p53 has mutated and become defective, the cancer cells can acquire the ability to evade apoptosis and become more resistant to therapy. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden have now obtained results from the first tests using a new substance that can restore the function of defective p53 and activate apoptosis in cancer cells. The substance is known as APR-246 and has now been tested ...

Bariatric surgery reduces the long-term risk of developing diabetes by over 80 % among people with obesity. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has published the results of a study conducted at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. A study conducted by Professor Lars Sjöström, Professor Lena Carlsson and their team at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, has found that bariatric surgery is considerably more effective than traditional care and lifestyle changes in preventing diabetes among people with obesity. The treatment group consisted ...

Our values change as we age. This is the main conclusion of the 2011 SOM survey, from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, where Swedes were asked to rate the importance of different values. Young people want their lives to be exciting, whereas the older prioritise national security. Cultural life does not promote physical health, but does affect a person's perceived well-being. Three Swedes in five throw away clothes that are in usable condition. 'Our most interesting finding is that people born in the 1960s and 1970s seem to be adopting the values of their parents' ...

A Danish researcher has compared two of the most different welfare systems in the western world. Despite the differences, the research shows surprising similarities in the way in which people in the USA and Denmark perceive the deservingness of welfare recipients. This is one of the conclusions presented in a research article by the highly recognised American Journal of Political Science. - The question of whether a person deserves help or not triggers a number of deep psychological processes. No matter where we come from, whether we are right or left-wing - it is ...

Misfolded proteins can cause various neurodegenerative diseases such as spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) or Huntington's disease, which are characterized by a progressive loss of neurons in the brain. Researchers of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, together with their colleagues of the Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France, have now identified 21 proteins that specifically bind to a protein called ataxin-1. Twelve of these proteins enhance the misfolding of ataxin-1 and thus promote the formation of harmful protein aggregate structures, ...

A big international study has identified a special gene that regulates bone density and bone strength. The gene can be used as a risk marker for fractures and opens up opportunities for preventive medicine against fractures. The study, led by the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, was published in the journal PLoS Genetics. The international study, which involved more than 50 researchers from Europe, North America and Australia and was led by Associate Professor Mattias Lorentzon and Professor Claes Ohlsson at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of ...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. In addition, the incidence and mortality rates of colorectal cancer are on the rise. Recently, metabolic genes have received increasing and specific attention due to their potential role in carcinogenesis. Previous studies have shown that alterations in ribonucleotide reductase (RR) levels may significantly influence the biological properties of cells, including tumor promotion and tumor progression, suggesting that RR may be implicated in tumorigenesis. Recent findings have established that ...

An international research group – with the participation of the University of Granada – has achieved to measure the effects of layers on super-heavy elements, which provides useful data on the nuclear structure of these as-yet undiscovered elements in Nature. These results might be useful to locate the so-called "Island of Stability" introduced by a theory that states the existence of highly stable super-heavy elements with very long average lives. The researchers measured the isotopes of nobelium and lawrence using a particle accelerator at the Center of for Heavy Ion ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 18, 2012 -- Adolescents who are tasered by law enforcement officers do not appear to be at higher risk for serious injury than adults, according to new a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers. This latest research from Wake Forest Baptist is the first to specifically investigate Taser use on adolescents. Lead author Alison R. Gardner, M.D., an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, found no major differences in the injury rates or types of injuries to youth when compared to adults. "We were ...

The depth of explanation about novel products influences consumer preferences and willingness to pay, according to a study led by the University of Colorado Boulder and Brown University. When it comes to descriptions about the functions of new and unusual goods -- such as a self-watering plant system, special gloves for touchscreens or an eraser for wall scratches -- some people prefer minimal details. Dubbed "explanation foes" in the study, they gain a strong sense of understanding and desire for products through shallow explanations. In contrast, other people -- dubbed ...

WASHINGTON--U.S. Naval Research Laboratory electronics science and technology engineers demonstrate the ability of single walled carbon nanotube transistors (SWCNTs) to survive the harsh space environment, investigating the effects of ionizing radiation on the crystalline structures and further supporting the development of SWCNT-based nanoelectronics for use in harsh radiation environments. "One of the primary challenges for space electronics is mitigating the susceptibility of prolonged exposure to radiation that exists in the charged particle belts that encircle Earth," ...

A new study has found that some kinds of infection data may not be comparable across hospitals, and may not be suitable for use as a performance measure. Published in the leading US policy journal Milbank Quarterly, the research found huge variability in how English hospitals collected, recorded and reported their rates of central line infections to a patient safety programme. The study was funded by the Health Foundation, a major UK charitable foundation aiming to improve quality of care. "Central line infections occur in tubes used in treating seriously ill patients. ...

Scientists can't travel deep space the way Columbus sailed and charted the New World or Lewis and Clark mapped the west. But, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and two partnering institutions have found a possible way to map the spread and structure of the universe, guided by the light of quasars. The technique, combined with the expected discovery of millions more far-away quasars over the next decade, could yield an unprecedented look back to a time shortly after the Big Bang, when the universe was a fraction the size it is today. Researchers found the ...