ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Even small telescopes can make big discoveries. Though the KELT North telescope in southern Arizona carries a lens no more powerful than a high-end digital camera, it's just revealed the existence of two very unusual faraway planets. One planet is a massive, puffed-up oddity that could change ideas of how solar systems evolve. The other orbits a very bright star, and will allow astronomers to make detailed measurements of the atmospheres of these bizarre worlds. Ohio State University doctoral student Thomas Beatty and Vanderbilt University research ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- The health of a caregiver is the most important predictor of orphan health, according to a new Duke University study that spans five less-wealthy nations in Africa and Asia. More important than an orphan's geographic location, living conditions or past trauma, the Duke study finds that an unhealthy caregiver likely means an unhealthy child. The findings prompt Duke researchers to call for international orphan policies to place greater attention on assessing and treating an orphan and his caregiver's health together, rather than focusing solely on children's ...

Microbes inhabit just about every part of the human body, living on the skin, in the gut, and up the nose. Sometimes they cause sickness, but most of the time, microorganisms live in harmony with their human hosts, providing vital functions essential for human survival. For the first time, a consortium of researchers organized by the National Institutes of Health has mapped the normal microbial make-up of healthy humans, producing numerous insights and even a few surprises. Researchers found, for example, that nearly everyone routinely carries pathogens, microorganisms ...

Boston – June 13, 2012 -- After people with type 1 diabetes have a heart attack, their long-term chance of suffering even more heart damage skyrockets. But the reason has long puzzled scientists. Now researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified the misstep that sparks this runaway chronic damage and a promising way to block it. "The problem arises from autoimmunity, a condition that people with type 1 diabetes already have ," says Myra A. Lipes, M.D, investigator in the Section on Immunology at Joslin and principal investigator of a study published in the June ...

Research into alcohol's effect on juvenile rats shows they have an ability to build up a physical, but not cognitive, tolerance over the short term — a finding that could have implications for adolescent humans, according to Baylor University psychologists. The research findings are significant because they indicate that blood alcohol concentration levels alone may not fully account for impaired orientation and navigation ability, said Jim Diaz-Granados, Ph.D., professor and chair of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor. He co-authored the study, published in the journal ...

For the first time, scientists have defined the bacteria that inhabit multiple sites along the healthy human digestive tract in a large number of individuals. To prevent and control bacterial diseases, it is essential to first identify which bacteria are responsible for keeping us in good health. As part of the Human Microbiome Project, the Forsyth Institute-led team examined bacteria found in adults at 10 sites along the digestive tract, including seven mouth surfaces, the tonsils, the throat and stool samples. This work lays an important foundation for future research ...

Boston, MA -- New studies led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers have helped identify and analyze the vast human "microbiome"—the more than five million microbial genes that exist inside the human body. Scientists estimate that each person carries about 100 times as many microbial genes as human genes, and they want to learn more about the role that microbes—organisms like bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in the stomach, in the mouth, on the skin, or elsewhere—play in normal bodily functions, like development or immunity, as well as in disease. Several ...

Human beings are ecosystems on two legs, each of us carrying enough microbes to outnumber our human cells by 10 to 1 and our genes by even more. Identifying the dizzying numbers of bacteria and other microbes that live in and on our bodies is like exploring a new planet. You need much more than telescopes and charts to map the unknown territory called our microbiomes – and explorers to take a census of the inhabitants. The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) Consortium, a five-year collaboration of large sequencing centers including the Broad Institute and dozens of other ...

When researchers at NIH and Celera published the first complete draft sequences of the human genome in 2001, many people assumed that the genetic foundation for a new and complete understanding of the human body and its functions had been achieved. As it turned out this was far from the complete story, since it turns out that our bodies are, well… not completely human. In the culmination of a multi-year effort directed by NIH, the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) has announced first genomic compilation of the generalized biome of microbes in the human body that complement ...

Simulating weather and water conditions before a race could give sailors the advantage they need to win, new research reveals. The study, carried out by the Yacht and Superyacht Research Group (YSRG) at Newcastle University, UK, with the Yacht Research Unit of the University of Auckland and the Italian super-computer centre CILEA, looked at how accurately we can predict the way a yacht will behave during a particular race using parameters such as sea conditions and currents. Modelling the way each factor impacts on the yacht at every stage of the race, the team - led ...

In a project led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, an international team of scientists has completed the sequencing and analysis of the genome of the last great ape, the bonobo. Bonobos, which together with chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of humans, are known for their peaceful, playful and sexual behaviour that contrasts with the more aggressive behaviour of chimpanzees. The genome sequence provides insights into the evolutionary relationships between the great apes and may help us to understand the genetic basis of these ...

The ability to cross a road in time is one that most of us take for granted. A new study published in the journal Age and Ageing, entitled 'Most Older Pedestrians are unable to cross the road in time: a cross-sectional study', has compared the walking speed of the older population in the UK (aged 65 and over) with the speed required to use a pedestrian crossing. Currently, to use a pedestrian crossing a person must cross at a speed above 1.2 meters per second. The research led by Dr Laura Asher of the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health at UCL (University College ...

Reports of low energy levels or feelings of fatigue could be used to predict risk of hospitalisation for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study published online ahead of print in the European Respiratory Journal. The findings of the study could be used by doctors to help reduce the number of admissions to hospital for people with COPD, which could lead to improvements in quality of life and a reduction in the economic impact of the disease. Fatigue has been reported as the second most prevalent symptom of COPD, after breathlessness. ...

In the heart of Tel Aviv sits the stylish and comfortable Rothschild Hotel. The beauty of staying there is that it sits about midway between a destination ride to Mount Hermon in the North East and to Eilat Bay at the Southern tip of Israel on the Red Sea. If you go to Israel you will have boasting rights if you can say you've been to four places; Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Mount Hermon and Eilat Bay. Of course Jerusalem is the heart of the holy land, and Tel Aviv is the international cosmopolitan city "That Never Sleeps". After you complete your day trips, and return ...

Chevy Chase, MD— Abdominal liposuction triggers a compensatory increase in visceral fat, which is correlated with cardiovascular disease, but this effect can be counteracted by physical activity, according to a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, a publication of The Endocrine Society. Liposuction is one of the most popular aesthetic surgery procedures performed worldwide, but its long-term impact on health remains unclear. Previous studies have shown that the immediate decrease in body fat following liposuction may affect body composition ...

Dr. Jerry Cooper, Sheboygan dentist, is excited to be able to offer a comprehensive dental website to his patients. The website offers services to inform patients and make interacting with the dentist in Sheboygan, WI easier. "I am happy to establish an online presence for my practice with our website. It is essential today to be able to offer online services to patients and I think that our site succeeds in offering an easy to use design with plenty of helpful information. I hope all of my patients take some time to explore on our website and learn what they can ...

Women are more likely than men to be responsible for the majority of domestic work in a household, which can lead to higher psychological distress, and new research shows that this correlation is further increased by perceived socioeconomic and gender inequality in the relationship, according to a study published June 13 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The researchers, led by Lisa Harryson of Umea University in Sweden, used data from the Northern Swedish Cohort, which monitored individuals from a small Swedish town from 1981 until 2007. The results confirmed previous ...

Dr. Todd Armstrong, Kenosha dentist, is excited to make it easy for new patients to join his practice by offering new patient services as a part of his practice's comprehensive dental website. "I am always excited to welcome new patient to our practice. I believe we offer a tremendous level of service here and I'm confident that any new patients will be more than satisfied with their experience here. I hope any potential new patients will check out our website and utilize the information we have provided there," said Dr. Armstrong, dentist in Kenosha, WI. ...

A robot analogous to a child between 6 and 14 months old can develop rudimentary linguistic skills through interaction with a human participant, as reported June 13 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. By engaging in a few minutes of "conversation" with humans, in which the participants were instructed to speak to the robot as if it were a small child, the robot moved from random syllabic babble to producing some salient wordforms, the names of simple shapes and colors. The participants were not researchers involved in the project, and were asked to use their own words, ...

Carnivorous plants have developed a variety of unique mechanisms to trap their prey, and researchers have another to add to the list: a pitcher plant that uses the impact of rain drops to flick insects into the trap. The full report is published June 13 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The Nepenthes gracilis pitcher plant, found in southeast Asia, has a unique, semi-slippery wax crystal surface on the underside of the pitcher lid. The researchers, led by Ulrike Bauer of the University of Cambridge, found that ants could cling to this surface under normal conditions, ...

Drs. Richard Lesser and Affan Akhtar, Howell podiatrists, are happy to announce that their practice is now offering cryosurgery to help treat their patients. Cryosurgery, the use of extreme cold to treat painful conditions, can be a very effective treatment for plantar fasciitis and Morton's Neuroma. "I am very excited to be able to offer this service to our patients. Cryosurgery has tremendous benefits and will be a great addition to our practice. I look forward to treating our patients with this new service," said Dr. Lesser, podiatrist in the Jackson, NJ ...

Daniel Roche, DPM, Woodbridge and Edison podiatrist, is happy to announce the addition of a new practice location in Old Bridge, New Jersey. The new location joins the doctor's previous locations in Edison and Woodbridge. "I am very excited to announce the opening of our new location. It will be a great pleasure to serve the Old Bridge community. I hope that many new patients from the Old Bridge area will come to us for their podiatry needs," said Dr. Roche, podiatrist in Old Bridge, Woodbridge and Edison. Dr. Roche and his staff provide a variety of services ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers have identified the set of tools an infectious microbe uses to persuade a plant to open the windows and let the bug and all of its friends inside. The microbe is Pseudomonas syringae, a successful bacterial pathogen that produces characteristic brown spots in more than 50 different species of plant. The signal it uses is a molecule called coronatine, which to the plant looks just like its own jasmonic acid, a signal that is part of the plant's immune system. The pathogen "hijacks" a system that balances the plant's two different defense strategies, ...

Dr. Michael England, Shakopee dentist, is happy to have completed continuing education courses for Botox and dermal fillers. He hopes these new services will add another level of service and convenience to his practice. "I am very excited to be gaining expertise in in the use of Botox and dermal fillers. Both of these techniques offer tremendous benefits for my patients and I am happy to be able to offer them at my practice," said Dr. England, dentist in Shakopee, MN. In addition to cosmetic uses, dentists can use Botox to help relieve pain due to TMJ, ...

Researchers have identified the primary player of the biochemical bugle call that musters the body's defenders against viral infection. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a key molecule, MDA5, is essential for producing enough interferon (the bugle call) to rally virus-fighting cells during certain viral infections. In mice, the lack of MDA5 forces the immune system to rely on less effective defenders, which may give the virus opportunities to establish or expand a chronic infection. Like the cavalry charge in classic ...