Body

Experts agree – America needs more vitamin D. It's one more reason to grab another glass of milk, according to new research presented at the Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, California. Milk is the primary source of vitamin D in the American diet, supplying nearly half of all of the much-needed vitamin D.

A 95 million-year-old fossilized jaw discovered in Texas has been identified as a new genus and species of flying reptile, Aetodactylus halli.

Aetodactylus halli is a pterosaur, a group of flying reptiles commonly referred to as pterodactyls.

Experts agree – America needs more vitamin D. It's one more reason to grab another glass of milk, according to new research presented at the Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, California. Milk is the primary source of vitamin D in the American diet, supplying nearly half of all of the much-needed vitamin D.

For as long as our ancestors have been drawing pictograms or writing prose about food and culture, humans have been imbibing various forms of alcohol. Once simply a process by which nutritious beverages could be preserved and stored for later use, there is no doubt that the production and consumption of wines, beers, and spirits now provides integral texture to the fabric of many cultures. However, whether alcoholic drinks provide health benefits is an area of active and on-going debate and research among health and nutrition experts.

ANAHEIM, Calif.(April 27, 2010) – Weight Watchers has helped millions of American adults successfully lose weight and now results from a pilot, family-focused Weight Watchers approach designed to support parents shows potential for success in reducing excess weight in children, according to a study presented at the Experimental Biology Annual Meeting, Anaheim, Calif., April 27, 2010.

Traditionally, doctors and clinicians thought diseases that affect muscles or bones affected those areas specifically. For example, bone diseases only affect bones, or muscle diseases only concerned muscles. But recent evidence supports the notion that bones and muscles are more interconnected than previously thought. It seems that bones and muscles can release signals that directly affect one another's function or disease state. Even more remarkable is that these systems seem to produce secreting factors that communicate to distant parts of the body.

AMARILLO – Research came full circle on April 16 as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service amended the Karnal bunt quarantine areas in Arizona, California and Texas, according to a Texas AgriLife Research scientist.

"The research is finally paying off," said Dr. Charlie Rush, AgriLife Research plant pathologist, of the action by APHIS to lift the restrictions on the interstate movement of Karnal bunt regulated wheat from certain areas in all the three states. Texas has no further restrictions, however, Arizona still has one remaining area under quarantine.

Two new compact oakleaf hydrangea cultivars ideal for small gardens have been released by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.

"Ruby Slippers" and "Munchkin" are the latest cultivars released by ARS geneticist Sandy Reed with the U.S. National Arboretum's Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit's worksite in McMinnville, Tenn. The arboretum is operated by ARS, the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Despite modest economic gains, gloomy unemployment numbers and low workplace morale still loom large within corporate America. Whether or not companies can capitalize on the momentum of this fragile financial revitalization is dependent on more than enhancing consumer confidence or introducing new products to the marketplace—it falls largely on employees working for organizations and their level of commitment to corporate success.

ANAHEIM, CA, April 27, 2010 – There's more evidence of tart cherries' powerful anti-inflammatory benefits, according to a new study presented by a team of Michigan researchers today at the Experimental Biology annual meeting. Using a "whole food" approach, researchers found that a cherry-enriched diet not only reduced overall body inflammation, but also reduced inflammation at key sites (belly fat, heart) known to affect heart disease risk in obese, at-risk rats.

Recent studies suggest that modifiable risk factors such as cigarette smoking and fructose consumption can worsen nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). With NAFLD, fat accumulates in the liver of overweight individuals despite drinking little alcohol, causing in some cases liver scarring that can lead to liver failure. Identifying modifiable factors that contribute to disease severity and progression is essential in improving patient outcomes.

A recent study by Danish researchers discovered patients with alcoholic cirrhosis had a high prevalence of complications at the time of the disease diagnosis. Researchers noted that complications, such as ascites (excessive fluid in the abdomen), were predictors of mortality, but did not develop in a predictable sequence. Results of this 12-year mortality study appear in the May issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

A researcher from the University of Granada has designed a reliable method that –combined with the diagnostic criteria of the American College of Reumathology– helps to diagnose fibromyalgia on the basis of patients' walk parameters, i.e. their gait.

Black children with chronic kidney disease have more severe anemia than white children even when they receive the same treatment, according to a multicenter study led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center to be published in the May issue of the American Journal of Kidney Disease.

The findings suggest that inherent biological differences, rather than access to care and treatment, may be at play, raising the question whether current guidelines for anemia treatment should be tailored to reflect race, investigators say.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– A newly discovered species of monitor lizard, a close relative of the Komodo dragon, was reported in the journal Zootaxa this week by a professor at UC Santa Barbara and a researcher from Finland.

Sam Sweet, a professor in the department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at UCSB, and Valter Weijola, a graduate student at Abo Akademi University in Turku, Finland, are the first to describe the distinctive lizard, which lives in the Moluccan islands of east Indonesia. Sweet is an authority on monitor lizard biology.