Body

CORAL GABLES, FL (May 14, 2012) -- A new University of Miami (UM) study shows that one in three children who have an older sibling with an Autism Related Disorder (ASD) fall into a group characterized by higher levels of autism-related behaviors or lower levels of developmental progress. The study will be presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in May, 2012. ASDs are developmental conditions characterized by problems with social interaction and communication.

Medical students around the country are graduating this month, and preparing for the milestone that culminates four years of hard training – their first job as a doctor.

But as students enter the workforce, many have negative views of their future day-to-day work lives as physicians, shown by a multi-school study led by the University of Michigan Health System. Students had an especially grim view of entering primary care – an area facing a looming shortage of doctors as millions of people are newly insured under federal health care laws .

NEW YORK, May 16, 2012 – Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have identified a target for slowing the progression of multiple myeloma by using currently available drugs.

Published recently in Nature Cell Biology, the study reveals a pathway that, if deactivated, may help slow the development of the disease.

In this "themed" issue, Deutsches Ärzteblatt International is focusing on medical students. Bernd Gibis, of the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, and his coauthors investigate the question how medical students envisage their future professional lives as doctors (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109(18): 327-332).

Study combines fire-scar records and tree-ring data of U.S. southwest

This new study is based on a first-of-its-kind analysis that combined fire-scar records and tree-ring data for Ponderosa Pine forests in the southwest United States.

ACE2, a molecule that has been shown to prevent damage in the heart, is now proving to be protective of the major organs that are often damaged in diabetic patients.

Gavin Oudit, a researcher with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, and his colleagues at the University of Florida, found that lab models that lacked ACE2 had worse cardiovascular complications related to diabetes.

Funeral directors need to be aware of the needs of non-religious people. A unique investigation into the subject funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) provides a snapshot of a defining aspect of life - or indeed death.

"The issue of death is one of the most important incidents that all societies deal with," says Dr Matthew Engelke, at the London School of Economics. "I wanted to look at how, in contemporary society, people who do not believe in an afterlife are commemorated at a funeral."

MADISON – University of Wisconsin-Madison plant breeders have developed a new oat variety that's significantly higher in the compound that makes this grain so cardio-friendly.

"The biggest thing that stands out about this new variety, BetaGene, is that it's both a high yielding variety and high in beta glucan. Beta glucan is a heart-healthy chemical that is exclusive to oats," says John Mochon, program manager of the Small Grains Breeding Program in the UW-Madison agronomy department.

A new study, testing the benefits of a virtual exercise partner, shows that the presence of a moderately more capable cycling partner boosts motivation to stick to an exercise program. The work by Brandon Irwin and colleagues, from Michigan State University in the US, is published online in Springer's journal, Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Due to the large size of the olive trees in the Mediterranean region, many experts have claimed that they are millennia old but "there had never been a scientific study to verify this," as explained to SINC by the ecologist Bernat Claramunt from the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF).

Why diabetics suffer from increased pain and temperature sensitivity is a step closer to being understood and effectively treated.

Research published in the journal Nature Medicine reveals that a multi-national collaboration between scientists from Warwick Medical School in the UK, and universities in Germany, New York, Australia and Eastern Europe, has discovered key information around one of the most distressing side effects of diabetes.

Researchers at Warwick Medical School have discovered a way of identifying which women are most at risk of postnatal depression (PND) by checking for specific genetic variants. The findings could lead to the development of a simple, accurate blood test which checks for the likelihood of developing the condition.

Genes play a greater role in forming character traits - such as self-control, decision making or sociability - than was previously thought, new research suggests.

A study of more than 800 sets of twins found that genetics were more influential in shaping key traits than a person's home environment and surroundings.

Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh who carried out the study, say that genetically influenced characteristics could well be the key to how successful a person is in life.

Plants are dependent on the sun. Sunlight does not only supply them with energy, but also controls their development steps. So-called photoreceptors activate the processes of germination, leaf development, bud formation, and blossoming in the cells. The light-absorbing component of a photoreceptor may be replaced by a chemically similar synthetic substance. For the first time, the effects on complete plants are now described in the The Plant Cell journal.