Body

Philadelphia, PA, July 30, 2013 – A new study published in the July/August 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior evaluated the motivational effects of Project WebHealth, a web-based health promotion intervention developed to prevent excessive weight gain in college students. Researchers found that specific procedures and components of Project WebHealth successfully motivated students to improve their weight-related health behaviors and that the level of motivation differed by gender.

Portland, OR, and Cambridge, MA – July 30, 2013- The St. Laurent Institute, a non-profit medical research institute focused on the systems biology of disease, today announced in a study published in the July edition of Genome Biology, that genetic matter, previously ignored by the scientific community, may play an important role in cancer.

UCLA scientists, in collaboration with teams in China, have used the powerful technology of single-cell RNA sequencing to track the genetic development of a human and a mouse embryo at an unprecedented level of accuracy.

The technique could lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses of genetic diseases, even when the embryo consists of only eight cells.

The latest issue of the Journal of Integrated Pest Management -- an open-access, peer-reviewed, extension journal covering the field of integrated pest management (IPM) -- contains articles on using IPM to control corn earworms, beetles, and other insect pests, plus an article highlighting the accomplishments of the Research Program for Deployed Warfighter Protection against disease-carrying insects.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (July 30, 2013)—Exercise has proven health benefits, but easing hot flashes isn't one of them. After participating in a 12-week aerobic exercise program, sedentary women with frequent hot flashes had no fewer or less bothersome hot flashes than a control group. This randomized, controlled study from the MsFLASH Research Network was published today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – July 31, 2013 – Could harvesting stem cells for therapy one day be as simple as asking patients for a urine sample? Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine and colleagues have identified stem cells in urine that can be directed to become multiple cell types.

"These cells can be obtained through a simple, non-invasive low-cost approach that avoids surgical procedures," said Yuanyuan Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of regenerative medicine and senior researcher on the project.

In an epidemic or a bioterrorist attack, the response of government officials could range from a drastic restriction of mobility — imposed isolation or total lockdown of a city — to moderate travel restrictions in some areas or simple suggestions that people remain at home. Deciding to institute any measure would require officials to weigh the costs and benefits of action, but at present there's little data to guide them on the question of how disease spreads through transportation networks.

Higher variability in visit-to-visit blood pressure readings, independent of average blood pressure, could be related to impaired cognitive function in old age in those already at high risk of cardiovascular disease, suggests a paper published today on bmj.com.

The NHS's patient information leaflets are "inaccurate, inconsistent, and confusing – and effort is duplicated" argues GP Margaret McCartney on bmj.com.

In a feature published today, Dr McCartney says the NHS is "awash" with patient information and with many trusts commissioning leaflets from external companies and others writing their own, it is difficult to know how efficient and effective these leaflets are.

Expanding health insurance coverage and reducing drug costs that are paid by patients (drug co-payments) in countries without universal free healthcare, such as the United States, may improve the treatment, and control of high blood pressure (hypertension, a condition which affects one billion people worldwide and leads to 7.5 million deaths), according to a study by UK and Canadian researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

An international collaboration of researchers including Felicia Goodrum of the University of Arizona's immunobiology department has studied how a human herpes virus carried by the majority of the population packages its genetic information during infection.

The discoveries improve the chances of developing more targeted therapies in place of existing drugs, which do not always work or come with side effects.

Experts estimate that 60 to 90 percent of the world's population carry the human cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which is one of the eight herpes viruses that infect humans.

First produced only in the past decade, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are capable of developing into many or even all human cell types. In new research, scientists reprogrammed skin cells from patients with rare blood disorders into iPSCs, highlighting the great promise of these cells in advancing understanding of those challenging diseases—and eventually in treating them.

Philadelphia, Pa. (July 30, 2013) – Breast reduction surgery produces measurable improvements in several important areas of health and quality of life, reports a study in the August issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

CINCINNATI -- The combination of the clot-busting drug tPA with an infusion of the antiplatelet drug eptifibatide dissolves blood clots safely and more quickly than tPA alone, a study led by University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers has found.

Results from the study, known as the CLEAR-ER Stroke Trial, are published online in the journal Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. UC was the coordinating center for the trial, which included nine medical centers comprising 21 hospitals.

The deadly condition known as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), which afflicts up to 150,000 Americans each year, may be reversible by using an inhalable gene therapy, report an international team of researchers led by investigators at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.