Body

A researcher from the University of Leicester's Department of Cardiovascular Sciences has been involved in a ground-breaking study into the causes of high blood pressure.

The study, published in the academic journal Hypertension, analysed genetic material in human kidneys in a search for genes that might contribute to high blood pressure. The findings open up new avenues for future investigation into the causes of high blood pressure in humans.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- A tree outside Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Pratul Agarwal's office window provided the inspiration for a discovery that may ultimately lead to drugs with fewer side effects, less expensive biofuels and more.

UCLA life scientists have identified a gene that slows the aging process.

The biologists, working with fruit flies, activated a gene called PGC-1, which increases the activity of mitochondria, the tiny power generators in cells that control cell growth and tell cells when to live and die.

Athens, Ga. – Younger adults who generally feel anxious tend to immediately avoid anti-smoking videos that describe how cigarettes can lead to death, disease and harm to others, before considering the message, according to a new University of Georgia study.

Chevy Chase, MD— A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that consumption of dairy foods and higher protein resulted in improvements in markers of bone formation and reductions in markers of bone degradation in overweight and obese young women over 16 weeks of diet- and exercise-induced weight loss.

PISCATAWAY, NJ – During financial hard times, some older adults may turn to alcohol or cigarettes as a way to cope, according to a study in the November issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

The study, of more than 2,300 older Americans, found that some -- particularly men and people with less education -- were at risk of boosting their drinking if their finances took a hit.

The same correlation was seen when it came to smoking, especially among relatively younger study participants (those who were age 65 at the study's start).

Boston – A team of researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC), report that primary care providers (PCP) fail to report a substantial number of cases of child maltreatment. The study, which is scheduled to appear in the November-December issue of Academic Pediatrics, is the first to examine the validity of a PCP's decision to suspect child abuse as the etiology of an injury and their decision to report a suspicious injury to child protective services (CPS).

Control of carbon emissions is an important component in the bid to address global climate change. However destruction of wildland habitats to make way for agriculture continues to erode the amount of carbon stored in the biomass and soil. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Carbon Balance and Management shows that maintenance of wildlands in and among vineyards significantly increases carbon storage.

Male song birds sing to attract mates and to deter other males from their territory and it is well known that the solo repertoire of many male song bird species increases with age and experience. However, new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology has examined the songs sung by male nightingales in response to recordings which mimicked an invading male and suggests that older males are less threatened by intruders resulting in less song matching.

Researchers in the United States have shown, for the first time, that it is possible to screen cancer patients for a broad range of cancer-causing genetic mutations as part of normal clinical practice. By identifying patients' individual genotypes within a relatively short time frame, doctors are able to target tumours with the most appropriate therapy.

The study, which is published in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology today [1], was carried out in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, but already the researchers are using it in a range of other cancers as well.

Scientists have produced amazing three-dimensional images of a prehistoric mite as it hitched a ride on the back of a 50 million-year-old spider.

At just 176 micrometres long and barely visible to the naked eye, University of Manchester researchers and colleagues in Berlin believe the mite, trapped inside Baltic amber (fossil tree resin), is the smallest arthropod fossil ever to be scanned using X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning techniques.

Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan and Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) have followed fossilized footprints to a multi-legged predator that ruled the seas of the Cambrian period about half a billion years ago.

"Short of finding an animal at the end of its trackway, it's really very rare to be able to identify the producer so confidently," said Nicholas Minter, lead author of the article on the study, which appears in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Minter is a postdoctoral research fellow in the U of S department of geological sciences.

(PHILADELPHIA) -– Doctors should consider the use of narrative -- in the form of patient stories and testimonials -- as a powerful tool for translating and communicating evidence-based policies to the public to buoy buy-in on important health issues such as cancer screenings and vaccination mandates, according to two physicians from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania writing this week in JAMA.

CHICAGO – Patients with thickening and blockage of the internal carotid artery (supplies blood to the brain) and hemodynamic cerebral ischemia (insufficient blood flow to the brain, sub-type of stroke) who had a surgical procedure performed to improve blood flow in the artery did not have a reduced rate of stroke after 2 years compared to similar patients who received medical therapy alone, according to a study in the Nov. 9 issue of JAMA.

Human genetic material is constantly at risk of injury from the environment. Possible causes of damage include metabolic processes, chemical substances or ionizing radiation, such as X-radiation. Even a low dose of radiation can cause breaks in the DNA double helix. Normally, these DNA breaks are repaired by the body's own proteins, but they can also cause cancer if the repair is unsuccessful.

Protein as a corkscrew