Body

Chromosomal abnormalities linked to intellectual disability can be traced back to the father, particularly those who are older when the child is conceived, finds research published online in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

Chromosomal abnormalities are caused by copy number variations, or CNVs. These are structural variations resulting in missing, repeated, inverted or misplaced DNA sequences in cells.

There are significant variations in the number and type of organ donations made across all four UK countries, reveals research published online in BMJ Open.

The research team analysed data from NHS Blood & Transplant for all four UK countries for the period 1990 to 2009, and compared data on registration and donation from other European countries.

They looked at rates of donation for kidney, liver, heart, lung and cornea per million of the population to see if there were any differences among the four countries and if these were related to organ type.

Women using hormonal contraception --such as a birth control pill or a shot like Depo-Provera – are at double the risk of acquiring HIV, and HIV-infected women who use hormonal contraception have twice the risk of transmitting the virus to their HIV-uninfected male partners, according to a University of Washington-led study in Africa of nearly 3,800 couples. The study was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The immune response to an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine was greatly enhanced in healthy adults if they were first primed with a DNA vaccine expressing a gene for a key H5N1 protein, researchers say. Their report describes results from two clinical studies conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Biologists have described only a few thousand different viruses so far, but a new study reveals a vast world of unseen viral diversity that exists right under our noses. A paper to be published Tuesday, October 4 in the online journal mBio® explores ordinary raw sewage and finds that it is home to thousands of novel, undiscovered viruses, some of which could relate to human health.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Overweight or obese children are at three times greater risk for high blood pressure than children of normal weight, according to researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine.

Their study appears in the November 2011 issue of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association with advance online publication on Oct. 3.

CHICAGO – Social media websites, such as Facebook and MySpace, may reveal information that could identify underage college students who may be at risk for problem drinking, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Children with thinner parents are three times more likely to be thin than children whose parents are overweight, according to a new study by UCL researchers.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The bacterium that causes tuberculosis has a unique molecule on its outer cell surface that blocks a key part of the body's defense. New research suggests this represents a novel mechanism in the microbe's evolving efforts to remain hidden from the human immune system.

A new study suggests that openly gay men face substantial job discrimination in certain parts of the U.S.

The study, which is the largest of its kind to look at job discrimination against gay men, found that employers in the South and Midwest were much less likely to offer an interview if an applicant's resume indicates that he is openly gay. Overall, the study found that gay applicants were 40 percent less likely to be granted an interview than their heterosexual counterparts.

LA JOLLA, Calif., October 3, 2011 – Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. Rather than presenting as a well-defined tumor, glioblastoma will often infiltrate the surrounding brain tissue, making it extremely difficult to treat surgically or with chemotherapy or radiation. Likewise, several mouse models of glioblastoma have proven completely resistant to all treatment attempts.

Researchers in South East Asia have identified a novel mechanism whereby the organism Burkholderia pseudomallei – the cause of melioidosis, a neglected tropical infectious disease – develops resistance to ceftazidime, the standard antibiotic treatment. The change also makes the drug-resistant bacterium difficult to detect.

TORONTO, Ont., October 3, 2011— Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital have discovered a new function for an enzyme that may protect against organ injury and death from anemia.

"Identifying this mechanism may lead to new therapies and approaches to improving outcomes for anemic patients," said Dr. Greg Hare, a researcher at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of the hospital and one of the lead investigators of the study.

PHILADELPHIA -- There's more than one way to mop up after a flu infection. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in Nature Immunology that a previously unrecognized population of lung immune cells orchestrate the body's repair response following flu infection.

For one species of seabird in the Galápagos, the child abuse "cycle of violence" found in humans plays out in the wild.

The new study of Nazca boobies by Wake Forest University researchers provides the first evidence from the animal world showing those who are abused when they are young often grow up to be abusers. The study appears in the October issue of the ornithology journal, The Auk.