Body

Evolution of the first burrowing animals may have played a major role in stabilizing the Earth's oxygen reservoir, according to a new study in Nature Geoscience.

Around 540 million years ago, the first burrowing animals evolved. When these worms began to mix up the ocean floor's sediments (a process known as bioturbation), their activity came to significantly influence the ocean's phosphorus cycle and as a result, the amount of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere.

New research has identified two significant risk factors associated with painful neurological diseases in the skull shape of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (CKCS). The findings could help in tackling these conditions in toy dog breeds and could be used in breeding guidelines.

The study conducted by undergraduate student, Thomas Mitchell, from the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences, and supervised by Dr Clare Rusbridge, is published online in the journal Canine Genetics and Epidemiology.

ATLANTA – August 6, 2014–Nearly one in ten cancer survivors reports smoking many years after a diagnosis, according to a new study by American Cancer Society researchers. Further, among ten cancer sites included in the analysis, the highest rates of smoking were in bladder and lung cancers, two sites strongly associated with smoking. The study appears early online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

PHILADELPHIA — Nine years after diagnosis, 9.3 percent of U.S. cancer survivors were current smokers and 83 percent of these individuals were daily smokers who averaged 14.7 cigarettes per day, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Promoting a healthy diet from infancy is important to prevent childhood obesity and the onset of chronic disease.

This is the finding from a study published in the latest issue of Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

Led by Rebecca Byrne from QUT, the study described quantity and diversity of food and drinks consumed by children aged 12-16 months."The toddler years are a critical age in the development of long-term food preferences, but this is also the age that autonomy, independence and food fussiness begins," Ms Byrne said.

Nutrition has not been given enough priority in national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy in recent years.

This is the finding from a study published in the latest issue of Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

Led by Jennifer Browne from La Trobe University, the study examined Aboriginal-specific health policies and strategies developed between 2000 and 2012.

Pediatric inpatients with poor nutrition are at greater risk for problems with their immune systems, physical and cognitive development, and clinical outcomes. Detection of nutritional issues in pediatric inpatients would allow providers to develop intervention and treatment plans to improve health outcomes.

While hospitals do not commonly screen children for nutrition, a new tool developed in Australia could change that.

New research from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) reveals taking aspirin can significantly reduce the risk of developing – and dying from – the major cancers of the digestive tract, i.e. bowel, stomach and oesophageal cancer.

For the first time, scientists have reviewed all the available evidence from many studies and clinical trials assessing both the benefits and harms of preventive use of aspirin. Conclusions of the study, funded by Cancer Research UK among others, are published today in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology*.

Prison smoking bans are associated with a substantial reduction in deaths from smoking related causes, such as heart disease and cancer, finds a US study published on thebmj.com today. Smoking related deaths were cut by up to 11% in state prisons with long-term bans in place.

In the United States at year end 2011, there were 1.4 million people in state prisons. Fifty to 83 percent of people in prison smoke – substantially higher than the general population outside prison.

The vaccine used to protect against tuberculosis disease (bacillus calmette-guerin or BCG) also protects against tuberculosis infection (mycobacterium) as well as protecting against progression from infection to disease, finds a paper published on thebmj.com today.

The BCG vaccine has been subject to numerous trials and studies over several decades, which have shown that it has a 60-80% protective efficacy against severe forms of tuberculosis (TB) in children.

In general, our knowledge of biology—and much of science in general—is limited by our ability to actually see things. Researchers who study developmental problems and disease, in particular, are often limited by their inability to look inside an organism to figure out exactly what went wrong and when.

Now, thanks to techniques developed at Caltech, scientists can see through tissues, organs, and even an entire body. The techniques offer new insight into the cell-by-cell makeup of organisms—and the promise of novel diagnostic medical applications.

MADISON, Wis. — A team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has identified the genes and enzymes that create a promising compound — the 19 carbon furan-containing fatty acid (19Fu-FA). The compound has a variety of potential uses as a biological alternative for compounds currently derived from fossil fuels.

Among mechanically ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients, receipt of high-protein nutrition via a feeding tube enriched with immune-modulating nutrients (such as glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants) vs standard high-protein nutrition did not result in a significant difference in the incidence of new complications and may be harmful, as suggested by an increased risk of death at 6 months, according to a study in the August 6 issue of JAMA.

Researchers have identified genetic variants that are associated with severe adverse skin reactions to the antiepileptic drug phenytoin, according to a study in the August 6 issue of JAMA.

Among people with type 2 diabetes, eating pistachios may reduce the body's response to the stresses of everyday life, according to Penn State researchers.