Body

Ann Arbor, MI, July 8, 2014 – It is well documented that children with obese parents are at greater risk for obesity. In a new study, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Cornell University, and Duke University looked at how different kinds of family associations affect obesity, specifically how sibling relationships affect a child's weight. They not only found a correlation between parents and child, but also discovered a link between having an obese sibling and a child's obesity risk, after adjusting for the parent-child relationship.

Partial knee replacement surgery is safer than total knee replacement, according to a new study published in The Lancet today (July 8).

A team of researchers from the University of Oxford, funded by Arthritis Research UK and the Royal College of Surgeons, found that:

The advantage is particularly evident for very premature babies born after less than 27 weeks of pregnancy, where the figure rises to 50%, prompting the authors to conclude that new services for newborns should promote delivery of very preterm babies in high volume units.

How best to organise critical care for newborns has been the focus of intense debate, with the results of various studies indicating that centralised care is linked to better outcomes.

Preterm babies admitted to high volume neonatal units are less likely to die compared to those admitted to low volume units, according to researchers.

A study, published in BMJ Open, has provided new estimates to assess how organisational factors in England impact clinical outcomes of infants born preterm.

New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) suggests that consuming whey protein before a regular breakfast reduces the blood sugar spikes seen after meals and also improves the body's insulin response. Thus whey protein could be an additional tool to help control blood sugar in patients with diabetes.

Women who had prenatal and infant/toddler nurse visits at home were less likely to die than women who did not and children whose mothers were visited by nurses were less likely to have died by age 20 from preventable causes.

Since 1990, the authors have been conducting a randomized clinical trial of a program of prenatal and infant/toddler home visits by nurses for very low-income, largely black mothers, having their first child.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The oxygen-rich surface waters of the world's major oceans are supersaturated with methane – a powerful greenhouse gas that is roughly 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – yet little is known about the source of this methane.

Now a new study by researchers at Oregon State University demonstrates the ability of some strains of the oceans' most abundant organism – SAR11 – to generate methane as a byproduct of breaking down a compound for its phosphorus.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (July 7, 2014)—Now women have yet one more incentive to lose weight as a new study has shown evidence that behavioral weight loss can help manage menopausal hot flashes.

ALLENDALE, Mich. — Compared to scientists working in other countries, U.S.-based scientists are underrepresented as authors of articles on the potential role of innate variation in athletic performance that are published in peer-reviewed science journals, according to Grand Valley State University researchers.

The findings are published in the online journal SpringerPlus.

Re-examination of a circa 100,000-year-old archaic early human skull found 35 years ago in Northern China has revealed the surprising presence of an inner-ear formation long thought to occur only in Neandertals.

"The discovery places into question a whole suite of scenarios of later Pleistocene human population dispersals and interconnections based on tracing isolated anatomical or genetic features in fragmentary fossils," said study co-author Erik Trinkaus, PhD, a physical anthropology professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

GREENWICH, CT, EMBARGOED UNTIL JULY 7, 2014 (3:00 PM EST) -- Scientists have identified the fossilized remains of an extinct giant bird that is likely to have the largest wingspan of any bird ever to have lived. A paper announcing the findings, "Flight Performance of the Largest Volant Bird," was published July 7 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is authored by Dr. Daniel Ksepka, the newest Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Scientists have identified the fossilized remains of an extinct giant bird that could be the biggest flying bird ever found. With an estimated 20-24-foot wingspan, the creature surpassed size estimates based on wing bones from the previous record holder -- a long-extinct bird named Argentavis magnificens -- and was twice as big as the Royal Albatross, the largest flying bird today.

A new study published today in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), has found that time of day and sleep deprivation have a significant effect on our metabolism. The finding could be crucial when looking at the best time of day to test for diseases such as cancer and heart disease, and for administering medicines effectively.

Perhaps not everyone knows that oxygen has – quite unusually for such a simple molecule – magnetic properties. The phase diagram of solid oxygen at low temperatures and high pressures shows, however, several irregularities (for example, proper "information gaps" with regard to these magnetic properties) that are still poorly understood.

Scientists have long puzzled over the genetic differences between fruit flies that live hardly a puddle jump apart in a natural environment known as "Evolution Canyon" in Mount Carmel, Israel.

Now, an international team of researchers led by scientists with the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech has peered into the DNA of these closely related flies to discover how these animals have been able to adapt and survive in such close, but extremely different, ecologies.