Body

Traffic accidents involving wildlife are on the rise in Europe. The establishment of a time pattern for the accidents could be useful for increasing safety and preventing human and animal deaths. On the basis of this objective, a team of researchers have established at what time, on what day of the week and in which month accidents involving boar and roe deer are most likely to take place.

Car accidents involving animals are a serious and growing problem in Europe. They pose a risk for human life and may result in mortal victims, damage to vehicles and the loss of wildlife.

Our gut is home to trillions of bacteria, numbering more than the cells in the rest of our body, and these bacteria help us to digest our food, absorb nutrients and strengthen our immune system. This complex bacterial ecosystem, called the gut microbiota, also helps to prevent bad bacteria from colonising our bodies and making us ill.

Charlottesville, VA (April 23, 2013). Neurosurgeons from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Medical Center recount their experiences in treating patients with head and spine injuries during the epic April 2011 tornado disaster. The authors focus on injuries sustained on April 27th of that year. Details on these cases and a discussion on the necessity of disaster preparedness are found in "Neurosurgical injuries resulting from the 2011 tornados in Alabama: the experience at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center. Clinical article," by Joseph H.

Tree iguanas (Liolaemus) are one of the most diverse genus of lizards in the world with 230 described species. Within these, Liolaemus nigromaculatus - the second described species of the genus Liolaemus - is usually mentioned in field guides, project baselines, scientific articles, reviews and even is the nominal species of the lizard group nigromaculatus... but always the same question is repeated: Which is this species and which is its type locality?

Heikki Remes, a researcher at the Aalto University in Finland, has developed a model making it possible to determine how fatigue sets in with various welded steel materials. The model allows for the development of lighter structures, and as a consequence, more energy-efficient ships.

- By utilising modern manufacturing technology and new materials, it is possible to achieve more efficient structures than the ones that currently exist. In addition, better physical models are needed to ensure structural strength, Remes says.

A new study greatly expands knowledge of the wasp genus Oxyscelio. A total of 90 species are recognized from the Indo-Malayan and Palearctic realms of Asia, 71 of which are described here as new species. A total of 438 photographs are included to aid in specimen identification, all exported to and available for the public from EOL.

New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis points to a common species of bacteria as an important contributor to bacterial vaginosis, a condition linked to preterm birth and increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

The condition affects one in every three women, making it more common than yeast infections. But bacterial vaginosis often does not cause significant symptoms, leaving many women unaware they have it.

BOSTON—Researchers have long known that cancerous tumors grow collections of abnormal blood cells, the fuel that feeds this disease and keeps it growing. Now, new evidence in an animal model suggests that blood vessels in the fat tissue of obese individuals could provide the same purpose—and could provide the key to a new way for people to lose weight. When researchers Jian-Wei Gu, Kristina L.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Taking a specific form of a vitamin E supplement can accelerate the health benefits that occur when people quit smoking, new research suggests.

In the small study, improvement in blood vessel function associated with the added vitamin E potentially translates into an estimated 19 percent greater drop in future risk for cardiovascular disease.

Scientists from King's College London have identified patterns of epigenetic changes involved in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by studying genetically identical twins who differ in autism traits. The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, is the largest of its kind and may shed light on the biological mechanism by which environmental influences regulate the activity of certain genes and in turn contribute to the development of ASD and related behaviour traits.

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have found that a deficiency in an important anti-tumor protein, p53, can slow or delay DNA repair after radiation treatment. They suggest that this is because p53 regulates the expression of two enzymes (JMJD2b and SUV39H1) that control the folding of DNA.

According to the researchers, p53 is highly inducible by radiation. Activation of p53 stabilizes chromosomes by promoting the repair of heterochromatin DNA, which controls the expression of nearby genes and ensures accurate distribution of chromosomes during cell division.

BOSTON – March 22, 2013 – Joslin scientists report significant findings about the location, genetic expression and function of human brown adipose tissue (BAT) and the generation of new BAT cells. These findings, which appear in the April 2013 issue of Nature Medicine, may contribute to further study of BAT's role in human metabolism and developing treatments that use BAT to promote weight loss.

Comparative effectiveness study shows how patient characteristics affect outcomes in coronary artery bypass graft surgery versus percutaneous coronary intervention<

STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a method of predicting which patients with heart disease would benefit more from surgery and which would benefit more from angioplasty.

Pluripotent stem cells can turn, or differentiate, into any cell type in the body, such as nerve, muscle or bone, but inevitably some of these stem cells fail to differentiate and end up mixed in with their newly differentiated daughter cells.

Because these remaining pluripotent stem cells can subsequently develop into unintended cell types — bone cells among blood, for instance — or form tumors known as teratomas, identifying and separating them from their differentiated progeny is of utmost importance in keeping stem cell–based therapeutics safe.