Body

The most commonly used medications for osteoporosis worldwide, bisphosphonates, may also prevent certain kinds of lung, breast and colon cancers, according to two studies led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Inundation of nitrogen into the atmosphere and terrestrial environments, through fossil fuel combustion and extensive fertilization, has risen tenfold since preindustrial times according to research published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Excess nitrogen can infiltrate water tables and can trigger extensive algal blooms that deplete aquatic environments of oxygen, among other damaging effects.

The first long-term clinical trial on the use of Lung Volume Reduction (LVR-) Coil treatment in patients with severe emphysema has found that the minimally-invasive therapy, which enables the lung to function more effectively, is safe over a 3-year period. The results are published in Respirology.

The trial revealed that half of the patients continued to improve their lung function capacity, feelings of breathlessness, and overall quality of life after 3 years, with no unexpected safety issues.

Researchers have found a possible underlying genetic susceptibility to being dependent on UV tanning.

After interviewing young people about their indoor and outdoor tanning history and using questionnaires to classify people as being dependent on UV tanning or not, the investigators conducted a large scale scan of approximately 319,000 rare and common genetic variants in the participants' genomes.

Among survivors of the 2011 Utøya Island terrorist attack in Norway, most perceived contact with media as a positive experience. Among those who allowed themselves to be interviewed by the media, 13% found the experience distressing and 11% regretted participating.

Taking part in media interviews was not associated with post-traumatic stress reactions among survivors, but negative evaluations and regrets about participation were.

LEXINGTON, KY. (Dec. 1, 2014) -- A group of physiologists led by University of Kentucky's Tim McClintock have identified the receptors activated by two odors using a new method that tracks responses to smells in live mice.

Their research was published in the latest edition of The Journal of Neuroscience.

An egg much smaller than a common grain of sand and found in a tiny piece of fossilized dung has helped scientists identify a pinworm that lived 240 million years ago.

It is believed to be the most ancient pinworm yet found in the fossil record.

The discovery confirms that herbivorous cynodonts -- the ancestors of mammals -- were infected with the parasitic nematodes. It also makes it even more likely that herbivorous dinosaurs carried pinworms.

December 1, 2014 - The health departments of the nation's largest cities play a central role in developing innovative population health strategies for improving public health across the United States, according to a special January issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

When it comes to logging, it may be possible to have our timber and our tropical forests, too. The key, according to a report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 1, is careful planning and the use of reduced-impact logging (RIL) practices that avoid unnecessary damage to the surrounding forest.

Researchers have identified the cause for a disorder common in Inuit people that prevents the absorption of sucrose, causing gastrointestinal distress and failure to thrive in infants. The study, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), identified a genetic mutation responsible for the disorder, called congenital sucrose-isomaltase deficiency (CSID).

In recent years, cilia, microscopic, tentacle-like extensions from biological cells, have risen from relative obscurity and are now considered important to the understanding of many human afflictions. In a December BioScience article, George B. Witman, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Jason M. Brown, of Salem State University, describe recent discoveries involving cilia-related diseases (called "ciliopathies") and highlight "model" species that could be useful for systematic study of ciliopathies.

Scientists at the Institute of Food Research on the Norwich Research Park have teamed up with Oxford Instruments to develop a fast, cheap alternative to DNA testing as a means of distinguishing horse meat from beef. Because horses and cattle have different digestive systems, the fat components of the two meats have different fatty acid compositions, as the team report in the journal 'Food Chemistry'. The new method looks at differences in the chemical composition of the fat in the meats, using similar technology to a hospital MRI scanner.

A study from the University of Exeter has found that male flies die earlier than their female counterparts when forced to evolve with the pressures of mate competition and juvenile survival. The results could help researchers understand the mechanisms involved in ageing.

Washington, DC, December 1, 2014 - Little is known about the often fatal virus known as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), but researchers have identified gaps in infection control as a major culprit in all eleven published cases involving healthcare-associated transmission of the virus. The full findings of the review can be found in the December issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

New research published in the December 2014 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, shows that a component found in in the plant, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, may inhibit the development of metabolic disorders by stopping the activation of NLRP3, a protein involved in the disease process. Specifically, the researchers identified isoliquiritigenin as having the ability to attenuate high-fat, diet-induced obesity, type 2 diabetes and hepatic steatosis in mice.