Body

BETHESDA, Md. (Sept. 3, 2008) — Mice given quercetin, a naturally occurring substance found in fruits and vegetables, were less likely to contract the flu, according to a study published by The American Physiological Society. The study also found that stressful exercise increased the susceptibility of mice to the flu, but quercetin canceled out that negative effect.

WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 3, 2008— First year college students believe that occasional nonmedical use of prescription pain killers and stimulants is less risky than cocaine, but more risky than marijuana or consuming five or more alcoholic beverages every weekend, according to a new study published in the September issue of Prevention Science, the peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Prevention Research.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Men who have too much calcium in their bloodstreams may have an increased risk of fatal prostate cancer, according to a new analysis from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Wisconsin.

Cancer Quality Alliance: Blueprint for a Better Cancer Care System

PHILADELPHIA – A man's height is a modest marker for risk of prostate cancer development, but is more strongly linked to progression of the cancer, say British researchers who conducted their own study on the connection and also reviewed 58 published studies.

WASHINGTON, September 3—Harry Potter beware! A team of Chinese scientists has developed a way to unmask your invisibility cloak. According to a new paper in the latest issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal, certain materials underneath an invisibility cloak would allow invisible objects be seen again.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study at Oregon State University has finally resolved a controversy that cellular biologists have been arguing over for nearly 50 years, with findings that may aid research on everything from birth defects and genetic diseases to the most classic "cell division" issue of them all – cancer.

The results are being published in PLoS Biology, a professional journal. The studies were supported by the National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association.

It is known that the phonic structure of calls produced by males during the breeding season may signal quality-related characteristics in many different types of animals. Previous research on mammals has mainly focussed on the relationship between the acoustic components of vocalizations and one aspect of male quality: body size.

The grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is a widely cultivated crop that has been subjected to intensive breeding since the Neolithic period (from ~10,500 to ~6,000 years ago). The domestication of grapevine has undergone a selection for traits important for its cultivation and usage.

Popular slimming programmes do result in reduced energy intake while providing enough nutrients. A new scientific analysis, published today in BioMed Central's open access Nutrition Journal, provides comprehensive dietary data about Slim Fast, Atkins, Weight Watchers and Rosemary Conley's "Eat Yourself Slim" Diet & Fitness Plan.

Bacteria save energy by producing proteins that moonlight, having different roles at different times, which may also protect the microbes from being killed. The moonlighting activity of one enzyme from the tuberculosis bacterium makes it partially resistant to a family of broad-spectrum antibiotics, according to a paper published in the September issue of the journal Microbiology.

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare childhood disease that resembles premature aging, and few affected children reach their teenage years. It is caused by a mutation in the LMNA gene that leads to the formation of progerin — a mutant form of the protein prelamin A. Once made, both progerin and normal prelamin A have the molecule farnesyl attached to them. This addition is later removed from normal prelamin A, whereas it cannot be removed from progerin.

The sooner an individual who has had a heart attack is treated, the better their chance of survival and the less permanent damage is done to their heart. So, Robert Gerszten and colleagues, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, have developed a new method for early detection of a heart attack.

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (September 2, 2008) – Using two abundant and relatively inexpensive elements, Boston College chemists have produced nanonets, a flexible webbing of nano-scale wires that multiplies surface area critical to improving the performance of the wires in electronics and energy applications.

The pace of weight gain in early childhood may be associated with increased blood pressure in adulthood, according to a report in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

In the first detailed study over the first five years of life to examine whether accelerated infant growth predicts adult systolic and diastolic blood pressure, researchers found that: