Body

This is the question asked by two of the articles in this week's issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International. Dieter Leyk from German Sport University Cologne (Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln) and coauthors investigated the effects of unhealthy lifestyles on young people's fitness, Sabine Stamm-Balderjahn from Berlin's Charité, and her coauthors report a study investigating the effects of a hospital-based intervention program to prevent smoking in school students (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109(44): 737-45 und Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109(44): 746-52).

Chicago --- An international multi-disciplinary research team led by Northwestern Medicine scientists has uncovered a new role for the protein toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the development of tissue fibrosis, or scarring.

This finding, recently reported in the American Journal of Pathology, has implications for the treatment of scleroderma, a condition for which there currently is no effective treatment.

The finding of an unknown small moth by Dutch amateur moth hunter Hans Huisman in his backyard lead to the discovery that the American Oak skeletonizer (Bucculatrix ainsliella) is invading North West Europe on planted Northern Red oaks (Quercus rubra), a North American tree.

A team of experts from King's College London have played a major role in delivering an international conference on food and water security in Qatar this week. The Food Security in Dry Lands (FSDL) conference has been organised in the run up to the forthcoming UN climate meeting (COP18) later this month, where 'climate-smart' agriculture is expected to be a key focus.

Scientists at the Mainz University Medical Center have discovered another molecule that plays an important role in regulating myelin formation in the central nervous system. Myelin promotes the conduction of nerve cell impulses by forming a sheath around their projections, the so-called axons, at specific locations – acting like the plastic insulation around a power cord. The research team, led by Dr.

In a world-first, researchers from the Australian Centre for Nanomedicine at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney have developed a nanoparticle that could improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy for neuroblastoma by a factor of five.

Neuroblastoma is an aggressive childhood cancer that often leaves survivors with lingering health problems due to the high doses of chemotherapy drugs required for treatment. Anything that can potentially reduce these doses is considered an important development.

A new Marine Board Future Science Brief presents a roadmap for marine biodiversity science in Europe and warns against complacency.

Hackensack, NJ (November 20, 2012) – Researchers from John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, one of the nation's 50 best cancer centers, played an important role in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on October 18 that may change the current blood and marrow transplantation practices. The phase 3, multicenter study compared harvesting stem cells from bone marrow rather than blood and suggests there are benefits to both approaches, but no survival differences between the two methods.

A new study from Sweden reveals that having low peer status in adolescence is a strong risk factor for regular and heavy smoking in adulthood.Researchers from Stockholm University in Sweden used a large database that followed the lives of more than 15,000 Swedes, mainly from the Stockholm area, from birth to middle age. The researchers isolated 2,329 people who were interviewed once at age 13 about peer status at school and again at age 32 about their smoking habits.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – The addition of three-dimensional breast imaging—a technology called tomosynthesis—to standard digital mammography significantly increases radiologists' diagnostic accuracy while reducing false positive recall rates, according to the results of a multi-center study published in Radiology.

The virus that is causing alarm among global public health authorities after it killed a man in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia earlier this year and is now linked to two other cases of disease is a novel type of coronavirus most closely related to viruses found in bats, according to a genetic analysis to be published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on November 20. Researchers studied the genome of the HCoV-EMC/2012 virus in detail to learn about its relatedness to other viruses and about possible sources.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia have found that biological age and life expectancy can be predicted by measuring an individual's DNA.

They studied the length of chromosome caps - known as 'telomeres' - in a 320-strong wild population of Seychelles Warblers on a small isolated island.

Testosterone replacement added to sildenafil therapy is no better than sildenafil plus placebo at improving erectile function in men with erectile dysfunction (ED) and low testosterone.

Beargrass is an ecologically, culturally, and economically important plant in the Western United States and, for the first time, landowners, managers, and harvesters now have a comprehensive report about the species.

The report, Natural and Cultural History of Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax), published by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station, identifies critical knowledge gaps and areas for future research. It also documents how changes in disturbance, including fire, may affect the species across its range.

Berkeley — Eating certain veggies not only supplies key nutrients, it may also influence hormone levels and behaviors such as aggression and sexual activity, says a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, that could shed light on the role of diet in human evolution.

The research is the first to observe the connection between plant-based estrogenic compounds, or phytoestrogens, and behavior in wild primates — in this case, a group of red colobus monkeys in Uganda.