Body

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 14, 2012—Individuals who do not obtain recommended intake levels of calcium through dietary sources can safely utilize calcium supplements to achieve optimal bone health, an expert panel concludes. These findings appear in the November online edition of Advances in Nutrition, a journal that highlights the significance of recent research in nutrition and illustrates the central role of nutrition in the promotion of health and prevention of disease.

Hypothermia victims whose hearts have stopped functioning should be transported to a medical facility with advanced heart and lung support equipment, even if that means longer travel time, according to a new study by a University of British Columbia medical resident.

Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a technique for growing virtually pure samples of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with identical structures, a process they liken to "cloning" the nanotubes.* If it can be suitably scaled up, their approach could solve an important materials problem in nanoelectronics: producing carbon nanotubes of a specific structure to order.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have provided evidence in the laboratory that single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) may help protect DNA molecules from damage by oxidation. In nature, oxidation is a common chemical process in which a reactive chemical removes electrons from DNA and may increase the chance for mutations in cells. More studies are needed to see if the in vitro protective effect of nanotubes reported in the laboratory also occurs in vivo, that is, within a living organism.

MANHASSET, NY – Researchers at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered that tanshinones, which come from the plant Danshen and are highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine, protect against the life-threatening condition sepsis. The findings are published in the December issue of Biochemical Pharmacology.

Starting a milk drinking habit as a child can lead to lifelong benefits, even improving physical ability and balance in older age, according to new research. A new study published in Age & Aging found an increase of about one glass of milk a day as a child was linked to a 5% faster walking time and 25% lesser chance of poor balance in older age.

An Australian study reveals that people with the rare genetic disorder known as Prader-Willi Syndrome may have an impaired autonomic nervous system. This discovery opens up a new way of looking at the insatiable appetite experienced by all sufferers, as well as their very high risk of cardiovascular disease.

The autonomic nervous system controls our inner organs, including our gut, heart, liver and blood vessels. It is a finely tuned, dynamic system, responding moment-by-moment to the body's needs.

Blending religion with familism — a strong commitment to lifelong marriage and childbearing — dampens secular civic participation, according to research by a Baylor University sociologist.

"Strong family and strong religion. What happens when they meet? Is that good for the larger society? It is not always as it seems," said Young-Il Kim, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow in Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For baby boomers, the peak interest in health issues comes at about age 51, with a second peak coming near age 65, according to a new study.

The results may help doctors and other professionals target this generation with health messages at a time when they are most receptive to hearing them, the researchers said.

PHILADELPHIA — A promising new approach to treating solid tumors with radiation was highly efficacious and minimally toxic to healthy tissue in a mouse model of cancer, according to data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

November 15, 2012, Hong Kong, China – The international open-access journal GigaScience (a BGI and BioMed Central journal) announces the publication of the whole-genome sequencing and analysis of the Wuzhishan Pig, an extensively inbred, miniature pig, which can serve as an excellent model for human medical research. The availability of the mini-pig genome provides a wealth of genetic tools that will enable detailed and well thought-out analyses on an animal that shares a substantial number of complex diseases with humans.

WASHINGTON — An animal study conducted by researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center raises questions about the consequences of diet — specifically glucose, the plant-based sugar that fuels cell life — on increased activity of an oncogene that drives tumor growth.

The risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) is highest in the month of April, and lowest in October, indicates an analysis of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

The findings, which include several populations at latitudes greater than 52 degrees from the equator for the first time, strongly implicate maternal exposure to vitamin D during pregnancy.

Being socially close to another bonobo is more likely to make bonobo apes yawn in response to the other's yawns, according to research published November 14 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Elisabetta Palagi and Elisa Demuru from the University of Pisa, Italy.

The researchers found that yawning in bonobos is more contagious when individuals are strongly bonded to one another as kin or close friends. They also found that yawn contagion was higher when individuals were more relaxed, but occurred in every context when the first yawner was a senior member of the group.