Body

The genomes of birds are riddled with DNA sequences from viruses, according to a study to be published on October 16 in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Analysis of these viral sequences, known as endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), can provide insights into how both hosts and viruses have evolved over the eons.

Three in 10 patients receiving a kidney transplant require readmission to the hospital within 30 days of discharge following surgery, according to a Johns Hopkins analysis of six years of national data.

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida; Duke University; Johns Hopkins University; the Brazilian National Cancer Institute; and the Rio de Janeiro Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology have discovered that an intricate system to repair DNA damage called the "DNA damage response" (DDR) contains previously unknown components, including proteins that could be targeted as sensitizers for chemotherapy. Some of these targets may already have drugs available that have unrecognized uses in cancer therapy, said the researchers.

[Second hand smoke in cars: assessing children's potential exposure during typical journey conditions 2012; 578-83; doi 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2011-050197]

Smoking during car journeys pumps harmful particulate matter into the indoor air space at levels that far exceed World Health Organization guidance—even when the windows are open or air conditioning is switched on—finds the largest study of its kind, in Tobacco Control.

Such levels of exposure are likely to affect the health of any child passengers, say the authors.

[Shame! Self-stigmatisation as an obstacle to sick doctors returning to work: a qualitative study doi 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001776]

Doctors who have been on long term sick leave find it hard to return to work because they are overwhelmed with feelings of shame and failure, and fear the disapproval of colleagues, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

The authors call for cultural change, starting in medical school, to allow doctors to recognise their own vulnerabilities and cope better with both their own and their colleagues' ill health.

CHICAGO – Patients who undergo bariatric weight loss surgery may be at increased risk for substance use (drug use, alcohol use and cigarette smoking) following surgery, particularly among patients who undergo laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery who appear to be at increased risk for alcohol use following surgery, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Surgery, a JAMA Network publication.

We've all been warned not to "judge a book by its cover," but inevitably we do it anyway. It's difficult to resist the temptation of assuming that a person's outward appearance reflects something meaningful about his or her inner personality.

Indeed, research shows that people tend to perceive attractive adults as more social, successful, and well-adjusted than less attractive adults, a phenomenon that's been termed the "what is beautiful is good" stereotype.

Night work can increase cancer risk in men, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology by a research team from Centre INRS–Institut Armand-Frappier and Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal. The study is one of the first in the world to provide evidence among men of a possible association between night work and the risk of prostate, colon, lung, bladder, rectal, and pancreatic cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

New Rochelle, NY, October 15, 2012—In addition to the obvious benefit of eliminating the need for an injection, new vaccine delivery methods via the lungs offer particular advantages for protecting against infectious agents that enter the body through the respiratory track.

New York, NY (October 15, 2012) — Screening practices for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in intensive care units (ICUs) vary widely from hospital to hospital, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing and published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.

TORONTO– Worker bees have become a highly skilled and specialized work force because the genes that determine their behaviour are shuffled frequently, helping natural selection to build a better bee, research from York University suggests.

Early signs of lung cancer could be diagnosed using a simple blood test following a new discovery by scientists at the University of York.

A new Ebola virus study resulting from a widespread scientific collaboration has shown promising preliminary results, preventing disease in infected nonhuman primates using monoclonal antibodies.

Fat progenitor cells may contribute to cancer growth by fortifying the vessels that provide needed blood to tumors, according to preclinical research findings by investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

The results were reported in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.