Body

Infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) appears relatively common among patients discharged from the hospital into home health care, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, about one-fifth of infected patients may transmit the organism to other people in their households.

Women with a family history of breast cancer appear to have a lower risk of developing the disease before menopause if they have ever breastfed a child, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

More women around the world develop breast cancer than any other malignancy, according to background information in the article. Established risk factors include a family history, beginning menstruation at an early age and not having children or having a first child at a late age.

Women with epilepsy who have seizures during pregnancy appear more likely to give birth to pre-term, small or low-birth-weight babies than women without epilepsy, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Childhood cancer survivors treated with total body or abdominal radiation may have an increased risk of diabetes, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This correlation does not appear to be related to patients' body mass index or physical inactivity.

WORCESTER, Mass.—Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Florida in Gainesville have safely given new, functional genes to patients with a hereditary defect that can lead to fatal lung and liver diseases, according to clinical trial findings slated to appear this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers have safely given new, functional genes to patients with a hereditary defect that can lead to fatal lung and liver diseases, according to clinical trial findings slated to appear this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Short sleep times, experienced by many individuals in Westernized societies, may contribute to the development of insulin resistance and reduced glucose tolerance, which in turn may increase the long-term risk of diabetes, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Over 350 new species including the world's smallest deer, a "flying frog" and a 100 million-year old gecko have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, a biological treasure trove now threatened by climate change.

A decade of research carried out by scientists in remote mountain areas endangered by rising global temperatures brought exciting discoveries such as a bright green frog that uses its red and long webbed feet to glide in the air.

The emergence of new forms of tuberculosis could swell the proportion of drug-resistant cases globally, a new study has found. The finding raises concern that although TB incidence is falling in many regions, the emergence of antibiotic resistance could see virtually untreatable strains of the disease become widespread.

Australian researchers from the University of New South Wales and the University of Western Sydney have published the new finding in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cincinnati, OH, August 10, 2009--Many clinicians and public health officials view parental involvement as an essential part of solving the current childhood obesity epidemic. However, it's important for parents to use the right approach when trying to combat childhood obesity. Restrictive feeding practices, or forbidding certain foods, may not always be the best solution. A child's inhibitory control, a behavior similar to self-control, may be more important than parental restrictions.

Researchers may be able to predict how people will respond to particular drugs by analysing their urine samples, suggest scientists behind a new study published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It's well known that the protein calmodulin specifically targets and steers the activities of hundreds of other proteins – mostly kinases – in our cells, thus playing a role in physiologically important processes ranging from gene transcription to nerve growth and muscle contraction But just how it distinguishes between target proteins is not well understood. Methods developed by biophysicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have enabled them to manipulate and observe calmodulin in action, on the single-molecule scale.

DURHAM, N.C. -- A detailed examination of the wrist bones of several primate species challenges the notion that humans evolved their two-legged upright walking style from a knuckle-walking ancestor.

The same lines of evidence also suggest that knuckle-walking evolved at least two different times, making gorillas distinct from chimpanzees and bonobos.

"We have the most robust data I've ever seen on this topic," said Daniel Schmitt, a Duke University associate professor of evolutionary anthropology. "This model should cause everyone to re-evaluate what they've said before."

New York University chemists have discovered how to make molecules with a twist—the molecules fold in to twisted helical shapes that can accelerate selected chemical reactions. The research, reported in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), could yield valuable methods for making pharmaceuticals and other chemicals that require precise assembly of complex structures.

STANFORD, Calif. — The first few times that scientists mapped out all the DNA in a human being in 2001, each effort cost hundreds of millions of dollars and involved more than 250 people. Even last year, when the lowest reported cost was $250,000, genome sequencing still required almost 200 people. In a paper to be published online Aug. 9 by Nature Biotechnology, a Stanford University professor reports sequencing his entire genome for less than $50,000 and with a team of just two other people.