Body

WHAT: The length of time a young adult is obese is associated with the development of silent, or subclinical, heart disease in middle age, independent of body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference, according to National Institutes of Health-supported research. Each year that a young adult is obese increases that person's risk of developing coronary artery calcification, a subclinical predictor of heart disease, by 2 to 4 percent.

These findings were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Singapore - A team of international researchers from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (USA) has identified a self-perpetuating signaling circuit inside connective tissue cells that allows these cells to form a front and a back and propel themselves in a particular direction over a long period of time.

CHICAGO — A new presentation today at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo in Chicago® focused on the health benefits of short-chain fructooliogosaccharides (scFOS), which are low-calorie, non-digestible carbohydrates that can improve food taste and texture while aiding immunity, bone health and the growth and balance of important bacteria in the digestive track.

CHICAGO- Vitamin and mineral supplements can enhance mental energy and well-being not only for healthy adults but for those prone to anxiety and depression, according to a July 15 panel discussion at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® held at McCormick Place.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have coaxed stem cells into forming networks of new blood vessels in the laboratory, then successfully transplanted them into mice. The stem cells are made by reprogramming ordinary cells, so the new technique could potentially be used to make blood vessels genetically matched to individual patients and unlikely to be rejected by their immune systems, the investigators say. The results appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Downy mildew (Pernospora belbahrii Thines) is a relatively new disease to North America. First reported in 1933 in Uganda, downy mildew has spread rapidly across the globe. Early detection of downy mildew is crucial for control of the disease, which can devastate both greenhouse and field basil crops. However, the signs and symptoms of basil downy mildew can be difficult to differentiate from those caused by environmental stresses such as nutrient deficiency.

PHILADELPHIA – They say you can pick your friends, but not your family. The same may hold true for related proteins. The protein TAp73 is a relative of the well-known, tumor-suppressor protein p53. It shares extensive common gene sequences with p53 and, as suggested by some previous studies, it may function similar to p53 to prevent tumor formation.

CHICAGO—Almonds may still be considered one of the highest energy food sources but it's not about how much you bite off, instead it's about how much you chew, according to a July 14 panel discussion at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® held at McCormick Place.

"Particle size has bioaccessibility of the energy of the food that is being consumed," said Dr. Richard Mattes (CQ), professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. "The more you chew, the less is lost and more is retained in the body."

(Edmonton) Moms-to-be who gain too much weight early into their pregnancy are nearly three times as likely to give birth to bigger and fatter babies, warns a University of Alberta researcher.

A study of 172 expectant mothers found that women who gained excessive weight during the first half of pregnancy gave birth to heavier and longer babies with more body fat than babies of women who either did not gain as much weight or put it on later in their pregnancy.

Roughly 65.5 million years ago, a massive asteroid smashed into present-day Chicxulub, Mexico. The impact set fire to Earth's surface. Dust and ash darkened the sky, sending the planet into an "impact winter" that lasted months to years and caused the extinction of nonavian dinosaurs and half of ocean-dwelling species. However, life in inland freshwater ecosystems largely escaped this fate. To try to understand why freshwater organisms held on while ocean life failed, Robertson et al.

A drug already approved to treat multiple sclerosis may also hold promise for treating cardiac hypertrophy, or thickening of the cardiac muscle--a disorder that often leads to heart failure, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine report.

The findings are published in the July 16 issue of Circulation: Heart Failure.

Cardiac hypertrophy is a slow thickening of the heart muscle that shrinks the interior volume of the heart, forcing the organ to work harder to pump a diminishing volume of blood.

CHICAGO – Adding just a small amount of everyday herbs and spices to vegetables and reduced-calorie meals may make those foods more appetizing to consumers, which could ultimately help Americans cut down on dietary fat and choose more foods in line with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, according to research presented at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo®

Magnets could be a tool for directing stem cells' healing powers to treat conditions such as heart disease or vascular disease.

By feeding stem cells tiny particles made of iron oxide, scientists at Emory and Georgia Tech can use magnets to attract the cells to a particular location in the body after intravenous injection.

The results are published online in the journal Small and will appear in an upcoming issue.

Environmental conditions have a much stronger influence on the mix of microbes living in various parts of your body than does competition between species. Instead of excluding each other, microbes that fiercely compete for similar resources are more likely to cohabit the same individual.

This phenomenon was discovered in a recent study of the human microbiome – the vast collection of our resident bacteria, fungi, and other tiny organisms.

Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that specific types of bacteria that live in the gut are major contributors to lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells.

Published online ahead of press today in the journal Cancer Research, the study was led by Robert Schiestl, member of the Jonsson Cancer Center and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, environmental health sciences, and radiation oncology.