Body

A lack of Vitamin D, due to reduced sunlight, has been linked to depression and the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but research by the University of Warwick shows there is no clear link between the levels of vitamin D in the blood and depression.

Exposure to sunlight stimulates vitamin D in the skin and a shortage of sunlight in the winter has been put forward as one possible cause of SAD. However Warwick Medical School researchers, led by Dr Oscar Franco, have discovered low levels of vitamin D in the blood may not be connected to depression.

Arnhem, The Netherlands – A number of updated guidelines will be presented at the 24th Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology (EAU) held in Stockholm, from 17 though 21 March. The abridged versions - Pocket Guidelines – which are based on the extended text documents will also be available in Stockholm to all EAU members and press.

The health benefits of fish consumption have been over-dramatized and have put increased pressure on wild fish, according to a new research published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

In an innovative collaboration, medical scientists from St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto have teamed up with researchers from the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre and author Farley Mowat to closely examine the effects of health claims with regard to seafood.

New Rochelle, NY, March 17, 2009—While the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme led to the collapse of the Picower Foundation, a major benefactor for life science research, many bioindustry observers view the fallout from the scandal as a minor consequence in the larger economic picture, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN). They look at the Madoff factor as representing only one challenge to a global financial environment that has been rocked by declining stock prices, additional scandals, and malaise, according to the March 15 issue of GEN.

New Rochelle, NY, March 17, 2009—The relationships between food, nutrition science, and health outcomes have been intensively analyzed over the past century. Genomic variation among individuals and populations is a new factor that enriches and challenges our understanding of these complex relationships. Hence, the rapidly emerging intersection of nutritional science and genomics – nutrigenomics – was the focus of a special issue of OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology in December 2008 (Part 1).

Washington, DC – The President of the American College of Preventive Medicine commended the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) today for its recommendations on aspirin use for primary prevention of heart attack and stroke, released in the March 17 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, citing its improved specificity over previous guidelines.

Troy, N.Y. – Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new technique for growing slimmer copper nanorods, a key step for advancing integrated 3-D chip technology.

These thinner copper nanorods fuse together, or anneal, at about 300 degrees Celsius. This relatively low annealing temperature could make the nanorods ideal for use in heat-sensitive nanoelectronics, particularly for "gluing" together the stacked components of 3-D computer chips.

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Three members of the faculty at Stevens Institute of Technology recently collaborated on a paper focusing on free-space optical communication, which appears in the latest issue of Optics Express, a premiere optics journal currently in circulation.

HOUSTON -- (March 17, 2009) -- A new computerized method of testing could help world health officials better identify flu vaccines that are effective against multiple strains of the disease. Rice University scientists who created the method say tests of data from bird flu and seasonal flu outbreaks suggest their method can better gauge the efficacy of proposed vaccines than can tests used today.

(PHILADELPHIA) – Although most Americans live close to some type of emergency room, as many as one in four Americans are more than an hour away from the type of hospital that's most prepared to save their life during a time-sensitive medical emergency, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study published in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine. Since little is known about which U.S.

Trousers have to be tried on – the variation between size labeling and actual clothing size is huge. This is shown by the report "Large? Clothing sizes and size labeling", which looks at the relationship between clothing sizes and the actual clothing measurements as well as consumers' views on and experiences of this.

Montreal, March 17, 2009 –New treatments for infertility could be closer to reality, thanks to a discovery from scientists at the Université de Montréal and Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre. According to a study published in the journal Molecular Human Reproduction, the researchers have become the first to clone, produce and purify a protein important for sperm maturation, termed Binder of Sperm (BSP), which may have implications for both fertility treatments and new methods of male contraception.

Even after nine months soaking in the womb, a newborn's skin is smooth – unlike an adult's in the bath. While occupying a watery, warm environment, the newborn manages to develop a skin fully equipped to protect it in a cold, dry and bacteria-infected world.

A protective cream called Vernix caseosa (VC), which covers the fetus and the newborn, aids in the growth of skin both before and after birth. VC provides 'waterproofing' in utero, allowing skin to grow in wet conditions, while after birth it hydrates and cleanses, even healing when applied to ulcers.

When it comes to leading a team tasked with developing new products and bringing them to market, new research from North Carolina State University shows that being nice and playing well with others gives you a very real competitive advantage. One new study shows that project managers can get much better performance from their team when they treat team members with honesty, kindness and respect. A second study shows that product development teams can reap significant quality and cost benefits from socializing with people who work for their suppliers.

Chronic human papilloma virus (HPV)-infections can lead to cellular changes in the cervix that can be a pre-stage to cervical cancer. Surgical treatment of these pre-stages gives an increased risk of preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies. As the HPV-vaccine can prevent pre-stages of cervical cancer, it may therefore reduce the number of preterm births. A new Norwegian study has calculated the benefits of HPV-vaccination.