Body

College Park, Md. -- Mothers in the United States who have unintended pregnancies return to work sooner after childbirth than mothers whose pregnancy was intended, according to a study led by Dr. Rada K. Dagher, assistant professor of health services administration in the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Each time a human cell divides, it must first make a copy of its 46 chromosomes to serve as an instruction manual for the new cell. Normally, this process goes off without a hitch. But from time to time, the information isn't copied and collated properly, leaving gaps or breaks that the cell has to carefully combine back together.

Populations of predators and their prey usually follow predictable cycles. When the number of prey increases – perhaps as their food supply becomes more abundant – predator populations also grow.

When the predator population becomes too large, however, the prey population often plummets, leaving too little food for the predators, whose population also then crashes. This canonical view of predator-prey relationships was first identified by mathematical biologists Alfred Lotka and Vito Volterra in the 1920s and 1930s.

STANFORD, Calif. — Recent research has shown that tiny fragments of DNA circulating in a person's blood can allow scientists to monitor cancer growth and even get a sneak peek into a developing fetus' gene sequences. But isolating and sequencing these bits of genetic material renders little insight into how that DNA is used to generate the dizzying array of cells, tissues and biological processes that define our bodies and our lives.

Scientists at the University of East Anglia have made an important step in understanding how hearts are formed in developing embryos.

The heart is the first functioning organ to develop in humans, and correct formation is crucial for embryo survival and growth.

New research published today reveals how cells that form the heart, known as 'cardiac progenitors', are guided to move into the right place for the heart to begin to form.

A new study led by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has painted a clearer picture of the delicate arms race between the human immune system and a pathogen that seeks to infect and kill human cells.

The research explores the strategies by which the bacterial pathogen Yersinia, responsible for causing plague and gastrointestinal infections, tries to outsmart immune cell responses and looks at the tactics used by the immune system to fight back.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Along with our big brains and upright posture, thick tooth enamel is one of the features that distinguishes our genus, Homo, from our primate relatives and forebears. A new study, published May 5 in the Journal of Human Evolution, offers insight into how evolution shaped our teeth, one gene at a time.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (April 29, 2014) — Symbiosis is the process that occurs when two different organisms live together to form a mutually beneficial partnership. In many symbiotic relationships, host animals and their microbial symbionts are partners that make up a whole – neither one can function without the other but together they grow and reproduce.

DAVIE, Fla.-- The diverse patterns on the diamondback terrapins' intricately grooved shell may be their claim to fame, but a newly published U.S. Geological Survey study of the genetic variation underneath their shell holds one key to rescuing these coastal turtles.

PULLMAN, Wash. – Testing conventional wisdom with science, recently published research from Washington State University reveals how different flavors "finish," or linger, on the palate following a sip of wine.

"A longer finish is associated with a higher quality wine, but what the finish is, of course, makes a huge difference," said sensory scientist Carolyn Ross.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A recent Mayo Clinic Proceedings article links some nerve damage after hip surgery to inflammatory neuropathy. Historically, nerve damage from hip surgery has been attributed to mechanical factors caused by anesthesiologists or surgeons, such as positioning of the patient during surgery or direct surgical injury of the nerves.

In this study, researchers examined patients who developed inflammatory neuropathies, where the immune system attacks the nerves, leading to weakness and pain. Inflammatory neuropathies may be treated with immunotherapy.

Ineffective social and political institutions make people more likely to favour their family and own local social group, while good institutions make them more likely to follow impersonal rules that are fair to everyone, suggests a forthcoming study in the journal Human Nature.

WASHINGTON, DC, May 5, 2014 — Work-family conflict is increasingly common among U.S. workers, with about 70 percent reporting struggles balancing work and non-work obligations. A new study by University of Minnesota sociologists Erin L. Kelly, Phyllis Moen, Wen Fan, and interdisciplinary collaborators from across the country, shows that workplaces can change to increase flexibility, provide more support from supervisors, and reduce work-family conflict.

In the largest family study on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to date, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, along with a research team from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm Sweden and King's College in London found that individual risk of ASD and autistic disorder increased with greater genetic relatedness in families – that is, persons with a sibling, half-sibling or cousin diagnosed with autism have an increased likelihood of developing ASD themselves.

DALLAS – May 5, 2014 – Liver cancer survival rates could be improved if more people with cirrhosis are screened for tumors using inexpensive ultrasound scans and blood tests, according to a review by doctors at UT Southwestern Medical Center.