Body

Boston, MA - Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and their collaborators at Tufts University and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have identified a common genetic influence on B12 vitamin levels in the blood, suggesting a new way to approach the biological connections between an important biochemical variable and deficiency-related diseases.

A University of Colorado at Boulder team working at 16,400 feet in the Peruvian Andes has discovered how barren soils uncovered by retreating glacier ice can swiftly establish a thriving community of microbes, setting the table for lichens, mosses and alpine plants.

NEW YORK, September 8, 2008 – Patients with type 1 diabetes who used continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices to help manage their disease experienced significant improvements in blood sugar control, according to initial results of a major multicenter clinical trial funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

MADISON, WI, September 2, 2008 -- A new interactive web lesson teaches upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students how herbicides are developed. The lesson, developed by William E. Dyer, Montana State University, has the seal of approval by the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education and is published in the 2008 issue.

Gone are the good old days when farmers knew all their cows by name. There is little time left for the animals in today's dairy industry. And it is easy to overlook the first signs of disease. This situation can now be remedied by a tiny sensor in the cow's rumen, which monitors the animal's state of health and raises the alarm in good time. The system determines the pH level and the temperature inside the cow's rumen. The data are wirelessly transmitted to an external receiver module in the animal's collar via an encapsulated measuring probe.

In a new consensus statement, the American College of Chest Physicians offers guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of work-related asthma (WRA), a chronic respiratory condition that includes occupational asthma and work-exacerbated asthma (WEA) and affects as many as 25 percent of adults with asthma. Published as a supplement to the September issue of CHEST, the consensus statement, updated from 1995, places new emphasis on

What effects do new drugs have on the human body – particularly at cellular level? Can doctors administer them without risk, or do they have toxic side effects? Pharmaceutical companies carry out a variety of toxicity tests on new drugs in order to answer such questions. Cell cultures form the basis for these tests: The researchers place isolated cells in small plastic dishes, add a nutrient solution and place the dishes in an incubator heated to 37 degrees Celsius. To provide an ideal breeding ground for the cells, the dishes are made of insulating polystyrene.

Humans aren't the only ones who like fatty foods - bearded vultures do, too. A study by Antoni Margalida from the Bearded Vulture Study and Protection Group in El Pont de Suert, Spain, has found that the bearded vulture will discard less energy-dense bones and choose only the bones containing the highest fat content both for its consumption and delivery to its young. His findings¹ will be published this week in the Springer journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

The lighter an aircraft is, the less fuel it consumes. Given the need to cut carbon dioxide emissions, this is a key aspect of materials research. Aircraft manufacturers are therefore pinning their hopes on particularly lightweight construction materials. These include not only lightweight metals, but also fiber composite plastics, particularly carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). Whenever two CFRP components have to be joined together, this has so far been accomplished primarily by riveting.

Australian researchers and a pathology company have joined forces to develop a world-first computerised system which may reveal a way to predict premature birth with greater accuracy.

The University of Melbourne, the University of Newcastle and Symbion Pathology are combining expertise in medical research, engineering and pathology to develop a computer program to predict women at risk of a premature birth.

A discovery by Australian scientists could help clinicians decide which women with breast cancer will make good candidates for anti-oestrogen therapies, such as tamoxifen, and which will not.

Over 12,000 Australian women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, roughly 70% of which will have cancers treatable with tamoxifen. Unfortunately, 30% or more of these women may not respond well to such anti-hormone therapy long-term.

Should surgeons be bare below the elbows and tie less or are new UK dress rules for doctors compromising their professional image without sufficient evidence that hospital-acquired infections will be reduced?

That's the question posed by urology consultant Mr Adam Jones from the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, UK, in the September issue of BJU International.

Scientists of the Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos (Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology) of the University of Granada (UGR, Spain) have been doing research into the positive effects of Mediterranean diet's ingredients on health.

Nashville, TN (Sept 8, 2008) – A nationwide survey found a sizable gap exists between patients and healthcare professionals when it comes to understanding and discussing pain. To address this discrepancy, a new coalition of leading pain management organizations has formed to improve how patients and healthcare professionals communicate with each other.

An athlete's ability to sweat may do more than keep the body cool. It also may prevent the development of exercise-induced asthma (EIA), a common respiratory condition among trained athletes. New research appearing in the September issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that athletes with EIA produce less sweat, tears, and saliva than those who do not have breathing problems.