Body

Researchers in Cambridge and Exeter have discovered that jackdaws use their eyes to communicate with each other – the first time this has been shown in non-primates.

While what humans do with their eyes has been well studied, we know almost nothing about whether birds communicate with members of the same species with their eyes.

The new study, published today in Biology Letters, shows that jackdaw eyes are used as a warning signal to successfully deter competitors from coming near their nest boxes.

Dr Nadeem Moghal, from George Eliot Hospital in Warwickshire, draws on the Macpherson report (the police investigation which took place following Stephen Laurence's murder) defining institutional racism as "the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin".

DURHAM, N.C. -- Today, Madagascar sucker-footed bats live nowhere outside their island home, but new research shows that hasn't always been the case. The discovery of two extinct relatives in northern Egypt suggests the unusual creatures, which evolved sticky footpads to roost on slick surfaces, are primitive members of a group of bats that evolved in Africa and ultimately went on to flourish in South America.

In an analysis of blood pressure patterns over a 25-year span from young adulthood to middle age, individuals who exhibited elevated and increasing blood pressure levels throughout this time period had greater odds of having higher measures of coronary artery calcification (a measure of coronary artery atherosclerosis), according to a study in the February 5 issue of JAMA.

In a group of very low-birth-weight infants, severe retinopathy of prematurity was associated with nonvisual disabilities at age 5 years, according to a study in the February 5 issue of JAMA.

CHICAGO – –Elevated blood pressure as young as age 18 is a warning sign of cardiovascular disease developing later in life and the time to begin prevention, according to a large national Northwestern Medicine® study. That's decades earlier than clinicians and patients generally start thinking about heart disease risk.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory attacked a tangled problem by developing a new technique to grow tiny "hairy" materials that assemble themselves at the microscale.

The key ingredient is epoxy, which is added to a mixture of hardener and solvent inside an electric cell. Then the scientists run an alternating current through the cell and watch long, twisting fibers spring up. It looks like the way Chia Pets grow in commercials.

Ultrasound-guided biopsies miss prostate cancers that are detected by the slightly more expensive and slightly more invasive 3D mapping biopsies. For example, in a 2006 study of 180 men diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer via ultrasound-guided biopsy, nearly a quarter were upgraded to a more clinically significant stage of disease after 3D mapping biopsy found pockets of cancer the first technique had missed. Now, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study reports the locations of these most-missed pockets of prostate cancer.

LEBANON, NH (Feb. 4, 2014) – Telemedicine used at nursing homes during hours when doctors are not typically present is a viable way to reduce avoidable hospitalizations, according to research published in February's issue of Health Affairs.

Northeastern Australia has been watching two tropical low pressure areas over the last several days, and NASA's Aqua satellite captured both in one infrared image. Tropical Storm Edna developed on February 4, while Fletcher, known also as System 94P continued to have a medium chance for development.

ROCHESTER, Minn — Feb. 3, 2014 — A new Mayo Clinic study found that among middle-aged men and women, 40 to 60 years old, the overall incidence of skin cancer increased nearly eightfold between 1970 and 2009, according to a study published in the January issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

"The most striking finding was among women in that age group," says dermatologist Jerry Brewer, M.D., principal investigator of the study. "Women between 40 and 50 showed the highest rates of increase we've seen in any group so far."

PHILADELPHIA – All creatures great and small, including fruitflies, need sleep. Researchers have surmised that sleep – in any species -- is necessary for repairing proteins, consolidating memories, and removing wastes from cells. But, really, sleep is still a great mystery.

Obesity is a known risk factor for many cancers including colon cancer, yet the reasons behind the colon cancer link have often remained unclear.

A Michigan State University study is shedding more light on the topic and has shown that elevated leptin – a fat hormone – higher body mass index and a larger waistline in men is associated with a greater likelihood of having colorectal polyps, precancerous growths linked to colon cancer.

Lyme disease is often evident by a rash on the skin, but infections do not always produce similar rashes. This can make it difficult to detect the disease early, when antibiotic treatment is most effective. In the February 4th issue of the Biophysical Journal, published by Cell Press, researchers describe a new mathematical model that captures the interactions between disease-causing bacteria and the host immune response that affect the appearance of a rash and the spread of infection.

It's common knowledge that shivering in the cold is part of the body's attempt to stay warm. According to new research into the mechanisms involved, shivering releases a hormone that stimulates fat tissue to produce heat so that the body can maintain its core temperature. This hormone, irisin, is also produced by muscle during exercise. The findings, which are published in the February 4 issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism, demonstrates that the act of shivering produces calorie-burning brown fat and improves metabolism.