Body

'Delay discounting' is the tendency, given the choice, to take a smaller reward that is available immediately, instead of a larger reward that will be delivered in the future. According to a report presented today at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology annual meeting in Hollywood, Florida, delay discounting is strongly influenced by our genetic makeup. That is, it is a trait that can be inherited.

Nyon, Switzerland - December 7, 2015

Vitamin D is mainly produced in the skin after exposure to sunlight, with additional small quantities derived from food sources. Among other benefits, vitamin D is essential for bone health as it plays an important role in assisting calcium absorption and has other key functions in relation to bone and muscle function.

CLEVELAND: Researchers from Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine presented new research findings this weekend at the 57th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in Orlando.

Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease, one that's hard to detect until it has progressed significantly. More than 75 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have metastasis at the time of diagnosis, resulting in a low five-year survival rate of less than 30 percent.

A large number of studies have shown that an increased body mass index (BMI) is associated with a greater risk for ovarian cancer with worse overall survival. More than 35 percent of women in the United States are obese, putting them at increased risk for the cancer.

People who are diagnosed with mental health conditions did not see improvements in coordination and quality of care as hoped but did not experience large cuts in access as some had feared under an early alternative payment model designed to encourage coordinated health care, according to a team led by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Scientists have shown for the first time why loss of the enzyme CD73 in human cancer promotes tumor progression.

The endometrial cancer study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center provided key evidence for the importance of CD73's role in tumor growth. CD73 is the crucial enzyme for generating adenosine, a signaling molecule important for regulation of normal tissue function and stability or homeostasis.

Study results were published in today's online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Most men who receive penile prostheses are very satisfied with the implants, indicating that the intervention is a valid treatment for erectile dysfunction.

Protecting schools and their associated high-occupancy buildings from the most violent tornadoes is the goal of the first approved building code changes based on recommendations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) technical investigation into the impacts of the deadly tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., on May 22, 2011.

A new genus of plant bug and four new species have been discovered in Australia. The newly discovered insects, which belong to the family Miridae and the subfamily Phylinae, are described in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

Stephanie Leon and Christiane Weirauch, two entomologists from the University of California, Riverside, examined 761 specimens from museum collections and determined that some were mislabeled and were actually species that were not yet known to science.

A widespread invasive ant species is posing a significant threat to native Australian butterflies.

Research conducted on the periphery of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in northeastern Australia, which contains 58% of country's butterfly species, revealed that yellow crazy ants are far more likely to attack native cruiser butterfly caterpillars than native green tree ants.

The earth is facing a catastrophic species extinction crisis. The dominant approach to conservation has been to focus on protecting pristine environments, but new research from Australia demonstrates that on average, urban environments contain disproportionately more threatened protected species in a given area than non-urban environments.

Some doctors may recommend that patients with the flu take acetaminophen, or paracetemol, to relieve their symptoms; however, a new randomized clinical trial found no benefits to the over-the-counter medication in terms of fighting the influenza virus or reducing patients' temperature or other symptoms.

The trial included adults between 18 and 65 years of age with confirmed influenza infections who were treated with the maximum recommended dose of paracetamol or placebo for five days. Participants were monitored for up to 14 days.

A new study by a team of scientists from Argentina, Brazil, California and the Natural History Museum of Utah at the University of Utah has determined that the time elapsed between the emergence of early dinosaur relatives and the origin of the first dinosaurs is much shorter than previously believed. The discovery not only places a new timeline on the connection between early dinosaur relatives and the first dinosaurs in this particular geologic formation, but also in other formations across the world.

Want to make a virus? It's easy: combine one molecule of genomic nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA, and a handful of proteins, shake, and in a fraction of a second you'll have a fully-formed virus.

While that may sound like the worst infomercial ever, in many cases making a virus really is that simple. Viruses such as influenza spread so effectively, and as a result can be so deadly to their hosts, because of their ability to spontaneously self-assemble in large numbers.

LA JOLLA, CA and JUPITER, FL-December 7, 2015-Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have deployed a powerful new drug discovery technique to identify an anti-diabetes compound with a novel mechanism of action.

The finding, which appeared online ahead of print in Nature Communications, may lead to a new type of diabetes treatment. Just as importantly, it demonstrates the potential of the new technique, which enables researchers to quickly find drug candidates that activate cellular receptors in desired ways.