Body

A Griffith University led study has made the surprising discovery that ocean acidification may provide some protection for South East Queenslanders from the Irukandji jellyfish.

Researchers from Griffith University's Australian Rivers Institute have conducted a series of climate change simulation experiments to investigate whether the dangerous tropical jellyfish, the Irukandji, is likely to establish breeding populations in the South East.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Athletes ages 8 to 18 who spend twice as many hours per week in organized sports than in free play, and especially in a single sport, are more likely to be injured, according to an abstract presented Monday, Oct. 28 at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando.

ORLANDO, Fla. –Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. A study presented Monday, Oct. 28, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando evaluated a pediatric intervention that directed families to a new web-based Checkpoints™ safe driving program for parents of teen drivers.

ORLANDO, Fla. – A new, smartphone-enabled otoscope provides clear, transmittable images of the ear drum, or tympanic membrane, which someday may allow for ear infection diagnosis without a visit to the doctor's office, according to an abstract presented Monday, Oct. 28, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando.

A new analysis has found that the presence of short segments of genetic material (known as microRNA) within papillary thyroid cancer tumors suggests a likelihood of recurrence after patients undergo surgery. The study, which is published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, also found that elevated blood levels of the genetic material after surgery may indicate a higher possibility of recurrence after thyroidectomy.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant in the delivery room is associated with an increased likelihood for exclusive breastfeeding, according to an abstract presented Oct. 28 at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando. When combined with a mother's intent to breastfeed, the likelihood was even greater.

Headache is common among patients with system lupus erythematosus according to new research published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). The study found that 18% of lupus patients experienced headache at the onset of their disease with that number increasing to 58% after 10 years. While headaches were linked to a lower health-related quality of life, these episodes resolved over time independent of treatment specific to lupus and were not associated with disease activity or specific lupus autoantibodies.

Can gaining weight during pregnancy provide clues into the cause of autism spectrum disorders?

New research from the University of Utah shows the answer to that question may be yes in some situations. Researchers have uncovered an association between autism spectrum disorders and a small increase in the amount of weight a mother gains during pregnancy. The results of the new study, "Maternal Prenatal Weight Gain and Autism Spectrum Disorders," are published in November edition of the journal Pediatrics.

The behaviour of semipalmated sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) feeding during low tide in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, surprised Guy Beauchamp, an ornithologist and research officer at the University of Montreal's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. While individuals on the periphery remained alert and used short pecks to feed on the mudflats, birds in the middle of the group relaxed their vigilance and fed on a different resource. The more peripheral group members were effectively used as sentinels for the others.

Scientists have made a rare discovery that allows them to attribute two types of tumour almost entirely to specific mutations that lie in two related genes.

These mutations are found in nearly 100 per cent of patients suffering from two rare bone tumours; chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of the bone.

Oncologists have long puzzled over the fact that after cancer treatment, single cancer cells that are dispersed throughout the body – so-called disseminated tumor cells – are quick to grow and form secondary tumors called metastases in certain organs, while in other organs they metastasize more slowly, sometimes decades later. Such is the case with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells, which remain dormant when lodged in bone marrow but rapidly form tumors when they make their way into the lungs.

PHILADELPHIA - For nearly 300 years, investigators have known that body temperature follows a circadian, or 24-hour, rhythm, with a peak during the day and a low at night. The benefit of this control during evolution may have been to allow conservation of energy while sleeping because keeping body temperature above the surrounding temperature requires heat production from metabolic processes inside the body. But, it is also critical to be able to adapt to changes in ambient temperature, regardless of the time of day.

PHILADELPHIA - The largest international Alzheimer's disease genetics collaboration to date has found 11 new genetic areas of interest that contribute to late onset Alzheimer's Disease (LOAD), doubling the number of potential genetics-based therapeutic targets to interrogate.

(Boston)-- The largest international study ever conducted on Alzheimer's disease (AD), the I-GAP (International Genomics Alzheimer's Project) consortium has identified 11 new regions of the genome involved in the onset of this neurodegenerative disease. This study gives an overview of the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease, opening up to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of AD. These results detailed currently in Nature Genetics, could not have been obtained without this unique worldwide collaborative effort.

An international group of researchers has identified 11 new genes that offer important new insights into the disease pathways involved in Alzheimer's disease. The highly collaborative effort involved scanning the DNA of over 74,000 volunteers—the largest genetic analysis yet conducted in Alzheimer's research—to discover new genetic risk factors linked to late-onset Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of the disorder.