Body

Philadelphia, Pa. (October 30, 2013) – Would you consider traveling to Mexico or India for a less-expensive rhinoplasty or breast augmentation procedure? Many Americans are doing just that—and the trend is having an impact on the market for cosmetic plastic surgery, according to an article in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—Global Open®, the official open-access medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

A new type of "good cholesterol," made in the lab, could one day deliver drugs to where they are needed in the body to treat disease or be used in medical imaging, according to scientists. Their report on the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) mimic, which is easy to make in large amounts, appears in the journal ACS Nano.

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 30, 2013 – African-American and Puerto Rican women who have low levels of vitamin D during pregnancy are more likely to go into labor early and give birth to preterm babies, research led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health reveals.The study, the largest to date to look at the association between vitamin D and preterm birth, is now available online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Blueberries are called a "superfood" for their high polyphenol content, but when served as warm, gooey pie filling or when lending bursts of sweet flavor to a muffin, their "super" health benefits change. Scientists studied how cooking and baking affect the increasingly popular fruit's polyphenols and reported their mixed findings — levels of some of these substances rose while others fell — in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Philadelphia, Pa. (October 30, 2013) - New research on myopia—how it develops, risk and protective factors, and potentially effective measures for prevention and treatment are reported across twenty articles in Optometry and Vision Science.

Experts from NYU Langone's Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology presented new research and participated in expert panel discussions at the American College of Rheumatology 2013 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, October 26-30.

Many of today's technologies, from hybrid car batteries to flat-screen televisions, rely on materials known as rare earth elements (REEs) that are in short supply, but scientists are reporting development of a new method to recycle them from wastewater. The process, which is described in a study in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, could help alleviate economic and environmental pressures facing the REE industry.

The flowing movements and meditative exercises of the mind-body activity Qigong may help survivors of prostate cancer to combat fatigue. These are the findings of a trial study led by Dr. Anita Y. Kinney at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center and Dr. Rebecca Campo at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study took place at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, and was published in Springer's Journal of Cancer Survivorship.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease rates are markedly increased in individuals with type 2 diabetes. One of the strongest independent predictors of cardiovascular disease in these patients is a low circulating level of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and its major protein constituent apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I). An international team of scientists led by Dr. Susanna Hofmann from the Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research at the Helmholtz Zentrum München (HMGU), Partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), and Dr.

In two comprehensive studies, scientists from Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen and Technische Universitaet Muenchen discovered new associations of two major Type 2 diabetes risk genotypes and altered plasma concentrations of metabolic products. The "Virtual Institute Diabetes" joint research cooperation is thereby making an important contribution towards explaining the genetic and molecular basis of diabetes, The results have been published in the journals PLOS ONE and Metabolomics.

A new toxic entity associated with genetically inherited forms of dementia and motor neuron disease has been identified by scientists at the UCL Institute of Neurology. The toxin is the result of a genetic mutation that leads to the production of RNA molecules which could be responsible for the diseases. The findings are published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica.

Losing weight is generally beneficial for human health, but when one partner in a romantic relationship loses weight, it doesn't always have a positive effect on the relationship. According to new research from North Carolina State University and the University of Texas at Austin, there can be a "dark side" to weight loss, if both partners are not on board with enacting healthy changes.

Persons with Alzheimer's disease suffer from ischaemic heart diseases more frequently than others, yet they undergo related procedures and surgery less frequently than persons with no diagnosed AD, according to a nation-wide register-based study carried out at the University of Eastern Finland.

New York, NY (October 29, 2013) -- A new study by Weill Cornell Medical College scientists reveals a mechanism through which the expression of genes is controlled -- a finding that highlights genetic mutations that can impair the timing of gene expression. Such mutations can affect the co-ordination of key events that are required for stepwise development of an organism, and can also give rise to cancer by turning on genes at the wrong time.

Monday, October 28, 2013: New research shows El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena have been more active and intense during the 30-year period between 1979-2009 than at any time during the past 600 years.

At the same time, this result suggests that the intensity and activity of El Niño and La Ninas appears to increase as global average temperatures increase.