Body

Low birth weight infants are host to numerous microorganisms immediately after birth, and the microbiomes of their mouths and gut start out very similar but differentiate significantly by day 15 according to a study published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

"We could watch this differentiation over time. With each passing day, two body sites [mouth and distal gut] became more and more differentiated from each other. It was a consistent pattern," says co-author Elizabeth K. Costello of Stanford University.

The key to future HIV treatment could be hidden right in our own genes. Everyone who becomes infected deploys defense strategies, and some even manage to hold the virus at bay without any therapy at all. This immune system struggle leaves its mark within the pathogen itself – genetic mutations that indicate how the virus reacted to its host's attacks. Scientists from EPFL and the Vaud university hospital center (UNIL-CHUV) retraced the entire chain of events in these battles, from the genome of the virus to the genome of the victim. They have created the first map of human HIV resistance.

People tend to be rated as more attractive when they're part of a group than when they're alone, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

This phenomenon — first dubbed the "cheerleader effect" by ladykiller Barney Stinson on the popular TV show How I Met Your Mother — suggests that having a few friends around might be one way to boost perceived attractiveness.

OSLO, NORWAY (29 October 2013)—As global forest and climate experts gather at the Oslo REDD Exchange 2013 to ramp up international efforts to protect carbon-storing forests in the developing world, a recent study by researchers at the Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and European and Southeast Asian institutions finds that local communities—using simple tools like ropes and sticks—can produce forest carbon data on par with results by professional foresters using high-tech devices.

Obese women voluntarily reduce what they eat in response to additional soft drinks being added to their diets – a new 4 week study finds(1).

41 obese women took part in the study, co-ordinated by Professor Marie Reid at the University of Hull and published in British Journal of Nutrition, to determine the effect of consuming 1-litre a day of either a sugar-sweetened or an artificially-sweetened drink, along with their normal dietary intake.

A spot of DIY or gardening can cut the risk of a heart attack/stroke and prolong life by as much as 30 per cent among the 60+ age group, indicates research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

These routine activities are as good as exercise, which is ideal for older people who don't often do that much formal exercise, say the researchers.

They base their findings on almost 4000 sixty year olds in Stockholm, Sweden, whose cardiovascular health was tracked for around 12.5 years.

Scientists from the Center for Innovations in Medicine in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have developed a comprehensive, microchip-based technology, called immunosignature diagnosis, which can rapidly and comprehensively measure an individual's vaccine response, promising to take much of the initial guesswork out of predicting effective vaccines.

TORONTO, Oct. 28, 2013— South Asian-Canadians living in Peel Region may be 15 per cent less likely than other Ontarians to be screened for breast, cervical or colorectal cancer, making them much more vulnerable to cancer deaths.

The findings were published today in a report by researchers at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health.

Among patients with early stages of breast cancer, those whose hearts were more directly irradiated with radiation treatments on the left side in a facing-up position had higher risk of heart disease, according to research letter by David J. Brenner, Ph.D, D.Sc, of Columbia University Medical Center, New York, and colleagues.

Several reports have suggested links between breast cancer radiation and long-term cardiovascular-related deaths, according to the study background.

MAYWOOD, Il. – Lower back injuries are the third most common injuries suffered in athletes under age 18, according to a study presented by Loyola University Medical Center sports medicine physician Neeru Jayanthi, MD.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Oct. 28, 2013)—Forget New Year's; a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Internal Medicine found that Mondays are when smokers are most likely to think about quitting.

TORONTO, ON – Physical activity is being increasingly recognized as an effective tool to treat depression. PhD candidate George Mammen's review published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has taken the connection one step further, finding that moderate exercise can actually prevent episodes of depression in the long term.

This is the first longitudinal review to focus exclusively on the role that exercise plays in maintaining good mental health and preventing the onset of depression later in life.

MADISON, Wis. – In a pair of landmark studies that exploit the genetic sequencing of the "missing link" cold virus, rhinovirus C, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have constructed a three-dimensional model of the pathogen that shows why there is no cure yet for the common cold.

Writing today (Oct. 28, 2013) in the journal Virology, a team led by UW-Madison biochemistry Professor Ann Palmenberg provides a meticulous topographical model of the capsid or protein shell of a cold virus that until 2006 was unknown to science.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (October 27, 2013) – New research from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota Center for Immunology has identified key proteins that influence immune response strategies, a finding that could influence new vaccination approaches.

The study, published in the latest edition of Nature Immunology, looked closely at the KLF2 and S1P1 genes, and how their expression impacted the immune strategy of a cell.

Americans place high value on butterfly royalty. A recent study suggests they are willing to support monarch butterfly conservation at high levels, up to about 6 ½ billion dollars if extrapolated to all U.S. households.

If even a small percentage of the population acted upon this reported willingness, the cumulative effort would likely translate into a large, untapped potential for conservation of the iconic butterfly.