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Recent guidelines recommending cholesterol tests for children fail to weigh health benefits against potential harms and costs, according to a new commentary by three physician-researchers at UCSF. Moreover, the recommendations are based on expert opinion, rather than solid evidence, which is especially problematic since the guidelines' authors disclosed potential conflicts of interest.

But the type of sport played and gender did, according to a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Sports Medicine, Arthroscopy, Rehabilitation, Therapy & Technology. This study into varsity athletics found that women had a shorter time to injury than men and that certain sports, such as volleyball, also had a significantly shorter time to injury than others, such as hockey or basketball.

A new technique will allow plant breeders to introduce valuable crop traits even without access to the full genome sequence of that crop.

The technique, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, links important agronomic traits in crop plants with active regions of the genome. Instead of requiring knowledge of the crop's complete genome, it identifies only expressed genes.

July 22, 2012, New York, NY and Stockholm, Sweden – Only by viewing a Seurat painting at close range can you appreciate the hidden complexities of pointillism – small, distinct dots of pure color applied in patterns to form an image from a distance. Similarly, biologists and geneticists have long sought to analyze profiles of genes at the single cell level but technology limitations have only allowed a view from afar until now.

STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have identified several gene mutations responsible for the most common childhood brain tumor, called medulloblastoma, adding evidence to the theory that the diagnosis is a group of genetically distinct cancers with different prognoses. These and accompanying findings are likely to lead to less-toxic, better-targeted treatment approaches over the next two years, the researchers said.

Boston, Mass., July 22, 2012– Researchers at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) and several collaborating institutions have linked mutations in specific genes to each of the four recognized subtypes of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor of children. The discovery, reported July in the journal Nature, provides doctors with potential biomarkers for guiding and individualizing treatment and reveals prospective therapeutic opportunities for countering this devastating malignancy.

Stanford, CA —Light is not only the source of a plant's energy, but also an environmental signal that instructs the growth behavior of plants. As a result, a plant's sensitivity to light is of great interest to scientists and their research on this issue could help improve crop yields down the road. Similarly understanding a plant's temperature sensitivity could also help improve agriculture and feed more people. Two new papers from Carnegie's Zhiyong Wang laboratory identify key aspects of the hormonal responses of plants to changes in light and heat in their environments.

Tens of thousands of Americans taking potent antiretroviral therapies, or ART, to keep their HIV disease in check may not have as much control over the viral infection as previous estimates have suggested, according to results of a study by AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – HIV-infected and uninfected women with normal cervical cytology (Pap test) and a negative test result for oncogenic (tumor inducing) human papillomavirus DNA at study enrollment had a similar risk of cervical precancer and cancer after 5 years of follow-up, according to a study in the July 25 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.

Howard D. Strickler, M.D., M.P.H., of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, New York, presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing at the International AIDS Conference.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ending the global HIV/AIDS pandemic may be possible by implementing a multifaceted global effort that expands testing, treatment, and prevention programs, as well as meets the scientific challenges of developing an HIV vaccine and possibly a cure, according to a Viewpoint in the July 25 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.

Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Bethesda, Md., presented the article at a JAMA media briefing at the International AIDS Conference.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – An examination of the characteristics of persons born outside the United States diagnosed with HIV while living in the U.S. finds that, compared to U.S.-born persons with HIV, they are more likely to be Hispanic or Asian, and to have a higher percentage of HIV infections attributed to heterosexual contact, according to a study appearing in JAMA being published online.

H. Irene Hall, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing at the International AIDS Conference.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Included in the 2012 International Antiviral Society-USA panel recommendations for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patient care is that all adult patients, regardless of CD4 cell count, should be offered antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to an article in the July 25 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS. Other new recommendations include changes in therapeutic options and modifications in the timing and choice of ART for patients with an opportunistic illness such as tuberculosis.

Marla Keller, M.D., discusses her new research that indicates HPV testing in HIV-positive women may help reduce the frequent Pap tests, used to screen for cervical cancer, that are now recommended. Dr. Keller is associate professor of medicine and of obstetrics & gynecology and women’s health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and attending physician, medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital for Einstein

(Photo Credit: Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

A new study shows that a therapeutic intervention called Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) appears to improve the mental and physical health of adolescents in foster care. CBCT is a tool that provides strategies for people to develop more compassionate attitudes toward themselves and others.

Severe influenza doubles the odds that a person will develop Parkinson's disease later in life, according to University of British Columbia researchers.

However, the opposite is true for people who contracted a typical case of red measles as children – they are 35 per cent less likely to develop Parkinson's, a nervous system disorder marked by slowness of movement, shaking, stiffness, and in the later stages, loss of balance.