Body

Research: Venous thrombosis in users of non-oral hormonal contraception: follow-up study, Denmark 2001-10

A study published on bmj.com today adds to the evidence that certain non-oral hormonal contraceptives (e.g. skin patches, implants and vaginal rings) carry a higher risk of serious blood clots (known as venous thromboembolism) than others.

The findings suggest that some women should switch from a non-oral product to a contraceptive pill to help reduce their risk.

Highlights

May 11, 2012 – Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer, estimated by the National Cancer Institute to afflict more than 70,000 people in the United States annually and the incidence rate continues to rise. In a study published online in Genome Research (www.genome.org), researchers have identified a previously unknown non-coding RNA that plays an important role in the biology of melanoma, a finding that could lead to a new target for therapy.

Los Angeles, CA (May 10, 2012) Despite the fact that military service means working long hours with unpredictable schedules, frequent relocations, and separations from loved ones due to deployment, a new study published in the Journal of Family Issues (a SAGE journal) finds that marriages of military members are not more vulnerable than civilian marriages.

Patients receiving telemonitoring along with high blood pressure management support from a pharmacist were more likely to lower their blood pressure than those not receiving extra support, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2012.

PHILADELPHIA—A new study published in Science May 11 is shedding light on the molecular details of PARP-1, a DNA damage-detecting enzyme that when inhibited has been shown to be effective in fighting cancer and other diseases.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — From tiny villages in developing nations to suburban kitchens in the United States, dangerous strains of E. coli bacteria sicken millions of people each year – and kill untold numbers of children.

Now, new research from the University of Michigan Health System gives scientists a better understanding of what is going on in the diarrhea-wracked guts of its victims, and what might be done to prevent or treat it.

MAYWOOD, Ill. – Patients see potential benefits from direct-to-consumer genetic testing, but are also concerned about how test results will be used, and generally are unwilling to pay more than $10 or $20 for them, according to focus groups conducted by researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Seaweeds are important foundational species that are vital both as food and habitat to many aquatic and terrestrial shore organisms. Yet seaweeds that cling to rocky shores are continually at risk of being broken or dislodged from their holds by crashing waves with large hydrodynamic forces. So how do such seaweeds survive in intertidal zones? Do they have special properties that make them extremely flexible or particularly strong?

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Harvesting tropical forests for timber may not be the arch-enemy of conservation that it was once assumed to be, according to a new study led by a University of Florida researcher.

Selective logging may be one of the few feasible options left for conserving tropical forests given the huge financial incentives pushing tropical landholders to convert primary forests into cash-generating agricultural plantations.

Researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by Jorge L. Martínez-Torrecuadrada from the Proteomics Unit, have demonstrated that the antibody-based blocking of ephrinB2, a protein involved in angiogenesis and lymphoangiogenesis, may represent an effective strategy for the development of antiangiogenic and antitumoural therapies.

The results of this study appeared in this month's issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A hidden facet of a math problem that goes back to Sanskrit scrolls has just been exposed by nanotechnology researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut.

It turns out we've been missing a version of the famous "packing problem," and its new guise could have implications for cancer treatment, secure wireless networks, microelectronics and demolitions, the researchers say.

People don't always do as their neighbors do, and the same is true of neighboring chimpanzees. That's according to a report published online on May 10 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology featuring observations of wild chimps as they used hammers to crack nuts.

Social jetlag—a syndrome related to the mismatch between the body's internal clock and the realities of our daily schedules—does more than make us sleepy. It is also contributing to the growing tide of obesity, according to a large-scale epidemiological study reported online on May 10 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

Scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM) at the University of Edinburgh have discovered an enzyme that corrects the most common mistake in mammalian DNA.

The mistake is the inclusion of individual bits of RNA within the DNA sequence, which the researchers found occurs more than a million times in each cell as it divides. The findings, published in Cell, suggest the RNase H2 enzyme is central to an important DNA repair mechanism necessary to protect the human genome.