Body

Changing the conditions that zebrafish are kept in could have an impact on their behaviour in animal studies and the reliability of results, according to scientists from Queen Mary, University of London.

Zebrafish, like rats and mice, are often used by neuroscientists to explore mechanisms controlling behaviour and in the search for new compounds to treat behavioural disease such as addiction, attention deficit disorders or autism.

Recent raids of religious compounds in Texas and British Columbia make clear that polygamy is, to say the least, frowned upon by western governments. But legal questions aside, can polygamy ever be morally permissible?

An article in the latest issue of the journal Ethics makes the case that traditional forms of polygamy are inherently unequal and therefore morally objectionable.

Reston, Va. (May 3, 2012) – The use of single positron emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) has been reported to change clinical management in a significant number of thyroid cancer patients according to research presented in the May issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Information obtained from these scans not only helps determine the need for radioiodine therapy or alterative options, but also impacts the long-term follow-up strategy.

How do changed living conditions in rural regions affect people's health and lifestyles? This is the question that Thomas Elkeles and colleagues from the Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences investigate, using rural communities in north-eastern Germany as their study populations. In the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, the authors present the results of their Landesgesundheitsstudie (LGS, Rural Health Study) (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109(16): 285-92).

A study carried out by researchers from Spain, the Netherlands and Argentina suggests that in a work environment, sexual competition affects women more than men. However, a rival's social skills provoke jealousy and professional envy equally in both sexes.

A group of researchers from the universities of Valencia, Groningen (the Netherlands) and Palermo (Argentina) have analysed the differences between men and women in their way of feeling envious and jealous at work.

In classical mythology, the cypress tree is associated with death, the underworld and eternity. Indeed, the family to which cypresses belong, is an ancient lineage of conifers, and a new study of their evolution affords a unique insight into a turbulent era in the Earth's history.

Scientists have discovered an Achilles heel within our cells that bacteria are able to exploit to cause and spread infection.

The researchers say their findings could lead to the development of new anti-infective drugs as alternatives to antibiotics whose overuse has led to resistance.

University of Manchester researchers studied Listeria – a potentially deadly group of bacteria that can cause listeriosis in humans when digested – and found they are able to spread infection by hitching a ride on a naturally occurring protein called calpain.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Researchers at Michigan State University have shown a prebiotic may help the body's own natural killer cells fight bacterial infection and reduce inflammation, greatly decreasing the risk of colon cancer.

Prebiotics are fiber supplements that serve as food for the trillions of tiny bacteria living in the gut. When taken, they can stimulate the growth of the "good" bacteria. The evolution of prebiotic supplements (as well as probiotics, which are actual bacteria ingested into the system) provide new therapeutic targets for researchers and physicians.

In a paper published May 3, in the journal Evolution, University of Cincinnati graduate student Karl Grieshop and Michal Polak, associate professor of biological sciences at UC, examine the role of genital spines in the reproductive success of a species of fruit fly. Their investigation identifies the specific type of advantage these spines bestow in the competition to reproduce.

SEATTLE – For the first time, scientists have found what could be a causative link between the concentration of circulating Y-chromosome fetal cells in women who gave birth to children of either sex and their risk of later developing breast cancer and colon cancer. The findings show that the presence of fetal cells is a double-edged sword: Women with the lowest concentration of fetal cells were 70 percent less likely to have breast cancer, while women with the highest concentration of fetal cells had a four-fold increased risk for colon cancer when compared with healthy controls.

Using mathematical models, researchers in the Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO) program at Moffitt Cancer Center are focusing their research on the interaction between the tumor and its microenvironment and the "selective forces" in that microenvironment that play a role in the growth and evolution of cancer.

According to Alexander R. A. Anderson, Ph.D., chair of the IMO, mathematical models can be useful tools for the study of cancer progression as related to understandings of tumor ecology.

MAYWOOD -- A routine, but expensive, test for women who undergo stress incontinence surgery may not always be necessary, according to a study published in the latest issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. This test, known as urodynamics, determines how the bladder stores and releases urine. The study found that women who underwent a doctor's evaluation and urodynamics versus a doctor's evaluation alone did not have better outcomes after stress incontinence surgery.

Edmonton) A new paper by Kyle Murray, a marketing researcher with the Alberta School of Business, puts a spin on the expression "you can't please everyone."

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, May 3, 2012 -- A research group from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Soroka University Medical Center led by Prof. Ohad Birk has discovered genetic mutations that lead to intestinal blockages in newborns from two Bedouin tribes in Israel.

Online crowd-sourcing — in which a task is presented to the public, who respond, for free, with various solutions and suggestions — has been used to evaluate potential consumer products, develop software algorithms and solve vexing research-and-development challenges. But diagnosing infectious diseases?