Body

MONTREAL (October 19, 2015)-- Researchers from White River Junction VA Hospital, in Junction, Vermont, will present a case report of acute inhalation lung injury related to the use of e-cigarettes and a flavored e-cigarette liquid containing diacetyl.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Think back to middle school biology class, when you learned that boys have an X and a Y chromosome inside each cell, and girls have two X's.

That small difference explains why boys are more at risk for a range of disorders -- from autism to hemophilia -- linked to genetic defects on their lone X chromosome. Meanwhile, most girls who carry the same defect on one X chromosome don't get sick, because their other X chromosome runs the show.

A Rice University laboratory has developed a continuously tunable method to find and quantify DNA and RNA biomarkers.

Rice bioengineer David Zhang and his colleagues have developed a unique way to adjust their nucleic acid probe reagents on the fly and take a reliable count of target sequences.

The work is detailed in an open-access paper this week in Nature Methods.

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WASHINGTON -- You can learn a lot about the state of someone's immune system just by examining their blood under the microscope. An abnormally high or low white blood count, for instance, might indicate a bone marrow pathology or AIDS. The rupturing of white blood cells might be the sign of an underlying microbial or viral infection. Strangely shaped cells often indicate cancer.

When you tickle the toes of newborn babies, the experience for them isn't quite as you would imagine it to be. That's because, according to new evidence reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 19, infants in the first four months of life apparently feel that touch and wiggle their feet without connecting the sensation to you.

With food allergies in children on the rise, parents often ask the question, How do I prevent food allergies in my baby? A new review published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only), based on the latest evidence, interprets new evidence to guide physicians and families regarding food introduction and allergy prevention.

Have a cavity? Ask your dentist about filling it with a mixture of nanoparticles including silica and zirconia. These white fillings (known as nano-composite resins) resemble teeth better than their metal alternatives and are less likely to come loose or fracture teeth. This is just the beginning argue Brazilian scientists in a review of "nanodentistry," published October 19 in Trends in Biotechnology. Next-generation dental materials incorporating nanotechnology aim to help teeth self-heal, rebuild enamel, and protect against bacterial infections.

Daejeon, Republic of Korea, October 19, 2015 -- Proteins are huge molecules containing hundreds to thousands of atoms that adopt a unique three dimensional structure, placing chemical groups in just the right place to catalyze reactions or build cellular structures. How all those atoms manage to find the right location - the so-called folding problem - has fascinated molecular biologists since the first structures were seen in the 1950s. Moreover, folding has important medical implications because most genetic defects cause protein misfolding.

Singapore, 19 October 2015 - A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Conservation International, found that larger protected areas, especially those in high population density regions, are more likely to undergo a downgrading, downsizing and degazettement (PADDD) event.

Hearing loss is linked with accelerated cognitive decline in older adults, but the use of hearing aids may help safeguard seniors' memory and thinking skills.

The food on your counter can predict your weight - especially if it's cereal or soft drinks.

Over 200 American kitchens were photographed to determine if the food sitting out on counters could predict the weight of the woman living in each home. The new Cornell study found that women who had breakfast cereal sitting on their counters weighed 20-lbs more than their neighbors who didn't, and those with soft drinks sitting out weighed 24 to 26-lbs more. The good news? Those who had a fruit bowl weighed about 13-lbs less.

Invasive methicillin-susceptible StaphylococcuS. aureus (S. aureus) infection (MSSA) caused more infections and more deaths in hospitalized infants than invasive methicillin-resistant S. aureus infection (MRSA), which suggests measures to prevent S. aureus infections should include MSSA in addition to MRSA, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics.

Physician-hospital integration appears to be associated with increased spending and prices for outpatient care but without the accompanying changes in utilization that might suggest more efficient care from better coordination and economies of scale, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Many viral infections, such as the common cold, cause mild illnesses that the body's immune system eventually defeats. But when viruses cause severe disease, doctors have few options for effective treatment.

Studying mice with a variety of viral infections, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine? in St. Louis have demonstrated a way to dial up the body's innate immune defenses while simultaneously attacking a protein that many viruses rely on to replicate.

An orange pigment found in lichens and rhubarb called parietin may have potential as an anti-cancer drug, scientists at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have discovered.

The results are scheduled for publication on October 19 in Nature Cell Biology.