Body

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A rising percentage of parents say they won't have their teen daughters vaccinated to protect against the human papilloma virus, even though physicians are increasingly recommending adolescent vaccinations, a study by Mayo Clinic and others shows. More than 2 in 5 parents surveyed believe the HPV vaccine is unnecessary, and a growing number worry about potential side effects, researchers found. The findings are published in the new issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Around half of Cambodia's tropical flooded grasslands have been lost in just 10 years according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

The seasonally flooded grasslands around the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake, are of great importance for biodiversity and a refuge for 11 globally-threatened bird species. They are also a vital fishing, grazing, and traditional rice farming resource for around 1.1 million people.

An international research team announces the first scientific results from one of the most inaccessible places on Earth: the bottom of the Mariana Trench located nearly 11 kilometers below sea level in the western Pacific, which makes it the deepest site on Earth.

Their analyses document that a highly active bacteria community exists in the sediment of the trench - even though the environment is under extreme pressure almost 1,100 times higher than at sea level.

March 17, 2013 — (Bronx, NY) — Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found that macrophages – white blood cells that play a key role in the immune response – also help to both produce and eliminate the body's red blood cells (RBCs). The findings could lead to novel therapies for diseases or conditions in which the red blood cell production is thrown out of balance.

As success rates in treating childhood cancers have improved, greater emphasis is being placed on quality of life issues following successful treatment.

Many cancer treatments can lead to infertility, but there are few methods to preserve the fertility of children who have not entered puberty. Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), which produce sperm cells, are present prior to the start of puberty.

Mycobacterium ulcerans infects the skin and subcutaneous tissues and secretes a lipid toxin, mycolactone, which causes open skin lesions, known as Buruli ulcers.

In the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Caroline Demangel at the Pasteur Institue in Paris investigated the molecular actions of mycolactone and found that it dysregulates the cellular skeleton (cytoskeleton) through activation of a protein known as N-WASP.

The drug-resistant bacteria known as MRSA, once confined to hospitals but now widespread in communities, will likely continue to exist in both settings as separate strains, according to a new study.

The prediction that both strains will coexist is reassuring because previous projections indicated that the more invasive and fast-growing community strains would overtake and eliminate hospital strains, possibly posing a threat to public health.

Teens who were depressed as children are far more likely than their peers to be obese, smoke cigarettes and lead sedentary lives, even if they no longer suffer from depression.

The research, by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Pittsburgh, suggests that depression, even in children, can increase the risk of heart problems later in life.

The researchers report their findings March 15 at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Miami, Fla.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Subra Suresh and National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT) President José Miguel Aguilera announced today a new research partnership with Chile through Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW). The agreement was signed at the CONICYT headquarters in Santiago, Chile. GROW is a coordinated effort that enhances international collaborative research opportunities for NSF Graduate Research Fellows. There are now GROW agreements between NSF and science agencies in 10 countries.

As success rates in treating childhood cancers have improved, greater emphasis is being placed on quality of life issues following successful treatment. Many cancer treatments can lead to infertility, but there are few methods to preserve the fertility of children who have not entered puberty. Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), which produce sperm cells, are present prior to the start of puberty.

Mycobacterium ulcerans infects the skin and subcutaneous tissues and secretes a lipid toxin, mycolactone, which causes open skin lesions, known as Buruli ulcers. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Caroline Demangel at the Pasteur Institue in Paris investigated the molecular actions of mycolactone and found that it dysregulates the cellular skeleton (cytoskeleton) through activation of a protein known as N-WASP. They found that excessive N-WASP activity caused defects in cell adhesion and migration that impaired the integrity of the skin.

Today archaeologists unearthed a 'Black Death' grave in London, containing more than a dozen skeletons of people suspected to have died from the plague. The victims are thought to have died during the 14th century and archaeologists anticipate finding many more as they excavate the site.

The genome of an extinct Australian frog has been revived and reactivated by a team of scientists using sophisticated cloning technology to implant a "dead" cell nucleus into a fresh egg from another frog species.

The bizarre gastric-brooding frog, Rheobatrachus silus – which uniquely swallowed its eggs, brooded its young in its stomach and gave birth through its mouth - became extinct in 1983.

Athens, Ga. – Students who date in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use than their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

"Romantic relationships are a hallmark of adolescence, but very few studies have examined how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships," said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior.

In their experiment the researchers used a carbon nanotube that was mounted between two metal electrodes, spanned a distance of about 1 µm, and could vibrate mechanically. Then, they applied an organic molecule with a magnetic spin due to an incorporated metal atom. This spin was oriented in an external magnetic field.