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Necessity is the mother of invention: Great Tits eat hibernating common pipistrelle bats under harsh conditions of snow cover. This remarkable newly-acquired behaviour was observed by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen and their colleagues in a cave in Hungary. When the researchers offered the birds alternative feed, they ate it and showed little or no interest in flying into the cave again. (Biology Letters, online prepublication from September 9, 2009).

INDIANAPOLIS – Will neglecting to brush your teeth damage more than just your smile? Can failing to attack dental plaque increase your risk of heart damage?

The answer to both questions may be yes if you are male and black, an Indiana University School of Dentistry study published in the current issue of the Journal of Dental Research reports.

Although it has been demonstrated that Helicobacter pylori causes gastric cancer, it is still controversial that whether H. pylori eradication therapy is effective in primary prevention of gastric cancer. This is especially important for Yamagata Prefecture, a region of Japan with the second highest incidence of gastric cancer in the world.

CHICAGO (September 24, 2009) – New research published in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons challenges the widely held belief that more medical errors occur in teaching hospitals during the month of July due to the influx of new graduates from medical and nursing schools – also known as the "July Phenomenon." The study shows no differences in in-hospital mortality rates, number of days in the intensive care unit (ICU) or on ventilator support, or minutes spent undergoing resuscitation for trauma patients in July compared with results for other mont

Among heterosexuals in the United Kingdom (UK), HIV transmission can occur within networks of as many as 30 people, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit, London. Details are published September 25 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens.

ve genetic regions have been identified that are unique to the most virulent strain of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), the hospital superbug. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology studied the genome of the bacterium, looking for genes relating to motility, antibiotic resistance and toxicity.

Women who have had a kidney transplant and have good kidney function can get pregnant and give birth without jeopardizing their health or the health of their transplant. Having children does not affect patients' kidney function or their life-span compared with transplanted women who do not have children, according to a matching cohort study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

A kidney condition that can arise in children and was until recently believed to disappear after puberty may persist into adulthood and cause significant long-term complications, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that better treatment options are needed for children with the disorder, called minimal change nephrotic syndrome.

When the ancestors of living cetaceans — whales, dolphins and porpoises — first dipped their toes into water, a series of evolutionary changes were sparked that ultimately placed these swimming mammals into the larger hoofed animal group.

Investing in some colorectal cancer screening programs could cut future, more expensive treatment costs in half, according to a new study published online September 24 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The only screening program found not to be cost-saving was colonoscopy.

Governments and insurance companies may invest more in colorectal cancer screening programs—some of which have proven to reduce colorectal cancer mortality—if the cost-savings were known, especially as more expensive cancer drugs continue to hit the market.

Compounds related to Viagra, which is already in clinical trials to prevent heart failure, may also counter the disease in a different way, according to a study published online today in the journal Circulation Research. The results hold promise for the design of a new drug class and for its potential use in combination with Viagra or beta blockers.

A comparison of breast milk samples from Denmark and Finland revealed a significant difference in environmental chemicals which have previously been implicated in testicular cancer or in adversely affecting development of the fetal testis in humans and animals. This finding is published today in the International Journal of Andrology.

Vitamin D deficiency in premenopausal women may increase the risk of developing systolic hypertension 15 years later, according to research reported at the American Heart Association's 63rd High Blood Pressure Research Conference.

Researchers examined women enrolled in the Michigan Bone Health and Metabolism Study and analyzed data from 559 Caucasian women living in Tecumseh, Mich. The ongoing study began in 1992 when the women were 24 to 44 years old with an average age of 38 years.

PASADENA, Calif.—Using state-of-the-art electron microscopy techniques, a team led by researchers from Caltech has for the first time visualized and described the precise arrangement of chemoreceptors—the receptors that sense and respond to chemical stimuli—in bacteria. In addition, they have found that this specific architecture is the same throughout a wide variety of bacterial species, which means that this is a stable, universal structure that has been conserved over evolutionary time.

Levels of reactive oxygen in fruit flies act as a signal for blood stem cells to produce immune-bolstering cells.

For years, health conscious people have been taking antioxidants to reduce the levels of reactive oxygen in their blood and prevent the DNA damage done by free radicals, which are the result of oxidative stress. But could excessive use of antioxidants deplete our immune systems?

Research at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has raised that question.