As the saying goes- blondes have more fun, but in the world of insects it may actually be the rare 'redheads' that have the last laugh….at least in terms of evolution.
A new study at the University of Melbourne has discovered that genetic variation in an asexual insect – insects that reproduce by cloning themselves – is maintained by rare clones being chosen for the next generation, a phenomenon known as frequency-dependent selection.
A discovery from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has put scientists are one step closer to finding a defense against dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria, sometimes called "superbugs."
In a study that will be published in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, OMRF researchers Philip Silverman, Ph.D., and Margaret Clarke, Ph.D., have obtained the first visual evidence of a key piece in the puzzle of how deadly superbugs spread antibiotic resistance in hospitals and throughout the general population.
Research published today (Monday 3 November 2008) reveals for the first time that the different roles of mothers and fathers are influenced by genetics. The study, by the Universities of Exeter and Edinburgh, shows how variation in where males and females put their parenting effort reflects different genetic influences for each sex.
A call to explore a broader use of HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines and the validation of a simple oral screening test for HPV-caused oral cancers are reported in two studies by a Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigator.
UVALDE – By themselves or as an ingredient in a variety of foods, including salsa, America's top-selling condiment, peppers have found a warm spot in the hearts and stomachs of U.S. consumers.
But while U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show consumption of fresh peppers at an all-time high, only a fraction of these are grown domestically.
Currently more than 70 percent of all fresh peppers consumed in the U.S. are imported from Mexico, and another 18 percent are imported from Canada, according to USDA data.
Longer wait times for surgical repair of inguinal hernias in infants and young children under the age of 2 were associated with more emergency department visits and a greater risk of incarcerated hernia, found a study published in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg1001.pdf. There are few studies on wait times for surgery in children as most focus on adults.
Wrongful birth claims may increase in Canada if physicians do not adhere to new 2007 practice guidelines that recommend prenatal screening for chromosomal abnormalities be offered to all pregnant women, write Dr. Jeff Nisker and Roxanne Mykitiuk in CMAJhttp://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg1027.pdf.
Screening was previously offered only to women aged 35 and over.
Status Aboriginal people with severe kidney disease were 43% less likely than non-Aboriginal people to visit a nephrologist, found a study of 107,693 people in Alberta, Canadahttp://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg1007.pdf. Aboriginal people with chronic kidney disease were also almost twice as likely to be admitted to hospital for a condition that may have been preventable with appropriate outpatient care.
Information from a previous visit with another physician was available only 22% of the time when patients saw another doctor, according to a multicentre prospective cohort study by researchers from Ottawa, Toronto and Calgaryhttp://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg1013.pdf. Dr. Carl van Walraven and colleagues state that information exchange is crucial for continuity of patient care and may be associated with better outcomes. The study looked at availability of information for 3250 patients after discharge from hospital.
Canada is not keeping pace with countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom in revalidating the competence of its physicians, writes Dr. Wendy Levinson, chair of the University of Toronto's department of medicinehttp://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg979.pdf.
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Children living in counties with higher levels of annual precipitation appear more likely to have higher prevalence rates of autism, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The results raise the possibility that an environmental trigger for autism may be associated with precipitation and may affect genetically vulnerable children.
Children ages 3 to 5 with a parent deployed to a war zone appear to exhibit more behavior problems than their peers whose parents are not deployed, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.