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Tufts University's Miriam E. Nelson, PhD, served as vice-chair of the advisory committee for the new Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans written by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Nelson is Director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition and Associate Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts.
Spanning deep gorges, rivers and freeways, bridges are an indispensable part of the traffic network. Yet their condition in Germany is appalling: In a survey carried out by the German automobile club ADAC in 2007, one in ten bridges out of the fifty that were inspected failed the test; a total of four were rated "poor" and one was even rated "very poor". The changing effects of weather and temperature, road salt and the increasing volume of traffic all take their toll on the material – quickly causing damage such as hairline cracks, flaking concrete, and rust penetration.
Consuming caffeine at any time during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction (low birth weight), according to research published on bmj.com today.
Although some previous studies have also shown this, this BMJ study additionally shows that any amount and type of caffeine intake—from tea, cola, chocolate, cocoa, and some prescription drugs, as well as coffee—is linked with relatively slower fetal growth.
By measuring 'inaudible' sounds, events like illegal nuclear tests can be detected. This 'infrasound' can also help us understand more about the upper atmosphere, according to Läslo Evers. Evers will receive a PhD based on his research into this subject at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) on Tuesday 4 November 2008.
Princeton, N.J. and Jamaica Plain, Mass., November 3, 2008 — Medarex, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX) and The Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories (MBL) of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) today announced that a Phase 2 trial of an anti-C. difficile antibody combination treatment in patients with C. difficile Associated Diarrhea (CDAD) successfully met its primary objective.
Boston University undergraduate Jessica Rogge and associate professor Karen Warkentin, working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's laboratories in Gamboa, Panama, discovered that frog embryos at a very early developmental stage actively respond to oxygen levels in the egg—as reported in the Nov. 7, 2008 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology. These initial responses to the environment may be critical to the frogs' long-term survival.
The therapeutical actions of berberine on diabetes have been well studied. Previous researches show that berberine modulates cholesterol through increasing low-density lipoprotein receptor mRNA stability, reduces body adiposity and increases insulin sensitivity partly through activating AMP-activated protein kinase and improves glucose metabolism via induction of glycolysis. Yet, the underlying mechanism for berberine promoting insulin release remains unclear.
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 3, 2008 – America's tweens and teens more than doubled their use of type 2 diabetes medications between 2002 and 2005, with girls between 10 and 14 years of age showing a 166 percent increase. One likely cause: Obesity, which is closely associated with type 2 diabetes.
The finding is included in a study of chronic medication use in children ages 5 to 19 released today in the journal Pediatrics by researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts (Nasdaq: ESRX) and the Kansas Health Institute.
There is a critical need to review current treatment strategies for the increasingly common problem of medication overuse headaches (MOH), according to a series of international papers in the November issue of Cephalalgia.
"MOH is associated with severe disability, unmet treatment need and little clinical data to support current management strategies" says neurology expert Professor David W Dodick from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Arizona, USA.
Since the first report in 1976, collagenous colitis has been associated with a variety of conditions, including use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and proton pump inhibitors. This condition is characterized by chronic watery diarrhea and abnormal deposition of collagen beneath the colonic epithelium. Severe hypoproteinemia due to enteric protein loss is rare unless accompanied by small bowel malabsorption syndrome.
Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)-guided biliary drainage for treatment of patients who have obstructive jaundice in cases of failed endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).
An article to be published on October 21, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses the case. The research team led by Takao Itoi, from Tokyo Medical University Shinjuku-ku of Japan introduced the feasibility and outcome of EUS-guided choledochoduodenostomy in four patients who failed ERCP.
Beta-catenin, a central molecule of the Wnt-signaling pathway was previously known to involve in the tumorigenesis of various gastrointestinal cancers such as gastric cancer and colon cancer. In colon cancer, previous studies suggested association between the feature of nuclear beta-catenin, which remarks an activation of the Wnt-signaling pathway, and poorer survival. However, a correlation between the overall expression of this protein and treatment outcome in colorectal cancer has not been clearly defined.
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a disorder characterized by hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis with a risk of developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The progression from simple steatosis to cirrhosis has been attributed to inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-), oxidative stress and endotoxin, in combination with fatty degeneration due to insulin resistance. At present, histopathological examination of liver biopsy tissue is the only way to definitively diagnose NASH.
IEM is associated with an increased acid clearance times in the distal esophagus. Gastropharyngeal reflux causes supraesophageal manifestations such as globus, chronic cough, hoarseness, asthma, chronic sinusitis, or other otorhinolaryngologic diseases. It might be hypothesized that patients with IEM would be unable to clear refluxed acid; this would lead to a prolonged esophageal dwell time of the refluxed acid and then the refluxed acid would reach to a higher level.