For people with diabetes not treated with insulin, unsupervised self-monitoring of blood glucose levels has not been found effective at improving glycaemic control. In a randomised trial published this week in PLOS Medicine, Sarah Wild, Brian McKinstry and colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland report on a strategy where patients submit their home blood glucose results to a website which is monitored by a nurse or physician who responds to guide patients.
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WASHINGTON, D.C., July 26, 2016 -- Seeing fruit "turn bad and going to waste" inspired a team of researchers in China to explore using atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasma -- already widely used for medical purposes -- as a novel solution to extend the shelf life of fruit and other perishable foods.
When bacteria attaches to food surfaces, it can extract nutrients and continue to proliferate in the form of "biofilms." Bacterial biofilms on food and food-processing surfaces diminish the food's quality and safety.
It may be hard to imagine competing over who gets to kiss a frog, but when it comes to mating, a new study concludes that some frogs have moved out of the pond onto land to make it easier for the male in the pair to give sexual rivals the slip.
CINCINNATI - As cases of ADHD continue to rise among U.S. children, pediatricians at busy community practices are getting a much-needed assist from a web-based technology to improve the quality of ADHD care and patient outcomes.
According to a multi-institutional study published online July 26 in Pediatrics, a new web-based software program is helping reduce ADHD behavioral symptoms in children receiving care at community pediatric practices by coordinating care and ensuring patients get the most effective ADHD medications.
Three weeks after the scientific world marked the 20th anniversary of the birth of Dolly the sheep new research, published by The University of Nottingham, in the academic journal Nature Communications has shown that four clones derived from the same cell line -- genomic copies of Dolly -- reached their 8th birthdays in good health. The video can be seen here.
SAN FRANCISCO (July 26, 2016) - Scientists have uncovered a fascinating new clue in the global mystery surrounding wild birds with grossly deformed beaks. A team of researchers from the California Academy of Sciences, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have identified a novel virus that has been linked to Avian Keratin Disorder (AKD), a disease responsible for debilitating beak overgrowth and whose cause has remained elusive despite more than a decade of research.
Favism is a common hereditary disease, affecting around 400 million people worldwide. It is caused by a lack of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). This deficiency triggers the destruction of red blood cells (hemolysis) and anemia in patients after they consume fava beans and certain drugs. In the case of severe forms with a complete enzyme deficiency, life-threatening infections with bacteria and fungi can even occur. However, most specialists who treat these patients are unaware of this.
A new biological study by the University of Stirling has found that exposure to infections in early life does not have long-lasting consequences for later-life survival and reproduction.
In the UK 150 years ago, a 20-year-old could be expected to live to age 60; nowadays, a 20-year-old is expected to live to over 80. Why has adult lifespan increased so much during the last 150 years?
First discovered in 2009, there are now a total of six known UK infestations of the Lasius neglectus which thrive in greenhouses and domestic gardens. Originating from Asia, they are likely to have arrived in the UK through the import of plants from infected areas.
The ants pose no threat to humans but non-indigenous species are capable of dramatically altering ecosystems and can drive native species to extinction. It is estimated that invasive species cost the UK £1.7billion every year through damage and management costs.
Japanese tadpoles can live and grow in natural hots springs, or onsen, with water temperatures as high as 46.1oC (115oF). Living in onsen may benefit the tadpoles' immune systems, speed their growth, and allow the tadpoles to survive on small volcanic islands where there are few other natural sources of fresh water.
Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- It is one of the wonders of nature: multiplying cells are able to precisely copy their genetic material, once and only once, and spatially segregate the resulting two sets of chromosomes when the time comes to separate into two "daughter" cells. Just in our blood system alone, we have about 500 million cells born in the bone marrow every minute of our lifetime. Inside each of these cells, the DNA in chromosomes has to be accurately duplicated and then evenly segregated into the daughter cells as they divide.
A new study involving researchers from The University of Manchester looked at the genetic information of more than 1,500 prostate cancer patients and identified two variants linked to increased risk of radiotherapy side-effects.
Nearly 50% of the 1.1 million men a year worldwide diagnosed with prostate cancer undergo radiotherapy. It is an effective treatment, but between 10 and 50 percent of men suffer from radiotherapy side-effects which can cause long-term problems with urinating or rectal bleeding.
(Boston)--A newly identified requirement of a modified human protein in ebolavirus (EBOV) replication, may unlock the door for new approaches to treating Ebola.
Zika virus has now become a household word. It can cause microcephaly, a birth defect where a baby's head is smaller than usual. Additionally, it is associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disorder that could lead to paralysis and even death. However, how this microbe replicates in the infected cells remains a mystery. Now, an international team led by researchers from Tianjin University and Nankai University has unraveled the puzzle of how Zika virus replicates and published their finding in Springer's journal Protein & Cell.
Janus was a Roman god with two distinct faces. Thousands of years later, he inspired material scientists working on asymmetrical microscopic spheres - with both a magnetic and a non-magnetic half - called Janus particles. Instead of behaving like normal magnetic beads, with opposite poles attracting, Janus particle assemblies look as if poles of the same type attract each other. A new study reveals that the dynamics of such assemblies can be predicted by modelling the interaction of only two particles and simply taking into account their magnetic asymmetry.