Body | Page 769 | Science Codex

Pitchers risk greater injury if MLB cuts time between pitches, researchers warn

Proposed rule changes by Major League Baseball, designed to speed up the game by reducing time between pitches, could lead to a spike in arm injuries as players have less time to recover between throws, say researchers who have analyzed the impact of fatigue.

Scientists looked specifically at the effect of using a 'pitch clock', a controversial concept currently being tested in the minor leagues.

Similar to a shot clock in basketball, a timer counts down between pitches, allowing pitchers just 20 seconds to throw. If the pitcher is too slow, the umpire calls a ball.

E. coli 'anchors' provide novel way to hijack superbugs

Australian scientists may have found a way to stop deadly bacteria from infecting patients. The discovery could lead to a whole new way of treating antibiotic-resistant "superbugs". The researchers have uncovered what may be an Achilles heel on the bacteria cell membrane that could act as a potential novel drug target.

Almost every second woman suffers from a urinary tract infection during her lifetime, mostly caused by the intestinal bacterium E. coli. It travels along the urethra to the bladder where it triggers painful infections.

Scientist collects 30 sawfly species not previously reported from Arkansas

Sawflies and wood wasps form a group of insects that feed mainly on plants when immature. Field work by Dr. Michael Skvarla, which was conducted during his Ph.D. research at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA, has uncovered 30 species of these plant-feeding wasps that were previously unknown in the state.

Second gene modifies effect of mutation in a dog model of ALS

Canine Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) is a neurodegenerative disease in dogs with similarities to ALS in humans. Scientists at Uppsala University, SciLifeLab and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Missouri, have discovered a modifier gene that affects the risk of developing DM in Pembroke Welsh Corgis (PWC). The study is published in PNAS this week.

Coal shipping threat to Great Barrier Reef

Australian researchers have raised fresh concerns that a major shipping disaster could harm the Great Barrier Reef, with new research revealing coal dust in seawater can kill corals and slow down the growth rate of seagrasses and fish.

"Corals exposed to the highest concentrations of coal dust died within two weeks," says author Kathryn Berry, who led the experimental research.

"Corals exposed to lower concentrations of coal lasted longer, but most of them also died after 4 weeks of exposure.

First penile transplant in the US performed at Mass. General Hospital

A team of surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), led by Curtis L. Cetrulo, Jr., MD, and Dicken S.C. Ko, MD, announced today that they have performed the nation's first genitourinary reconstructive (penile) transplant. The 15-hour operation, which took place earlier this month, involved surgically grafting the complex microscopic vascular and neural structures of a donor organ onto the comparable structures of the recipient.

Farms have become a major air-pollution source

WASHINGTON, DC -- Emissions from farms outweigh all other human sources of fine-particulate air pollution in much of the United States, Europe, Russia and China, according to new research. The culprit: fumes from nitrogen-rich fertilizers and animal waste combine in the air with combustion emissions to form solid particles, which constitute a major source of disease and death, according to the new study.

Poll: Many parents keep prescription opioids at home

ANN ARBOR, Mich -- Nearly half of parents whose child had leftover pain medication from a surgery or illness say they kept the prescription opioids at home -- representing a potential problem down the line.

Parents whose child's provider discussed what to do with the pills, however, were far more likely to dispose them properly, according to a report from the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

The best of AGA science at DDW® 2016

San Diego, CA (May 16, 2015) -- The gastroenterology and hepatology community will gather in San Diego May 21 through 24, 2016, for Digestive Disease Week® (DDW)http://www.ddw.org to hear cutting-edge science and presentations from leading experts in the field. For media attending DDW 2016, use this guide to find AGA's highlighted abstracts at the meeting. We've also outlined sessions on the gut microbiome, an exciting area of medical research where AGA has expanded its focus over the past several years.

Farms have become a major air-pollution source

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Overpasses and underpasses for migrating animals may reduce collisions with automobiles

In the western United States, mule deer and pronghorn (animals that are similar to antelopes) undergo annual migrations that place them and drivers at risk for collisions when the animals cross busy roadways. A new study evaluated overpasses and underpasses as alternative routes for the animals during migration.

Physicians are more likely to use hospice and intensive care at end of life

New research suggests that US physicians are more likely to use hospice and intensive or critical care units in the last months of life than non-physicians. Hospitalization rates were similar.

The retrospective study analyzed fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries across the United States using Medicare Part A claims data from 2008 to 2010 for 9947 decedent physicians and a random sample of 192,006 Medicare decedents.

Self-healing, flexible electronic material restores functions after many breaks

Electronic materials have been a major stumbling block for the advance of flexible electronics because existing materials do not function well after breaking and healing. A new electronic material created by an international team, however, can heal all its functions automatically even after breaking multiple times. This material could improve the durability of wearable electronics.

Freight train: Myo1c provides cellular transport for protein crucial to kidney filtration

The motor protein Myo1c binds to Neph1, a protein crucial for ensuring effective filtration by the kidney, and serves as one mode of its cellular transport, according to findings by investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and their collaborators reported in the May 16, 2016 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

HIV vaccine design should adapt as HIV virus mutates

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Human immunodeficiency virus is known to be a highly variable virus that adapts to a person's immune response during the lifetime infection, and a new study published in Nature Medicine shows that viral adaptation in HIV can predict a person's current disease status, as well as the degree to which newly transmitted HIV-1 is adapted to their new host.