Body | Page 3436 | Science Codex

Dead of winter is tough on arthritis sufferers

CHICAGO --- As cold winter weather sets in and daylight hours dwindle, many older Chicagoans with arthritis tend to sit idle, missing out on the daily dose of physical activity they need to improve their health, according to a Northwestern Medicine study.

"We found that there's a huge difference in trying to get these patients to be active in the winter and trying to get them to be active in the summer," said Joe Feinglass, a research professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Birth cohort screening for hepatitis C is cost effective, could save thousands of lives each year

PHILADELPHIA, November 4, 2011 – According to a new study being published early online in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, birth cohort screening for hepatitis C is cost effective in the primary care setting. A proactive screening strategy could identify over 800,000 currently unidentified cases, which could save many thousands of lives each year.

Biologists use flies and mice to get to the heart of Down syndrome

A novel study involving fruit flies and mice has allowed biologists to identify two critical genes responsible for congenital heart defects in individuals with Down syndrome, a major cause of infant mortality and death in people born with this genetic disorder.

A new definition for periprosthetic joint infection

(PHILADELPHIA) – A rise in periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) rates has the orthopedic community moving to develop it's first-ever agreed upon definition and diagnostic criteria to help better treat patients.

Awareness and labeling initiatives can benefit inland fisheries

Sustainable seafood initiatives, including certification and ecolabeling and awareness schemes, could be extended to more effectively cover inland, freshwater fisheries, according to researchers writing in the November issue of BioScience.

Scientists may have found longevity genes in mole-rats

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have identified high levels of a number of genes in the naked mole-rat that may suggest why they live longer than other rodents and demonstrate resistance to age-related diseases.

Trillions served: Massive, complex projects for DOE JGI 2012 Community Sequencing Program

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- According to roadside signs, the number of burgers served has eclipsed the billion mark, while the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) will now serve up trillions of nucleotides of information from scores of newly-selected projects geared to feed the data-hungry worldwide research community.

Chromosomal 'breakpoints' linked to canine cancer

North Carolina State University researchers have uncovered evidence that evolutionary "breakpoints" on canine chromosomes are also associated with canine cancer. Mapping these "fragile" regions in dogs may also have implications for the discovery and treatment of human cancers.

11/11/11: Anthropologist debunks doomsday myths

LAWRENCE, Kan. — University of Kansas anthropologist and Maya scholar John Hoopes and his students are watching predicted doomsday dates such as 11/11/11 and Dec. 21, 2012, with considerable skepticism.

Hoopes is regarded as one of the major go-to guys to separate fact from fiction about the Maya calendar and a prediction that the world would end Dec. 21, 2012.

Human skin begins tanning in seconds, and here's how

We all know that human skin tans after days spent in the sun. That relatively slow process has known links to ultraviolet (and specifically UVB) exposure, which leads to tanning only after it damages the DNA of skin cells. Now, researchers reporting online on November 3 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have uncovered a much speedier path to pigmentation.

The newly discovered response is likely to provide rapid protection against UV damage, the researchers say, and understanding how it works might impact the design of sunscreens in the future.

Embryonic signal drives pancreatic cancer and offers a way to kill it

Pancreatic cancer is a particularly challenging one to beat; it has a tendency to spread and harbors cancer stem cells that stubbornly resist conventional approaches to therapy. Now, researchers reporting in the November issue of Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, have evidence to suggest there is a way to kill off those cancer stem cells. The target is a self-renewal pathway known for its role not in cancer but in embryonic stem cells.

Skin 'sees' UV light, starts producing pigment

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For most people, tanning seems a simple proposition. A naturally light-skinned person lies in the sun for hours and ends up as bronzed as a Jersey Shore star. To scientists, the reaction of skin to ultraviolet light is more mysterious. A new study demonstrates that skin detects UVA radiation using a light-sensitive receptor previously found only in the eye and that this starts melanin production within a couple of hours. Until now, scientists only knew that melanin production occurred days after UVB radiation had already begun damaging DNA.

Gladstone scientists identify gene critical for cell responses to oxygen deprivation

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—November 3, 2011—Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have identified a protein that kick–starts the response to low levels of oxygen, suggesting new lines of research relevant to a variety of potentially fatal disorders associated with diminished oxygen supply, including cancer, heart disease, stroke and other neurological conditions that affect millions of people worldwide.

Gene discovered as cause of fatal condition

Medical scientists have for the first time identified a gene responsible for a fatal abdominal condition that afflicts tens of thousands of people across the world.

An international team led by Matt Bown, a vascular surgeon from the University of Leicester, identified a single gene that is linked to the development of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).

What is more, the team discovered that the gene, LRP1, was not linked to other cardiovascular diseases, suggesting that it is specific to AAA.

Alternate ending -- living on without telomerase

Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center have discovered an alternative mechanism for the extension of the telomere repeat sequence by DNA repair enzymes.