A new study has shown that racehorses are extremely sensitive to changes in daily light and, contrary to humans, can adapt very quickly to sudden shifts in the 24-hour light-dark cycle, such as those resulting from a transmeridian flight, with unexpected benefits on their physical performance.
The research led by academics in the University of Bristol's Faculty of Medical and Veterinary Sciences is published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology.
The research program AQUA Palawana has been exploring the unique freshwater biodiversity of the Philippine Island and biosphere reserve of Palawan for more than a decade.
A discovery by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies might explain why some premature infants fail to respond to existing treatments for a deadly respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and offers clues for new ways to treat the breathing disorder.
Researchers from Sweden have uncovered an association between shift work and increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). Those who engage in off-hour employment before the age of 20 may be at risk for MS due to a disruption in their circadian rhythm and sleep pattern. Findings of this novel study appear today in Annals of Neurology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society.
During a decade of receiving mammograms, more than half of cancer-free women will be among those summoned back for more testing because of false-positive results, and about one in 12 will be referred for a biopsy.
Simply shifting screening to every other year lowers a woman's probability of having one of these false-positive episodes by about a third – from 61 percent to 42 percent – over the course of a decade.
BOSTON¬—Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute have found strikingly high levels of a bacterium in colorectal cancers, a sign that it might contribute to the disease and potentially be a key to diagnosing, preventing, and treating it.
Sydney: Tuesday 18 October 2011 -- There are more bacteria living on our skin and in our gut than cells in our body. We need them. But until now no-one knew how the immune system could tell that these bacteria are harmless.
Centenary Institute researchers in Sydney have discovered a set of peacekeepers—immune cells in the outer layers of our skin that stop us from attacking friendly bacteria.
The work will open the way to new therapeutic options for immune-mediated diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, of which Australia has some of the world's highest rates.
Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a set of genes that act in muscles to modulate aging and resistance to stress in fruit flies. Scientists have previously found mutations that extend fruit fly lifespan, but this group of genes is distinct because it acts specifically in muscles.
The results were published online this week by the journal Developmental Cell, findings which could help doctors better understand and treat muscle degeneration in human aging.
An international research team has discovered that a pervasive human RNA modification provides the physiological underpinning of the genetic regulatory process that contributes to obesity and type II diabetes.
European researchers showed in 2007 that the FTO gene was the major gene associated with obesity and type II diabetes, but the details of its physiological and cellular functioning remained unknown.
Differences in the levels of two key metabolic enzymes may explain why some people are more susceptible to liver damage, according to a study in the October 17 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. (http://www.jcb.org).
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common lung disease that gets progressively worse over time, making it harder and harder to breathe. It is caused primarily by cigarette smoking, which leads to persistent inflammation in the airways and the subsequent destruction of the lung tissue. Given the central role of inflammation in COPD, it is surprising that patients derive little benefit from treatment with potent anti-inflammatory drugs known as corticosteroids.
The list of aging-associated proteins known to be involved in cancer is growing longer, according to research by investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The new study, published Oct. 17 in Cancer Cell, identifies the protein SIRT2 as a tumor suppressor linked to gender-specific tumor development in mice. Along with two other "sirtuin" proteins previously linked to cancer, the new finding suggests the existence of a rare "family" of tumor suppressors.
Rising sea levels in the coming centuries is perhaps one of the most catastrophic consequences of rising temperatures. Massive economic costs, social consequences and forced migrations could result from global warming. But how frightening of times are we facing? Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute are part of a team that has calculated the long-term outlook for rising sea levels in relation to the emission of greenhouse gases and pollution of the atmosphere using climate models. The results have been published in the scientific journal Global and Planetary Change.
Obese women develop breast cancer at a younger age than other women. Furthermore, the likelihood of developing breast cancer is much higher in patients with morbid obesity.
This is one of the main conclusions drawn in an article recently published in the Spanish journal Nutrición Hospitalaria by the University of Granada research group CTS 367, coordinated by the Nursery Department professor María José Aguilar Cordero.
Antiviral drugs used to target the herpes virus could be effective at slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a new study shows.
The University of Manchester scientists have previously shown that the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) is a risk factor for Alzheimer's when it is present in the brains of people who have a specific genetic risk to the disease.