Body

Mother kangaroos face higher health risks to carry and raise their young than their non-reproducing sisters; a new University of Melbourne study has shown.

The study, led by Dr Graeme Coulson and Professor Mark Elgar from the Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne demonstrated for the first time that mother Eastern Grey Kangaroos almost double their food intake and significantly reduce their time spent resting in order to meet the nutritional needs of their baby.

Children who are overweight or obese are more likely to be victimised by bullying when compared to children who are not overweight.

The findings, to be presented today [Wednesday 6 July] at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Academic Primary Care held at the University of Bristol this week [Wednesday 6 to Friday 8 July], explore the prevalence of overweight and obesity in nine-year-olds and its associations with chronic illness and bullying.

In the first study, French scientists looked at neonatal outcome in terms of mode of delivery, gestational age, preterm birth rate (less than 37 weeks of gestation), mean child measurements, low birth weight (less than 2,500g) and perinatal mortality. When comparing the cryo singletons to the fresh cohort, the scientists showed that mean birth weight, mean height and head circumference were lower in the fresh population. The mean birth weight of the cryo babies was 102g higher compared to the fresh cohort.

At present, when a woman undergoes preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) in a fertility clinic, doctors are trying to select an egg or an embryo that is healthy and doesn't have a chromosome abnormality such as an extra copy of chromosome 21, which causes Down's syndrome. In order to establish this, they either have to biopsy a part of the egg called the polar body or remove a cell from the embryo for screening. Both procedures are expensive, invasive and can damage the egg or embryo.

With increasing numbers of people worldwide—5 million in 2010—on antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV, the International Forum for Collaborative HIV Research recommends that improved and sustained global drug safety monitoring, including monitoring for substandard products, drug diversion, inappropriate use, and toxicity, is critical.

BOSTON -- Eating a diet high in vitamin D, as well as the nutrients betaine and methionine, might help reduce the risk of macular degeneration, according to new research conducted by Tufts Medical Center scientists. Their study of identical twins from the US World War II Twin Registry also found that the more a person smoked, the higher their risk of developing macular degeneration.

LOS ANGELES (July 5, 2011) – Researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles have successfully created a tissue-engineered small intestine in mice that replicates the intestinal structures of natural intestine—a necessary first step toward someday applying this regenerative medicine technique to humans.

After an 88-year-long hiatus North America's tallest bird, the statuesque whooping crane (Grus americana), is once again on exhibit at the Bird House at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park. An 11-year-old male whooping crane named Rocky left Homosassa Springs State Park in Florida and is now on exhibit in the nation's capital. Whooping cranes are one of only two crane species native to the United States. There are only eight other zoos in the U.S. which exhibit these birds.

Infants of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infected mothers who were treated before and after birth with the protease inhibitor lopinavir-ritonavir were more likely to experience adrenal dysfunction, including life-threatening adrenal insufficiency in premature infants, compared with a zidovudine-based regimen, according to a preliminary report in the July 6 issue of JAMA.

Countries with lower national income have disproportionately higher rates of death and disability associated with stroke compared with ischemic heart disease, according to a study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Together, ischemic heart disease and stroke are the two leading causes of death worldwide. Ischemic heart disease accounts for 12.2 percent of all deaths and stroke for 9.7 percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Burden of Disease Program.

WASHINGTON, July 5 – Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been changing the way we see the world since the 1960s. Their usage in everyday life is pervasive and continues to increase thanks to the cutting-edge research being done in the field of optics. To highlight breakthroughs in LEDs, the editors of Energy Express, a bi-monthly supplement to Optics Express, the open-access journal of the Optical Society (OSA), today published a special Focus Issue on Optics in LEDs for Lighting.

Using ovarian surface epithelial cells from mice, researchers from Virginia Tech have released findings from a study that they believe will help in cancer risk assessment, cancer diagnosis, and treatment efficiency in a technical journal: Nanomedicine http://www.nanomedjournal.com/article/S1549-9634%2811%2900184-5/abstract

A new study finds high folate intake is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, a finding consistent with the findings of most previous epidemiologic studies. The study is reassuring, as previous recent evidence has suggested that consumption of very high levels of folate through supplements and from folate-fortified diet may increase risk of some cancers.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — For nearly two decades, the medical world and the American public have grappled with the lightning-rod topic of stem cells, in particular the controversy surrounding cells from human embryos. But when researchers four years ago successfully "reprogrammed" adult body cells to become stem cells, some thought the ethical debate was nearly over. Those redirected cells, known as induced pluripotent cells, or iPS cells, show potential as therapy.

BOZEMAN, MT (July 5, 2011) – The Hoopa Valley Tribe, in cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Massachusetts, reported a 73-percent decline in the density of fishers—a house-cat sized member of the weasel family and candidate for endangered species listing—on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in northwestern California between 1998 and 2005.