Vegetarians experience a 36 percent lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome than non-vegetarians, suggests new research from Loma Linda University published in the journal Diabetes Care. Because metabolic syndrome can be a precursor to heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, the findings indicate vegetarians may be at lower risk of developing these conditions.
Body
Researchers are reporting discovery of a scientific basis for extending the shelf life of beer so that it stays fresh and tastes good longer. For the first time, they identified the main substances that cause the bitter, harsh aftertaste of aged beer and suggest that preventing the formation of these substances could help extend its freshness. Their findings appear in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Textiles and rope fragments found in a Peruvian cave have been dated to around 12,000 years ago, making them the oldest textiles ever found in South America, according to a report in the April issue of Current Anthropology.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers here have created the first electronic circuit to merge traditional inorganic semiconductors with organic "spintronics" – devices that utilize the spin of electrons to read, write and manipulate data.
Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin, assistant professor of physics, and his team combined an inorganic semiconductor with a unique plastic material that is under development in colleague Arthur J. Epstein's lab at Ohio State University.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA — Canada needs better regulation and oversight of food safety to protect Canadians as the current system is lax, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/doi/10.1503/cmaj.110453.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A new study from Rhode Island Hospital researchers shows that obese individuals with social anxiety related only to their weight may experience anxiety as severe as individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). The findings directly conflict with the criteria for SAD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV). The study is now published online in advance of print in the journal Depression and Anxiety.
A Short Comparative Genomic Hybridisation (CGH) method has been developed to carry out preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) by analysing all chromosomes and transferring selected embryos to the recipient uterus in the same in vitro fertilisation cycle. This eliminates the need to freeze them.
The technique has been applied to the screening of chromosomal anomalies in cases of advanced maternal age, recurrent miscarriages or repeated implantation failures.
In low-risk pregnant women, high induction and first-cesarean delivery rates do not lead to improved outcomes for newborns, according to new research published in the April issue of The Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine.
The finding that rates of intervention at delivery – whether high, low, or in the middle – had no bearing on the health of new babies brings into question the skyrocketing number of both inductions and cesarean deliveries in the United States.
TUCSON, Ariz. and TROY, N.Y. (April 13, 2011) -- A team of researchers from the University of Arizona and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have increased the toughness of ceramic composites by using graphene reinforcements that enable new fracture resistance mechanisms in the ceramic.
Park Ridge, IL (April 13, 2011) – This week at Experimental Biology (EB) 2011 in Washington, D.C., long-standing beliefs about dietary cholesterol intake and cardiovascular disease risk were examined as part of a scientific symposium and a variety of poster presentations. Experts from leading institutions discussed existing and emerging science regarding dietary cholesterol intake and its association with heart disease risk, dispelling some commonly heard myths.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are chemicals that have been widely used as flame retardants and are now classified as persistent organic pollutants. Health concerns in humans have arisen based primarily on studies with laboratory animals exposed to high levels of PBDEs. Three commercial mixtures of PBDEs have been manufactured in or imported into the United States which include penta-, octa-, and deca-brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs). Of particular concern has been the penta-BDEs used primarily in foams in computers, televisions, mattresses, pillows, carpets, and furniture.
"Preparing a coffee in a drip coffee maker is not the same as making one in an espresso machine or from capsules, because these give rise to differing levels of furan", Javier Santos, a professor at the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Barcelona and lead author of the study, tells SINC.
Concern has risen over recent years about the presence of this compound in foods, because of its toxic and carcinogenic effects in animals, as well as the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed it as a possible carcinogen in humans.
Recently released genetic research from CSIRO and New Mexico State University in the US is helping scientists better understand how Australian birds evolved.
The researchers found that the tiger-parrots of New Guinea's rainforests – named for their striped or barred plumage - are not, as has been widely accepted, closely related either to a group of rosella-like parrots found in Australia and Oceania, nor a similar group found in Asia and Africa.
MAYWOOD, Ill. -- A Loyola University Health System study points to a promising new approach to treating an aggressive and usually fatal leukemia in babies.
The study involved a type of leukemia called mixed lineage leukemia, or MLL. Only 25 to 50 percent of babies diagnosed with MLL leukemia survive the disease.
The study demonstrated how it may be possible to kill cancerous MLL cells by targeting a protein called DOT1. Researchers showed that, without the DOT1 protein, cancerous MLL cells died, said Charles Hemenway, MD, PhD, senior author of the study.
Researchers from the Cancer Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center have identified three novel small molecules that interrupt a crucial cellular communication pathway that regulates many aspects of development and cancer. The finding, published in the April 12, 2011 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and featured on its cover, could provide the basis for innovative therapies for colorectal cancer and other diseases associated with aberrations in this pathway.