Body

February 24, 2011 ─ (BRONX, NY) ─ A study of more than 3,000 children shows that low vitamin D levels are associated with increased likelihood that children will develop allergies, according to a paper published in the February 17 online edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University headed the study.

24th February, 2011 – In the most extensive study of macronutrient regulation yet undertaken on any carnivore, scientists have found that healthy cats regulate the amount of protein, fat and carbohydrate they consume, i.e. their macronutrient intake. Researchers at the WALTHAM® Centre for Pet Nutrition, the fundamental science centre supporting Mars Petcare brands such as WHISKAS® and ROYAL CANIN, have shown that cats consistently demonstrate a macronutrient target very close to that of their natural prey, such as mice and birds.

A two-country hospital study of 808 elderly patients found a strong association between high, undiagnosed blood glucose in non-diabetic patients and increased hospital death rates, according to the March issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

Researchers are now calling for routine blood glucose testing of elderly patients when they are admitted to hospital. The Spanish team looked at 447 consecutive patients admitted to a geriatric unit, while the Italian team studied 361 patients over 60 admitted to an internal medicine department.

Research by University of Warwick's School of Life Sciences has opened up a new path to produce water efficient seeds that will be a significant tool to cope with drought resistance, and ensure global food security. The research not only provides the best map to date of the key protein that appears to be the principal gateway for water intake during seed germination - it also actually provides the right map as it appears much of the research to date was focussed on a much less relevant protein.

Scientists have published results that will forever change the way researchers view the interplay between gene expression, DNA replication and the prevention of DNA damage.

DNA damage, if not kept in check, can lead to many problems including cancers. Researchers, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Wellcome Trust and working at The University of Nottingham, have shown that the process of replication is even riskier than originally thought. This new information is published today (24 February) in the journal Nature.

The body is a dancer's instrument, but is it attuned to the mind? A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that professional ballet and modern dancers are not as emotionally in sync with their bodies as are people who regularly practice meditation.

UC Berkeley researchers tracked how closely the emotions of seasoned meditators and professional dancers followed bodily changes such as breathing and heart rates.

Chevy Chase, MD— A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that individuals with fatty liver were five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those without fatty liver. This higher risk seemed to occur regardless of the patient's fasting insulin levels, which were used as a marker of insulin resistance.

Chevy Chase, MD—A recent study accepted for publication in Endocrinology, a publication of The Endocrine Society, reports for the first time that maternal fructose intake during pregnancy results in sex-specific changes in fetal and neonatal endocrinology.

SAN DIEGO – (February 24, 2011) – A research team, led by La Jolla Institute scientist Joel Linden, Ph.D., has shed new light on the problem of insulin resistance, and identified the key participants in a molecular pathway that holds therapeutic promise for reducing the severity of type 2 diabetes.

Scientists investigating natural ways to enhance athletic performance have found that bovine colostrum can massively reduce gut permeability – otherwise known as 'leaky gut syndrome.' Their findings, published in the March issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, could have positive implications not just for athletes but also for sufferers of heatstroke.

Children experiencing an asthma attack who are treated with a short burst of oral steroids may have a transient depression of immune response according to a new study led by Université de Montréal. These findings, published in this month's issue of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Pulmonology, have implications for asthmatic children who have flare-ups and who may be exposed to new contagious diseases.

Patients who suffer from Neurologic Post Treatment Lyme disease (nPTLS) and those with the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome report similar symptoms. However unique proteins discovered in spinal fluid can distinguish those two groups from one another and also from people in normal health, according to new research conducted by a team led by Steven E. Schutzer, MD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – New Jersey Medical School, and Richard D. Smith, Ph.D., of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Following others' gaze direction is an important source of information that helps to detect prey or predators, to notice important social events within one's social group and to predict the next actions of others. As such, it is considered a key step towards an understanding of mental states, such as attention and intention.

Many animals will follow the gaze of others into distant space. Following a gaze around a barrier, which is considered to be a more cognitively advanced task, is much less common.

The incidence of asthma among children in Europe continues to rise. But not all children are equally at risk. Several studies published over the past few years have shown that children living on farms are significantly less likely to develop asthma than others. An international team of researchers including Dr. Markus Ege and Professor Erika von Mutius of Children's Surgical Clinic in the Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital (Medical Center of the University of Munich) has just published an epidemiological study that confirms this finding.

Vancouver, BC - Scientists supported by Genome BC have set a new standard for studying outbreaks of infectious disease by combining advanced genomics with a detailed map of the social relationships between cases to investigate a recent outbreak of tuberculosis in a BC community.