Obesity has long been identified as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and heart failure. But, a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that being skinny confers no advantage when it comes to the risk of dying suddenly from cardiac causes.
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A booster shot appears to improve tuberculosis (TB) resistance in previously vaccinated adults, according to new research in South Africa.
The study has been published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Scientists have unearthed the remains of one of the Worlds rarest fossils - in downtown Ottawa. The 450 million year old fossil preserves the complete skeleton of a plumulitid machaeridian, one of only 8 such specimens known. Plumulitids were annelid worms - the group including earthworms, bristleworms and leeches, today found everywhere from the deepest sea to the soil in your yard - and although plumulitids were small they reveal important evidence of how this major group of organisms evolved.
It might sound like a mashup of monster movies, but palaeontologists have discovered evidence of how an extinct shark attacked its prey, reconstructing a killing that took place 4 million years ago.
Such fossil evidence of behaviour is incredibly rare, but by careful, forensic-style analysis of bite marks on an otherwise well-preserved dolphin skeleton, the research team, based in Pisa, Italy, have reconstructed the events that led to the death of the dolphin, and determined the probably identity of the killer: a 4 m shark by the name of Cosmopolitodus hastalis.
PASADENA, Calif.—Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have discovered that injecting a simple hormone into leeches creates a novel way to study how hormones and the nervous system work together to produce species-specific reproductive behavior.
A paper describing the work appears in the March 11 online edition of the journal Current Biology.
In the 1930s, soil used as ballast to weigh down cargo ships from South America to Mobile, Alabama introduced the red imported fire ant to the southern United States. Since then, the ants have been found as far north as Maryland and as far west as California, shorting out streetlights and eating through crops and native plants in the process.
The fate of many African elephants, according to a group of scientists, hinges on a decision to be made this week in Qatar by a host of countries operating under an international agreement.
The countries, part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), are gathering to decide, among other proposals, whether to grant requests to Tanzania and Zambia to lower the protection status of their elephants, allowing them to conduct one-time sales of stockpiled ivory.
Using spices eaten in the Mediterranean diet as natural antioxidants is a good way forward for the food industry, given the beneficial health effects of these products. This has been shown by researchers from the Miguel Hernández University (UMH), who have put the clove in first place.
Researchers from the Miguel Hernández University have identified cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) as the best antioxidant spice, due to the fact they contain high levels of phenolic compounds, as well as having other properties.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Understanding the steps to the intricate dance inside a cell is essential to one day choreographing the show. By studying the molecules that give a cell its structure, University of Illinois researchers are moving closer to understanding one of those steps: the conga line.
Philadelphia – Highly-focused stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) can eliminate the targeted tumor while avoiding treatment-related illness and may ultimately improve survival for patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer, according to early findings of a Radiation Therapy Oncology Group study published in the March 17 cancer-themed issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Essex," a new lentil variety developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists, has a lot to offer: high seed yields for growers, nitrogen-fixing bacteria for wheat crops, and a tasty source of protein for consumers to add to soups, salads and other fare.
URBANA – Children who have asthma are at high risk for separation anxiety, but a new study has found a home remedy that parents can use—regular family mealtimes.
"It makes sense that children who have difficulty breathing might be anxious and prefer to keep their parents, who can help them in an emergency, close by," said Barbara H. Fiese, a University of Illinois professor of human and community development and director of the university's Family Resiliency Center.
UK prisoners are significantly more likely to have drug resistant TB than other people with the disease, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
And one in four of TB cases fall through the healthcare net once they leave prison.
The researchers profiled the features of newly diagnosed adult cases reported to the national TB surveillance service for England and Wales between 2004 and 2007.
During this period, 29,340 cases of TB disease were reported, of which 205 were prison inmates.
This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2010-03/jaaj-031210.php">Chinese.
This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2010-03/jaaj-_1031210.php">Chinese.