Body

A receptor that helps conserve energy when food is scarce may be the key to a safer approach to treating diet-induced obesity, research led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has revealed.

In a study using experimental models and fat tissue biopsies from obese individuals, the team revealed that blocking a specific receptor of the molecule neuropeptide Y (NPY), which helps our body regulate its heat production, could increase fat metabolism and prevent weight gain.

An experimental form of gene therapy developed by a team of researchers from UCLA and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London has successfully treated 48 of 50 children born with a rare and deadly inherited disorder that leaves them without an immune system.

A novel technique for studying vortices in quantum fluids has been developed by Lancaster physicists.

Andrew Guthrie, Sergey Kafanov, Theo Noble, Yuri Pashkin, George Pickett and Viktor Tsepelin, in collaboration with scientists from Moscow State University, used tiny mechanical resonators to detect individual quantum vortices in superfluid helium.

Their work is published in the current volume of Nature Communications.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - People are more persuaded by the actual messages contained in social media posts than they are by how many others viewed the posts, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that when people watched YouTube videos either for or against e-cigarette use, their level of persuasion wasn't directly affected by whether the video said it was viewed by more than a million people versus by fewer than 20.

What mattered for persuasion was viewers' perception of the message as truthful and believable.

Pregnant women who are hospitalized with COVID-19 and viral pneumonia are less likely than non-pregnant women to die from these infections, according to a new study by researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM).

The study was published today in Annals of Internal Medicine.

New research presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (held online, 10-13 May) shows that fat around the waist (abdominal obesity) is more important than general obesity as shown by body mass index (BMI) in predicting the severity of chest X-ray results in patients with COVID-19. The study is by Dr Alexis Elias Malavazos, I.R.C.C.S.Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Italy, and colleagues.

New research presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (held online, 10-13 May) reveals an association between increasing body mass index (BMI) and the risk of testing positive SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. The study is by Dr Hadar Milloh-Raz, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-HaShomer, Ramat-Gan, Israel, and colleagues.

Researchers at KU Leuven (Belgium) have developed a 3D printing technique that extends the possibilities of lateral flow testing. These tests are widespread in the form of the classic pregnancy test and the COVID-19 self-tests. With the new printing technique, advanced diagnostic tests can be produced that are quick, cheap, and easy to use.

Ophthalmologists at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai have created a new technique to evaluate patients with sickle cell retinopathy and assess the disease before it progresses and leads to permanent vision loss.

MRSA skin infections are often treated with intravenous injection of antibiotics, which can cause significant side effects and promote the development of resistant bacterial strains. To solve these problems, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden are developing a microneedle patch that delivers antibiotics directly into the affected skin area. New results published in Advanced Materials Technologies show that the microneedle patch effectively reduces MRSA bacteria in the skin.

In a retrospective study of trauma patients over 65 years of age attended by KSS, it was found that, although a number of these patients had sustained a minor injury through seemingly innocuous mechanisms, a high proportion of this group required advanced clinical interventions and subsequent tertiary level care at a major trauma centre.

The study also identified that dispatch time to these patients was typically longer, in particular in instances when KSS's critical care was requested by an ambulance crew already in attendance.

DALLAS - May 10, 2021 - Scientists at UT Southwestern have discovered a key protein that helps the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease to set up house in the cells of humans and other hosts. The findings, published in Science, could offer insights into how other bacteria are able to survive inside cells, knowledge that could lead to new treatments for a wide variety of infections.

Autistic people have far greater risks of long term physical health conditions than others, but the reasons for this remain unclear. New research from the University of Cambridge suggests that unhealthy lifestyle habits may be an important contributing factor. The results are published today in the journal Molecular Autism.

Since it debuted in 2011, the Get SET Early program, which provides pediatricians and parents with a relatively simple process to screen for indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children as young as age 1, has steadily grown in use and validation. Early screening and identification of ASD has been linked to more effective treatment.

New research being presented at The European Congress on Obesity (ECO) held online this year, suggests that a measure of body shape should be used alongside body mass index (BMI) to help determine the risk of obesity-related cancers.