Body

New research involving scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) highlights the potential utility of iron isotopes for addressing important questions in ocean science. The findings are published in the August edition of the journal Geology.

A new chemical imaging technique could one day help in the fight against atherosclerosis, suggests research published in the August 2009 edition of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

A new approach to windows that could let in more light and cut indoor lighting needs by up to 99% in buildings in Tropical regions without losing the cooling effect of shades. Details are reported in the International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation this month.

University of Florida researchers were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people.

The success in repairing a damaged layer of retinal cells in mice implies that blood stem cells taken from bone marrow can be programmed to restore a variety of cells and tissues, including ones involved in cardiovascular disorders such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.

Bing-Cheng Wang, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine professor of pharmacology and senior staff scientist at MetroHealth Medical Center, and Sudha K. Iyengar, Ph.D. professor of genetic and molecular epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, have discovered a gene associated with the formation of age-related cataracts, a leading causes of blindness.

Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) usually experience significant muscle loss. This is a symptom usually considered a secondary complication of the devastating genetic disease. However, a recent study by Dr. Basil Petrof reverses the equation. His results show that muscle atrophy and weakness may be a primary symptom caused by the effects of CFTR gene mutations on the muscle itself. Dr. Petrof's findings will be published in Public Library of Science – Genetics.

A study of almost 25,000 coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients has shown that receiving blood from another person is associated with a two-fold increase in post-operative infection rates. The research, published in the open access journal BMC Medicine, also found considerable hospital variation in transfusion practices.

Nine-year-olds can and should learn CPR. A study of 147 schoolchildren, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care, show that Nine-year-olds can and should learn CPR. While the smallest may lack the requisite strength, the knowledge of how to perform basic life support is well retained by young children.

A new approach to statistical analysis may be better suited to study the relationship between higher "dose" of dialysis and survival time for patients with advanced kidney disease, according to an upcoming paper in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can significantly lessen patients' quality of life, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). Certain types of patients such as women, diabetics, and those with a history of heart complications, are most affected.

The Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS-1) study was funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. Results are reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Less than 1 percent (0.3 percent) of patients died within 30 days of surgery, further supporting the short-term safety of bariatric surgery as a treatment for patients with extreme obesity.

Scientists have joined forces in a groundbreaking assessment on the status of marine fisheries and ecosystems.

The two-year study, led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University and Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington and including an international team of 19 co-authors, shows that steps taken to curb overfishing are beginning to succeed in five of the 10 large marine ecosystems that they examined.

In a new report from researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Systems Biology, directed by Ralph Weissleder, MD, PhD, the team reports how they discovered an unexpected reservoir of the immune cells called monocytes in the spleen. Published in the journal Science, they went on to show that these cells are essential to recovery of cardiac tissue in an animal heart attack model.

The body's nanomachines that read our genes don't run as smoothly as previously thought, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists.

When these nanoscale protein machines encounter obstacles as they move along the DNA, they stall, often for minutes, and even backtrack as they transcribe DNA that is tightly wound to fit inside the cell's nucleus.

Now, a new study finds that administration of a small molecule that effectively disrupts a key bacterial communication process protects an animal host from infection. The research, published by Cell Press in the journal Molecular Cell, may lead to more effective treatments for bacterial infection that won't increase treatment-resistant bacteria.