Body

All cells share the same genetic code, no matter if they are skin or brain cells. However, these cells are exposed to very different types of mechanical environments and mechanical stresses. For example, brain tissue is very soft, whereas bone is hard. Researchers know that cells respond to extrinsic forces by changing their structure and their gene expression to be better suited for their particular environments and to be able to execute their specific functions. The molecular mechanisms of this regulation are, however, not yet clear.

Amsterdam, July 12, 2016 - A new position statement by the European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) published in the journal Maturitas provides a holistic model of care for healthy menopause.

Crows are performing a useful function and keeping our environment free from rotting carcasses, research carried out at the University of Exeter in Cornwall has discovered.

Using motion activated cameras in and around Falmouth and the University's Penryn Campus, Cornwall, ecologists observed what happened to experimental rat carcasses which they placed under view.

A new study has found that neither gay men nor heterosexual people with HIV transmit the virus to their partner, provided they are on suppressive antiretroviral treatment.

The PARTNER study, which is the world's largest study of people with HIV who have had condomless sex with their HIV negative partners, was conducted by investigators from the University of Liverpool, University College London, Royal Free NHS and Rigshospitalet (one of the largest hospitals in Denmark).

Boosting food production with limited water availability is of great importance to humanity. However, our current water usage is already unsustainable today. The fact that plant leaves lose a great deal of water through photosynthesis is the greatest limiting factor for larger harvests worldwide. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed an approach to solving the problem: they have been able to get plants to use water more efficiently without restricting their growth.

Bremerhaven, 12th July 2016. Algae that live in and under the sea ice play a much greater role for the Arctic food web than previously assumed. In a new study, biologists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) showed that not only animals that live directly under the ice thrive on carbon produced by so-called ice algae. Even species that mostly live at greater depth depend to a large extent on carbon from these algae.

The idea of what it means to become "independent" has evolved significantly in recent generations, and new research from North Carolina State University finds that the concept of being either dependent or independent doesn't apply to almost half of young adults in the United States. Instead, the study finds that young adults can fall into any of four categories that span the spectrum from full independence to being wholly dependent on parents.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as peroxides and superoxides are important signalling molecules in an organism's regulation of metabolism and inflammation. Accumulation of ROS have been linked to neurodegeneration and cancer. Researchers at Umeå University and Hospital of Halland in Sweden now reveal an unexpected function of ROS. They dampen a key inflammatory process and weaken the immune system´s ability to combat pathogens such as those that cause pneumonia. The findings are published in the July 2016 issue of the Cell Press Journal Immunity.

New research from McMaster University is challenging traditional workout wisdom, suggesting that lifting lighter weights many times is as efficient as lifting heavy weights for fewer repetitions.

It is the latest in a series of studies that started in 2010, contradicting the decades-old message that the best way to build muscle is to lift heavy weights.

Anyone who has ever taken a group photo will be familiar with the problem: If everyone is constantly running around, it's almost impossible to get a sharp photo. Cell biologists who want to visualize molecular processes inside cells face a similar challenge. The molecules dance about at high speed. Receptors at the cell surface move within milliseconds, while vesicles transport proteins in seconds.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers have developed an algorithm that quantifies and analyzes shape changes in puzzle piece-shaped plant cells, providing insights into the small-scale processes that control leaf size and crop yield.

The technology could also be adapted to measure boundary shifts in other complex geometric forms, from neuron cells and tumors to shorelines and glaciers.

They are some of the rarest reptiles in the world. According to the latest surveys, there are not even 250 adult ploughshare tortoises left to crawl through the dry forests of north-west Madagascar. This means that the species, known by the scientific name of Astrochelys yniphora, is on the brink of extinction. The government of this island state did create the Baly Bay National Park in 1997 especially to protect the remaining individuals of the species. And the international trade with this species is completely forbidden. Although this does not seem to deter trappers and smugglers.

BOSTON (July 12, 2016)--Professional football players are heftier now than they were decades ago, but a new study from researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine shows that even players for less-prominent college football programs are getting bigger. The Tufts researchers report that the average weight of offensive linemen in a Division III collegiate football conference has increased nearly 38 percent since 1956, while the average male's weight increased only 12 percent during the same timeframe.

Realizing the risks of social media, major news organizations have created guidelines for employees regarding how to use these outlets, separate from the companies' existing codes of conduct. Little scholarly attention has been paid to the guidelines so far.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Penn. (July 12, 2016): A new USDA Forest Service report documenting an unprecedented effort to inventory birds in the western Great Lakes region and analyze changes in bird populations over the past quarter of a century found that across a trio of national forests, most birds are doing well in terms of both species diversity and population.