Body

Fetal BPA exposure in mice linked to estrogen-related diseases after adolescence

Low levels of BPA exposure may be considered safe, but new research published online in The FASEB Journal, suggests otherwise. In the report, researchers from Yale show that the genome is permanently altered in the uterus of mice that had been exposed to BPA during their fetal development.

New lizard found in Dominican Republic

TORONTO, ON - A University of Toronto-led team has reported the discovery of a new lizard in the middle of the most- visited island in the Caribbean, strengthening a long-held theory that communities of lizards can evolve almost identically on separate islands.

The chameleon-like lizard - a Greater Antillean anole dubbed Anolis landestoyi for the naturalist who first spotted and photographed it - is one of the first new anole species found in the Dominican Republic in decades.

Rare, blind catfish never before found in US discovered in national park cave in Texas

An extremely rare eyeless catfish species previously known to exist only in Mexico has been discovered in Texas.

Dean Hendrickson, curator of ichthyology at The University of Texas at Austin, identified the live fish, discovered in a deep limestone cave at Amistad National Recreation Area near Del Rio, Texas, as the endangered Mexican blindcat (Prietella phreatophila). The pair of small catfish, collected by a team in May, have been relocated to the San Antonio Zoo.

News coverage of Hillary Clinton often emphasizes gender over competency, study shows

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Though much progress has been made toward gender equality, news coverage of female politicians typically follows gendered lines that often disregards women's competence in political affairs, a University of Texas at Arlington assistant communication professor has found.

Dustin Harp, an expert in gender and media studies, examines the issue in "Hillary Clinton's Benghazi Hearing Coverage: Political Competence, Authenticity, and the Persistence of the Double Bind," which appears online in the June issue of Women's Studies in Communication.

Racial disparities found in children's urologic surgery

Black children who undergo urologic surgery are more likely than white children to have postsurgical complications and hospital-acquired infections 30 days after the surgery. Researchers studying a national database from over 50 U.S. pediatric hospitals suggest that hospitals and policy makers should expand efforts to reduce postoperative adverse events and health disparities in children.

New mechanism activates the immune system against tumor cells

The body's defences detect and eliminate not only pathogens but also tumour cells. Natural killer cells (NK-Cells) are specifically activated by chemical messengers, the Cytokines, to seek and destroy tumour cells. Veronika Sexl and her team from the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Vetmeduni Vienna study the fundamentals of tumour surveillance by the immune system in animal models.

Changed gut bug mix linked to C-section, antibiotics and formula lasts through baby's first year

Birth by C-section, exposure to antibiotics and formula feeding slow the development and decrease the diversity of a baby's microbes through the first year of life. That is the finding of a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published June 15 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Video captures tadpole escape artists in Panama

Although red-eyed treefrog embryos appear helpless within their jelly-coated eggs, they can hatch up to two days ahead of schedule, reacting within seconds to attacks by egg thieves. At the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, scientists used high-speed video to uncover their rapid-hatching secret.

Legions of immune cells in the lung keep Legionella at bay

Immunologists and microbiologists from the University of Melbourne's Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity - a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital - have led a study that defined a new cell type responsible for turning the attack back on the bacteria.

With this discovery, they have dissected the complex roles of legions of immune cells that interact to destroy the bacterium.

Cause of heart arrhythmia in adult muscular dystrophy clarified

An international joint research group found that the cause of heart arrhythmia in myotonic dystrophy was RNA abnormalities in the sodium channel in the heart, clarifying the symptom's mechanism. This finding will be helpful in prevention and early intervention of death in this disease, leading to the development of new treatment.

Myotonic dystrophy, or DM is the most common muscular dystrophy in adults. However, there are currently no cure for DM and there are significant cases of sudden death suspected to be due to heart arrhythmia.

Mosquito saliva increases disease severity following dengue virus infection

Insects transmit diseases when, probing for blood vessels, they inject saliva together with viral, bacterial, or parasitic pathogens into the skin of mammalian hosts. A study in mice published on June 16, 2016 in PLOS Pathogens suggests a critical role of mosquito saliva in the outcome of dengue virus infection.

Life as we know it most likely arose via 'long, slow dance'

The first eukaryote is thought to have arisen when simpler archaea and bacteria joined forces. But in an Opinion paper published June 16 in Trends in Cell Biology, researchers propose that new genomic evidence derived from a deep-sea vent on the ocean floor suggests that the molecular machinery essential to eukaryotic life was probably borrowed, little by little over time, from those simpler ancestors.

Pitch range produced by vocal cords

Picture a singer, accompanied by a grand piano. As the singer's voice dances through multiple octaves of range, the pianist's fingers trip from one end of the keyboard to the other. Both the singer's voice and the piano are dynamic instruments. But while the piano creates its music using the vibration of 88 strings, the singer uses only two.

Modeling the behavior of pro-ISIS groups online, to make predictions

Researchers developed a model aimed at identifying behavioral patterns among online supporters of ISIS and used this information to predict the onset of major violent events.

The FBI must develop 21st-century investigative savvy

The FBI must develop modern technological capacities rather than relying on out-of-date approaches, Susan Landau argues in this Policy Forum, zeroing in on the organization's recent request to Apple to develop software through which to access an iPhone - rather than tackling the issue through its own technological efforts.