Body

Melanoma is one of the types of cancer that poses the greatest challenge to researchers because it manifests itself in many ways, it contains a large number of mutations and displays high metastatic capacity. To date, clinicians mostly base their diagnosis on observation, such as by measuring thickness: a tumour depth of only two millimetres implied a poor prognosis.

The site was discovered in 2012 by quarry workers after carrying out a blasting operation. When they spotted the presence of a great many fossil remains in the clay that filled the cave, they halted the works and contacted Prof Alvaro Arrizabalaga of the Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology. After confirming the importance of the site, Alvaro Arrizabalaga and Maria Jose Iriarte decided in 2013 to carry out an emergency excavation in collaboration with the company exploiting the quarry to retrieve the bone remains in the context at the site named Artazu VII.

The amount of time a blood sample used for medical research has been stored at a biobank may affect the test results as much as the blood sample provider's age. These are the findings of a new study from Uppsala University, which was published in the scientific journal EBioMedicine. Until now, medical research has taken into account age, sex and health factors of the person providing the sample, but it turns out that storage time is just as important.

A study shows that contests of butterflies occur only as erroneous courtships between sexually active males that are unable to distinguish the sex of the other butterflies. These findings by Tsuyoshi Takeuchi from Osaka Prefecture University in Japan were highlighted in a review1 article in the Journal of Ethology, the official journal of the Japan Ethological Society, published by Springer.

Leipzig. In Europe, they are classified as beneficial organisms, but many North American ecosystems are not adapted to these subterranean burrowers. This is because almost all earthworms became extinct there during the last ice age, which ended about 12,000 years ago. When the ice retreated, new ecosystems that are adapted to soils without earthworms emerged. But by now, several earthworm species live again in North America. They were introduced by European settlers and spread by anglers.

Research into plant cells is far from complete. Scientists under the biochemist Professor Peter Dörmann at Universität Bonn have now succeeded in describing the function of chloroplasts in more detail. These are plant and algal cell structures that are responsible for photosynthesis. The results have now been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS).

Heidelberg, 5 September 2016 - The loss of CHD1, one of the most frequently mutated genes in prostate tumors, sensitizes human prostate cancer cells to different drugs, including PARP inhibitors. This suggests CHD1 as a potential biomarker for targeted prostate cancer therapy. These are the results of a study published today in EMBO reports.

Millions of years ago, Africa's savannas were covered with thick, ancient forests, which disappeared and turned into the grassy ecosystems that they are today.

Almost a fifth of the world's land surface is covered by savannas. Yet, for years it has been a mystery how these grassy ecosystems came to replace the ancient forests.

One answer, it was thought, might be climate change, yet most savannas occur in climates that also support forests. The other possibility was fire. Savanna trees and shrubs are often adapted to frequent fires, while forest trees are not.

A new review aims to help physicians diagnose and manage food allergies in children and adults. The article, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) looks at recent evidence from guidelines, randomized controlled trials and other research.

An estimated 2% to 10% of people have food allergies, which are more common in children. The prevalence of childhood food allergies has apparently increased; in the United States, the prevalence increased from 3.4% to 5.1% between 1997 and 2011.

Canada needs a national suicide prevention strategy, and it should be included in the 2017 federal budget, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

In particular, the strategy should target youth and indigenous people, groups with high suicide rates. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in youth between 15 and 24 years of age. The rates for indigenous populations are staggeringly high; for example, in Nunatsiavut in northern Labrador, suicide rates are 25 times the national average and 10 times the national average in Nunavut.

Mouse models of Zika infection in adults confirm that the virus can infect specific regions of the eye, resulting in uveitis and conjunctivitis--a symptom observed in 10%-15% of human patients. Furthermore, viral RNA was detected in rodents' tears after the virus had been cleared, raising the question of whether Zika continues to replicate in the lacrimal gland, where tears are produced, or the cornea, outside the reach of the immune system. Washington University School of Medicine researchers publish the findings September 6 in Cell Reports.

Squirting a simple saline solution into the nose twice a day could alleviate chronic nosebleeds just as effectively as spraying with any one of three different medications, reports a study published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Sept. 6.

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Having sex frequently - and enjoying it - puts older men at higher risk for heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems. For older women, however, good sex may actually lower the risk of hypertension.

That's according to the first large-scale study of how sex affects heart health in later life. The federally funded research, led by a Michigan State University scholar, is slated to be published online Sept. 6 in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

More people are eating gluten-free, although the prevalence of celiac disease appears to have remained stable in recent years, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Children born by cesarean delivery appear to be at a higher risk of becoming obese, especially within families when compared to their siblings born via vaginal birth, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics.

Nearly 1.3 million cesarean deliveries are done annually in the United States. Still, the procedure carries risks for the mother and the baby.