Body

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that higher levels of vitamin D - specifically serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D - are associated with a correspondingly reduced risk of cancer. The findings are published in the April 6, online issue of PLOS ONE.

The rare Bawean warty pig mostly forages at night in community-owned forests on Bawean island, and is endangered, according to a study published April 6, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Mark Rademaker from the VHL University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, and colleagues.

A new computational tool successfully tested in a small pilot trial harnesses clinical data to predict the optimal drug dose for an individual. The mathematical approach underlying the tool promises to take the educated guesswork out of prescribing medications for immunosuppression, cancer, heart disease, bacterial infections, and other conditions that require tightly controlled treatment regimens. Many factors including age, ethnicity, genetics, and comorbidity can influence how a patient responds to a given drug, making a "one-size-fits-all" approach to dosing inadequate.

Hardened and inflamed arteries, atherosclerosis, can be very dangerous. The consequences of atherosclerosis are among the most common causes of death in industrialized nations; in particular heart attacks and strokes. Crystalline cholesterol can contribute to this life-threatening inflammation in the arteries. An international research team of immunologists and cardiologists from the University of Bonn has now discovered that the ring-shaped sugar known as "cyclodextrin" can prevent and even reduce these dangerous cholesterol deposits.

PRINCETON, N.J.--Advances in technology allow scientists to measure intricate details about the human body that greatly enhance understanding of health, disease and aging.

Researchers have developed a new and highly efficient method for gene transfer. The technique, which involves culturing and transfecting cells with genetic material on an array of carbon nanotubes, appears to overcome the limitations of other gene editing technologies.

The device, which is described in a study published today in the journal Small, is the product of a collaboration between researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Researchers hoping to design new materials for energy uses have developed a system to make synthetic polymers -- some would say plastics -- with the versatility of nature's own polymers, the ubiquitous proteins. Based on an inexpensive industrial chemical, these synthetic polymers might one day be used to create materials with functions as limitless as proteins, which are involved in every facet of life.

UCLA researchers have found that a state-of-the-art molecular genetic test greatly improves the speed and accuracy with which they can diagnose neurogenetic disorders in children and adults. The discovery could lead directly to better care for people with rare diseases like spinocerebellar ataxia, leukodsystrophy, spastic paraplegia and many other conditions.

WACO, Texas (April 6, 2016) - Your coworker wastes time. He mismanages resources. He's been known to engage in activities that you and others consider conflicts of interest. Yet, he seems to "do no wrong" in the eyes of the company.

Why?

Because he's producing.

A new Baylor University study published in Personnel Psychology - ""I Don't Want to be Near You, Unless...": The Interactive Effect of Unethical Behavior and Performance onto Workplace Ostracism" - investigates why employees' unethical behaviors may be tolerated versus rejected.

Could organs explanted from other mammals save human lives someday? A new study shows that genetically modified pig hearts developed by US and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich researchers can survive for more than up to 2½ years when transplanted into baboons.

Philadelphia, PA--Of the more than 220,000 patients newly diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015, the vast majority will have had early-stage disease at low risk for recurrence.

Baltimore, MD, April 6, 2016 - A new immune-suppressing therapy has led to the longest survival yet for a cross-species heart transplant, according to new research conducted in part by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM).

The study involved transplanting pig hearts into baboons. The results could lead to increased use of xenotransplantation, the transplantation of organs from one species to another. Researchers hope this approach could eventually be used in humans, helping the severe organ shortage among patients awaiting transplantation.

The potentially devastating effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs are well reported. However, the methods used to evaluate the potential harm are often focused on individual species, viewed in isolation. According to an international research team led by Peter J. Edmunds of California State University, Northridge, this simplistic approach neglects broad-scale inter-species and inter-population dynamics that may have unforeseen consequences for ecosystems.

A new study over a 13-year investigation period provides information on the distribution and characteristics of hailstorms in the alpine area and adjacent areas.

Monthly radar-derived hail maps show a distinct seasonal cycle with the maximum for June and July. During late spring, hailstorm activity is more pronounced in areas north of the Alps, whereas in late summer, hail is more frequent in the south. Researchers also found that hail occurs most frequently when winds are from the southwest.

It makes sense that people who are trying to slim down would avoid fats. But as anyone who has unsuccessfully tried this approach to dieting knows, it's not quite that simple.

New research from the Texas A&M Health Science Center and Texas A&M AgriLife parses out why saturated fats are "bad"--and suggests that it may all be in the timing.

Circadian clocks, which exist in cells throughout the body, regulate the local timing of important cellular processes necessary for normal functioning and help keep inflammatory responses in check.