Body

Higher intake of foods containing vitamin D during pregnancy - but not supplemental vitamin D intake - was associated with reduced risk of development of allergies in children, according to a study led by an investigator from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

(BOSTON) The ability to control the transfer of molecules through cellular membranes is an important function in synthetic biology; a new study from researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard Medical School (HMS) introduces a novel mechanical method for controlling release of molecules inside cells.

The ichnites or fossilised footprints of the Manyanet Valley (within the municipality of Sarroca de Bellera) are in two areas that differ in their environments: meandering fluvial systems in one and unconfined waters in the other. These two palaeoenvironments would have been inhabited by groups of different tetrapods during the Permian Period.

Washington, D.C.--February 9, 2016--Researchers have developed the first real-time system to watch directly through the microscope as Ebola-like virus particles fuse with human cells to infect them. Their findings, published this week in mBio, an online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, reveal key host cell and viral proteins that direct fusion and Ebola infection. Such knowledge is crucial for designing future drugs or vaccines to prevent this deadly disease.

Washington, DC - February 10, 2016 - After the age of nine months, the development of the infant gut microbiota is driven by the transition to family foods, not maternal obesity, according to results from a new study. The study was published online this week in mSphere, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Rates of genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations have increased among women diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 or younger, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology.

A NEW test could help patients with advanced bowel cancer get the best treatment for their disease, according to a Cancer Research UK clinical trial published today (Thursday) in JAMA Oncology*.

The trial** - which was run from St. James's University Hospital and University of Leeds - studied almost 1,200 patients at hospitals all over the UK with advanced bowel cancer whose first chemotherapy treatment had stopped working and who were starting a second chemotherapy treatment called irinotecan.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Feb. 11, 2016 - Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have found that a daily dose of beetroot juice significantly improved exercise endurance and blood pressure in elderly patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF).

The study is published in the current online edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology-Heart Failure.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre have discovered a new target in plants for the development of new herbicides for use by farmers and gardeners.

Professor Tony Maxwell leads a research team at the John Innes Centre studying an enzyme in plants called DNA gyrase. In plants, DNA gyrase plays an essential role in the formation of chloroplasts, which are the parts of the plant that give it its green colour and help it to transform sunlight into energy. Without DNA gyrase, the plant is not able to photosynthesise and will die.

Small and medium-sized Spanish construction firms prioritize securing contracts and production over any R&D activity. These firms are focused on their day-to-day responsibilities and do not dedicate time to generate creative ideas. Their technological improvements arise as a result of problem-solving at the construction site. However, these innovations are not reported or shared with anyone, leading to their eventual disappearance, according to a study carried out by the Polytechnic University of Valencia.

Researchers from the University of Warwick have discovered how cells in the human body build their own 'railway networks', throwing light on how diseases such as bowel cancer work. The results have just been published in Nature Scientific Reports.

New York, February 11, 2016 - Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services today announces the launch of Transplantation Reports, a new online-only open access journal covering all areas of transplantation. This peer-reviewed journal will contribute to knowledge in clinical and experimental surgery, and will make patient education and history widely available to the transplant community. The journal has begun accepting submissions, and will begin online publication in early 2016.

Almost all of our genes may be influenced by the food we eat, suggests new research published today in the journal Nature Microbiology. The study, carried out in yeast - which can be used to model some of the body's fundamental processes - shows that while the activity of our genes influences our metabolism, the opposite is also true and the nutrients available to cells influence our genes.

New research on the blood lipid-lowering protein FGF21 shows how it redistributes fatty acids by two distinct mechanisms. The discovery could lead to improved pharmaceutical treatment for type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related diseases. This according to a new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

The ocean is the largest carbon sink on the planet. The community of planktonic organisms involved in the removal of carbon from the upper layers of the ocean has now been described by an interdisciplinary team bringing together oceanographers, biologists and computer scientists, principally from the CNRS, UPMC, Nantes University, VIB, EMBL and CEA. This first overview of the network of species linked to the oceanic biological pump has revealed some new players as well as the main bacterial functions participating in the process.