Body

A review of medical literature suggests older age at menopause was associated with a lower risk of depression for women in later life. Eleni Th Petridou, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, and coauthors included 14 studies in a meta-analysis that represented nearly 68,000 women. Study results suggest menopause at age 40 or older compared with premature menopause was associated with a decreased risk for depression (four studies; 3,033 unique participants).

Although the vast majority of patients reported improved well-being after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery, the prevalence of symptoms such as abdominal pain and fatigue were high and nearly one-third of patients were hospitalized, according to a study published online by JAMA Surgery.

New York, NY, January 6, 2016 - The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation against regular prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer (PCa) has been in place for two and a half years. Although the number of prostate needle biopsies (PNB) has been reduced, patients who undergo PNB are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with high risk disease, and detection of intermediate risk, potentially curable PCa has likely decreased.

It is the single greatest addition to the country's freshwater fish inventory since records began and boosts the total number of known species in Australia by almost ten per cent.

The research team included Associate Professor Tim Dempster, Professor Stephen Swearer, James Shelley, Matthew Le Feuvre (University of Melbourne), Dr Martin Gomon (Museum Victoria) and Dr Michael Hammer (NT Museum).

Team leader Dr Tim Dempster, from the University of Melbourne's School of BioSciences, says the discovery highlights the hidden wealth of biodiversity within the Kimberley.

In October, an interdisciplinary group of scientists proposed forming a Unified Microbiome Initiative (UMI) to explore the world of microorganisms that are central to life on Earth and yet largely remain a mystery. An article in the journal ACS Nano describes the tools scientists will need to understand how microbes interact with each other and with us.

London, UK (06 January, 2015). Traditionally we have been told that the longer you work, the harder it is to maintain romantic relations. However, a new study from the journal Human Relations, published by SAGE in partnership with The Tavistock Institute, has found the opposite: that there is in fact no negative association between the hours worked and relationship satisfaction.

A last meal provides new insights: The fossilized food remains of the extinct predatory fish Saurichthys reflect its spiral-shaped intestine. The spiral valve in fossils from Southern Switzerland is similar to that of sharks and rays. Paleontologists from the University of Zurich have thus closed a gap in the knowledge concerning the evolution of the gastrointestinal tract in vertebrates.

A drug commonly used to treat leukaemia is showing potential as a treatment that could slow the progression of the muscle-wasting condition, Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy most commonly affects boys, with around 2,400 people in the UK affected by the condition. There is currently no cure and most patients are not expected to live past the age of 30.

London, UK (06 January, 2015). Traditionally we have been told that the longer you work, the harder it is to maintain romantic relations. However, a new study from the journal Human Relations, published by SAGE in partnership with The Tavistock Institute, has found the opposite: that there is in fact no negative association between the hours worked and relationship satisfaction.

The great increase in biodiversity took place during the geological period known as the Ordovician.

- This was a time in Earth history previously believed to be characterized by extreme CO2 levels. Due to the occurrence of a short-lived ice age towards the end of the Ordovician, this has been viewed by some climate skeptics as proof that fluctuating CO2 levels does not affect climate. Thus, man-made emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels therefore could not facilitate global warming, lead author Christian M. Ø. Rasmussen explains.

Scientists from the Mechanobiology Institute, Singapore (MBI) at the National University of Singapore have discovered the universal building blocks that cells use to form initial connections with the surrounding environment. These early adhesions have a consistent size of 100 nanometres, are made up of a cluster of around 50 integrin proteins and are the same even when the surrounding surface is hard or soft.

Los Angeles, CA (January 6, 2015) A new study published today in the American Journal of Men's Health (a SAGE journal) surveyed American men between the ages of 60 and 84 who pay for sex and found that the older they were, the more frequently they paid for sex and the more likely they were to have experienced unprotected sexual intercourse multiple times with their favorite commercial sex providers.

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- By combining sophisticated RNA sequencing technology with a new device that isolates single cells and their progeny, MIT researchers can now trace detailed family histories for several generations of cells descended from one "ancestor."

This technique, which can track changes in gene expression as cells differentiate, could be particularly useful for studying how stem cells or immune cells mature. It could also shed light on how cancer develops.

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have successfully converted human skin cells into fully-functional pancreatic cells. The new cells produced insulin in response to changes in glucose levels, and, when transplanted into mice, the cells protected the animals from developing diabetes in a mouse model of the disease.

Scientists have discovered how the distinctive piebald patches seen in black and white cats and some horses are formed in the womb.

Their insights could shed light on medical conditions that occur early in development, such as holes in the heart, which are caused by cells not moving to the right place as an embryo develops.

Researchers who set out to learn how pigment cells behave in mice found that they move and multiply randomly during early development rather than follow instructions.