Body

With the wide availability of convenient foods engineered for maximum tastiness-- such as potato chips, chocolates, and bacon double cheeseburgers-- in the modern food environment and with widespread advertising, the contemporary consumer is incessantly being bombarded with the temptation to eat. This means that, in contrast to people in traditional societies, people in contemporary societies often eat not on account of hunger but because tasty food is available and beckoning at all hours of the day.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Researchers review importance of microorganisms that exist in the gut, suggesting perturbation of the environment during pregnancy, delivery and early infancy could impact the developing baby's early microbiome and set the stage for health problems later in life. The term "microbiome" refers to the trillions of organisms we harbor, on our skin and within our respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts.

PHILADELPHIA--Palbociclib, a new oral drug whose efficacy in combating breast cancer has been demonstrated alone and in combination with endocrine therapy, also has potential to combat other types of cancer, according to a literature review and additional original research conducted by experts at the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) in the University of Pennsylvania published this month in JAMA Oncology.

An international group of scientists from Russia, France, and Germany have developed ion-exchange synthetic membranes based on amphiphilic compounds that are able to convert the energy of chemical reactions into electrical current. The new development described in the journal Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics could potentially be used in fuel cells, and in separation and purification processes. The study was conducted by MIPT's Laboratory of Functional Organic and Hybrid Materials, which was opened in 2014.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 29, 2015 - Lives of soldiers and others injured in remote locations could be saved with a cell-free protein synthesis system developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 29, 2015 -- Thermal properties of cells regulate their ability to store, transport or exchange heat with their environment. So gaining control of these properties is of great interest for optimizing cryopreservation -- the process of freezing and storing blood or tissues, which is also used when transporting organs for transplants.

WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 29, 2015 - If you already have the sequenced map of an organism's genome but want to look for structural oddities in a sample, you can check the genomic barcode -- a series of distances between known, targeted sites -- by cutting a DNA sequence at those sites and examining the distance between the cuts. However, if the original map -- obtained through next-generation sequencing involving PCR -- contains any amplification biases, there is room for systematic error across studies.

(Philadelphia, PA) - Emergency medicine physicians at Temple University Hospital have found that an opioid prescribing guideline had an immediate and sustained impact on opioid prescribing rates for minor conditions and chronic noncancer pain in an acute care setting. The results of the study are published in the January 2016 Journal of Emergency Medicine.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have developed a web application and data set that gives researchers worldwide a powerful interactive tool to advance understanding of the mutations that lead to and fuel pediatric cancer. The freely available tool, called ProteinPaint, is described in today's issue of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.

A central challenge in the field of metabolic engineering is the efficient identification of a metabolic pathway genotype that maximizes specific productivity over a robust range of process conditions. A review from researchers at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI covers the challenges of optimizing specific productivity of metabolic pathways in cells and new advances in pathway creation and screening.

SEDE BOQER, Israel...Dec. 29, 2015- Researchers at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Yale University have determined that pressure-retarded osmosis technology is not feasible primarily due to biofouling (the accumulation of organic material as well as different organisms such as algae and bacteria on various surfaces that impairing structures and hinder system performance).

TORONTO, Dec. 29, 2015 - Following the introduction of plain packaging on tobacco products in 2012, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were 12 per cent less likely to think certain tobacco brands were less harmful than others, a new study found.

The use of ultrasound (US) in detecting breast cancer has been shown to be comparable in its sensitivity to that of mammography and should be considered when testing for the disease according to a study published December 28 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Adding to growing evidence on the possible health risks of electronic cigarettes, a lab team at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System tested two products and found they damaged cells in ways that could lead to cancer. The damage occurred even with nicotine-free versions of the products.

"Our study strongly suggests that electronic cigarettes are not as safe as their marketing makes them appear to the public," wrote the researchers, who published their findings in the journal Oral Oncology.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Nearly 1 million incidences of herpes zoster, which is also known as shingles, occur every year in the U.S., with an estimated one-third of all adults affected by age 80. Despite its prevalence, particularly between ages 50 and 59, it is still unclear why some individuals will develop shingles, and others will not. In a population-based study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), Mayo Clinic researchers build on their previous research from 2013, which linked asthma in childhood with an increased risk of shingles.