Body

PHILADELPHIA (December 14, 2015) -- Everyone knows that children love sweets, but ever wonder why some kids seem to want more sugary food than others? It could be because they need more sugar to get that same sweet taste. According to new research from the Monell Center, sensitivity to sweet taste varies widely across school-aged children and is in part genetically-determined. The findings may inform efforts to reduce sugar consumption and improve nutritional health of children.

TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2015 - In the face of a flu epidemic, a one-size fits all vaccine strategy won't be effective, a York University study has found. Instead, strategies need to change significantly depending on the characteristics of each region in Canada and how easily the particular flu strain spreads.

A team of researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago and the University of Tasmania has discovered that Australian and New Zealand little penguins represent two distinct species, rather than one.

Scientists had previously wondered about the relationships between populations of the penguin (popularly known as little blue penguins or fairy penguins) found on either side of the Tasman. The trans-Tasman team used genetic techniques to compare populations from both countries, and surprisingly found that they are not the same species.

PHILADELPHIA - The presence or absence of the CAP2 gene causes sudden cardiac death in mice, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In particular, the absence of the gene interrupts the animal's ability to send electrical signals to the heart to tell it to contract, a condition called cardiac conduction disease. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

The gene p53 has been described as the "guardian of the genome" due to its prominent role in preventing genetic mutations. More than half of all cancers are thought to originate from p53 mutations or loss of function, and now a recent study by VCU Massey Cancer Center scientist Richard Moran, Ph.D., explains why.

Cold Spring Harbor, NY - Improperly formed proteins can cause a host of serious illnesses, from muscular dystrophy to cystic fibrosis. A question of enormous import in research, beyond the challenge of determining how malformed proteins contribute to specific disease processes, is figuring out ways to prevent or reduce the pathologies they cause.

Academic medical centers that take on community partners to form accountable care organizations face a number of unexpected challenges, says Scott Berkowitz, M.D., M.B.A., medical director of accountable care for the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians and executive director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine accountable care organization (ACO) known as the Johns Hopkins Medicine Alliance for Patients (JMAP).

BOSTON - December 14, 2015 - More than a quarter of the 30 million people with diabetes in the United States depend on daily injections of insulin to maintain their blood glucose levels in a healthy range. Scientists are investigating many techniques to help treat or potentially even cure many of these patients by increasing the body's own insulin-producing pancreatic "beta" cells. Now researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified a key protein produced in the liver that aids in accelerating the growth of these cells.

A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-based research team has identified a potential new treatment target for tumors - including a significant percentage of malignant brain tumors - driven by mutations in an important metabolic enzyme. In their report in the Dec. 14 issue of Cancer Cell, the investigators describe finding, in cellular and animal models, that tumors characterized by IDH1 mutations are greatly susceptible to depletion of NAD+, a critical metabolic cofactor.

Physician-assisted death should be recorded on medical certificates of death in Canada in the event that assisted dying becomes legal, according to an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

There is no uniform medical certificate of death used across Canada, although all of the 12 provinces and territories included in the analysis require that immediate cause of death and underlying and other antecedent cause(s) of death be stated.

A leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, colon cancer is famously resistant to treatment. There are many reasons for this, but one has to do with a group of persisting cancer cells in the colon that cause relapses. Conventional therapies against them are mostly ineffective. EPFL scientists have now identified a biological mechanism that can be exploited to counteract colon cancer relapses. The approach activates a protein that is lost in the persisting cancer cells. The researchers were able to reactivate it using vitamin A, thus eliminating the cancer cells and preventing metastasis.

A team of chemists from ITMO University, in collaboration with research company SOPOT, has developed a novel type of firefighting foam based on inorganic silica nanoparticles. The new foam beats existing analogues in fire extinguishing capacity, thermal and mechanical stability and biocompatibility. The results of the study were published in ACS Advanced Materials & Interfaces.

APOPKA, FL - Researchers used eye-tracking technology and rating-based experiments to determine what affects consumers' likelihood of buying indoor plants. The study in the October issue of HortScience offers new insights into consumer purchasing preferences and includes valuable recommendations for plant producers and retailers.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University researchers have found that people who seek out news and information from social media are at higher risk of becoming trapped in a "collective social bubble" compared to using search engines.

The study, "Measuring online social bubbles," was recently published in the open-access online journal PeerJ Computer Science. The results are based on an analysis of over 100 million Web clicks and 1.3 billion public posts on social media.

BINGHAMTON, NY - Billions of dollars have been spent on developing drugs and supplying them around the world, but which companies' drugs are actually making an impact? The Global Health Impact Index, headed by Binghamton University Associate Professor Nicole Hassoun and highlighted in a new article published Friday in PLOS ONE, addresses this issue by ranking pharmaceutical companies based on their drugs' impact on global health. VIDEO: http://youtu.be/2rn5nRmyhOI