Body

Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 3, 2015 - A unique benefit of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is the inclusion of nutrition education. In a new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, researchers report that both online and in-person group education are effective in helping parents reduce breakfast-skipping and improve other breakfast-related nutritional knowledge and benefits.

A native Australian grass that 'plays dead' during droughts and selectively culls its own cells to survive could provide genetic keys to help world food crops like chickpea withstand global climate change.

QUT researchers have been studying the native grass, Tripogon loliiformis, because of its amazing ability to survive extreme environmental stresses.

Like other so-called 'resurrection plants', the grass has the ability to withstand desiccation (being dried out) for prolonged periods but can be revived by water.

Cells dynamically respond to environmental signals by turning appropriate sets of genes on or off. The "control system" that determines which genes need to be expressed at what time depends primarily on the interactions between transcription factor proteins (TFs) and the regulatory DNA sequence. This system is highly complex--especially in cells of multicellular organisms--as correct combinations of TF molecules need to bind specific sites on the DNA.

Researchers have discovered a second giant pore for the transport of folded proteins in certain cell organelles, i.e. peroxisomes. Five years ago, the group already described the first giant pore. The team headed by Prof Dr Ralf Erdmann from the Institute of Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum published the findings in the journal "Cell Reports" together with colleagues from Osnabrück, Bremen and Göttingen.

Import of folded proteins had baffled researchers for a long time

Recent research has shown that the cells in our bodies teeter on the brink of death. They possess intricate molecular mechanisms that promote either suicide or survival. The concept is known as programmed cell death (PCD). Since the early 2000s, when PCD was confirmed, research has focused mainly on finding genes and proteins that trigger it. however, processes aiding cell survival have not been well understood.

Clinical geneticists from KU Leuven, Belgium, have identified two genes that cause the rare congenital syndrome known as circumferential skin creases Kunze type.

People born with a rare genetic mutation are unable to feel pain, but previous attempts to recreate this effect with drugs have had surprisingly little success. Using mice modified to carry the same mutation, UCL researchers funded by the MRC and Wellcome Trust have now discovered the recipe for painlessness.

A new study by UC San Francisco scientists shows that the proportion of normal cells, especially immune cells, intermixed with cancerous cells in a given tissue sample may significantly skew the results of genetic analyses and other tests performed both by researchers and by physicians selecting precision therapies.

Researchers have found that cats in Australia are most likely descended from those brought by European settlers. Feral cats found on the islands surrounding Australia may represent founding populations from Europe, introduced in the 19th century, according to research published in open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. Identifying the timing of the founding of these cat populations increases our knowledge of the effects this invasive species had when introduced to Australia.

The global toll taken by injuries on daily life has fallen by almost a third in the past quarter of a century, reveals research published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

The findings prompt the researchers to conclude that "the world is becoming a safer place to live in."

The World Bank commissioned the first Global Burden of Diseases and Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) study in the early 1990s. In subsequent updates, injury has emerged as a substantial cause of ill health and death in both the developing and developed world.

Despite hospitals operating a smoke free policy, newborns in intensive care may still be exposed to thirdhand smoke residue from their smoker parents, suggests a small study published online in the journal Tobacco Control.

The residue of second hand smoke, referred to as thirdhand smoke, is easily transported and deposited indoors, where it may take weeks or even months to degrade. It has been linked to cardiovascular and lung diseases in experimental research.

The price of new cancer drugs varies widely (from 28% to 388%) between high-income countries in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, new research published in The Lancet Oncology has found.

The study reveals that overall the UK and Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Spain, and Portugal pay the lowest average unit manufacturer prices for a group of 31 originator cancer drugs (new drugs under patent), whereas Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany pay the highest prices.

MIAMI, December 2, 2015 -- Researchers from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine will present a selection of the latest advances in hematology research at this year's American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, December 5-8, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.

Reporters interested in interviewing Sylvester researchers on-site at the conference should contact Patrick Bartosch at (201) 469-6408 or patrick.bartosch@med.miami.edu.

Depression is a significant predictor of five-year survival and recurrence in head and neck cancer patients, according to a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. These findings, published in Pyschosomatic Medicine, represent one of the largest reported impacts of depression on cancer survival.

In an attempt to better understand the taxonomy of a group of sand flies, researchers in Brazil examined specimens in museum collections. After detailed morphometric and morphological analyses of three different flies in the genus Psathyromyia, they found that the specimens were originally misidentified and that they were actually an undescribed species.