Body

Study identifies genetic risk for hyperinflammatory disorder from viral infection

Cincinnati/Birmingham, Ala. - A group of people with fatal H1N1 flu died after their viral infections triggered a deadly hyperinflammatory disorder in susceptible individuals with gene mutations linked to the overactive immune response, according to a study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Inkjet hologram printing now possible

Vivid holographic images and text can now be produced by means of an ordinary inkjet printer. This new method, developed by a team of scientists from ITMO University in Saint Petersburg, is expected to significantly reduce the cost and time needed to create the so-called rainbow holograms, commonly used for security purposes - to protect valuable items, such as credit cards and paper currency, from piracy and falsification. The results of the study were published 17 November in the scientific journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Canuckosaur! First Canadian 'dinosaur' becomes Dimetrodon borealis

A "dinosaur" fossil originally discovered on Prince Edward Island has been shown to have steak knife-like teeth, and researchers from U of T Mississauga, Carleton University and the Royal Ontario Museum have changed its name to Dimetrodon borealis--marking the first occurrence of a Dimetrodon fossil in Canada.

Study: Paying for transgender health care cost-effective

A new analysis led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that while most U.S. health insurance plans deny benefits to transgender men and women for medical care necessary to transition to the opposite sex, paying for sex reassignment surgery and hormones is actually cost-effective.

Cooking with chloraminated water and salt could create toxic molecules

Amsterdam, November 24, 2015 - Cooking with chloraminated water could put potentially harmful toxins in your food, according to a new study published in Water Research. The study reveals several molecules that are almost completely new to researchers, created by cooking with chloraminated tap water and iodized table salt.

Use of antivirals in retrovirus-infected cats

A number of antiviral drugs are licensed and widely used for the treatment of specific viral infections in humans. Potential new agents are also being investigated that it is hoped will overcome limitations of the current options, which include a narrow antiviral spectrum, ineffectiveness against latent virus infections, development of drug-resistance and toxic side effects.

An ounce of cancer prevention is worth a moment of your attention

What if you could visit the doctor for a blood test that predicted your personal cancer risk - then got a simple prescription that reduced that risk? The scenario isn't so far off - and bringing it closer is the goal of cancer prevention.

The global cancer burden cannot be borne by treatment alone. Prevention at every level - from diet to education, from screening to vaccination - is the key to sustainable cancer control. Now, the latest Special Issue in ecancermedicalscience hones in the three moving pieces in the above scenario - biomarkers, screening and prevention.

Leatherback sea turtles choose nest sites carefully, study finds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The enormous, solitary leatherback sea turtle spends most of its long life at sea. After hatching and dispersing across the world's oceans, only the female leatherbacks return to their natal beaches to lay clutches of eggs in the sand. A new study offers fresh insights into their nesting choices and will help efforts to prevent the extinction of this globally endangered giant of the sea, researchers said.

A report of the new findings appears in the Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery.

'Sport shoppers' bargain hunt simply for the thrill of it, new research finds

The finish line is in sight, the rush of victory just past the cash register, the trophy flung hastily into a shopping cart.

For some, shopping is a pursuit akin to an athletic competition, according to San Francisco State University professors Kathleen O'Donnell, associate dean of the School of Business, and Judi Strebel, chair of the marketing department. In new research just published online, the two define what it means to be a "sport shopper."

Gene variants involved in stress responses affect 'post-concussive' symptoms

November 24, 2015 - Variations in a gene that affect the body's responses to stress influence the risk of developing so-called post-concussive symptoms (PCS) after car crashes, reports a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

'Traditional authority' linked to rates of deforestation in Africa

The first study to link precolonial African leadership and current levels of deforestation has shown a strong correlation between areas with historic leadership structures more susceptible to corruption and higher rates of forest loss today.

The study suggests that a "legal pluralism" exists across large parts of Africa where many local leaders continue to hold sway over natural resources through precolonial "traditional authority"; old power often not recognised by the state.

The corn snake genome sequenced for the first time

Among the 5 000 existing species of mammals, more than 100 have their genome sequenced, whereas the genomes of only 9 species of reptiles (among 10 000 species) are available to the scientific community. This is the reason why a team at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has produced a large database including, among others, the newly-sequenced genome of the corn snake, a species increasingly used to understand the evolution of reptiles.

Stored fat fights against the body's attempts to lose weight

The fatter we are, the more our body appears to produce a protein that inhibits our ability to burn fat, suggests new research published in the journal Nature Communication. The findings may have implications for the treatment of obesity and other metabolic diseases.

PMS as an early marker for future high blood pressure risk

AMHERST, Mass. ¬- In the first prospective study to consider premenstrual syndrome (PMS) as a possible sentinel for future risk of hypertension, epidemiologist Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson and colleagues in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Harvard School of Public Health report that women with moderate-to-severe PMS had a 40 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure over the following 20 years compared to women experiencing few menstrual symptoms.

Subsolid lung nodules pose greater cancer risk to women than men

CHICAGO - Women with a certain type of lung nodule visible on lung cancer screening CT exams face a higher risk of lung cancer than men with similar nodules, according to a new study being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).