Body

Babies born with moderately high concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone have a higher risk of poor educational and development outcomes at school age, a world-first University of Sydney study reveals.

Published in the latest issue of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, this is the first population-based study demonstrating the association between moderately high thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations in infants and their later school age neurodevelopmental outcomes.

RICHLAND, Wash. - While relentless bright light brings many forms of cyanobacteria to their knees - figuratively, of course - Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 does the opposite, thriving and growing at a rate that far outpaces most of its peers. That makes the organism, commonly called a form of blue-green algae, an attractive target for scientists and engineers trying to create better, less expensive biofuels or develop tools for churning out custom chemicals.

A new study, published in the Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment journal, examines this by critically reviewing the literature.

The Zika virus is an arbovirus spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and has been strongly linked to congenital malformations in infants born to mothers who contracted the disease while pregnant. However, not a great deal is known about the mechanisms underlying the disease's neurological complications and what further research is required, an undertaking sought by the authors of this recent study.

The improved sequencing tool from the IBS Center for RNA Research reveals dynamic changes of poly(A) tails in eggs and embryos. By revealing the dynamic poly(A) regulation during the translation of RNA into protein, the study furthered our understanding as to how the fabric of life is shaped: from the color of your skin to your hair to how tall you will grow.

Noninvasive prenatal screening using cell-free placental DNA circulating in maternal blood (NIPS) has been rapidly integrated into prenatal care since the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) released its 2013 Position Statement on its use. "New data and provider and patient demand required an updated ACMG position on the use of NIPS in prenatal care," said lead author of the ACMG statement and high-risk pregnancy physician, Anthony R. Gregg, MD, MBA, FACOG, FACMG.

Underneath the waves of Palikir Pass, one of the world's top surf breaks in the Pacific Ocean, lies a new safe zone which aims to ensure the survival of local fisheries and the species that are caught in Pohnpei, Micronesia.

It's all thanks to a group of scientists from Australia and Micronesia who have found by measuring how far fish travel, habitats can be better protected.

Researchers targeted the island of Pohnpei as a case study to examine how effective their designated marine protected areas (MPAs) are for conservation and fisheries management.

The world's protected areas do benefit a broad range of species - scientists from a collaborative research project led by the University of Sussex have discovered for the first-time.

The study, carried out by the University of Sussex working together with the Natural History Museum and the UN Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre, is the largest ever analysis of globally protected areas.

AT A GLANCE

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Women who engaged on social media after a breast cancer diagnosis expressed more deliberation about their treatment decision and more satisfaction with the path they chose, a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds.

But the researchers found significant barriers to social media for some women, particularly older women, those with less education and minorities.

Women who reported using online communication after a new breast cancer diagnosis largely used it for email or texting with less using social media and web-based support groups, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology.

Online communication could be used to enhance cancer treatment decision making and care support. Little is known about whether, or how, newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer use this technology or if it influences patient appraisals of decision making.

In a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology, Phillippa M. Cumberland, M.Sc., and Jugnoo S. Rahi, Ph.D., F.R.C.Ophth., of the University College London Institute of Child Health, London, and the UK Biobank Eye and Vision Consortium, and colleagues examined the association of visual health (across the full acuity spectrum) with social determinants of general health and the association between visual health and health and social outcomes.

Recruiting minorities and poor people to participate in medical research always has been challenging, and that may not change as researchers turn to the internet to find study participants and engage with them online, new research suggests. A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis concludes that unless explicit efforts are made to increase engagement among under-represented groups, current health-care disparities may persist.

CLEVELAND - Researchers at University Hospitals Case Medical Center have discovered that a rare genetic mutation is associated with susceptibility to familial Barrett esophagus (FBE) and esophageal cancer, according to a new study published in the July issue of JAMA Oncology.

Amitabh Chak, MD, of University Hospitals Case Medical Center's Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and colleagues set out to identify novel disease susceptibility variants in FBE in affected individuals from a large multigenerational family.

Johannesburg, South Africa - an international team of researchers led by scientists from the University of the Witwatersrand's Evolutionary Studies Institute and the South African Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences today announced in two papers, published in the South African Journal of Science, the discovery of the most ancient evidence for cancer and bony tumours yet described in the human fossil record.

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued one of the world's most intricate measurement standards: an exhaustively analyzed antibody protein that the biopharmaceutical industry will use to help ensure the quality of treatments across a widening range of health conditions, including cancers, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases.