Body

Research led by The Australian National University (ANU) has uncovered new insights into how the human genome gets through the daily grind with the help of RNA-binding proteins, in a discovery which could ultimately lead to a cure for heart disease.

Lead researcher Professor Thomas Preiss from The John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU said the finding opens new avenues of research into RNAs - short-lived copies of the genetic information stored in DNA.

Exercise alone can reduce the number of obese, pregnant women who develop gestational diabetes, a new study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has shown.

Women in the exercise group also had lower blood pressure than the control group towards the end of their pregnancy.

The study has just been published in PLOS Medicine.

In recent years, numerous diseases have been tied to variations in gut microbiota. The rapidly growing probiotics industry targets gut and intestinal health by developing products built mostly around enzyme cultures and bacteria. But a new study now suggests that the underlying health and physical forces of the gut are as important as the bacteria inside in shaping communities of intestinal microbiota, and offers insights into the problems experienced by humans with a birth defect called Hirschsprung's disease.

In a surprise finding, researchers working with breast cancer cells purchased at the same time from the same cell bank discovered that the cells responded differently to chemicals, even though the researchers had not detected any difference when they tested them for authenticity at the time of purchase.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has concluded that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of visual skin examination by a clinician to screen for skin cancer in asymptomatic adults. The report appears in the July 26 issue of JAMA.

This is an I statement, indicating that that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of the service. Evidence is lacking, of poor quality, or conflicting, and the balance of benefits and harms cannot be determined.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced today that it doesn't have enough evidence to recommend that clinicians perform visual screening for melanomas with patients with no known special risk for the skin cancer. In an invited commentary in JAMA -- the journal of the American Medical Association -- Drs. Martin Weinstock and Hensin Tsao agree that the evidence doesn't meet the task force's standards, but they also question whether those standards are appropriate.

Between 2006 and 2014, late preterm and early term birth rates decreased in the United States and an association was observed between early term birth rates and decreasing clinician-initiated obstetric interventions, according to a study appearing in the July 26 issue of JAMA.

Among children born with the chromosome disorders trisomy 13 or 18 in Ontario, Canada, early death was the most common outcome, but 10 percent to 13 percent survived for 10 years, according to a study appearing in the July 26 issue of JAMA. Among children who underwent surgical interventions, 1-year survival was high.

For people with diabetes not treated with insulin, unsupervised self-monitoring of blood glucose levels has not been found effective at improving glycaemic control. In a randomised trial published this week in PLOS Medicine, Sarah Wild, Brian McKinstry and colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland report on a strategy where patients submit their home blood glucose results to a website which is monitored by a nurse or physician who responds to guide patients.

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 26, 2016 -- Seeing fruit "turn bad and going to waste" inspired a team of researchers in China to explore using atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasma -- already widely used for medical purposes -- as a novel solution to extend the shelf life of fruit and other perishable foods.

When bacteria attaches to food surfaces, it can extract nutrients and continue to proliferate in the form of "biofilms." Bacterial biofilms on food and food-processing surfaces diminish the food's quality and safety.

It may be hard to imagine competing over who gets to kiss a frog, but when it comes to mating, a new study concludes that some frogs have moved out of the pond onto land to make it easier for the male in the pair to give sexual rivals the slip.

CINCINNATI - As cases of ADHD continue to rise among U.S. children, pediatricians at busy community practices are getting a much-needed assist from a web-based technology to improve the quality of ADHD care and patient outcomes.

According to a multi-institutional study published online July 26 in Pediatrics, a new web-based software program is helping reduce ADHD behavioral symptoms in children receiving care at community pediatric practices by coordinating care and ensuring patients get the most effective ADHD medications.

Three weeks after the scientific world marked the 20th anniversary of the birth of Dolly the sheep new research, published by The University of Nottingham, in the academic journal Nature Communications has shown that four clones derived from the same cell line -- genomic copies of Dolly -- reached their 8th birthdays in good health. The video can be seen here.

SAN FRANCISCO (July 26, 2016) - Scientists have uncovered a fascinating new clue in the global mystery surrounding wild birds with grossly deformed beaks. A team of researchers from the California Academy of Sciences, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have identified a novel virus that has been linked to Avian Keratin Disorder (AKD), a disease responsible for debilitating beak overgrowth and whose cause has remained elusive despite more than a decade of research.

Favism is a common hereditary disease, affecting around 400 million people worldwide. It is caused by a lack of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). This deficiency triggers the destruction of red blood cells (hemolysis) and anemia in patients after they consume fava beans and certain drugs. In the case of severe forms with a complete enzyme deficiency, life-threatening infections with bacteria and fungi can even occur. However, most specialists who treat these patients are unaware of this.