Month: December 2015

Novel genes are continuously emerging during evolution, but what drives this process? A new study, published in PLOS Genetics, has found that the fortuitous appearance of certain combinations of elements in the genome can lead to the generation of new genes. This work was led by Jorge Ruiz-Orera and Mar Albà from Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute in Barcelona (IMIM-ICREA). In every genome, there are sets of genes, which are unique to that particular

Chestnut Hill, Mass. (Jan. 1, 2016) – By employing a third reactant, researchers at Boston College have developed a new type of ‘cross coupling’ chemical reaction, building on a Nobel Prize-winning technique that is one of the most sophisticated tools available to research chemists, the team reports in the journal Science. Transition metal catalyzed cross-coupling reactions were the subject of the 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry. A key component of that novel approach — known

A new strategy to prevent concussions on the football field that seems counterintuitive may actually work, a new study suggests. Instead of shielding the head with increasing layers of padding, researchers think they can reduce head impacts by having players temporarily practice without helmets. That approach seems to encourage players to avoid using their heads as weapons, the researchers added. “We’ve found a way to decrease the number of impacts in the sport of football,”

HONOLULU — Hawaii is raising the legal smoking age to 21 for traditional and electronic cigarettes on Jan. 1, becoming the first state in the nation to do so. Public health officials are hoping that by making it more difficult for young people to get their hands on cigarettes, they will keep them from developing an unhealthy addiction. “In Hawaii, about one in four students in high school try their first cigarette each year, and

This time of year people are shelling out millions of dollars hoping for a beautiful body and assuming a happier life will be the result. The latest diets and boot camp-style workouts are on everybody’s mind. Then comes late February or early March. The month when people’s resolutions start to flitter out the window and they find themselves back to square one. It’s not that there’s a serious lack of willpower or that people are

It’s 2016 and health care is at a never-before moment of change. The mass consumerization of health, the growing influence of women over the health care industry and dramatic technological innovation are driving a major shift for pharma companies, physicians, pharmacists and other providers. Now is the time for the health sector to seize the moment, and remake itself from an industry that treats illness to one that succeeds at preventing it. Communication is the

Make 2016 the year of goal creation and accomplishment. Creating a vision board will give you a clear picture of what is important to you and, will define for you what your goal actually looks like. Vision boards are easy to complete with just a few materials. You will need magazines (as many as you like, whatever type you like), scissors, tape or glue, and a base to lay you pictures. Small boards can be

In 1995, on New Year’s Eve, at a hospital in the ritzy Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia, my brother, Chris Hampton, with the wicked sense of humor, impeccable taste, and ability to make me believe he was invincible, drew his last, raspy breath, succumbing to AIDs at the age of 31. Being only 10 months older than me, Mom used to sometimes dress us like twins when we were little. I always liked to think

What are tips you’d use to stick to New Years resolutions? originally appeared on Quora – the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. Answer by Nelson Wang, founder of CEO Lifestyle, on Quora. This question originally appeared on Quora. – the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions:? Self-Improvement: What are

A study has revealed that robotic surgery was involved in 144 deaths and 1,391 injuries in the US during a 14-year period. While this may seem a cause for concern, considering there were 1.7m operations carried out during …

MOVE ONE: Barbell Lunge Illustration by JOEL KIMMEL 1. You may be tempted to keep your feet wide. But narrowing your stance can actually stabilize you. 2. Move your hips straight down. Shifting them forward can increase stress on your joints. 3. Push through your entire foot, not your toes, to stand back up. MOVE TWO: Dumbbell Row Illustration by JOEL KIMMEL 1. Before you start, pull your shoulders back instead of scrunching them up.

Nancy, 32, and Brandon, 35, who’ve been together for three years “My advice is to make it a priority. At the beginning of the week, my partner and I always make at least three ‘sex dates’ for the week, and we stick to them. It is too easy to get lost in the day-to-day household routine, and without prioritizing and committing to nurture your sex life, you could easily slip into the negative spiral of never

Adele: You’re not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg, but if there’s gonna be an orgasm, there’s gonna be tears, and it’s going to be beautiful. The Black Keys: Your dirty talk game is on fleek. Bob Dylan: You make an exceptional amount of eye contact during sex. We’re not even mad about it; we’re actually impressed. DeadMau5: You move around a lot and have much more enthusiasm than rhythm. Hey,

(HealthDay)—Three-quarters of U.S. high school students who use heroin first tried narcotic painkillers, a new survey reveals. Survey results from nearly 68,000 high school seniors provide some clues to heroin‘s recent deadly path from the inner city into affluent suburbs and rural communities. “The more times a teen uses nonprescribed painkiller pills, the greater the risk he or she is at for becoming dependent on the drug,” said lead researcher Joseph Palamar, an assistant professor

Charles Gersbach, associate professor of biomedical engineering Credit: Duke University Researchers have used CRISPR to treat an adult mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This marks the first time that CRISPR has successfully treated a genetic disease inside a fully developed living mammal with a strategy that has the potential to be translated to human therapy. Researchers from Duke University had previously used CRISPR to correct genetic mutations in cultured cells from Duchenne patients, and

Members of the UT Southwestern team whose research successfully halted progression of a form of muscular dystrophy in mice included (l-r) Dr. Chengzu Long, Dr. Eric Olson, Dr. Rhonda Bassel-Duby, Dr. Leonela Amoasii, John Shelton, and Alex Mireault. Credit: UT Southwestern Medical Center Using a new gene-editing technique, a team of scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center stopped progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in young mice. If efficiently and safely scaled up in DMD

Authorities have started the countdown to the end of Ebola in Guinea, the last country still reporting cases after nearly two years and more than 11,000 deaths worldwide, health officials said Tuesday.

Funerary stele of the priest Rom(a) about 1400BC shows the withered limb and down-flexed foot of poliomyelitis. This artifact is in the Carlsberg ny Glyptothek in Copenhagen, Denmark and is thought by many to be the first documentation of a human disease caused by and infectious agent. Credit: Knowlson et al (2015) While the goal of polio virus eradication is in sight, there are concerns about post-eradication manufacturing and stockpiling vaccine stores containing live virus

A 2-year-old husky mutt can stand, sit and run like an ordinary dog for the first time in his life after receiving a custom-made set of prosthetic legs. Derby, who lives in New York with his owner, Sherry Portonva, was born with partially formed front paws that forced him to use his hind legs and chest to crawl and walk, KNS Radio reported. Rock Hill, South Carolina-based 3D Systems, which makes 3-D products like printers

Although New Years is often thought of as a time of hope and possibility, it can also be a time of stress.  For people who have been feeling stuck, the renewing of the calendar can cause feelings of being “left behind”—as though time is marching on but somehow nothing new is happening.  For my patients who are in a rut at this time of year I often suggest doing a “mental reset.”  I have found

A Russian man gave new meaning to the term “dead drunk” — getting so loaded that he was actually declared dead and brought to the morgue. The man passed out while partying with pals. First responders thought he was dead, the newspaper Khasanskiye Vesti reported. Authorities took him to a morgue, but he woke up in the middle of the night, confused and frightened about being locked in a cold room filled with dead bodies,

Reye the dog was diagnosed with terminal cancer and since then his owner has worked to make his last few months memorable. After Reye’s diagnosis on December 2, owner Todd Burchanowski, of Franklin, Pa., created a list of things he and his friends and family thought every dog would want and has been fulfilling them ever since. On Sunday, Burchanowski told Metro.co.uk: “This week we are planning on taking a road trip to accomplish a

A Marine who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma the day after Thanksgiving is tackling the disease head on while documenting it in a series of short videos titled “F- -k Cancer.” Reserve Staff Sgt. Mark Fayloga is using dark humor to get him through his treatments, Marine Corps Times reported. “When I was finalizing the name, my cousin just texted me: ‘You should call it ‘F- -k Cancer,’ because f—k cancer!’” Fayloga, a director of

The morning after a big night out can be taxing—excessive eating and drinking or just plain weariness will slow the best of anyone down. Like most, nutritionist Kimberly Snyder understands this feeling, especially around the holidays. “When I’ve over indulged or haven’t gotten enough sleep, I feel very bloated and fatigued,” says the Los Angeles-based Ms. Snyder, who counts singers and Hollywood actors among her clients. “I hate that feeling.” Ms. Snyder has several strategies

A Barcelona-based disability foundation has created an intelligent chair so that severely disabled children can better explore their surroundings. Previous models of wheelchair were usually joystick-operated and were unusable for children without the necessary motor skills or with limited awareness of their environment. This model of wheelchair responds to voice command, head movement, or sucks of a pacifier. Parents and medical staff are calling on industry professionals to evolve the prototype into a model that

(Reuters Health) – Frailty and brain health should be taken into account when determining whether patients should have a defibrillator implanted in their chest, suggests a new study. More than 20 percent of patients with frailty or dementia died within a year of getting defibrillators, which means they likely didn’t benefit from the devices, researchers found. “If someone has a 20 percent risk of dying in one year, we’re not sure if they’ll benefit from a

CONAKRY Guinea was declared free of Ebola transmission on Tuesday after more than 2,500 people died from the virus in the West African nation, leaving Liberia as the only country still counting down the days until the end of the epidemic. The announcement made at a ceremony in the capital comes 42 days after the last Ebola patient tested negative for a second time. The country now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance, the

Thursday December 31 2015 New Year newspapers are chock-full of predictions CRISPR-Cas9 leads to a range of new gene editing research You probably haven’t heard of CRISPR-Cas 9, but that could well change by the end of 2016. CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing technique that uses a combination of the Cas9 protein and a strand of RNA to make breaks in strands of DNA. Then new genetic code can be placed inside the breaks. This

An app that can differentiate between a variety of crying sounds made by babies has been developed by Taiwanese researchers. The Infant Cries Translator was developed at the National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin and can differentiate between four separate crying sounds by recording the sounds of babies and comparing them against a vast database. Over a two year period researchers collected around 200,000 crying sounds from approximately 100 new-born babies, and uploaded them to an

An 11-year-old in Kazakhstan is on the mend after surgeons removed a hairball that filled her stomach and extended more than 13 inches from the organ. Central European News (CEN) reported that the girl, whose name CEN did not disclose, suffers from Rapunzel syndrome. The condition is marked by the ingestion of a non-absorbable food or fiber, which then forms an abdominal mass called a bezoar, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Most

Reconstructive surgery on the human nose isn’t uncommon, but until now, doctors in the United States haven’t been able to replicate and restore the body part to its full functionality. Dallan Jennet, a 14-year-old boy from the Marshall Islands, a country that lies near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, is the first patient in the U.S. to undergo a procedure that does just that. Jennet’s face became disfigured when he fell onto a live

Between around-the-clock work schedules, never-ending to-do lists, and days spent running around like a chicken sans head, who has the time to lose weight? Well, if you follow these five time-saving weight loss tips, you. RELATED: The Only 5 Prep Your MealsExercises You’ll Ever Need Sure, you could drag out the pots, pans, and cutting boards every day. But if you chop, sauté, and bake all of your week’s food at once, you’ll save serious time

If you sometimes feel worn out by all the exotic superfoods from faraway lands we’re supposed to be adopting daily, good news: We’re here to talk to you now about a vegetable that’s delicious, chock-full of great nutrition, and a humble member of the cabbage family. It’s kohlrabi, that odd-looking bulb you’ve likely seen at farmer’s markets or in your CSA box. RELATED: Take This 21-Day Challenge to Eat More Veggies Here’s what you should know

(Reuters Health) – Bullying during adolescence may be tied to health problems that follow teens into adulthood, a Canadian study suggests. Researchers who followed 662 youth for a decade starting when they were between 12 and 19 years old found that both physical and emotional bullying was linked with difficulties such as headaches, dizziness, backaches, insomnia, abdominal pain and poor body image. Even emotional taunts predicted physical health problems in adulthood, researchers reported in the

(Reuters Health) – A growing number of U.S. women are filling prescriptions for unregulated hormones to ease menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats, a recent study suggests. Researchers focused on what’s known as compounded hormone therapy – prescriptions that are custom-blended by pharmacists instead of factory-made by drug companies and approved for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sometimes these formulations are marketed as “bioidentical,” and touted as more

(Reuters Health) – A study comparing the risks of in-hospital and out-of-hospital births in Oregon finds the odds of infant death are more than two times higher for planned out-of-hospital births. The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine differ from those of a recent, larger Canadian study that found newborn death rates were not higher among women who gave birth at home (see Reuters Health story of December 21, 2015, here: reut.rs/1SmV3wT).

(Reuters Health) – Teen smokers might crave nicotine in part because their brains respond differently than adults to seeing people light up, a small study suggests. To see if young minds might be hard-wired to desire cigarettes, researchers did magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of teens and adults – including smokers and nonsmokers – who watched videos of adolescents and young adults smoking. With teen smokers in particular, researchers saw heightened responses in brain regions

(Reuters Health) – Whether surgical trainees should be able to work long shifts is a matter of fierce debate, and the methods of a controversial study aimed at answering that question were outlined Wednesday in a top surgical journal. The results won’t be available until February. In the meantime, critics of the study say it exposed doctors-in-training – known as residents – and their patients to unnecessary risks by extending work hours. But supporters say

Last year, police in western New York stopped a driver who had been reported “weaving all over” the road. The female motorist had a flat tire and her car was producing “a large amount of smoke and a noticeable smell of burning rubber,” per the police report; the responding officer also said the driver smelled of alcohol, was slurring her speech, and had glassy, bloodshot eyes. She passed one sobriety test (reciting the alphabet) but

By Daniel Kelley NORRISTOWN, Pa. (Reuters) – Bill Cosby was charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting a woman after plying her with drugs and alcohol in 2004, marking the only criminal case against the once-beloved performer whose father-figure persona has been tainted by dozens of misconduct accusations. Cosby, 78, walking with a cane and accompanied by two lawyers, appeared for his arraignment hours later at a courthouse in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, where

(Reuters) – An Oregon woman accused of plowing her car into a crowd on a Las Vegas Strip sidewalk, killing one person and injuring dozens, had marijuana in her system following the incident, county officials said on Wednesday. Lakeisha Holloway, 24, faces one count of murder through use of a deadly weapon in the death of a 32-year-old Arizona woman who was among those struck by the sedan on Dec. 20. Clark County District Attorney

Triplets Finn, Kyle and Ava Santiago, who were born six weeks premature and underweight, went home from Loyola University Medical Center Dec. 24, just in time to celebrate their first Christmas. From the moment they were born on Dec. 6, the babies were monitored around the clock at Loyola’s neonatal intensive care unit. All three are as healthy as normal full-term, full-weight babies, said Jonathan Muraskas, MD, co-medical director of Loyola’s neonatal ICU. Parents Brandon

For the first time in The Woman’s Hospital of Texas history, the hospital delivered more than 11,000 babies in one year. Cinthia and Albert Lee and big brother Armani welcomed Alijah George into the world at 2:08 a.m. on Thursday, December 24, 2015. Alijah weighs 7 pounds, 9 ounces and is 20 inches long. The Lee’s are from Houston and were thrilled to be the record-setting family. “We are so excited that our baby is

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The brewing of Christmas beer in Norway is a very old tradition and dates back to pre-Christian times, at least. Much has been said and written about Christmas beer in ancient times, so Anders Christensen from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has chosen instead to focusn on commercially brewed Christmas beer from the last few hundred years. The Norwegian brewery industry went through a tremendous upheaval in the early 1800s. In the 1700s,

A genetic modification in the mucous membrane of the esophagus, the Barrett esophagus, can lead to esophageal cancer. If certain biomarkers are contained in these tissue alterations, so-called miDNA, these are extremely short DNA strands, it could be an indication that this preliminary stage of esophageal cancer indeed leads to cancer. This was discovered by scientists of the Gastroesophageal Tumor Unit (CCC-GET) of the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) Vienna of the MedUni Vienna and the

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The bacterium B. cereus had so far been considered to be exclusively endospore-forming. In response to harsh conditions, the bacteria form protective endospores enabling them to remain dormant for extended periods. When conditions are more favourable, the endospores reactivate to become fully functioning bacteria. Elrike Frenzel, Markus Kranzler and Monika Ehling-Schulz of the Institute of Microbiology at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have now shown for the first time that B. cereus has an

Some people might say the obsession began with the hit Netflix original series “Orange is the New Black,” while others might argue that it was the debut of  “Breaking Bad” on the on-demand site that sparked the trend. Credit for igniting the spark matters little—millions of Americans are whiling away hours upon hours binge-watching TV, and they are potentially putting their health at risk in the process. Streaming TV and movies online has become a

During the course of the year at Runner’s World, as we cover elite runners, back-of-the-packers, and everyone in between, a few stories strike a chord with readers. This month, we’re following up with the subjects of some of our most popular stories from 2015 to learn what they’re up to now. Here, Runner’s World checks in with James Lawrence. Less than five months ago, James Lawrence finished an endurance feat that seems unfeasible. Already a world-record

I get it: Nothing’s going to magically counteract that killer headache and about-to-hurl feeling induced by one (or five) too many Cinco de Mayo sangrias. But there might be something healthier than the obvious—two Advil and a greasy diner meal—to help take the edge off. Last week, I was chatting with a woman about our shared love of kombucha, and she told me that it’s her go-to morning hangover remedy. Of course I was skeptical,

By Tom Esslemont LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – There’s one prediction for 2016 that most aid workers can make with confidence – that the new year will usher in rising humanitarian needs. Besides displacement caused by long-term conflicts in places like Syria and South Sudan, there is also the threat of more violence in Central African Republic and hunger caused by El Nino, which is expected to bring more drought to already-parched southern regions in

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Two gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a female polio vaccination campaigner in Afghanistan on Monday and seriously wounded her granddaughter, officials said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack but Islamists in some parts of the world believe campaigns against the crippling disease are a plot against Muslims or an attempt to spy on militants. The pair, a woman and her teenaged granddaughter, were eradication-campaign volunteers, going house to

CHICAGO — Asthma rates in U.S. children have quieted down after a decades-long increase, a government study found, and researchers are trying to pinpoint reasons that would explain the trend. A possible plateau in childhood obesity rates and declines in air pollution are among factors that may have helped lower cases in kids, the 2001-13 study suggests. Overall, average asthma rates among kids aged 17 and younger increased slightly, then leveled off and declined by

Iron deficiency and anemia have a high cost for the global economy—but this small hunk of metal could help fix that. Read more on TakePart

Let’s all face it: It’s not always easy to be the best person that you know you can be. You are, after all, only human, and to be human means to make mistakes and face occasional failure.

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded for the discovery of artemisinin and ivermectin, was divided between Youyou Tu “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria” and William C. Campbell together with Satoshi ?mura “for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against roundworm infections” (Fig. 1). These parasitic infections have endangered human existence disproportionately, impeding productivity and economic growth due to major public health and societal burdens in developing and semi-industrialized countries

i Delma and Antonio Salazar have been caring for Delma’s mother, Agnes Williams (middle), who has severe memory problems, for the last seven years. Laurel Morales/KJZZ hide caption toggle caption Laurel Morales/KJZZ Delma and Antonio Salazar have been caring for Delma’s mother, Agnes Williams (middle), who has severe memory problems, for the last seven years. Laurel Morales/KJZZ About 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, the latest statistics suggest, and it’s likely about as common on

Children with asthma use inhalers to relieve some of their symptoms, which include coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. Credit: Tradimus, Wikimedia commons. Asthma rates in U.S. children have quieted down after a decades-long increase, a government study found, and researchers are trying to pinpoint reasons that would explain the trend. A possible plateau in childhood obesity rates and declines in air pollution are among factors that may have helped lower cases in

IMAGE: The Behavioral Science of Eating Infographic is in the inaugural issue of the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. view more Credit: Brian Wansink Eating too much is typically considered one of the prime culprits of obesity. A new study published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, looked specifically at overconsumption of “healthy” foods which consumers often perceive as less filling. The researchers successfully found evidence to support their hypothesis that

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A songbird species that flourishes on the salmon-rich side of dams in the western United States struggles when it tries to nest on the side closed off from the fish and the nutrients they leave behind. But the songbird and the rest of the divided ecosystem rebounds, faster than some experts expected, when dams come down and rivers are allowed to resume their natural flow. Two new studies led by Christopher Tonra,

Step 1: Identify the need for change Needs assessment Twenty-five needs were identified (Table 1). These confirmed the limitations of the existing system and provided opportunities and methods for improvement. Decision-makers noted issues related to meetings held at short notice affecting their ability to attend and adequately appraise materials provided, lack of resources to administer the process and insufficient information on which to base decisions. Applicants reported difficulty accessing information about the process and frustration at

Qualitative data were generated in tandem with the quantitative ranking so while analysed inductively, it is unsurprising that qualitative findings map closely to the quantitative results. The dominant themes from the qualitative data relate to issues of awareness and disclosure. Understandings and awareness of disability and domestic abuse Participants in the study reported that they sometimes lack awareness of how to deal with the combined issues of disability and domestic abuse among women in their

Studies on several model plant species have demonstrated that particular plant ABC transporters are required for the formation of the arbuscular mycorrhiza [8–10]. At the same time, the extensive exchange of nutrients between the both partners engaged in mycorrhiza formation probably requires the action of additional transporter proteins, not only on the host side, but also on the side of the colonising fungus. Currently, it remains unknown whether any of fungal ABC transporters contribute to

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical problem affecting up to 1 % of the general population and 8-15 % of hospitalized patients 1]–3], and the incidence is increasing worldwide 4], 5]. Among the critically ill patients, about 50 % develop AKI and 4–15 % have severe AKI needing renal replacement therapy (RRT) support 6], 7]. Besides, AKI was found to be an independent predictor for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in a large cohort study enrolling 233,803 elderly

In outline, our research: i) develops a general form of model for the probability of disease as a function of exposure and protection; ii) identifies and develops alternative functions to represent the protection curve; iii) proposes criteria for model evaluation and selection; iv) fits models to sixteen illustrative datasets, calculates evaluation and model selection criteria, and compares methods for estimating standard errors; v) proposes alternative data analysis strategies. Data consist of assay values and subsequent

HealthMine, Inc.

York University in Ontario, Canada this month announced the establishment of The Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health, in honour of Victor Dahdaleh – a prominent UK-based Canadian business leader and York alumnus who recently donated $20m to the University. The Institute will be a leading centre of excellence in addressing global health issues, and will attract some of the top researchers and academics from around the world. Dr Dahdaleh, who recently received a Doctor of

(Repeats to widen distribution) By Andrew Both Dec 27 (Reuters) – Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning denied an Al-Jazeera report that he took human growth hormone (HGH) following neck surgery in 2011, but on Sunday the football player acknowledged he visited a clinic that allegedly supplied the banned substance. Meanwhile, Charles Sly, the source of the Al-Jazeera report that the anti-aging clinic in Indianapolis provided HGH to Manning, recanted his allegations in a video statement.