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U.S. schools making progress in decreasing availability of junk food

U.S. schools have made considerable improvements in their policies and programs to promote the health and safety of students, particularly in the areas of nutrition, physical activity and tobacco use, says a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

22 Oct 2007

800-year-old mummies from Mongolia help advance DNA extraction

Dr. Heather Coyle and three forensic science graduate students at the University of New Haven have developed a new method for preparing certain skeletal remains for DNA extraction thanks to some 800-year-old mummies from Mongolia and the research the group is doing for the Smithsonian Institution.

22 Oct 2007

Transgenics sped up

A new method of constructing artificial plant chromosomes from small rings of naturally occurring plant DNA can be used to transport multiple genes at once into embryonic plants where they are expressed, duplicated as plant cells divide, and passed on to the next generation -- a long-term goal for those interested in improving agricultural productivity.

19 Oct 2007

Discovery of binocular vision gene

A team of researchers at the Bosch Institute have identified an important gene responsible for binocular vision.

19 Oct 2007

Random drug and alcohol testing does not reliably keep student-athletes from using

In fact, the mere presence of drug testing increases some risk factors for future substance use, Oregon Health & Science University researchers report. Their findings are published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, the journal of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

19 Oct 2007

Newly qualified doctors feel well prepared by medical school

Compared to 2000, significantly more newly qualified doctors believe that their medical school training prepares them well for their first clinical posts, according to research published in the online open access journal, BMC Medical Education.

18 Oct 2007

Reducing class size may be more cost-effective than most medical interventions

Reducing the number of students per classroom in U.S. primary schools may be more cost-effective than most public health and medical interventions, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Virginia Commonwealth University.

17 Oct 2007

Discovery of new antibody that helps detect type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes and University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center's School of Medicine have discovered a fourth antibody in human blood which will help more accurately predict who is predisposed to type 1 diabetes.

17 Oct 2007

Medical school departments, department heads often have industry relationships

A study led by members of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Health Policy (MGH-IHP) has found that institutional academic-industry relationships - financial relationships companies have with medical schools or teaching hospitals rather than with individual physicians or scientists - are as common and pervasive as individual relationships.

17 Oct 2007

Nanorods of gold blast tumor cells

Researchers have shown how tiny "nanorods" of gold can be triggered by a laser beam to blast holes in the membranes of tumor cells, setting in motion a complex biochemical mechanism that leads to a tumor cell's self-destruction.

17 Oct 2007

Insoles for prevention and treatment of back pain

The advertisements are vague but alluring: Wear insoles and you will be relaxed and stand with proper posture.

17 Oct 2007

Blood levels of progesterone may impact blood vessel function

Blood levels of progesterone, a major female sex hormone, may play an important role in modifying vascular function in postmenopausal women, according to a new study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

16 Oct 2007

Insomniac fish help understand the genetics behind sleep disorders

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have hooked a fish that suffers from insomnia in their quest to understand the genetics behind sleep disorders.

16 Oct 2007

76% of teenagers aged 12-18 report being sexually violated

Almost 90% of teenagers aged 12-18 claim to have been victims of some level of sexual violence, according to a study conducted jointly by the University of Haifa and Ben Gurion University.

16 Oct 2007

Low-volume whole-blood sensors could transform cardiac testing

University of Ulster researchers have teamed up with scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay on a project to develop low-volume whole-blood sensors that could transform point-of-care cardiac testing.

15 Oct 2007

The importance of the endocannabinoid-system

Cannabis (marijuana) is the most widely produced plant-based illicit drug worldwide and the illegal drug most frequently used in Europe.

15 Oct 2007

New species of fungus

A species of fungus new to science has been discovered on Imperial's Silwood Park campus, and has been named in the campus' honour.

15 Oct 2007

Familial multiple sclerosis appears more severe than non-familial

Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of a large group of patients with multiple sclerosis has provided the first evidence that those with a history of MS in their families show more severe brain damage than patients who have no close relatives with the disease.

15 Oct 2007

Dopamine levels and appetite

Science has found one likely contributor to the way that some folks eat to live and others live to eat.

15 Oct 2007

Alcohol is most common 'spiking' drug

Young women in Northern Ireland are leaving themselves vulnerable to rape or serious sexual assault because of their binge drinking, according to research carried out by staff and students within the Forensic and Legal Medicine team at the University of Ulster.

15 Oct 2007