Scientists have reported that an experimental vaccine targeting one of the most common genetic drivers of pancreatic cancer, called mutant KRAS, is safe and generated a durable immune responses aimed at preventing the cancer.
Doctors and scientists will rightly note that, in every study ever done on weight loss, 100% of participants who consumed fewer calories than they burned lost weight. Exercise helps in multiple ways, but in weight loss it helps burn the calories.
A survey of psychologists finds they believe something additional; they say dieters should pay attention to the role emotions play in weight gain and loss if they hope to succeed in the physical two. The survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center asked 1,328 psychologists how they dealt with clients' weight and weight loss challenges. 306 of the respondents provide weight loss counseling.
The dramatic increase in obesity over the past few decades has been tightly associated with an increase in obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Of course, it's also been associated with a change in the definition of obesity in that period. In 1912 the perfect woman was determined to be 5'7" tall, with measurements of 35-30-40 and weighing in at 171 lbs., but there is no denying the developed world is getting fatter in an unhealthy way.
17 percent of all sun-like stars have planets one to two times the diameter of Earth orbiting close to their host stars, according to a team of astronomers who created their estimate based on an analysis of the first three years of data from NASA's Kepler mission. Thousands of potential exoplanets have been detected, which is good news for those searching for habitable worlds outside our solar system.
For decades, the consensus among psychologists has held that a group of five personality traits - openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism - are a universal feature of human psychology.
Not so, say anthropologists writing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Female athletes are three times more likely than men to suffer anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures, one of the most common knee injuries. Studies have found that pre-season and ongoing neuromuscular training programs aimed specifically at improving knee stability when jumping, landing or pivoting can significantly decrease ACL injury risk among girls and women.
The anatomical differences between the male and female knee may contribute to higher injury rates, and should be taken into consideration during reconstructive surgery and sports training, according to a review article in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS).
It's not as fun as the Martini Diet but more scientific than the Tapeworm Diet.
A new paper says that parasitic worm infections, a major cause of disease and disability throughout much of the developing world, might actually help treat metabolic disorders associated with obesity.
A study in Nature Medicine shows that, once inside a host, many parasitic worms secrete a sugar-based anti-inflammatory molecule that might actually help treat metabolic disorders associated with obesity. The sugar molecule - glycan - is released by parasites to help them evade the body's immune system. By reducing inflammation, they are better able to hide in tissues, and humans experience fewer symptoms that might reveal their presence.
In biology, you learned that the penicillin-producing mold fungus Penicillium chrysogenum only reproduces asexually through spores - it has been taught that way for much of the last century. But a group of researchers now say that the fungus also has a sexual cycle, two "genders".
In 1928, anti-bacterial researcher Alexander Fleming demonstrated (after discovering it serendipitously following years of research) the formation of penicillin in Penicillium chrysogenum. To date, there is no other known producer of that antibiotic.
One of the mechanisms involved in hearing is similar to the battery in your car. How do researchers know? They heard it in a fruit fly love song.
The auditory system of the fruit fly contains a protein that functions as a sodium/potassium pump, often called the sodium pump for short, and is highly expressed in a specialized support cell called the scolopale cell. The scolopale cell is important because it wraps around the sensory endings in the fly's ear and makes a tight extra-cellular cavity or compartment around them called the scolopale space.
New research suggests that racial stereotypes and creativity have more in common than we might think.
In an article published in Psychological Science, psychologists find that racial stereotyping and creative stagnation share a common mechanism: categorical thinking. "Although these two concepts concern very different outcomes, they both occur when people fixate on existing category information and conventional mindsets," the authors write.
Feel heavier after the holidays?
Newcastle University says you are not alone. Their Theta-probe XPS machine, the only one of its kind in the world, has shown that the original kilogram is also heavier - at least compared to when it became the metric standard in 1875.
Researchers have identified four new regions on the human genome associated with Behcet's disease, a painful and potentially dangerous condition which
causes inflammation of blood vessels in various parts of the body
- the work was aided because the disease is found predominantly in people with ancestors along the Silk Road.
Named for the Turkish physician who described it in 1937, Behcet's disease has no specific genetic or environmental cause but common symptoms include painful mouth and genital sores, and eye inflammation that can lead to blindness. In some cases, it can affect blood vessels in the brain, lungs, and other vital organs.
It's statistical polling...for science.
A paper in Nature Climate Change uses structured expert elicitation and mathematically pools experts' opinions to forecast future sea level rises from melting ice sheets. Soliciting and pooling expert judgments is used in eruption forecasting and the spread of vector borne diseases - with questionable accuracy - and in their paper Professor Jonathan Bamber and Professor Willy Aspinall from the University of Bristol try to model the uncertainties in the future response of the ice sheets.
