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Researchers have identified a new gene mutation linked to frontotemporal dementia, according to a study published in the July 10, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Frontotemporal dementia, one form of which is known as Pick’s disease, involves progressive shrinking of the areas of the brain that control behavior and language. Symptoms include language problems and personality changes, often with inappropriate social behavior. Unlike Alzheimer’s disease dementia, the disease does not affect memory in the early stages. The genetic form of the disease is rare; most cases occur randomly.

Computer graphics researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed systems for editing or altering photographs using segments of the millions of images available on the Web.
Whether adding people or objects to a photo, or filling holes in an edited photo, the systems automatically find images that match the context of the original photo so they blend realistically. Unlike traditional photo editing, these results can be achieved rapidly by users with minimal skills.
“We are able to leverage the huge amounts of visual information available on the Internet to find images that make the best fit,” said Alexei A. Efros, assistant professor of computer science and robotics.

A new study of sweetened beverages shows that cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup have similar effects on hunger, fullness, and food consumption at lunch.
According to the study, which appears in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this may be because sucrose (table sugar) in beverages splits into glucose and fructose molecules, such as are present in high-fructose corn syrup. The results suggest that while appetite and food intake are influenced by the number of calories consumed earlier, the types of sugars consumed in those calories seem to make little or no difference.

A new study finds that the more “western” the diet -- marked by red meat, starches and sweets -- the greater the risk for breast cancer among postmenopausal Chinese women. According to researchers who conducted the analysis at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Harvard University, Shanghai Cancer Institute, and Vanderbilt University, the findings mark the first time a specific association between a western diet and breast cancer has been identified in Asian women.
The study is the latest set of findings derived from the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study, conducted in the 1990s by Wei Zheng, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H, and colleagues at Vanderbilt University.

Since being found in Florida just a little more than a year and a half ago, citrus greening disease, which originated in China a century ago, has spread from 8 to 23 counties. The disease, called Huanglongbing (yellow shoot) in Asia, is spread by the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) via insects. Once citrus trees are infected, the fruit yield, rate, and quality are greatly reduced. The trees also become susceptible to other diseases and health problems. In some areas of Brazil, citrus greening has affected as much as 70 percent of the fruit rate and yield. Since Florida has nearly $10 billion in citrus products, it is important to avoid spread. However, right now citrus greening disease can only be managed, not completely controlled.

An age old preference for eating uncooked fish dishes like “koi-pla” puts people in SE Asia at risk of ingesting trematodes that can cause a type of liver cancer called cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts), say researchers.
Banchob Sripa (Khon Kaen University) and colleagues discuss the mechanisms by which the food-borne trematode Opisthorchis viverrini (the SE Asian liver fluke) causes cholangiocarcinoma. The fluke is endemic to Thailand, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Vietnam, and Cambodia. In Thailand alone, 6 million people are thought to be infected with the fluke.

Embryonated eggs are discharged in the biliary ducts and in the stool (1).

A pooled analysis of data from previous studies suggests that cigarette smoking appears to be associated with a reduced risk for developing Parkinson’s disease, with long-term and current smokers at the lowest risk, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Neurology.
Several studies have suggested that patients with Parkinson’s disease are less likely to be smokers, according to background information in the article.
“Recent studies also suggested that Parkinson’s disease risk is particularly low in active smokers with a long history of intense smoking; some even suggested dose-related risk reductions with increasing pack-years of smoking,” the authors write.

Teenagers who forego a healthy and balanced diet may have a harder time catching their breath. A new study, published in the July issue of CHEST shows that a low dietary intake of certain nutrients increases the likelihood of respiratory symptoms such as asthma, especially in teens who smoke. Furthermore, a lack of these nutrients may also lead to lower lung function.
“Our study, as well as other research, suggests that higher intakes of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory micronutrients are associated with lower reports of cough, respiratory infections, and less severe asthma-related symptoms,” said lead study author Jane Burns, ScD, Harvard School of Public Health.

In Earth's long history, its climate has changed many times. This was because orbit parameters altered, continents and oceans shifted, large asteroids fell and volcanoes began to erupt.
In the last decade of the 20th century, the scientific community began to discuss one more possibility for climatic changes, which are long-term in terms of human history and quick in terms of geological time scale.

Post-menopausal women with lower levels of testosterone are more likely to suffer from heart disease. Research, published in the June edition of the European Journal of Endocrinology, shows that higher testosterone levels in post-menopausal women may have a protective effect against cardiovascular disease.
Researchers led by Dr Erik Debing at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium examined the levels of sex hormones in natural post-menopausal women (i.e. those not taking hormone replacement therapy) and their association with the presence of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a condition where the arteries become hardened and blocked by the deposition of substances such as cholesterol. It is commonly seen as a precursor to heart disease.

A fat-derived protein known for its effects on the liver and skeletal muscle might also serve as an energy-conserving signal to the brain during periods of starvation, suggests a new study.
The substance, known as adiponectin, acts on the brain to boost appetite and slow energy expenditure in an effort to maintain adequate fat stores during lean times, the researchers report.
“Energy homeostasis may be mediated by both short-term regulators, such as gut hormones, and long-term regulators,” said Takashi Kadowaki of the University of Tokyo. “In this study, we identified, for the first time, a potential long-term regulator that allows energy to be stored efficiently, namely, adiponectin.”

Women don't just like men with muscles — they go for them.
Men who are more muscular than average are much more likely to have short-term affairs and multiple sex partners than their scrawnier peers, according to new UCLA research published in the August issue of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
"If you're trying to figure out why men — especially young men — spend so much time at the gym, here's your answer," said David Frederick, lead author and a UCLA doctoral candidate in psychology. "The stereotype is that men work out to compete with each other, but our research suggests that pumping iron is a way for men to enhance their attractiveness to women."