Washington, Oct 27 : A comprehensive review of research on the safety of silicone breast implants has revealed that the practice does not increase the risk of cancers, connective tissue diseases, or other serious chronic diseases.

Lead authors Joseph K. McLaughlin, Ph.D., and Loren Lipworth, Sc.D., of the International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, Md, and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn, performed the review to evaluate the risk of cancer after cosmetic breast implants.

Washington, Oct 27 : A new research by paediatric researchers has revealed that kids with Down syndrome are more likely to have higher levels of a hormone associated with obesity compared to their unaffected siblings.

The hormone, leptin, may contribute to the known higher risk of obesity among children and adults with Down syndrome.

The research team, from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, studied 35 children with Down syndrome and 33 of their siblings.

Washington, Oct 27 : A study has found that when adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are treated with CONCERTA OROS (methylphenidate HCl) Extended-release Tablets, they show significant improvements in ADHD symptom management as compared to adults taking placebo.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common and treatable neuropsychiatric condition, which includes inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.

In the study, led by Sally Berry, M.D., PhD., of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, LLC, 229 patients with ADHD were examined.

Washington, Oct 26 : The Comet 17P Holmes has increased its brightness by a factor of one million, new observations by astronomers at the Minor Planet Center, which tracks comets and asteroids, has revealed.

This makes it visible to the unaided eye, as well as to binoculars and telescopes in the northern hemisphere area.

Comet Holmes is located in the constellation Perseus and is visible for most of the night. For observers at the latitude of Boston, in the US, the comet is circumpolar, never setting below the horizon. In appearance, it resembles a fuzzy, yellowish star.

On October 23, the comet was a dim 17th magnitude, 25,000 times too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. One day later, its brightness increased to 7th magnitude.

Washington, Oct 26 : Recent observations by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray observatory indicates the possibility of hundreds of hidden black holes inside far off galaxies.

For decades, a large population of active black holes have been considered missing.

These highly energetic structures belong to a class of black holes called quasars.  A quasar consists of a doughnut-shaped cloud of gas and dust that surrounds and feeds a budding supermassive black hole.

Agency astronomers say the discovery implies that there are hundreds of millions of additional black holes growing in our young universe, more than doubling the total amount known at that distance.

Washington, Oct 26: Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College, London have studied the effect of infections in the uterus of cows which might help in providing clues for preventing infertility in humans.

The breakthrough study led by Professor Martin Sheldon found common uterine infections could damage the ovaries in cows, which may provide insights into the treatment of infections such as Chlamydia in humans.

The findings suggest that the cow's instinctive immune system might affect key stages in the reproductive cycle, including suppressing the release of the female sex hormone oestrogen and causing failure to ovulate.

Washington, Oct 26: At the postmenopausal age, women are at an increased risk of suffering from chronic health diseases associated with obesity, says a study.

The study, authored by Karen E. Dennis, reviewed the physiological, psychological and social issues related to obesity that were relevant to postmenopausal women and also underlies the importance of the involvement of nurses and other healthcare professionals for treating the problem.

Since women are at a risk for gaining weight as they age, the postmenopausal women become the vulnerable population. Also, they are more at risk for being overweight or obese than men.

Washington, Oct 26: Biologists at the University of Utah have genetically manipulated the sexual orientation of nematode worms, in an attempt to show how sexual orientation is connected in the worm’s brain.

Nematode worms lack eyes, so attraction is based only on the sense of smell. There are no true females and only one in 500 nematodes is male. Most are hermaphrodites, with both male and female organs. Jorgensen and White loosely refer to hermaphrodites as females because they produce offspring.

“They look like girls, but act and think like boys. The [same-sex attraction] behaviour is part of the nervous system,” said Jamie White, a postdoctoral researcher and first author of the new study.

Washington, Oct 26: A new study has recommended that using anti-hypertensive drugs may help in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive deterioration.

The study was led by Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Geriatrics and Adult Development and Director of the Center of Excellence for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Alzheimer's disease at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

The research has suggested that a large number of geriatric patients currently under pharmacological treatment for high-blood pressure with certain anti-hypertensive drugs might reap the additional benefits of the drug's cognitive effects.

Washington, Oct 26 (ANI): A study has shed light on the ways in which ultraviolet lasers cut flesh.

The first of its kind study was conducted by Shane Hutson, assistant professor of physics at Vanderbilt University along with post-doctoral student Xiaoyan Ma who found that despite the increasing popularity of laser surgeries, the knowledge regarding the ways in which laser light interacts with living tissue were not clear among lot of scientists.

The study states that the effect of powerful lasers on actual flesh differs both with the wavelength, or colour, of the light and the duration of the pulses that they produce.

Washington, Oct 26 : Biologists at the University of Utah have genetically manipulated the sexual orientation of nematode worms, in an attempt to show how sexual orientation is connected in the worm’s brain.

Nematode worms lack eyes, so attraction is based only on the sense of smell. There are no true females and only one in 500 nematodes is male. Most are hermaphrodites, with both male and female organs. Jorgensen and White loosely refer to hermaphrodites as females because they produce offspring.

Washington, Oct 26 : Analysis of ancient DNA retrieved from the bones of two Neanderthals has shown that at least some of them possessed red hair and pale skin.

The researchers say Neanderthals’ pigmentation might have been as varied as that of modern humans and at least one percent of Neanderthals were likely redheads.

The international team of scientists from the US, Germany and Spain extracted, amplified, and sequenced a pigmentation gene called MC1R from the bones of a 43,000-year-old Neanderthal from El Sidrón, Spain, and a 50,000-year-old individual from Monti Lessini, Italy.

Washington, October 25 : A researcher at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has found that the brain talks directly to the immune system, and sends commands that control the body’s inflammatory response to infection and autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Kevin Tracey, director and chief executive of the institute, says that understanding the intimate relationship between the brain and the immune system is leading to a novel way to treat diseases triggered by a dangerous inflammatory response.

He has revealed that clinical trials are being conducted to test the theory that stimulation of the vagus nerve could block a rogue inflammatory response and treat a number of diseases, including life-threatening sepsis.

Washington, Oct 25 : Most parents have the knowledge of and accurately assess the extent of their teenager's cigarette smoking, marijuana use, drinking and overall substance use, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) also found that in cases where parents provided lower estimates of substance use, they were nearly twice as likely to underestimate frequency of marijuana use and quantity of alcohol use.

The study also revealed that parents, who themselves had personal problems or were using alcohol more frequently, were less likely to be aware of extent of use by younger teens and of their children's use.

Washington, Oct 25 : A research team at the Central Food Technological Research Institute, in Mysore, India, has demonstrated the effectiveness of a novel multi-step ulcer preventive activity.

The treatment uses a novel phenol-bound pectic polysaccharide from Decalepis hamiltonii, plant species found in abundance in India, to treat multiple complications encountered during ulcers.

The Indian team’s remedy provides gastroprotection against swim / alcohol stress induced ulcers in experimental animal models and  down-regulation of activated H+, K+-ATPase in the stomach tissue, that leads to acidity.

Washington, Oct 25 : Scientists at the University of Illinois have designed a computing project that allows people from around the world to participate in cutting-edge cosmology research by donating their unused computing cycles.

The project, known as Cosmology@Home, is similar to the to SETI@Home project, a popular program that searches radio telescope data for evidence of extraterrestrial transmissions.

Washington, Oct 25 : Scientists at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine have discovered a natural product found in the Amazon rainforest that helps block tissue destruction.

The researchers say that Progrado, an extract from a rainforest tree called Croton palanostigma, is potent in treating various joint, skin and gastrointestinal diseases, including osteoarthritis and irritable bowel syndrome.

Washington, Oct 25 : A new study has found that a tendency to extract spurious messages from noise could be an early sign of schizophrenia.

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine diagnosed 43 participants with “prodromal symptoms,” meaning they exhibited early warning signs of mental illness such as social withdrawal, mild perceptual alterations, or misinterpretation of social cues.

For the study, researchers randomly assigned participants to take the anti-psychotic medication olanzapine or a placebo, and then assessed their symptoms and neuropsychological function for up to two years.

Washington, Oct 25 : A new research at the University at Buffalo has shown that a severely restricted diet can maintain physical fitness into advanced age, slowing the seemingly inevitable progression to physical disability and loss of independence.

The research was done using a rat model of lifetime caloric restriction, and it showed that the diet reduces the amount of visceral fat, which expresses inflammatory factors that in humans cause chronic disease and a decline in physical performance and vitality across the lifespan.

Washington, Oct 25 : A study has found that smoking cannabis in medium doses can ease induced pain in healthy people.

The placebo controlled study, led by Mark Wallace, M.D., professor of anaesthesiology at UCSD School of Medicine and Program Director for the UCSD Centre for Pain Medicine, was conducted on 15 subjects.

In the study all the participants were healthy volunteers who inhaled either medical cannabis or a placebo after pain was induced.

The marijuana cigarettes were formulated under NIH supervision to contain either zero, two, four or eight percent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC.)