America is the fattest country on Earth and there are efforts being made to insure the 100 thin women still remaining don't set a bad example by not being obese. S. Bryn Austin, director of the Harvard Chan School's Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) and Director of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression working group is leading the call to prohibit thin fashion models from participating in fashion shows or photo shoots if they are too thin.

TORONTO, Dec. 17, 2015 - More than one in nine people with hepatitis C in Canada spend time in a correctional facility each year and researchers said this presents a unique opportunity to focus hepatitis C prevention and control efforts in incarcerated populations.

People who have spent time in correctional facilities have higher risk factors for hepatitis C, including injection drug use and needle sharing, both in custody and in the community, according to the paper published online today in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

Climate change is rapidly heating up lakes around the world, threatening freshwater supplies and ecosystems across the planet, according to a study spanning six continents.

More than 60 scientists took part in the research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters and announced today at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

AMES, IA - As the popularity of fresh culinary herbs increases, growers are looking to year-round production methods to supply distributors and local consumers. In colder climates, culinary herb growers rely on controlled indoor environments and often employ hydroponic production techniques. A new study of basil varieties grown using two popular techniques found that plant performance is more likely related to the choice of cultivar than the type of hydroponic system used.

EPFL scientists have found that chronic inflammation can cause regenerating cells to grow into new, aberrant types; this is called metaplasia, and is a disorder linked to prolonged inflammation. The study highlights a new concept of chronic inflammation and could lead to better treatments.

Chronic inflammation turns the immune system on for prolonged periods of time. As a result, it underlies many disorders that are associated with chronic inflammation, including cancer and abnormal wound healing. EPFL scientists have now discovered an additional component: chronic inflammation can cause cells to actually change type - here, eye cells turned into skin. The study is published in Nature Cell Biology.

Mutations present in a blood cancer known as follicular lymphoma have revealed new molecular targets for potential treatments, according to researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) together with collaborators at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Follicular lymphoma is a common type of blood cancer and one of the most common non-Hodgkin lymphomas, with more than 2,500 people diagnosed in the UK every year. Whilst the condition is normally responsive to existing therapies, the cancer often returns frequently and eventually develops resistance and, for some, their cancer becomes more aggressive and difficult to treat.

HANOVER, N.H. - Dec. 21, 2015 - We're all familiar with the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May (a class of 1926 Dartmouth alumnus) but scientifically speaking, what are the optical benefits of a shiny red nose on a foggy Christmas Eve?

1. Sudden cardiac arrest may not be so sudden

Warning signs are common, but are often ignored, in the weeks preceding a heart attack

Abstract: http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M14-2342

URL live when embargo lifts

According to an article published in Annals of Internal Medicine, sudden cardiac arrest may not be an entirely unexpected event. Warning signs are common in the days and weeks leading up to a heart attack, but those symptoms are often ignored. Attention to symptoms and early interventions may improve survival.

Two year olds are adept at using touch screens, and can swipe, unlock, and actively search for features on smartphones and tablets, finds a small study published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

This level of interactivity is akin to play, say the researchers, who suggest that the technology might have a potential role in childhood developmental assessment.

They base their findings on 82 questionnaires on touch screen access and use, completed by the parents of children aged between 12 months and 3 years.

Parents were asked how long their child used touch screens each day, and whether s/he was able to unlock the screen, swipe through pages or images, and recognise and interact with specific features such as app icons for games.

Almost three quarters of the weekend emergency care caseload is linked to excess alcohol intake, finds an activity analysis of one large inner city hospital in England, and published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.

Each case costs between £250 and £850 to treat, or £1 million every year, the analysis shows, indicating substantial costs for urban emergency care departments across the UK faced with similar demand, say the researchers.