http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A study to be published in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on Tuesday, October 23, examined whether crude oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the dispersant used on it, or a combination of the two might affect the microbes of the human digestive tract. The researchers found that although high concentrations of oil combined with dispersant are detrimental to these helpful microbial communities, the low to undetectable concentrations typically found in Gulf shellfish had no discernable effect. http://phys.org/news270137513.html Biology Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:00:02 EST news270137513 A team of engineers at Stanford has demonstrated the feasibility of a super-small, implantable cardiac device that gets its power not from batteries, but from radio waves transmitted from outside the body. The implanted device is contained in a cube just eight-tenths of a millimeter in radius. It could fit on the head of pin. http://phys.org/news265640584.html Technology Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:03:13 EST news265640584 Whether surgeons slice with a traditional scalpel or cut away with a surgical laser, most medical operations end up removing some healthy tissue, along with the bad. This means that for delicate areas like the brain, throat, and digestive tract, physicians and patients have to balance the benefits of treatment against possible collateral damage. http://phys.org/news254404540.html Physics Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:55:47 EST news254404540 UC Irvine researchers have discovered how Salmonella, a bacterium found in contaminated raw foods that causes major gastrointestinal distress in humans, thrives in the digestive tract despite the immune system's best efforts to destroy it. http://phys.org/news250949047.html Biology Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:04:18 EST news250949047 (PhysOrg.com) -- Tomato spotted wilt virus can be deadly for many important plants, but have little effect on the plants' small insect hosts. Research by a Kansas State University plant pathologist and two students is examining why. http://phys.org/news245415257.html Biology Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:54:44 EST news245415257 Feeding mannan oligosaccharides (MOS) can fine-tune the immune system of pigs, suggests a new University of Illinois study. http://phys.org/news231155006.html Biology Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:20:01 EST news231155006 Japanese researchers said Tuesday they had developed a self-propelled remote controlled capsule endoscope that can "swim" through the digestive tract. http://phys.org/news227859384.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jun 2011 07:16:38 EST news227859384 (PhysOrg.com) -- Each of us carries a unique collection of trillions of friendly microbes in our intestines that helps break down food our bodies otherwise couldn't digest. http://phys.org/news219945045.html Biology Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:00:11 EST news219945045 (PhysOrg.com) -- UC Irvine Healthcare reminds people not to ignore the health of their digestive tract during Colorectal Cancer Awareness month. http://phys.org/news219653604.html Medicine & Health Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:53:41 EST news219653604 Nearly 10,000 years ago, man's best friend provided protection and companionship - and an occasional meal. That's what researchers are saying after finding a bone fragment from what they are calling the earliest confirmed domesticated dog in the Americas. http://phys.org/news214637152.html Other Sciences Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:26:15 EST news214637152 Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered that a rare cancer of the digestive tract is linked to a shutdown in an enzyme that helps supply oxygen to cells. http://phys.org/news212166927.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:16:02 EST news212166927 Infants are more efficient at digesting and utilizing nutritional components of milk than adults due to a difference in the strains of bacteria that dominate their digestive tracts. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and Utah State University report on genomic analysis of these strains in the November 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology identifying the genes that are most likely responsible for this difference. http://phys.org/news209649741.html Biology Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:20:01 EST news209649741 A University of Illinois study has shown for the first time that sulforaphane, the powerful cancer-fighting agent in broccoli, can be released from its parent compound by bacteria in the lower gut and absorbed into the body. http://phys.org/news206958110.html Medicine & Health Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:21:57 EST news206958110 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in Taiwan have developed fluorescent nanodiamonds that may in the future be used in the diagnosis and treatment of human disease. http://phys.org/news203230792.html Nanotechnology Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:00:01 EST news203230792 Being overweight is the greatest risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. With two thirds of the U.S. population now overweight and half of these individuals (one third) meeting the medical definition of obese, the connection between weight and type 2 diabetes is of great medical interest. Studies show that even modest weight losses reduce this risk. Even more interesting has been the discovery that about 85 percent of diabetes patients undergoing bariatric surgery are totally or partially cured of their diabetes, and the "why" is not yet fully understood. http://phys.org/news203178468.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:29:14 EST news203178468 (PhysOrg.com) -- A study conducted by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has shown that eggs produced by chickens allowed to forage in pastures are higher in some beneficial nutrients. http://phys.org/news198868847.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:00:02 EST news198868847 University of Florida researchers have found that the variety of bacteria in a child’s digestive tract is strongly linked to whether that child develops type 1 diabetes. The connection could eventually give doctors an early test for the condition and a new way to treat the disease that afflicts more than 3 million Americans. http://phys.org/news198243171.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:36:41 EST news198243171 When ordinary over-the-counter laxatives fail to work, doctors turn to other medications to treat people with constipation. Now, a new review of existing research finds that one common drug treatment is better than another is at helping patients who are desperate to get things moving. http://phys.org/news197730898.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:20:01 EST news197730898 Duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors are rare primary duodenal tumors, and there are few guidelines to help the clinician with their surgical management. A Switzerland research group reports a limited surgical operation to remove these tumors by segmental duodenectomy. The results were good with no complications and mortality. All the patients are still alive and disease-free, even after several years of follow up. http://phys.org/news196594154.html Medicine & Health Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:30:03 EST news196594154 In a study that includes nearly 2 million children born in Denmark, researchers have found that there is a higher rate of occurrence of the digestive tract disorder pyloric stenosis among twins and siblings, suggesting that this is a genetic and inherited disorder, according to the report in the June 16 issue of JAMA. http://phys.org/news195839535.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:00:01 EST news195839535 (PhysOrg.com) -- What goes in must come out, and when animals are given antibiotics, they can find their way into the water supply. Now, a Michigan Tech senior has identified one way to sop them up. http://phys.org/news190454259.html Chemistry Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:50:02 EST news190454259 Bile secretions in the small intestine send signals to disease-causing gut bacteria allowing them to change their behaviour to maximise their chances of surviving, says Dr Steve Hamner, presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting in Edinburgh today. The findings could allow us to better protect food from contamination by these harmful bacteria, as well as understand how they manage to cause disease. http://phys.org/news189197266.html Biology Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:40:02 EST news189197266 Pediatric researchers analyzing DNA variations in type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease have found a complex interplay of genes. Some genes have opposing effects, raising the risk of one disease while protecting against the other. In other cases, a gene variant may act in the same direction, raising the risk for both diseases. http://phys.org/news188484395.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:46:55 EST news188484395 Japanese scientists have uncovered how thalidomide led to deformities in children born to mothers taking the drug in the 1950s and 1960s, according to a study released Friday. http://phys.org/news187623718.html Medicine & Health Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:42:25 EST news187623718 Recent research findings indicate a possible connection between virus infections, the immune system and the onset of gluten intolerance, also known as coeliac disease. A research project in the Academy of Finland's Research Programme on Nutrition, Food and Health (ELVIRA) has brought new knowledge on the hereditary nature of gluten intolerance and identified genes that carry a higher risk of developing the condition. Research has shown that the genes in question are closely linked with the human immune system and the occurrence of inflammations, rather than being connected with the actual breakdown of gluten in the digestive tract. http://phys.org/news187006934.html Medicine & Health Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:22:32 EST news187006934 (PhysOrg.com) -- For years, biologists have wondered how it is possible that not every person who carries a mutated gene expresses the trait or condition associated with the mutation. This common but poorly understood phenomenon, known as incomplete penetrance, exists in a wide range of organisms, including humans. http://phys.org/news185632250.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:00:09 EST news185632250 (PhysOrg.com) -- New research at the A. James Clark School of Engineering could prevent bacterial infections using tiny biochemical machines - nanofactories - that can confuse bacteria and stop them from spreading, without the use of antibiotics. http://phys.org/news183836568.html Nanotechnology Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:43:42 EST news183836568 Of the many characteristic traits a drug can have, one of the most desirable is the ability for a drug to be swallowed and absorbed into the bloodstream through the gut. Some drugs, like over-the-counter aspirin, lend themselves to this mode of delivery and are trivial to take. They can be pressed into a pill and swallowed. Other drugs cannot be swallowed and must be administered instead through more complicated routes. Insulin, for instance, must be injected. http://phys.org/news176994804.html Biology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:02 EST news176994804 A study of patients with implantable cardiac devices such as pacemakers, implantable defibrillators or left ventricular assist devices found that performing capsule endoscopy in these patients is safe and that the devices in general do not interfere with images captured by the capsule. http://phys.org/news175777764.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:00:07 EST news175777764 Your fingers start to burn after picking up a hot plate. Should you drop the plate or save your meal? New research suggests that it is your consciousness that resolves these dilemmas by serving as the brain's Wi-Fi network, mediating competing requests from different parts of the body. Published today in the journal Emotion, the study also explains why we are consciously aware of some conflicting urges but not others. http://phys.org/news173552299.html Medicine & Health Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:59:01 EST news173552299