Harcombe et al have conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that would have been available to the regulatory committees in the USA and the UK when guidelines on dietary fat intake were introduced (in 1977 and 1983, respectively). They found no evidence from RCTs to support the introduction of these guidelines, which leads the authors to question whether they should ever have been introduced in the first place. (Editorial)

Here we demonstrate that bisphenol A (BPA) exposure during a time point analogous to the second trimester in humans has real and measurable effects on brain development and behavior. Furthermore, our study is the first, to our knowledge, to show that bisphenol S, a replacement used in BPA-free products, equally affects neurodevelopment. These findings suggest that BPA-free products are not necessarily safe and support a societal push to remove all structurally similar bisphenol analogues and other compounds with endocrine-disruptive activity from consumer goods.

The search for effective treatments for obesity and its comorbidities is of prime importance. We previously identified ​IKK-ε and ​TBK1 as promising therapeutic targets for the treatment of obesity and associated insulin resistance. Here we show that acute inhibition of ​IKK-ε and ​TBK1 with ​amlexanox treatment increases ​cAMP levels in subcutaneous adipose depots of obese mice, promoting the synthesis and secretion of the cytokine ​IL-6 from adipocytes and preadipocytes, but not from macrophages.

The goal of this study was to determine if Head Start participation is associated with healthy changes in BMI.

The Indian dream should not be about 'some Indians' doing well, but 'India' doing well. Making high technology work for the rich is easy. Can Indian scientists make high technology work for the poor? (Editorial)

Original Source

Repeated exposure to formalin–containing foodstuff results in mice to overexpressing HSP70 (Heat Shock Protein, 70 kDa) and induction of apoptosis. This study tried to assess the efficacy of supplementation of chlorophyllin in inhibiting this induced apoptosis.

Original Source

Open access policy of the department of biotechnology (DBT) and department of science and technology (DST) has been finally approved and released with specific guidelines for the funded researchers and institutions. The policy assumes significance as the researchers and others will now have access to the DBT and DST funded projects.

This study aims to shed light on the debate about the futures of gender, by taking into account its significance in the current development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), cyborg technologies and robotics. Its reflections are sustained by empirical data obtained between November 2010 and January 2011, when the author engaged in a study related to Gender and Artificial Intelligence at the Department of Cybernetics, University of Reading (England) under the supervision of Professor Kevin Warwick, known as the first human cyborg for his experiments “Cyborg I” (1998) and “Cyborg II” (2002).

Over the past century, socioenvironmental evolution (eg, reduced pathogenic load, decreased physical activity, and improved nutrition) led to cumulative increments in maternal energy resources (ie, body mass and adiposity) and decrements in energy expenditure and metabolic control. These decrements reduced the competition between maternal and fetal energy demands and increased the availability of energy substrates to the intrauterine milieu.

The laboratory mouse shares the majority of its protein-coding genes with humans, making it the premier model organism in biomedical research, yet the two mammals differ in significant ways. To gain greater insights into both shared and species-specific transcriptional and cellular regulatory programs in the mouse, the Mouse ENCODE Consortium has mapped transcription, DNase I hypersensitivity, transcription factor binding, chromatin modifications and replication domains throughout the mouse genome in diverse cell and tissue types.

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