Activating the mouse inflammasome • Why do violent criminals fight more than other criminal offenders? • Training improves physician comfort with electronic health records • Facing up to marsupial diversity • Use of more antibiotics leads to less growth inhibition • How do wheat plants reduce water loss under drought conditions? • How can parents help their children meet sleep guidelines?
Findings in a recent study published in BMC Public Health indicate that owning a dog could help older people meet recommended physical activity levels by significantly increasing walking time. Here to tell us more about this study and the benefits of both dog ownership and an active lifestyle is guest blogger, Kayla Mathews.
Climate change is a major threat for the Earth’s biodiversity, and the persistence of populations of many species may depend on their ability to respond to changing climatic conditions by means of evolutionary adaptations. In this guest blog, Otto Seppälä discusses his team’s research, published this week in BMC Evolutionary Biology, that examines if and how a freshwater snail could evolutionarily adapt to the negative effects imposed by climate change.
Thinking back to one’s teenage life, the first thing that pops to mind might be drinking games, downing shots, or even spending whole weekends in a boozy haze. Drinking much and often seems to be common in adolescence, without much worry about what such persistently high intake of alcohol might do to one’s health in the long run. An article published recently in BMC Public Health shows that heavy alcohol consumption and binge-drinking behavior in one’s youth can potentially be detrimental for the development of type-2 diabetes in later life – especially if the heavy drinkers are women.
Published today in BMC Public Health, a new study examines the evidence on the association between fetal and infant Chinese famine exposure and the risk of dyslipidemia in adulthood using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2011-2012 baseline survey. Here lead author Dr. Zhenghe Wang tells us more.
This video summarises research recently published in BMC Evolutionary Biology reconstructing the rates of gain and loss of defense genes in closely related bacteria in response to the host-parasite arms race between these bacteria and their viral parasites.
The accumulation of evidence from methodologically sound research reported openly and transparently is the pillar of scientific progress. However, there is a bias towards publishing positive results, distorting the evidence base and undermining the reproducibility of research. Results-free review offers a solution to this problem, focusing editorial decisions on the rationale and methods alone. Today, BMC Psychology published the first article to undergo the full results-free review process. Here, we discuss what results-free review might mean for authors, reviewers, editors and readers
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Excessive alcohol consumption is estimated to be the fifth leading cause of death and disability. Identifying ways to reduce alcohol consumption could contribute to improving population health. Tableware size may influence how much food and drink is consumed and serving wine in larger glasses can lead to increased sales and consumption. Here, Zorana Zupan, Rachel Pechey & Theresa Marteau tell us about their research published today in BMC Psychology, examining micro-drinking behaviors as a potential mechanism for this effect
Patrícia Beldade, Nuno Soares and Christen Mirth discuss their new research, published this week in BMC Ecology, on how a suite of evolutionary adaptations has enabled the fruit fly Drosophila suzukii to feed on ripe fruit – while its close relatives can only feed on rotting fruit – and thus become a major invasive pest species.
This video summarises new research, recently published in BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, that finds creating a more welcoming environment at sports clubs could increase participation by adolescent females.