May 16, 2012 - Using High-Throughput DNA Sequencing (HTS) to examine gene expression is rapidly becoming a ­viable choice and is typically referred to as RNA-seq. Often the depth and breadth of coverage of RNA-seq data can exceed what is achievable using microarrays. However, the strengths of RNA-seq are often its greatest weaknesses. Accurately and comprehensively mapping millions of relatively short reads to a reference genome sequence can require not only specialized software, but also more structured and automated procedures to manage, analyze, and visualize the data. Additionally, the computational hardware required to efficiently process and store the data can be a necessary and often-overlooked component of a research plan. We discuss several aspects of the computational analysis of RNA-seq, i...

May 16, 2012 - Obesity is a serious health problem with an increased risk of several common diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Metabolomics is an emerging analytical technique for systemic determination of metabolite profiles, which is useful for understanding the biochemical changes in obesity or related diseases both in individual organs and at the organism level. Increasingly, this technology has been applied to the study of obesity, complementing transcriptomics and/or proteomics analyses. Indeed, the alterations of metabolites in biofluids/tissues are direct indicators of variations in physiology or pathology. In this paper, we will examine the obesity-related alterations in significant metabolites that have been identified by metabolomics as well as their metabolic pat...

May 16, 2012 - UNITED NATIONS, New York --- The 21st century is a critical period for people and the planet, with demographic and consumption trends posing tremendous challenges in a finite world. These conclusions, along with recommendations for moving toward a prosperous and flourishing future, are at the heart of a new report issued last week by one of the world’s oldest and most respected scientific organization, the Royal Society. (Source: UNFPA News)

May 16, 2012 - UNITED NATIONS, New York—The Hellosmile Project, a joint campaign to prevent cervical cancer, initiated and led by TOKYO FM Broadcasting, and which includes UNFPA and other partners, will be officially launched in the United States this week. (Source: UNFPA News)

May 16, 2012 - (MedPage Today) -- A clinical trial of self-management in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was stopped early because of excess deaths and no decrease in hospitalizations, researchers reported. (Source: MedPage Today Primary Care)

May 16, 2012 - Alcohol is the 5th leading risk factor to the global disease burden and disability and about half of the global alcohol burden was attributable to injuries. Despite a large body of evidence documenting the associations between alcohol and injuries, data fr... (Source: SafetyLit: All (Unduplicated))