Dr. Wilson Gonsalves, a Hematology Fellow, and Dr. Mrinal Patnaik, an Assistant Professor of Hematology and Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, share data from their manuscript appearing in the May 2013 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings on the development of 3 new alternatives to the anticoagulant, Warfarin, that promise fewer food/drug interactions and do not require therapeutic monitoring. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/bnrxc2c

Background: Diet-induced weight loss is accompanied by adaptive thermogenesis, ie, a disproportional or greater than expected reduction of resting metabolic rate (RMR). Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether adaptive thermogenesis is sustained during weight maintenance after weight loss. Design: Subjects were 22 men and 69 women [mean 6 SD age: 40 6 9 y; body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2): 31.9 6 3.0]. They followed a very-low-energy diet for 8 wk, followed by a...

Background: In many cultures, simple herbal infusions, thin gruels or sweetened water (‘agüitas’ in Guatemalan parlance) are given to infants and toddlers. Formative research shows the use of agüitas in early child feeding to be deeply embedded in Guatemalan culture. Objective: To examine the prevalence and timing of introduction of agüitas during early life in a low-income population of metropolitan Quetzaltenango in relation to child stunting. Design: Responses from 456 mothers of...

Documentation of the UPLB Centennial Professorial Lecture on "Defining UPLB’s Role in Philippine Plant Natural Products’ Research and Development in the Early 21st Century" by Dr. Lourdes B. Cardenas, Professor, Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, UP Los Baños on February 26, 2013 at the SEARCA Drilon Hall, UPLB, College, Laguna, Philippines.

When Newlands made an analogy between his Law of Octaves and the musical scale he was laughed at by the members of the English Chemical Society, and his paper describing this law was rejected. But Newlands was not so disparate. Seeking musical patterns in natural phenomena has been a frequent endeavour throughout history. The Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras of Samos argued that celestial bodies in rotation gave off pitched sounds that blended into a cosmic harmony, which he...

According to the Big Bang theory, after inflation stopped, the universe consisted of a quark–gluon plasma, as well as all other elementary particles. A few seconds later, quarks and gluons combined to form baryons such as protons and neutrons. The first nuclei were formed about three minutes after the Big Bang; neutrons combined with protons to form the hydrogen and helium content of the first stars. This process is called Big Bang nucleosynthesis. In the Big Bang nucleosynthesis...