A stratified definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome, announced this week, is expected to guide clinicians to earlier detection of the disease.

The American Geosciences Institute has released Geoscience Currents 60, which examines female enrollments and degrees in the geosciences over time. In 2011, the Current concludes, female participation in US geoscience degree programs remained generally steady. After decades of steady growth in the rate of female participation, there has been little change since 2005. Several interesting trends are also noted.

The failure of the current bovine tuberculosis (TB) eradication program could be partly due to a parasitic worm that hinders the tests used to diagnose TB in cows, according to new research published this week.

Research at the University of Liverpool suggests that the failure of the current bovine tuberculosis eradication program could be partly due to a parasitic infection that hinders the tests used in cattle to diagnose bovine TB.

In a highlighted paper published online in Nature Communications, researchers from Sichuan Agricultural University and BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the atlas of DNA methylomes in porcine adipose and muscle tissues, providing a valuable epigenomic source for obesity prediction and prevention as well as boosting the further development of pig as a model animal for human obesity research.

Research being presented at Digestive Disease Week® offers insights into the progression of diseases leading to liver damage, which affect diverse populations, including young people. Studies show that the increasing rates of obesity are putting teens at risk for developing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and are decreasing the availability of healthy livers for organ donations, which are urgently needed as people continue to experience complications from diseases, such as hepatitis C and drug-induced liver toxicity.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have reported the results of groundbreaking research into the prevention of cerebral edema or swelling of the brain, a major cause of death in people who have sustained a traumatic injury to the brain, out of hospital cardiac arrest or stroke.

A novel pancreatic cancer vaccine shows promise in improving survival when added to standard treatment, according to new research out of University Hospitals Case Medical Center's Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The Phase 2 data was presented today at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, part of Digestive Disease Week in San Diego.

Powerful and versatile new genetic tools that will assist in safeguarding both European fish stocks and European consumers is reported in Nature Communications. The paper reports on the first system proven to identify populations of fish species to a forensic level of validation.

Residents of Lower Manhattan who suffered home damage following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are more likely to report respiratory symptoms and diseases than area residents whose homes were not damaged, concludes a study conducted by researchers in Atlanta and New York City.

The impact and influence of 30 years of research into the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway are highlighted in a special issue of The EMBO Journal. "Three decades of Wnt signalling" summarizes many of the crucial scientific developments that have taken place since the discovery of the first mammalian Wnt gene in 1982.

Married men will eat their peas to keep the peace, but many aren't happy about it, and may even binge on unhealthy foods away from home.

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have identified novel biomarkers that could be used to confirm exposure to damaging radiation in large groups of people potentially exposed to unknown and variable doses for the purpose of triage and treatment.

Many of the wrongful convictions identified in a report this week hinged on a misidentified culprit -- now, scientific research reveals the paradox of reforms in eyewitness identification procedure. In our efforts to ensure good guys don't get locked up, we could let more bad guys go. In the May issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, scholars in psychology and law debate aspects of eyewitness identification procedures, providing a scientific foundation for this important social issue.

When it comes to tooth implantation, periodontists have a choice -- a one-step process in which bone is allowed to grow around the implant, or a two-step process in which the bone is nurtured to provide a stronger base for the implant. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher has concluded that the two-step method, though more complicated, gives the implant a longer life.