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Two new reports from researchers at Tufts University show fast food portion sizes and product formulation, including sodium content and fat, stayed relatively the same between 1996 and 2013. The exception was a consistent decline in trans fat of fries between 2000 and 2009. Nevertheless, calorie and sodium contents remain high suggesting emphasis needs to be shifted from portion size to additional factors such as total calories and number of items ordered.

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Parents of children involved in an elementary school-based community intervention to prevent obesity appear to share in its health benefits. A new analysis shows an association between being exposed to the intervention as a parent and a modest decrease in body mass index (BMI) compared to parents in two similar control communities.

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Extra vitamin E protected older mice from a bacterial infection that commonly causes pneumonia. The study from researchers at Tufts University found that extra vitamin E helped regulate the mice’s immune system.

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A new retrospective study by epidemiologists at Tufts finds significant geographic disparities in HIV and hepatitis C related mortality in Massachusetts from 2002-2011. The study, published in PLOS ONE, used geospatial techniques to identify hotspots and coldspots in the state.

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New optical diagnostic technology developed at Tufts University School of Engineering promises new ways to identify and monitor brain damage resulting from traumatic injury, stroke or vascular dementia—in real time and without invasive procedures.

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Tufts Dental Facilities Serving Individuals with Disabilities, a network of clinics that provides oral health care to adults and children with intellectual, developmental, or acquired disabilities, will be presented with the Gies Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Academic Dental Institution at an event in March.

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Scientists have believed that the lengthening of those repeats occur during DNA replication when cells divide or when the cellular DNA repair machinery gets activated. Recently, however, Tufts University researchers have traced expansive repeats to the process called transcription, which is copying the information from DNA into RNA.

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Under a new five-year award of up to $50 million, the University of Minnesota and Tufts University will be part of an international partnership of universities to strengthen global workforce development against emerging pandemic threats. Called One Health Workforce (OHW), the work is part of a new United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats 2 program, focusing on disease surveillance, training and outbreak response.

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Tufts University School of Engineering researchers and collaborators from Texas A&M University have published the first research to use computational modeling to predict and identify the metabolic products of gastrointestinal (GI) tract microorganisms. Understanding these metabolic products, or metabolites, could influence how clinicians diagnose and treat GI diseases, as well as many other metabolic and neurological diseases increasingly associated with compromised GI function.

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Developing resiliency has important benefits for children, especially those from military families faced with significant challenges such as parental deployment and frequent moves. New Tufts University research published online in Applied Developmental Science supports the idea that, along with other key resources, strong attachments to animals may help military-connected children develop resiliency and other positive developmental traits.

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Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service today announced milestones in its new 1+4 Bridge-Year Service Learning Program, including the domestic and international locations where the first students in this pre-college program will serve starting next fall, and funding from Santander Bank, N.A., through its Santander Universities Division.

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The first large-scale study in the U.S. to investigate at-home oral care for adults with developmental disabilities suggests that future policy initiatives should focus on improving sources of support for caregivers, in addition to addressing access to care. Led by researchers at Tufts University, the study is published in The Journal of the American Dental Association.

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In collaboration with the White House, Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service will convene higher education leaders to examine the important topics of civic engagement and active citizenship at a Civic Learning and National Service Summit to be hosted at Tufts this fall. Tisch College is a leader in civic learning, political engagement and service among young people.

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In a Viewpoint published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a team of Tufts University and Harvard University researchers call for the implementation of taxes and subsidies to improve dietary quality in the United States.

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In our battle with cholera bacteria, we may have an unknown ally in bacteria-killing viruses known as phages. Researchers from Tufts University and elsewhere report that phages can force cholera bacteria, even during active infection in humans, to give up their virulence in order to survive.

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It may be possible to train the brain to prefer healthy low-calorie foods over unhealthy higher-calorie foods, according to new research from Tufts University and Massachusetts General Hospital.

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New research led by Charles Shoemaker, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, shows that gene therapy may offer significant advantages in prevention and treatment of botulism exposure over current methods. The findings of the National Institutes of Health funded study appear in the August 29 issue of PLOS ONE.

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As a report from the Obama administration warns that one in four bridges in the United States needs significant repair or cannot handle automobile traffic, Tufts University engineers are employing wireless sensors and flying robots that could have the potential to help authorities monitor the condition of bridges in real time.

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More than 1.6M cardiovascular-related deaths per year can be attributed to sodium consumption above the WHO’s recommendation of 2.0 g per day, researchers have found in a new analysis of populations across 187 countries, to be published in the August 14 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

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Researchers report the first complex 3D model made of brain-like cortical tissue that exhibits biochemical and electrophysiological response and functions in vitro for months. The engineered tissue model uses a porous silk-scaffold, collagen gel matrix and rat-derived neurons. It offers new ways to study brain function, trauma and treatment.

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ScratchJr, a free iPad app, is being released this week by researchers at the MIT Media Lab, Tufts University, and Playful Invention Company (PICO). With ScratchJr (scratchjr.org), children ages five to seven can program their own interactive stories and games. In the process, they learn how to create and express themselves with the computer, not just interact with it.

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Research also supports the theoretical construct of the bee hive as a superorganism—an entity in which its many members carry out specialized and vital functions to keep the whole functioning as a unit.

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Open a child’s lunch box and you’re likely to find that the lunches and snacks inside fall short of federal guidelines, report researchers from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

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A study from researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine reports that among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the likelihood of having cavities decreased as the number of years receiving dental care increased. The findings were published in the July/August issue of Special Care in Dentistry.

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Researchers at Tufts University identify a muscle-building mechanism that could be important in addressing sarcopenia, the significant loss of muscle mass and function that can occur as we age.

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Tufts Wildlife Clinic has established the Ruby Memorial Research Fund to monitor the health effects of rodenticides on birds of prey.

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A new mouse model developed by researchers at Tufts University demonstrates that learning impairments and autistic-like behaviors can be caused by loss of the APC gene in the developing brain, demonstrating that APC regulates critical pathways that link to these disabilities.

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Researchers from Tufts have gained new insight into a protein associated with bipolar disorder. The study, published in the June 3 issue of Science Signaling, reveals that calcium channels in resting neurons activate the breakdown of Sp4, which belongs to a class of proteins called transcription factors that regulate gene expression.