Melbourne, October 27 : A study involving 112 male-to-female transsexuals has revealed that genetics plays a key role in determining people’s sense of gender.

The study involving several Melbourne research bodies and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) measured the variation in the androgen receptor gene, which is involved in the functioning of the sex hormone testosterone.

The researchers compared the DNA samples taken from the transsexuals with those taken from 250 typical men.

They found that the transsexuals were more likely than non-transsexuals to have a longer form of the gene.

Washington, October 27 : Researchers at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow say that an erectile dysfunction treatment may also be effective in treating blood vessel narrowing in rheumatic diseases.

Dr. Padmanabha Shenoy, from the department of immunology, says that when used in addition to other treatments, tadalafil is effective and well tolerated in the treatment of secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon, in which blood vessels narrow abnormally when exposed to cold and blood supply to the hands and feet decreases as a result.

Washington, October 27 : A new study has revealed that people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to suffer greater heart-related complications, and have an increased risk of death following a heart attack, when compared to other heart attack patients.

Dr. Hilal Maradit Kremers, a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist and lead author of the study, has revealed that the research team followed 38 heart attack patients who had RA to compare their mortality rates to those who had suffered a heart attack but did not have RA.

The researcher has also revealed that most patients were female, with a mean age of 76 years.

The team evaluated treatment of heart attacks and tracked patient outcomes (heart failure and death).

Washington, October 27 : U. S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said that one-third of the clothing and accessories worth 150,000 dollars, purchased by the party on for his running mate Sarah Palin and her family, have been returned.

He insisted that the clothes would be donated to charity after the election.

Washington, October 27 : Mayo Clinic researchers have come up with a method of controlling the viruses behind potential cancer therapeutics, so that they will not damage healthy tissues.

The researchers believe that such viruses can be restricted to specific tissues by engineering the virus''s genetic sequence with the aid of microRNAs.

They say that the microRNAs destabilize the virus''s genome, making it impossible for the virus to run amok.

"Our findings demonstrate a new tool for molecular medicine that should also help allay concern over the use of viruses as a therapeutic delivery system," Nature Medicine quoted Dr. Stephen Russell, Mayo physician-scientist and lead author of the study, as saying.

Santiago - Chilean conservatives won a majority of mayoral seats in weekend elections, narrowly beating the ruling centre-left coalition for the first time since 1990.

Right-wing mayoral candidates won in the key municipalities of Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, Temuco, Concepcion, Iquique, Rancagua, Talca and Punta Arenas.

The Alliance for Chile won 40 per cent of the total mayoral votes to 38 per cent for the ruling coalition, which did manage to keep the overall lead in seats on municipal councils by a margin of 45 to 36 per cent.

President Michelle Bachelet acknowledged the mixed results as a wakeup call for the coalition.