Metastasis occurs when cancer cells acquire the ability to spread and form new tumors in different places in the body, usually by traveling within blood or lymph vessels. Since metastasis is a hallmark of advanced cancer and severely complicates treatment, its early diagnosis is essential. One way to do this is by looking for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood samples. However, CTCs can be very rare, and they might be completely absent in small blood samples despite being present in a patient’s bloodstream. To address this problem, researchers have developed a technique called diffuse in-vivo flow cytometry (DiFC). It involves labeling CTCs with ...

American Geophysical Union  Release No. 23-28 24 July 2023  For Immediate Release  This press release and accompanying multimedia are available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/colorado-river-basin-has-lost-water-equal-to-lake-mead-due-to-climate-change/ Colorado River Basin has lost water equal to Lake Mead due to climate change A rapid rate of reductions in runoff associated with the Colorado Basin’s snowpack region, quantified here for the first time, is largely responsible for the water loss. AGU press contact: Rebecca Dzombak, news@agu.org +1 (202) 777-7492 (UTC-4 hours) Contact ...

New research led by Adam Dixon, a conservation scientist with the World Wildlife Fund, describes the successful pilot of a novel method to study how well grassland birds are faring on croplands. The study, published in Ecological Applications, looked at 44 pockets of non-crop vegetation in the gaps between crop rows and at the edges of fields on lands under intensive agricultural cultivation in Iowa. The study may serve as a model for monitoring wildlife on working lands more generally, which can include crop fields, cattle ranches, and logged forests. The researchers analyzed satellite imagery data to determine each pocket's area and “texture,” ...

Snacking is becoming increasingly popular, with more than 70% of people reporting they snack at least twice a day. In a new study involving more than 1,000 people, researchers examined whether snacking affects health and if the quality of snack foods matters.   “Our study showed that the quality of snacking is more important than the quantity or frequency of snacking, thus choosing high quality snacks over highly processed snacks is likely beneficial,” said Kate Bermingham, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at King's College London. “Timing is also important, with late night snacking being unfavorable for health.”   Bermingham ...

We trust our doctors with our lives, but the sad and scary fact is that doctors can get things wrong. Approximately 100,000 Americans die each year due to medical errors and recent studies have found that 10 to 15% of all clinical decisions regarding patient diagnosis and treatment are wrong. A team of researchers led by Damon Centola, Professor and Director of the Network Dynamics Group at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, has found a simple, effective way to reduce errors in patient diagnosis and treatment — use structured networks to connect clinicians with other clinicians. In a study published today in the journal ...

A surprising finding from USC reveals key details about how cancer cells metastasize and suggests new therapeutic approaches for halting their spread. The research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, centers on a cellular chaperone protein known as GRP78, which helps regulate the folding of other proteins inside cells. Previous studies from the same team, led by Amy S. Lee, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, have shown that when cells are under stress (due to COVID-19 or cancer), GRP78 gets hijacked, allowing viral invaders to replicate, ...

The study by Maarten van Herpen et al., entitled “Photocatalytic Chlorine Atom Production on Mineral Dust-Sea Spray Aerosols over North Atlantic,” was funded in part by the NGO Spark Climate Solutions. It incorporates a proposed new mechanism whereby blowing mineral dust mixes with sea-spray to form Mineral Dust-Sea Spray Aerosol (MDSA). The results suggest that MDSA is activated by sunlight to produce an abundance of chlorine atoms, which oxidize atmospheric methane and tropospheric ozone via photocatalysis. Largely composed of blowing dust from the Sahara Desert combined with sea salt aerosol from the ocean, MDSA is the dominant source of atmospheric ...

Researchers from the University of Florida and the Seattle Aquarium are exploring 100 meters underwater in the Pacific Northwest this summer to learn more about mysterious ghost sharks, one of the strangest beasts from the depths of the ocean. Using remotely operated underwater vehicles, or ROVs, the scientists searched for nesting grounds of the Pacific spotted ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei, a ghostlike fish that lurks on the ocean floor. “We know very little about these elusive relatives of sharks and even less about their spawning habits and embryonic development,” said ...

Research Highlights: An analysis of more than 202,000 heart attack deaths between 2015-2020 in a single Chinese province found that days that had extreme heat, extreme cold or high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution were significantly associated with the risk of death from a heart attack, especially in women and older adults. The greatest increase in the risk of death from heart attack was seen on days that had the combination of extreme heat and high levels of PM2.5. The days with extreme heat were associated ...

Based on findings from a study published today in the journal, The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and three collaborating medical institutions suggest that people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who donate a kidney to other people living with HIV (PLWH) have a low risk of developing end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) or other kidney problems in the years following the donation. “This new evidence is proof-of-concept that donating a kidney can be safe for people living with HIV,” says Christine Durand, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Johns ...

Water is essential for life as we know it. However, scientists debate how it reached the Earth and whether the same processes could seed rocky exoplanets orbiting distant stars. New insights may come from the planetary system PDS 70, located 370 light-years away. The star hosts both an inner disk and outer disk of gas and dust, separated by a 5 billion-mile-wide (8 billion kilometer) gap, and within that gap are two known gas-giant planets.   New measurements by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) have detected water vapor in the system’s inner disk, at distances ...

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is leading an awareness campaign that aims to reduce missed or delayed diagnosis of cystic fibrosis after newborn screening, especially in non-White infants. In its first phase, the campaign targets primary care providers and public health officials, so that treatment can start earlier, which is linked to better outcomes for people with cystic fibrosis. The general public phase is expected to follow within the year. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...

A potent anti-cancer therapy has been created using Nobel prize-winning “click chemistry”, where molecules click together like LEGO bricks, in a new study by UCL and Stanford University researchers. The study, published in Nature Chemistry, opens up new possibilities for how cutting-edge cancer immunotherapies might be built in future. The research team created an anti-cancer therapy with three components: one targeting the cancer cell, another recruiting a white blood cell called a T cell to attack the cancer cell, and a third knocking out part of the cancer cell’s defences. Previously, ...

New York, NY – The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), a national non-profit organization whose mission is to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research, is proud to recognize the outstanding contributions of Claire K. Ankuda, MD, MPH, MSc with the 2023 Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research.   This award honors a health services researcher in an early or middle phase of his/her career who has already made important contributions with work that respects the value of multidisciplinary health services ...

New York, NY – The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), a national non-profit organization whose mission is to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research, is pleased to recognize the exemplary contributions of Ming Xu, PhD, to the field of aging research through the 2023 Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research.    This award is named in honor of the late Dr. Cristofalo, who dedicated his career to aging research and to encouraging young scientists to investigate important problems in the biology of aging. Established in 2008, the award is a ...

The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), a national non-profit organization whose mission is to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research, is pleased to recognize the exemplary contributions of Rafael de Cabo, PhD, to the field of aging research through the 2023 Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction.   This award is named in honor of AFAR’s founder and recognizes exceptional contributions to basic or clinical research in the field of aging. Established in 1982, the award is a framed citation and carries a cash prize of $5,000.   Dr. de Cabo is Senior Investigator of the ...

Could muscadine wine help perk up sagging skin? According to a new study, women who drank two glasses of dealcoholized muscadine wine daily showed significant improvements in the elasticity and water retention of their skin compared with those who consumed a placebo.   The study is the first time scientists have studied the impacts of nonalcoholic wine consumption on skin health in a randomized clinical trial. Researchers attribute the beneficial effects to chemical compounds called polyphenols that naturally occur in many plants.   “Muscadine grapes have been found to have a unique polyphenolic profile in comparison to other red wine varieties,” ...

While the incidence of influenza-associated neuropsychiatric events in children in the United States is unknown, the controversy over the use of a common antiviral medication typically administered to treat flu in children has sparked concern among parents and medical professionals alike.   The dilemma about whether the treatment causes neuropsychiatric events or if the infection itself is the culprit, led a group of pediatric researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to study the question.   “Population-Based ...

Broken bones in later life are a leading cause of disability, recurrent fracture, nursing home placement, and death. Prior studies have shown that health care providers can prevent poor outcomes, including death, by treating patients with bone-strengthening medications and by stopping risky medications that cause falls. However, few patients receive this high-quality care because it is time consuming and requires specialized knowledge that primary care providers may not have. Researchers from Hebrew SeniorLife and Duke University will undertake a 5.5-year study that will compare two care models that have previously ...

“The results from this initial cohort support the integration of these biomarkers into prospective clinical trials.” BUFFALO, NY- July 24, 2023 – A new research paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on July 20, 2023, entitled, “Development of a multiplex assay to assess activated p300/CBP in circulating prostate tumor cells.” Reduced SIRT2 deacetylation and increased p300 acetylation activity leads to a concerted mechanism of hyperacetylation at specific histone lysine sites (H3K9, H3K14, and H3K18) in castration-resistant ...

A gene called Myc (pronounced “mick”) that is among the most important drivers of cancer in both mice and humans also plays a newly discovered crucial role in aging, according to a new Cell Reports study by researchers at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The research, led by Edward V. Prochownik, M.D., Ph.D., the Paul C. Gaffney Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at UPMC Children’s and professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, has implications for newer forms of cancer therapy. Myc has traditionally been ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. --  Ballet training centers of Ukraine successfully resist co-optation by both neo-imperial and nationalist ideologies, forming robust and inclusive dancing communities that in many ways mirror structures of modern Ukrainian society, according to research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. The signature Vaganova style of Soviet ballet can be described in a number of ways: exacting, athletic, classical, Russian. It’s also uniform across post-Soviet training academies, including those based in now-independent Ukraine. Training shapes bodies, and post-Soviet dancers still begin ...

A new study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University revealed that the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be slowed by suppressing a specific protein in the brain that causes corrosion. A main pathogenic initiator of AD and related dementias is oxidative stress, which corrodes the brain, called oxidative damage. David E. Kang, the Howard T. Karsner Professor in Pathology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and the study’s lead researcher, said they’ve identified for the first time a cause ...

Restoring and improving gut health may be key to slowing HIV progression to AIDS, according to a new study by University of Pittsburgh infectious diseases scientists published today in the journal JCI Insight. The animal study, which was performed with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the monkey form of HIV, revealed that tackling only systemic immune activation and inflammation when attempting to control disease progression and comorbidities isn’t effective. Instead, treatments should target the root cause of those problems and focus on healing the gut. “It ...

ROSEVILLE, CALIF. – July 24, 2023 – A pair of new studies presented as abstracts today at the American Society of Nutrition (ASN) annual meeting report that daily prune consumption has promising effects on several biomarkers related to cardiovascular health. Conducted in postmenopausal women and men 55 years and older, the studies reveal: In men, long-term prune consumption improved HDL cholesterol and the total cholesterol to HDL ratio, while decreasing oxidative stress and the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein ...