For breast cancer to be fatal, the tumor has to send out metastases to other parts of the body. The cancer cells are spread via the blood vessels, and a research team at Lund University in Sweden has now proven that the protein ALK1 determines the extent of the tumor's spread in the body. The higher the levels of the protein on the surface of the blood vessels, the greater their permeability to tumor cells and therefore the greater the risk of metastases. The new study also shows that the drug Dalantercept can prevent the spread of tumour cells in breast cancer by blocking ...

This news release is available in German. In 1915 Albert Einstein formulated the theory of general relativity which fundamentally changed our understanding of gravity. He explained gravity as the manifestation of the curvature of space and time. Einstein's theory predicts that the flow of time is altered by mass. This effect, known as "gravitational time dilation", causes time to be slowed down near a massive object. It affects everything and everybody; in fact, people working on the ground floor will age slower than their colleagues a floor above, by about 10 nanoseconds ...

The same kind of contraction that fires our muscles also controls a key stage of mammalian embryo development, according to a new study published in Nature Cell Biology. The research, conducted at EMBL Heidelberg, measured and mapped how cells in very early stage embryos bond tightly together. The scientists also discovered a cellular behaviour that hadn't been observed before: cells in the embryo 'dance', each one making the same rhythmic movement. The focus of the study was a stage of development known as compaction, which takes place when the embryo has eight cells. ...

In recent decades, enormous successes have been achieved in the field of public health. Three examples of these are the fight against HIV, the reduction in cardiovascular disease, and protection for non-smokers. For Germany to make even better use of the potential of public health, it needs more political support, improved research structures, and stronger international involvement. The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, acatech - the National Academy of Science and Engineering, and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities point this out ...

Starfish have strange talents. Two biology students from University of Southern Denmark have revealed that starfish are able to squeeze foreign bodies along the length of their body cavities and out through their arm tips. This newly discovered talent gives insight into how certain animals are able to quickly heal themselves. The two biology students, Frederik Ekholm Gaardsted Christensen and Trine Bottos Olsen have discovered a starfish behaviour that has never previously been described in the scientific literature. As part of their studies they were asked to tag some ...

Chimpanzees and bonobos are the two closest living relatives of the human species - the ultimate tool-using ape. Yet, despite being so closely related on the evolutionary tree, wild chimpanzees and bonobos differ hugely in the way they use tools. Chimpanzees show the most diverse range of tool use outside of humans. For example, chimpanzees use sticks to 'fish' for ants and termites, stones to crack nuts, as well as tools for grooming and communication. Bonobos rarely use tools and never to forage for food. The question of 'what makes a tool user?' is a key one in ...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Improving air quality -- in clean and dirty places -- could reduce pollution-related deaths worldwide by millions of people each year. That finding comes from a team of environmental engineering and public health researchers who developed a global model of how changes in outdoor air pollution could lead to changes in the rates of health problems such as heart attack, stroke and lung cancer. Outdoor particulate air pollution results in 3.2 million premature deaths annually, more than the combined impact of HIV-AIDS and malaria. The researchers found that ...

Lisbon, 16 June 2015: Despite a prevalence of anonymous sperm donation in European countries, the use of the same sperm donor for subsequent conceptions is of paramount importance to those couples needing sperm donation to have children. "We found a marked tendency to favour full genetic bonds where possible," said midwife Sara Somers presenting study results today at the Annual Meeting of ESHRE. The study, performed by Ms Somers and colleagues at the Ghent University Hospital and Ghent University in Belgium, included 34 lesbian and heterosexual couples using sperm donation ...

Lisbon, 16 June 2015: Dilatation and curettage (D&C) is one of the most common minor surgical procedures in obstetrics and gynaecology, used mainly for miscarriage or terminations.(1) Today, use of the 15-minute procedure is declining in favour of less invasive medical methods, but it still remains common in O&G. Although D&C is generally considered safe and easy to perform, it is associated with some serious (if rare) side effects, including perforations to the cervix and uterus, infection, and bleeding. Now, an analysis 21 cohort studies which included almost 2 million ...

Lisbon, 16 June 2015: It is a biological fact that female fertility declines with age - in assisted conception as in natural. Indeed, findings from a 12-year study reported today at the Annual Meeting of ESHRE by Dr Marta Devesa from the Hospital Universitaro Quiron-Dexeus in Barcelona, Spain, showed that in her own clinic cumulative live birth rates following IVF declined from 23.6% in women aged 38-39 years to 1.3% in those aged 44 and over.(1) Such declines in success rate have been seen in many studies, but are not evident in older patients having egg donation to ...

Lisbon, 16 June 2015: The risk of ectopic pregnancy following fertility treatment with assisted reproduction (ART) is small but significantly higher than found in natural conceptions. Now, a nationwide population-based analysis of all ART pregnancies achieved in the UK between 2000 and 2012 has found that the rate of ectopic pregnancy following IVF and ICSI progressively decreased throughout these 12 years, almost halving from an overall rate of 20 to 12 cases per thousand. The results of the study are presented today at the Annual Meeting of ESHRE in Lisbon by Professor ...

New research from the University of Copenhagen has found that maintaining a good night's sleep is important for our future health, partly because of how it affects lifestyle factors. Previous population based studies have not provided sufficient information on the timing of changes in both sleep and lifestyle to tease out cause and effect relations of this highly intertwined relationship. "This study shows that sleep affects our ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and when sleep deteriorates we are more likely to make unhealthy lifestyle changes," says Postdoc Alice ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. - A new MRI study has found distinct injury patterns in the brains of people with concussion-related depression and anxiety, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. The findings may lead the way to improved treatment and understanding of these common disorders, researchers said. Post-concussion psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety and irritability can be extremely disabling for those among the nearly 3.8 million people in the United States who suffer concussions every year. The mechanisms underlying these changes after ...

BOSTON (June 16, 2015, 12:01 a.m. EDT)--In two studies published online today in the American Journal of Transplantation, researchers determined that hyperlipidemia accelerates heart-transplant rejection in mice. By using models that mimic the health conditions found in human transplant recipients, the researchers from Tufts determined that transplant rejection was accelerated whether the hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol and high triglycerides in the blood) was caused by genetics or solely by a high-fat diet. "Our work fundamentally changes how we view transplant rejection. ...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (JUNE 16, 2015). Researchers in Alberta, Canada, investigated the use of the drug mannitol before and during transportation of patients with intracranial emergencies from peripheral hospitals to tertiary facilities that house neurosurgery departments. The focus was on the appropriate use of the drug and the extent to which dosing errors may have occurred. The authors found a 22% dosing error rate, with slightly more patients receiving a dose smaller, rather than larger, than the dose range recommended by the Brain Trauma Foundation. Findings of this ...

PHILADELPHIA - When trying to enroll in a health insurance plan through HealthCare.gov during the first open enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) health insurance marketplaces, young adults were confused by unfamiliar health insurance terms, concerned about the affordability of plan options, and unsure how to seek good primary care. Those findings were among the results of a study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that followed a group of well-educated young adults as they shopped for health insurance ...

Thanks to screening of newborns and newly developed therapies, the population of patients with inherited metabolic disorders has expanded. As these patients age and enter adulthood, diet therapy will be the mainstay of treatment for their disorders. A new review, published today in Nutrition in Clinical Practice (NCP), a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.) that publishes articles about the scientific basis and clinical application of nutrition and nutrition support, highlights the basic principles ...

Randomised controlled trials must be simplified to sustain innovation in cardiovascular diseases, which are still the biggest killer in Europe, according to the Cardiovascular Round Table (CRT). The CRT is an independent forum established by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and comprised of cardiologists and representatives of the pharmaceutical, device and equipment industries. The group's views are published today in European Heart Journal 1*. Professor Paulus Kirchhof, corresponding author, said: 'Despite marked progress in diagnosis and treatment, cardiovascular ...

New guidelines providing information, guidance and recommendations for people working with those with hoarding difficulties are launched today, Tuesday 16 June 2015, in London by the British Psychological Society's (BPS) Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP). The free guidelines, 'A psychological perspective on hoarding: DCP good practice guidelines' have been compiled by clinical psychologists, using expertise and evidence from this area of research. It also includes contributions from those living with hoarding issues as well as their carers. Lead Consultant Clinical ...

An innovative programme of activities used in Ugandan primary schools has succeeded in reducing violence by teachers against children by 42%, according to new research published in The Lancet Global Health. The study is published on 16 June, the Day of the African Child. The Good School Toolkit is a behavioural intervention designed by Ugandan NGO Raising Voices, which aims to foster change in operational culture at the school level. Its materials include t-shirts, books, booklets, posters and guides for around 60 different activities. [1] To evaluate the Toolkit's effectiveness, ...

Eating up to 100 g of chocolate every day is linked to lowered heart disease and stroke risk, finds research published online in the journal Heart. There doesn't seem to be any evidence for cutting out chocolate to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, conclude the researchers. They base their findings on almost 21,000 adults taking part in the EPIC-Norfolk study, which is tracking the impact of diet on the long term health of 25,000 men and women in Norfolk, England, using food frequency and lifestyle questionnaires. The researchers also carried out a systematic ...

The UK hospital post mortem is on the verge of extinction, having already disappeared completely in around a quarter of NHS trusts, reveals a survey published online in the Journal of Clinical Pathology. Post mortems are carried out in only just over half of one per cent of all UK hospital deaths, the responses show. The practice of post mortem examination or autopsy dates back to mummification and human dissection in 3000 BC, but is thought to have entered medical practice in its current form in the 1800s. The researchers base their findings on Freedom of Information ...

PITTSBURGH, June 15, 2015 - Gene therapy to reduce production of a brain protein successfully prevented development of Parkinson's disease in an animal study, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings, published online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could lead to new understanding of how genetic and environmental factors converge to cause the disease, and the development of effective treatments to prevent disease progression. Scientists have observed dysfunction of mitochondria, which make energy for cells, ...

MAYWOOD, IL - About 20 percent of Americans spend time in an intensive care unit around the time of their death, and most deaths follow a decision to limit life-sustaining therapies. Physicians have a responsibility to provide recommendations to families of dying patients, a Loyola University Medical Center critical care physician writes in the journal Chest. "A physician has a responsibility to present surrogates with the plan of care he or she believes to be in the best application of a patient's authentic values and interests to a specific clinical situation," Paul ...

Higher supermarket prices for eco-friendly palm oil could help save endangered species - according to University of East Anglia (UEA) research. Palm oil is used by the food industry as a cheap substitute for butter. But the conversion of tropical forests to oil palm plantations has had a devastating impact on a huge number of plant and animal species including tigers, elephants, rhinos and orang-utans. New research published today reveals that a willingness among consumers to pay more for sustainably-grown palm oil would incentivise producers to engage with conservation ...