In some patients, aggressive cancers can become resistant to chemotherapy and radiation treatments. In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers identified a pathway that causes the resistance and a new therapeutic drug that targets this pathway. "It was previously known that RAF (a family of proteins that regulate cellular signaling) governs resistance to therapies. We discovered an undescribed role for RAF and learned precisely how it occurs in a broad range of cancers," said lead author ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Acupuncture may be a viable treatment for women experiencing hot flashes as a result of estrogen-targeting therapies to treat breast cancer, according to a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Hot flashes are particularly severe and frequent in breast cancer survivors, but current FDA-approved remedies for these unpleasant episodes, such as hormone replacement therapies are off-limits to breast cancer survivors because they include estrogen. The results of the study are published this week in the ...

Montreal, September 3, 2015 -- Sleep matters for kids, especially when they are stressed. A new study led by researchers Jinshia Ly, Jennifer J. McGrath and Jean-Philippe Gouin from Concordia University's Centre for Clinical Research in Health and the PERFORM Centre shows that poor sleep might explain how stress impacts health in kids. A good night's sleep Getting a good night's sleep might buffer the impact of stress on kids' cortisol level, which is a hormone produced in the adrenal gland to regulate the body's cardiovascular, metabolic and immune systems. While short-term ...

Cool. Calm. And oh, so calculated. That's how a chimpanzee living in the Royal Burgers' Zoo in the Netherlands set out to swat an aerial drone that was filming her group. In an article in the journal Primates published by Springer, Jan van Hooff and Bas Lukkenaar explain it as yet another example of chimpanzees' make-do attitude to using whatever is on hand as tools. The incident happened earlier this year, on 10 April, when a Dutch television crew was filming at the zoo in Arnhem. The idea was to use a drone to film the chimpanzees in their compound from different close-up ...

Amsterdam, September 3, 2015 - 3D imaging of a mummified kestrel that died due to forced overeating provides evidence that the ancient Egyptians bred birds of prey as offerings for the gods, according to a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. The digital CT imaging revealed that the kestrel was force-fed its last meal - a mouse - suggesting it was kept in captivity. This is the first evidence to point to mass breeding of raptors as offerings to gods. The researchers behind the study, from the American University in Cairo, Stellenbosch University ...

Amsterdam, September 3, 2015 - Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, has announced that its Reviewer Recognition platform has launched a new functionality which enables reviewers to list their entire review history, including their reviews for non-Elsevier journals, in one place online. It also allows them to share their Reviewer Page publically - increasing visibility and recognition of their work. Through the Reviewer Recognition platform, Elsevier reviewers already have access to a personal review ...

A 260-million-year-old fossil species found in South Africa's Karoo Basin continues to provide information into the murky origins of turtles whose evolution fascinates scientists. The fossil of an extinct reptile, named Eunotosaurus africanus, is the earliest known branch of the turtle tree of life. "Eunotosaurus is a critical link connecting modern turtles to their evolutionary past," says Dr Gaberiel Bever an Honorary Research Associate at Wits University's Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) and scientist at the New York Institute of Technology. Previous studies ...

UK fisheries survey logbooks from the 1930s to 1950s have been digitised for the first time, revealing how cod responded to changing temperatures in the last century. Scientists at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and the University of Exeter found that at the time, the warm seas experienced around Norway benefitted the cod, similar to the conditions there today. Most cod eaten by the UK comes from northern seas including the Barents Sea around Norway, because the stocks there at the moment are at record highs. Cod stocks were also ...

Study examines trees in Leicester City Pollution levels for pedestrians reduced by seven per cent in city environment Highlights importance of trees in urban planning decisions Trees in cities throughout the UK could be significantly improving the quality of the air we breathe by decreasing pollution levels for pedestrians, researchers from the University of Leicester have revealed. The team from the University of Leicester's Department of Physics and Astronomy found that trees have a regionally beneficial impact by increasing turbulence and reducing ambient ...

In the first study of its kind, new research from the University of New Hampshire shows that crop rotations, in isolation from other management factors, can increase the functions performed by soil microbial communities that benefit plant growth. The study was conducted by researchers with the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. The study was conducted by Lisa Tiemann, former postdoctoral student, Stuart Grandy, who was Tiemann's postdoctoral advisor, and Marshall McDaniel, former postdoctoral student of Grandy, all of the UNH Department of Natural Resources ...

Philadelphia, PA, September 3, 2015 - People diagnosed with schizophrenia critically rely upon treatment with antipsychotic medications to manage their symptoms and help them function at home and in the workplace. But despite their benefits, antipsychotic medications might also have some negative effects on brain structure or function when taken for long periods of time. In fact, "the role played by antipsychotic treatment on the pathophysiologic trajectory of brain abnormalities in schizophrenia is currently a matter of lively debate," explains Dr. Antonio Vita, Professor ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Researchers at MIT have developed a family of materials that can emit light of precisely controlled colors -- even pure white light -- and whose output can be tuned to respond to a wide variety of external conditions. The materials could find a variety of uses in detecting chemical and biological compounds, or mechanical and thermal conditions. The material, a metallic polymer gel made using rare-earth elements, is described in a paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society by assistant professor of materials science and engineering Niels Holten-Andersen, ...

A sophisticated imaging technique has allowed scientists to virtually peer inside a 10-million-year-old sea urchin, uncovering a treasure trove of hidden fossils. The international team of researchers from the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany, including Dr Imran Rahman from the University of Bristol, studied the exceptional specimen with the aid of state-of-the-art X-ray computed tomography (CT). Their results show that the sea urchin fossil was riddled with borings made by shelled invertebrates called bivalves. These fossilized boring bivalves were preserved inside ...

WASHINGTON, DC (September 3, 2015)-- The District of Columbia's needle exchange program prevented 120 new cases of HIV infection and saved an estimated $44 million over just a two-year period, according to a first-of-a-kind study published today by researchers at the Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University. "Our study adds to the evidence that needle exchange programs not only work but are cost-effective investments in the battle against HIV," says Monica S. Ruiz, PhD, MPH, an assistant research professor in ...

Voriconazole, a prescription drug commonly used to treat fungal infections in lung transplant recipients, significantly increases the risk for skin cancer and even death, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers. The team recommends physicians consider patient-specific factors that could modify the drug's risks and benefits, when providing care. Their study appears online Sept. 3, 2015, in the American Journal of Transplantation. "It is important for physicians to be aware of the impact of voriconazole on these outcomes," said senior author Sarah Arron, ...

WASHINGTON -- Children with broken bones or joint dislocations in northern Israel emergency departments received equal pain treatment, regardless of their ethnicity or the ethnicity of the nurses who treated them, even during a period of armed conflict between the two ethnic groups. An investigation of potential disparities in pediatric emergency department pain relief in northern Israel was published online today in Annals of Emergency Medicine (""Emergency Department Pain Management in Pediatric Patients with Fracture or Dislocation in a Bi-Ethnic Population"). "The ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Black students in schools with more black teachers have more positive attitudes and higher perceptions of fairness in school discipline, according to a new study that includes a University of Kansas researcher. The study also found white students who attend schools with a higher number of minority teachers are more likely to believe discipline from school officials is fair as well. "Increasing the proportion of minority teachers in a school enhances all students' perceptions of school discipline fairness," said Don Haider-Markel, professor and chair ...

Imagine 12 patients who need new kidneys, and six kidneys available. How would you allocate them? New research by Rutgers social psychologists suggests your answer would depend on how the patients and their situations are presented to you. In research recently published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Gretchen Chapman and Jeff DeWitt of Rutgers and Helen Colby of the University of California-Los Angeles found that people make dramatically different decisions about who should receive a transplant depending on whether the ...

As animal architects go, the average termite doesn't have many tools at their disposal - just their bodies, soil and saliva. And as guidance, variations in wind speed and direction and daily fluctuations in temperature as the sun rises and sets. Despite such limitations, the tiny insects have managed build structures that are efficiently ventilated - a challenge that human architects still struggle with. Led by L. Mahadevan, Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and of Physics, a team of researchers that ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Advance supply signals, such as financial health and production viability, contain rich information on supplier conditions. When and how these signals should be used is critical for improving firms' forecast and profitability. A recent paper, "Dynamic Supply Risk Management with Signal-Based Forecast, Multi-Sourcing, and Discretionary Selling," provides mathematical tools and management principles on this issue. The authors, Long Gao (from University of California, Riverside School of Business Administration), Nan Yang and Renyu Zhang (both from ...

Scientists have pinpointed a population of neurons in the brain that influences whether one drink leads to two, which could ultimately lead to a cure for alcoholism and other addictions. A study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience by researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, finds that alcohol consumption alters the structure and function of neurons in the dorsomedial striatum, a part of the brain known to be important in goal-driven behaviors. The findings could be an important step toward creation of a drug to combat alcoholism. ...

New research indicates that household food insecurity dramatically increases the likelihood of metabolic diseases in children, with many showing chronic disease markers before they graduate from high school. The study published today in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Food insecurity, defined as lacking access to food for an active, healthy life, is a preventable health threat. Yet, lack of basic access to food affects 14.3 percent of all U.S. households and 19.5 percent of households with children. "This is a looming health issue for the nation. ...

Brooklyn, NY - Xian-Cheng Jiang, PhD, professor of cell biology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has led a study identifying a new approach for lowering "bad" lipids in blood circulation, a critical means to combat devastating cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. The research was published in the online edition of Gastroenterology. The team established that an enzyme called LPCAT3 (Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 3) is involved in the biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PC), a type of compound lipid that is a major component of cell membranes. ...

Northridge, CA (September 2, 2015) - A study published Monday in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (JHCPU) concludes that ethnicity is associated with nutrient shortfalls of important nutrients. This study compared usual intake for essential nutrients between Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White Americans using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007-2010. This new analysis is consistent with previous research and confirms a continuing diet-related health disparity in the American population. Nutrient shortfalls ...

LA JOLLA, Calif., September 2, 2015 - A new Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) study takes a step forward in understanding how similar, yet genetically unrelated neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, frontal temporal dementia, and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) are caused by the protein tau. The findings, published today in Neuron, create new opportunities to target this key protein that leads to the brain lesions found in patients with impaired motor functions and dementia. "Our research shows how the abundance of a protein ...