Numerous studies have documented racial differences in deaths from cancer among non-Hispanic whites and African Americans, but little has been known about survival outcomes for Asian Americans who have been diagnosed with cancer, until now. A new study from Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD and colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) examined cancer patients in eight different Asian American subgroups and found their cancer-specific mortality (CSM) was substantially lower than that of non-Hispanic white patients. The findings are published in the March 20 issue of the Journal ...

Young adults who were raised in educated households develop higher cognitive ability than those who were brought up in less ideal environments, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Virginia and Lund University in Sweden. While the study does not refute previous findings that DNA impacts intelligence, it does prove that environmental influences play a significant role in cognitive ability as measured in early adulthood. The study compared the cognitive ability - as measured by IQ - of 436 Swedish male ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - March 24, 2015 - Kidney transplantation outcomes from deceased African-American donors may improve through rapid testing for apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1) renal risk variants at the time of organ recovery, according to a new study led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Variation in the APOL1 gene is associated with up to 40 percent of all kidney diseases in African-Americans who undergo dialysis or kidney transplantation, and APOL1 kidney disease risk variants are only present on the chromosomes of individuals who possess recent ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Researchers at Mayo Clinic have shown that it is possible to detect endometrial cancer using tumor DNA picked up by ordinary tampons. The new approach specifically examines DNA samples from vaginal secretions for the presence of chemical "off" switches -- known as methylation -- that can disable genes that normally keep cancer in check. The finding is a critical step toward a convenient and effective screening test for endometrial cancer, which is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States. The results are published in the journal ...

Machine-made products today are often of very good quality, and many are relatively cheaper than their handmade counterparts. But they are missing the key ingredient of "love," according to a new study in Journal of Marketing. "Handmade products might be perceived to contain and transmit the artisan's "essence" in the form of his or her love for the product in a way that machine-made products cannot," write authors Christoph Fuchs (Technische Universität München), Martin Schreier (WU Vienna University of Economics and Business), and Stijn M.J. van Osselaer ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a group of genes in one species of snail that provide a natural resistance to the flatworm parasite that causes schistosomiasis, and opens the door to possible new drugs or ways to break the transmission cycle of this debilitating disease. Schistosomiasis infects more than 200 million people in more than 70 countries, and is most common in areas with poor sanitation. It can cause chronic, lifelong disability, beginning with gastrointestinal problems and sometimes leading to liver damage, kidney failure, ...

Legal drugs such as OxyContin now kill more people than heroin and cocaine combined. While awareness of the dangers of illegal drugs has increased, many teens are still ignorant of the significant physical danger posed by legally prescribed drugs, according to a new study in Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. "The CDC has classified the situation as an epidemic," write authors Richard Netemeyer (University of Virginia), Scot Burton (University of Arkansas), Barbara Delaney (Partnership for Drug Free Kids), and Gina Hijjawi (American Institutes for Research). "Prescription ...

MADISON, Wis. -- It's almost a rite of passage in physics and astronomy. Scientists spend years scrounging up money to build a fantastic new instrument. Then, when the long-awaited device finally approaches completion, the panic begins: How will they handle the torrent of data? That's the situation now, at least, with the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), a radio telescope planned for Africa and Australia that will have an unprecedented ability to deliver data -- lots of data points, with lots of details -- on the location and properties of stars, galaxies and giant clouds ...

By comparing the genes of current-day North and South Americans with African and European populations, an Oxford University study has found the genetic fingerprints of the slave trade and colonisation that shaped migrations to the Americas hundreds of years ago. The team, which also included researchers from UCL (University College London) and the Universita' del Sacro Cuore of Rome, analysed more than 4,000 previously collected DNA samples from 64 different populations, covering multiple locations in Europe, Africa and the Americas. Since migration has generally flowed ...

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered a biological clue that could help explain why some drinkers develop a dependence on alcohol and others do not. The findings move researchers closer to identifying those at risk for addiction early and designing better drug treatments to help people stop drinking. About 18 million people in the United States have an alcohol use disorder, according to National Institutes of Health statistics. The vast majority go untreated. "There are few and inadequate pharmacological treatments to help ...

More schooling -- and the more mentally challenging problems tackled in those schools -- may be the best explanation for the dramatic rise in IQ scores during the past century, often referred to as the Flynn Effect, according to a team of researchers. These findings also suggest that environment may have a stronger influence on intelligence than many genetic determinists once thought. Researchers have struggled to explain why IQ scores for developed nations -- and, now, developing nations -- have increased so rapidly during the 20th century, said David Baker, professor ...

Queen's University cancer researcher Madhuri Koti has discovered a biomarker that will help lead to better predictions of the success of chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients. This discovery could lead to better treatment options in the fight against ovarian cancer. Biomarkers are an indicator of a biological state or condition. "Recent successes in harnessing the immune system to combat cancer are evidence for the significant roles of a cancer patient's immune responses in fighting cancer," explains Dr. Koti (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences). "Many of these success ...

National Democratic Party Member of Parliament Megan Leslie is calling on the Canadian government to list microbeads, tiny plastic flakes used in cosmetics, as a potential toxic substance. Health Canada claims the beads are safe for use as an additive, but Leslie says they pose a danger to the aquatic environment. Researchers at the University of Waterloo are warning that microbeads and plastic debris of all sizes could be a bigger environmental problem for the Great Lakes than previously thought. "We know more and more about ocean plastics, but, paradoxically, we have ...

If we are ever to fully harness the power of light for use in optical devices, it is necessary to understand photons - the fundamental unit of light. Achieving such understanding, however, is easier said than done. That's because the physical behavior of photons - similar to electrons and other sub-atomic particles - is characterized not by classical physics, but by quantum mechanics. Now, in a study published in Physical Review Letters, scientists from Bar-Ilan University have observed the point at which classical and quantum behavior converge. Using a fiber-based ...

Tropical Cyclone Nathan has been weakening as it continued to move over land in Australia's Northern Territory on March 24. NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible picture of the storm over land. Just one day before the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite saw some heavy rainfall in Nathan. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured rainfall rate and cloud height data when it passed above Nathan on March 23, 2015 at 0631 UTC (2:31 a.m. EDT) before Nathan moved inland. Nathan had intensified and had hurricane force winds of about 65 knots ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts league, has experienced large growth in popularity and economic success in recent years. UFC has achieved this success by marketing to fans who attend live fighting events and who purchase Pay Per View (PPV) options to watch UFC events on television. Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri has found that fans' interest in the sport and, thus, their desire to spend money differs based on the venue. Nicholas Watanabe, an assistant professor of sport management in the MU Department of ...

Children as young as 5 years old are less likely to help a person in need when other children are present and available to help, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "The children in our study helped at very high levels only when responsibility was clearly attributable to them," explains psychological scientist and lead researcher Maria Plötner of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. "These findings suggest that children at this age take responsibility ...

The recent Ebola outbreak highlighted the challenges to governments and local public health authorities in determining when individuals or populations should be subjected to quarantine. While one state or country can legally enact such laws, others may not. In many instances unintended negative consequences have resulted, and the ensuing chaos has led to major frustration both for patients and medical staff, as well as for local authorities. Donna Barbisch, Institute for Global and Regional Readiness, and co-authors Kristi L. Koenig, UC Irvine, Center for Disaster Medical ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 24, 2015 -- Move over, vapor compression cooling technology. Emerging "elastocaloric" refrigeration is potentially much more efficient and, unlike vapor compression, relies on environmentally-friendly refrigerants. In elastocaloric materials a change in mechanical stress can create a change in temperature. In the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing, a team of researchers from Technical University of Denmark report that the elastocaloric effect opens the door to alternative forms of solid-state refrigeration that are direct replacements ...

WASHINGTON D.C., March 24, 2015 - Attempting to develop a novel type of permanent magnet, a team of researchers at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland has discovered a new class of magnetic materials based on Mn-Ga alloys. Described as a zero-moment half metal this week in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, the new Mn2RuxGa magnetic alloy has some unique properties that give it the potential to revolutionize data storage and significantly increase wireless data transmission speeds. The discovery realizes a goal researchers have sought for several ...

Among patients with symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis (narrowing of an artery inside the brain), the use of a balloon-expandable stent compared with medical therapy (clopidogrel and aspirin) resulted in an increased of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), according to a study in the March 24/31 issue of JAMA. Intracranial arterial stenosis is a common cause of stroke worldwide. The recurrent stroke risk with severe symptomatic intracranial stenosis may be as high as 23 percent at 1 year, despite medical therapy, according to background information in the ...

An analysis of the trends in salaries of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States from 1988 through 2013 finds that male RNs outearned female RNs across settings, specialties, and positions, with no narrowing of the pay gap over time, according to a study in the March 24/31 issue of JAMA. Fifty years after the Equal Pay Act, the male-female salary gap has narrowed in many occupations. Yet pay inequality persists for certain occupations, including medicine and nursing. Studies have documented higher salaries for male registered nurses, although analyses have not considered ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 24, 2015 - Silicon solar cells dominate 90 percent of the global photovoltaic market today, yet the record power conversion efficiency of silicon photovoltaics has progressed merely from 25 percent to 25.6 percent during the past 15 years -- meaning the industry is keen to explore alternatives. A collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University may be poised to shake things up in the solar energy world. By exploring ways to create solar cells using low-cost manufacturing methods, the team has developed ...

A multivalent candidate vaccine elicits broad antibody responses to a range of norovirus strains, including strains not included in the vaccine or previously encountered by participants, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine. The results of the study, led by Lisa Lindesmith and Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, indicate that a vaccine to norovirus may be available in the future. Worldwide, noroviruses cause one in five cases of viral gastroenteritis. An estimated annual 300 million cases of norovirus infection contribute ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass--Researchers at MIT and Stanford University have developed a new kind of solar cell that combines two different layers of sunlight-absorbing material in order to harvest a broader range of the sun's energy. The development could lead to photovoltaic cells that are more efficient than those currently used in solar-power installations, the researchers say. The new cell uses a layer of silicon -- which forms the basis for most of today's solar panels -- but adds a semi-transparent layer of a material called perovskite, which can absorb higher-energy particles ...