DALLAS – Oct. 7, 2014 – Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found an "Achilles heel" in a metabolic pathway crucial to stopping the growth of lung cancer cells. At the heart of this pathway lies PPARγ (peroxisome proliferation-activated receptor gamma), a protein that regulates glucose and lipid metabolism in normal cells. Researchers demonstrated that by activating PPARγ with antidiabetic drugs in lung cancer cells, they could stop these tumor cells from dividing. "We found that activation of PPARγ causes a major metabolic ...

State policies can influence the number of physicians licensed to prescribe buprenorphine, a drug that can treat addiction to heroin and other opioids in outpatient settings, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Examining county-level numbers of physicians approved to prescribe buprenorphine, researchers found a significant link between the number of approved physicians and both specific state guidance regarding the use of buprenorphine and the distribution of clinical guidelines for buprenorphine treatment. The findings were published online by the Journal of ...

Alexandria, Va., USA – Poor oral health and hygiene are increasingly recognized as major risk factors for pneumonia among the elderly. To identify modifiable oral health-related risk factors, lead researcher Toshimitsu Iinuma, Nihon University School of Dentistry, Japan, and a team of researchers prospectively investigated associations between a constellation of oral health behaviors and incidences of pneumonia in the community-living of elders 85 years of age or older. This study, titled "Denture Wearing During Sleep Doubles the Risk of Pneumonia in Very Elderly," ...

ALLENDALE, Mich. — Even among contemporary U.S. distance runners, men are still much more likely than women to have a competitive orientation, according to researchers at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. The findings were published in the online journal, Evolutionary Psychology at http://www.epjournal.net/articles/u-s-masters-track-participation-reveals-a-stable-sex-difference-in-competitiveness/ The new research, led by Robert Deaner, associate professor of psychology at Grand Valley State, shows that, on average, American men participate at ...

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a microRNA molecule as a surprisingly crucial player in managing cell survival and growth. The findings, published in the October 7 issue of Cell Metabolism, underscore the emerging recognition that non-coding RNAs – small molecules that are not translated into working proteins – help regulate basic cellular processes and may be key to developing new drugs and therapies. Specifically, principal investigator Albert R. La Spada, MD, PhD, professor of cellular and molecular ...

From AGU's blogs: Detecting avalanches from sounds we can't hear http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2014/10/07/detecting-avalanches-sounds-cant-hear/ Researchers have developed a new avalanche monitoring method that uses sound below the range of human hearing to detect and track these deadly and destructive snow slides. The technique can detect an avalanche from the moment it starts, picking up the unheard thump of a rupture in the snowpack that can precede the snow cascade. It can then track the avalanche's path second by second down the mountain. In a new study published ...

When kids say "the darnedest things," it's often in response to something they heard or saw. This sponge-like learning starts at birth, as infants begin to decipher the social world surrounding them long before they can speak. Now researchers at the University of Washington have found that children as young as 15 months can detect anger when watching other people's social interactions and then use that emotional information to guide their own behavior. The study, published in the October/November issue of the journal, Cognitive Development, is the first evidence that ...

LAWRENCE — Scientists have been laboring to detect cancer and a host of other diseases in people using promising new biomarkers called "exosomes." Indeed, Popular Science magazine named exosome-based cancer diagnostics one of the 20 breakthroughs that will shape the world this year. Exosomes could lead to less invasive, earlier detection of cancer, and sharply boost patients' odds of survival. "Exosomes are minuscule membrane vesicles — or sacs — released from most, if not all, cell types, including cancer cells," said Yong Zeng, assistant professor ...

You're obese, at risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and so motivated to improve your diet that you've enrolled in an intensive behavioral program. But if you need to travel more than a short distance to a store that offers a good selection of healthy food, your success may be limited. A new study from UMass Medical School and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health finds that not having close access to healthy foods can deter even the most motivated dieters from improving their diet, suggesting that easy access to healthy food is as important as personal ...

Imagine attempting to trace your genetic history using only information from your mother's side. That's what scientists studying the evolution of the red fox had been doing for decades. Now, University of California, Davis, researchers have for the first time investigated ancestry across the red fox genome, including the Y chromosome, or paternal line. The data, compiled for over 1,000 individuals from all over the world, expose some surprises about the origins, journey and evolution of the red fox, the world's most widely distributed land carnivore. "The genome and ...

Typhoon Vongfong strengthened into a Super typhoon on Tuesday, October 7 as NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead. On Oct. 7 at 0429 UTC (12:29 a.m. EDT) the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder called AIRS that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured cloud top temperature data on Super typhoon Vongfong. AIRS data very strong thunderstorms circling Vongfong's clear 27 nautical-mile wide eye. Those cloud top temperatures were colder than -62F/-53C indicating that they were high in the troposphere and capable of generating heavy rainfall. The bands of thunderstorms circling ...

New Swedish research shows that plasmids containing genes that confer resistance to antibiotics can be enriched by very low concentrations of antibiotics and heavy metals. These results strengthen the suspicion that the antibiotic residues and heavy metals (such as arsenic, silver and copper) that are spread in the environment are contributing to the problems of resistance. These findings have now been published in the highly regarded journal mBio. Antibiotic resistance is a growing medical problem that threatens human health worldwide. Why and how these resistant bacteria ...

PHILADELPHIA — Nearly 60,000 Americans suffer from myasthenia gravis (MG), a non-inherited autoimmune form of muscle weakness. The disease has no cure, and the primary treatments are nonspecific immunosuppressants and inhibitors of the enzyme cholinesterase. Now, a pair of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a fast-acting "vaccine" that can reverse the course of the disease in rats, and, they hope, in humans. Jon Lindstrom, PhD, a Trustee Professor in the department of Neuroscience led the study, published ...

A new review of the way health care professionals emphasise weight to define health and wellbeing suggests the approach could be harmful to patients. Author of the review article, Dr Rachel Calogero of the School of Psychology at the University of Kent, together with experts from other institutions and organisations, recommends that this approach, known as 'weight-normative', is replaced by health care professionals, public health officials and policy-makers with a 'weight-inclusive' approach. Weight-inclusive approaches, such as the Health At Every Size initiative, ...

Hamilton, ON (October 7, 2014) – Hospital visitors and staff are greeted with hand sanitizer dispensers in the lobby, by the elevators and outside rooms as reminders to wash their hands to stop infections, but just how clean are patients' hands? A study led by McMaster University researcher Dr. Jocelyn Srigley has found that hospitalized patients wash their hands infrequently. They wash about 30 per cent of the time while in the washroom, 40 per cent during meal times, and only three per cent of the time when using the kitchens on their units. Hand hygiene rates ...

LONDON, ON – New research shows probiotic yogurt can reduce the uptake of certain heavy metals and environmental toxins by up to 78% in pregnant women. Led by Scientists at Lawson Health Research Institute's Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotic Research, this study provides the first clinical evidence that a probiotic yogurt can be used to reduce the deadly health risks associated with mercury and arsenic. Environmental toxins like mercury and arsenic are commonly found in drinking water and food products, especially fish. These contaminants are particularly ...

Two years ago, Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob of Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy and Rice University's Center for Theoretical Biological Physics made the startling discovery that cancer, like an enemy hacker in cyberspace, targets the body's communication network to inflict widespread damage on the entire system. Cancer, he found, possessed special traits for cooperative behavior and used intricate communication to distribute tasks, share resources, and make decisions. In research published in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of ...

NOAA's GOES-West satellite took a picture of Tropical Storm Simon weakening over Mexico's Baja California. On Oct. 7, a Tropical Storm Watch was in effect for Punta Abreojos to Punta Eugenia, Mexico. The National Hurricane Center expects Simon to produce storm total rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches with isolated amounts around 8 inches through Wednesday, Oct. 8, across northern portions of the Baja California Peninsula and the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. Over the next few days, storm total rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches with isolated amounts of around ...

Eating disorders (ED) such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder affect approximately 5-10% of the general population, but the biological mechanisms involved are unknown. Researchers at Inserm Unit 1073, "Nutrition, inflammation and dysfunction of the gut-brain axis" (Inserm/University of Rouen) have demonstrated the involvement of a protein produced by some intestinal bacteria that may be the source of these disorders. Antibodies produced by the body against this protein also react with the main satiety hormone, which is similar in structure. According ...

A new study led by Professor Kui Liu at the University of Gothenburg has identified the key molecule 'Greatwall kinase' which protects women's eggs against problems that can arise during the maturation process. In order to be able to have a child, a woman needs eggs that can grow and mature. One of these eggs is then fertilised by a sperm, forming an embryo. During the maturation process, the egg needs to go through a number of stages of reductional division, called meiosis. If problems occur during any of these stages, the woman can become infertile. Around 10-15% of ...

The Gulf Sand gecko is a remarkable desert reptile in that it is the only lizard found habitually on sabkha substrate across large parts of the eastern Arabian Peninsula. These arid salt flats constitute one of the harshest habitats on earth, due to their extraordinary salinity. The Gulf gecko, Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis, belongs to a genus with a single species, and it is well adapted to this substrate featuring spiny scales beneath the fingers, long extremities and swollen nostrils. Data on its distribution range showed a conspicuous gap between eastern United ...

October 7, 2014 – For women undergoing breast reconstruction using the advanced "DIEP" technique, a simple formula can reliably tell whether there will be sufficient blood flow to nourish the DIEP flap, reports a paper in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—Global Open®, the official open-access medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Drs Joseph Richard Dusseldorp and David G. Pennington of Macquarie University Hospital, Sydney, performed an ultrasound study to see how well the flap viability index (FVI) equation predicted blood ...

DETROIT – The only drug currently approved for treatment of stroke's crippling effects shows promise, when administered as a nasal spray, to help heal similar damage in less severe forms of traumatic brain injury. In the first examination of its kind, researchers Ye Xiong, Ph.D, Zhongwu Liu, Ph.D., and Michael Chopp, Ph.D., Scientific Director of the Henry Ford Neuroscience Institute, found in animal studies that the brain's limited ability to repair itself after trauma can be enhanced when treated with the drug tPA, or tissue plasminogen activator. "Using this ...

Undergoing an experience with another person — even if we do it in silence, with someone we met just moments ago — seems to intensify that experience, according to new research published in Psychological Science. The research shows that people who share experiences with another person rate those experiences as more pleasant or unpleasant than those who undergo the experience on their own. "We often think that what matters in social life is being together with others, but we've found it also really matters what those people are doing," says psychological scientist ...

Typhoon Phanfone packed heavy rainfall as it brushed over Japan and NASA's TRMM satellite identified where the rain fell. That data was used to make a map of rainfall totals. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite has the ability to calculate rainfall rates within storms as it orbits around the Earth's tropics from space. TRMM data can also be used to create rainfall maps that show how much rain has fallen over given areas. Phanfone was a powerful super typhoon with sustained wind speed estimated at 130 knots (150 mph) as it approached Japan but ...