CHAPEL HILL, NC – UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have developed a new integrated approach to pinpoint the genetic "drivers" of cancer, uncovering eight genes that could be viable for targeted breast cancer therapy. The study, published online August 24 in Nature Genetics, was authored by Michael Gatza, PhD, lead author and post-doctoral research associate; Grace Silva, graduate student; Joel Parker, PhD, director of bioinformatics, UNC Lineberger; Cheng Fan, research associate; and senior author Chuck Perou, PhD, professor of genetics and pathology. These ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — If a nursing home makes an extensive investment in "culture change" it will see improvements in quality of care, according to a new study led by Brown University gerontology researchers. Culture change is a rethinking of nursing home operations and structure to allow a more residential lifestyle for residents, more resident choice in schedules and activities, and more front-line staff input into care management. Residents, for example, may become able to decide when to go to lunch and nurse's aides may get a seat at the table in designing ...

A new summary of 12 years of research on North Carolina's pre-kindergarten program for at-risk 4-year-olds shows that "dual-language learners" make the greatest academic progress in the program. According to the report from the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), while students in NC Pre-K advance across all spheres of learning, the program is especially beneficial for the state's dual-language learners. "On the whole, children in NC Pre-K exceed normal expectations for the rate of developmental growth, both while in the program and afterward in kindergarten," ...

During plant growth, dividing cells in meristems must coordinate transitions from division to expansion and differentiation. Three distinct developmental zones are generated: the meristem, where the cell division takes place, and elongation and differentiation zones. At the same time, plants can rapidly adjust their direction of growth to adapt to environmental conditions. In Arabidopsis roots, many aspects of zonation are controlled by the plant hormone auxin and auxin-induced PLETHORA transcription factors. Both show a graded distribution with a maximum near the root ...

VIDEO: Duke University's David Sherwood and his team are using live-cell imaging to probe living cells to see how they find their way to new tissues and organs in the body.... Click here for more information. DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University researchers have found a "roving detection system" on the surface of cells that may point to new ways of treating diseases like cancer, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The cells, which were studied in nematode ...

MANHATTAN, Kansas — Findings from a physics study by a Kansas State University researcher are helping scientists accurately predict the once unpredictable. Yujun Wang, research associate with the James R. Macdonald Laboratory at Kansas State University, and Paul Julienne at the University of Maryland, looked at theoretically predicting and understanding chemical reactions that involve three atoms at ultracold temperatures. Their findings help explain the likely outcome of a chemical reaction and shed new light on mysterious quantum states. The scientific journal Nature ...

A team of scientists led by Research Associate Professor Motomi Osato and Professor Yoshiaki Ito from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) found that a drug originally designed for killing a limited type of cancer cells with DNA repair defects could potentially be used to treat leukaemia and other cancers. The new study suggests that treatment with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, together with standard chemotherapy drugs, could be more effective in combating leukaemia. In the same study, ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2014 — Few ingredients come with as much baggage as monosodium glutamate. More commonly known as MSG, the compound has had a bad reputation for nearly 50 years, so we at Reactions felt it was time to clear its name. In this week's video, we debunk MSG myths and explain why the scientific consensus is that this flavor enhancer, known for its savory umami flavor, is perfectly safe for the vast majority of people. The video is available at: http://youtu.be/VJw8r_YWJ9k. For more on MSG's undeserved reputation, check out this great infographic from our ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Having expectant parents role-play interacting with an infant using a doll can help predict which couples may be headed for co-parenting conflicts when their baby arrives. Researchers videotaped 182 couples in the third trimester of pregnancy while they played with a doll that they were told represented the baby they were about to have. Researchers analyzed how the couple interacted with each other around the doll. The couples were videotaped again nine months after the birth of their baby to see how they actually played together. Results showed ...

We would like to point out the importance of microglia/macrophagein remyelination. Except for serving as professional scavengers to clear up tissue debris (including disintegrated myelin and dead OLs), microglia are also play important role for OL development. The study group leaded by Prof. Yi Pang, University of Mississippi Medical Center , USA have demonstrated that microglia-conditioned culture medium not only provides strong support for OPCs' survival, but also greatly enhances their differentiation in vitro. Although activated microglia are notoriously known to be ...

Laboratory-grown replacement organs have moved a step closer with the completion of a new study. Scientists have grown a fully functional organ from transplanted laboratory-created cells in a living animal for the first time. The researchers have created a thymus - an organ next to the heart that produces immune cells known as T cells that are vital for guarding against disease. They hope that, with further research, the discovery could lead to new treatments for people with a weakened immune system. The team from the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the ...

The American Heart Association issued new policy recommendations (link live at embargo) today on the use of e-cigarettes and their impact on tobacco-control efforts. The guidance was published in the association's journal, Circulation. Based on the current evidence, the association's position is that e-cigarettes that contain nicotine are tobacco products and should be subject to all laws that apply to these products. The association also calls for strong new regulations to prevent access, sales and marketing of e-cigarettes to youth, and for more research into the product's ...

A recent study has found that in states with higher Medicaid payments for office visits, Medicaid beneficiaries were more likely to be screened for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings may help policy makers address barriers to access to care and improve the use of recommended cancer screening services. Although Medicaid is a joint state-federal government health insurance program, each state sets the policies for its own Medicaid program within requirements set ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Tuesday, August 19, 2014)—Talking about genital, sexual, and urinary problems can be uncomfortable for postmenopausal women and their doctors. Having a term that doesn't carry stigma, isn't embarrassing to say, and is medically accurate could go a long way in helping women get the help they need and allowing them to make smarter healthcare decisions. That term is "genitourinary syndrome of menopause" or GSM, developed and endorsed by The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) and the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH). ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – Robo Brain – a large-scale computational system that learns from publicly available Internet resources – is currently downloading and processing about 1 billion images, 120,000 YouTube videos, and 100 million how-to documents and appliance manuals. The information is being translated and stored in a robot-friendly format that robots will be able to draw on when they need it. To serve as helpers in our homes, offices and factories, robots will need to understand how the world works and how the humans around them behave. Robotics researchers have been teaching ...

Exercising to improve our cardiovascular strength may protect us from cognitive impairment as we age, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated Institut universitaire de gératrie de Montréal Research Centre. "Our body's arteries stiffen with age, and the vessel hardening is believed to begin in the aorta, the main vessel coming out of the heart, before reaching the brain. Indeed, the hardening may contribute to cognitive changes that occur during a similar time frame," explained Claudine Gauthier, first author of the study. ...

CINCINNATI – An international research team reports in Nature Medicine a novel molecular pathway that causes an aggressive form of medulloblastoma, and suggests repurposing an anti-depressant medication to target the new pathway may help combat one of the most common brain cancers in children. The multi-institutional group, led by scientists at Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute (CBDI) at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, publish their results in the journal's online edition on Aug. 24. The researchers suggest their laboratory findings in mouse models of ...

In a study published in Nature Genetics, researchers from Uppsala University present the first global analysis of genome variation in honeybees. The findings show a surprisingly high level of genetic diversity in honeybees, and indicate that the species most probably originates from Asia, and not from Africa as previously thought. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is of crucial importance for humanity. One third of our food is dependent on the pollination of fruits, nuts and vegetables by bees and other insects. Extensive losses of honeybee colonies in recent years are a ...

One aspect of the climate change models researchers have been developing looks at how plant ranges might shift, and how factors such as temperature, water availability, and light levels might come into play. Forests creeping steadily north and becoming established in the thawing Arctic is just one of the predicted effects of rising global temperatures. A recent study published online August 24, 2014 in Nature Genetics offers a more in-depth, population-based approach to identifying such mechanisms for adaptation, and describes a method that could be harnessed for developing ...

A revolutionary new scientific method developed at the University of Leeds will improve the diversity of 'biologically active molecules', such as antibiotics and anti-cancer agents. The researchers, who report their findings online today in the journal Nature Chemistry, took their inspiration from evolution in nature. The research may uncover new pharmaceutical drugs that traditional methods would never have found. "Nature produces some amazing structures with really interesting biological activity, but the plant or animal did not design them. Instead the organisms ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Lower rates of asthma and other health problems are frequently cited as benefits of policies aimed at cutting carbon emissions from sources like power plants and vehicles, because these policies also lead to reductions in other harmful types of air pollution. But just how large are the health benefits of cleaner air in comparison to the costs of reducing carbon emissions? MIT researchers looked at three policies achieving the same reductions in the U.S., and found that the savings on health care spending and other costs related to illness can be big ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — By striking up the right rhythm in the right brain region at the right time, Brown University neuroscientists report in Nature Neuroscience that they managed to endow mice with greater touch sensitivity than other mice, making hard-to-perceive vibrations suddenly more vivid to them. The findings offer the first direct evidence that "gamma" brainwaves in the cortex affect perception and attention. With only correlations and associations as evidence before, neuroscientists have argued for years about whether gamma has an important role ...

Researchers from UCL (University College London) have demonstrated how an interplay between nutrition, metabolism and immunity is involved in the process of ageing. The two new studies, supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), could help to enhance our immunity to disease through dietary intervention and help make existing immune system therapies more effective. As we age our immune systems decline. Older people suffer from increased incidence and severity of both infections and cancer. In addition, vaccination becomes less efficient ...

For centuries poppy plants have been grown to provide opium, the compound from which morphine and other important medicines such as oxycodone are derived. Now bioengineers at Stanford have hacked the DNA of yeast, reprograming these simple cells to make opioid-based medicines via a sophisticated extension of the basic brewing process that makes beer. Led by Associate Professor of Bioengineering Christina Smolke, the Stanford team has already spent a decade genetically engineering yeast cells to reproduce the biochemistry of poppies with the ultimate goal of producing ...

PITTSBURGH—The world grows increasingly more chaotic year after year, and our brains are constantly bombarded with images. A new study from Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint project between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, reveals how neurons in the part of the brain responsible for recognizing objects respond to being shown a barrage of images. The study is published online by Nature Neuroscience. The CNBC researchers showed animal subjects a rapid succession of images, some that were new, and some that the subjects ...