VCU Massey Cancer Center physician-researcher Charles E. Geyer, Jr., M.D., was the National Protocol Officer for one component of a large national study involving two National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported clinical trials that demonstrated that trastuzumab significantly improves the long-term survival of HER-2 positive breast cancer patients. The combined study was designed to determine the long-term safety and efficacy of the drug trastuzumab, which is commonly known as Herceptin and is primarily used alongside chemotherapy to treat HER2-positive breast cancer. The ...

Driving vehicles that use electricity from renewable energy instead of gasoline could reduce the resulting deaths due to air pollution by 70 percent. This finding comes from a new life cycle analysis of conventional and alternative vehicles and their air pollution-related public health impacts, published Monday, Dec. 15, 2014, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study also shows that switching to vehicles powered by electricity made using natural gas yields large health benefits. Conversely, vehicles running on corn ethanol or vehicles powered ...

NEW YORK, NY (December 15, 2014)--Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have found that, in addition to gluten, the immune systems of patients with celiac disease react to specific types of non-gluten protein in wheat. The results were reported online in the Journal of Proteome Research. Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that affects about 1 percent of the U.S. population, is triggered by the ingestion of wheat and related cereals in genetically susceptible individuals. The immune response results in inflammation and tissue damage in the small intestine, ...

VIDEO: This animation (from March 2014) portrays the changes occurring in the surface elevation of the Greenland Ice Sheet since 2003 in three drainage areas: the southeast, the northeast and the... Click here for more information. For years NASA has tracked changes in the massive Greenland Ice Sheet. This week scientists using NASA data released the most detailed picture ever of how the ice sheet moves toward the sea and new insights into the hidden plumbing of melt water ...

ORANGE, Calif. - Researchers in Chapman University's Food Science Program and their collaborators at University of Washington have just published a study on the presence of Salmonella and E. coli on certain herbs sold at farmers' markets. The study focused on farmers' markets in Los Angeles and Orange counties in California, as well as in the Seattle, Washington, area. Specifically tested were samples of the herbs cilantro, basil and parsley. Of the 133 samples tested from 13 farmers' markets, 24.1 percent tested positive for E. coli and one sample tested positive for Salmonella. "While ...

HANOVER, N.H. - Dartmouth researchers have found a solution using visible light to reduce waste produced in chemically activated molecular switches, opening the way for industrial applications of nanotechnology ranging from anti-cancer drug delivery to LCD displays and molecular motors. The study appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. A PDF is available on request. Chemically activated molecular switches are molecules that can shift controllably between two stable states and that can be reversibly switched -- like a light switch -- to turn different ...

The largest trees in a forest may command the most attention, but the smallest seedlings and youngest saplings are the ones that are most critical to the composition and diversity of the forest overall. While many people gaze up into the forest canopy, renowned scientist Joseph Connell has spent much of his career looking down quite closely at the forest understory. Connell, who is a professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, established one of the world's longest, in-depth ecological research ...

According to experts' statistical analyses, if you're expecting 10 guests for dinner on Christmas day, 15 crackers--those festive cardboard tubes filled with a one-size-fits-no-one paper hat, a small toy, and a groan-inducing joke--should be enough to send everyone home happy. The experts came to their estimation by simulating 10,000 parties, with guest numbers ranging from 2 to 50. Their results are published in Significance. In the traditional approach, all dinner guests sit around the table, cross arms, and pull crackers with their two immediate neighbors. In this ...

A small stone container found by archaeologists a half-century ago has now been recognized as further evidence of a Viking or Medieval Norse presence in Arctic Canada during the centuries around 1000 A.D. Researchers reporting in the journal Geoarchaeology discovered that the interior of the container, which was found at an archaeological site on southern Baffin Island, contains fragments of bronze as well as small spherules of glass that form when rock is heated to high temperatures. The object is a crucible for melting bronze, likely in order to cast it into small tools ...

A new study highlights the complex factors at play for parasites that infect animal populations residing on small islands. The findings are important for understanding colonization and extinction as drivers of island biogeography. Investigators who studied the mechanisms that contribute to colonization and persistence of avian malaria parasites in an island bird population found that increases in the prevalence and diversity of parasites were associated with episodes of offshore winds and less so with infected vagrant birds arriving from the mainland. "We were surprised ...

They steal, raid nests, and keep the company of witches, but the unpopular crow may not be as big a menace as people think. A new Ibis study has found that crows--along with their avian cousins the magpie and the raven--have surprisingly little impact on the abundance of other bird species. Collectively known as corvids, these birds are in fact being menaced by mankind in the mistaken belief that removing them is good for conservation. "These results have big implications for the likely benefits of corvid control," said senior author Dr. Arjun Amar. "They suggest that ...

Researchers have discovered a new pollination system that involves food-thieving flies as pollinators. These flies feed on insect secretions, available when a spider, a praying mantis, or other predatory arthropods feed on insects. The plant mimics compounds released from freshly killed insects to deceive flies that are in search of food. This pollination strategy applies to Aristolochia rotunda--an herbaceous Mediterranean plant--but likely evolved in other plants as well. "The finding was unexpected as Aristolochia species were believed to mimic egg-laying sites of ...

Despite numerous studies, publications, and commentaries on human female sexual arousal and orgasm, there is still so much to study and understand about women's sexual pleasure. A new review deals critically with many aspects of the genital anatomy of the human female in relation to inducing sexual arousal and its relevance to both procreation and recreation. A number of questions remain, including why there are so many sites for arousal, why multiple orgasms occur, and how sexual stimulation affects the brain. "The review is an attempt to show the weaknesses in some ...

A new study indicates that women with mobility disabilities often experience problems during pregnancy related to their functional impairments. The study included 8 women with spinal cord injuries, 4 with cerebral palsy, and 10 with other conditions. Impairment-related complications during pregnancy included falls, urinary tract and bladder problems, wheelchair fit and stability problems, significant shortness of breath, increased spasticity, bowel management difficulties, and skin integrity problems. "Relatively little information is available about the pregnancy ...

Researchers recently completed one of the most extensive investigations to date of prenatal hormones in first-time expectant couples. Women showed large prenatal increases in salivary testosterone, cortisol, estradiol, and progesterone, while men showed significant prenatal declines in testosterone and estradiol, but no detectable changes in cortisol or progesterone. While the results in women were expected, the results seen in men suggest that impending fatherhood might cause men's hormone levels to change. Additional studies are warranted to understand whether partners' ...

Detroit - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may have provided health care insurance to an estimated 20 million Americans who lacked coverage, but it has not eased the demand on the nation's emergency departments. In fact, since the law's passage, reliance upon the nation's emergency rooms for non-emergency care has increased. That's the finding of a study published online in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine by a second-year medical student at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and his colleagues. In "Access to care issues and the role ...

A review of more than a decade's worth of research on osteonecrosis of the jaw--when the bone in the jaw is exposed and begins to starve from a lack of blood--points to an increased risk for patients taking certain drugs for osteoporosis, anticancer drugs or glucocorticoids, those undergoing dental surgery, and people with poor oral hygiene, chronic inflammation, diabetes, or ill-fitting dentures. A number of prevention strategies may help protect at-risk individuals, and treatments that are available or under study include the use of antibiotics, surgery, teriparatide, ...

Research by City College of New York psychology Professor Irvin Schonfeld in the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership suggests a strong connection between burnout and depression. In a study of more than 5,500 school teachers to estimate the prevalence of depressive disorders in workers with burnout, 90% of the subjects identified as burned out met diagnostic criteria for depression. The study also examined the overlap of burnout with the atypical subtype of depression. Features of atypical depression were observed in 63% of the burned-out participants ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) describes a novel marker that might help doctors choose the least toxic, most effective treatment for many older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). AML occurs mainly in older patients and has a three-year survival rate of 5 to 15 percent. The researchers investigated patterns of molecules called long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of RNA molecules more than 200 ...

Washington, D.C.-- Recent advances in our understanding of the quantities, movements, forms and origin of carbon in Earth are summarized in a just-published report. The research represents face-paced progress on the depths of the biosphere, Earth, what erupts from volcanoes and leaks from sea floors, what descends back into Earth's great depths, and the nature of carbon-bearing materials within planets. The Carnegie Institution for Science is the institutional home of the DCO Secretariat. Carnegie's Robert Hazen and Russell Hemley are the executive and co-executive directors ...

A University of Otago, New Zealand, PhD student analysing dental calculus (hardened plaque) from ancient teeth is helping resolve the question of what plant foods Easter Islanders relied on before European contact. Known to its Polynesian inhabitants as Rapa Nui, Easter Island is thought to have been colonized around the 13th Century and is famed for its mysterious large stone statues or moai. Otago Anatomy PhD student Monica Tromp and Idaho State University's Dr John Dudgeon have just published new research clearing up their previous puzzling finding that suggested ...

A new study offers strategies for rekindling marriage after a spouse returns home from combat with post-traumatic stress symptoms present in one or both of the spouses. For participants as individuals, it's important to allow negative emotions, to give each other time and space to do the work of rediscovery and accept a changed reality, and to recognize and address the individual needs of the other. As couples, strategies include going with the flow, opening your heart, becoming best friends, maintaining trust, and communicating effectively. As families, it's helpful ...

An exciting new special issue of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences shines the spotlight on the Danek Bonebed in Edmonton, Alberta and increases our knowledge of Edmonton's urban dinosaurs, especially the iconic hadrosaurid Edmontosaurus. Well-preserved, articulated dinosaur specimens often receive much attention from scientists and the public, but bonebeds provide a great deal of information that even the most spectacular articulated specimens cannot. Because of the amount of fossil material, the quality of preservation, ease of preparation, and volume of associated ...

"Most researchers have treated the order in which the information is shown as a nuisance that can bias the interpretation of data," said Ting Qian, lead author and a former graduate student in brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. But as Qian's co-author and thesis advisor, Professor Richard Aslin explained, "We see it as a part of the natural statistics of the real world, and therefore a signal--or cue--that can be the basis of rational decisions." In a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Qian and Aslin ...

VIDEO: Caltech neuroeconomists have found that your ability to exercise self-control when deciding what to eat may depend upon just how quickly your brain factors healthfulness into a decision. Click here for more information. When you open the refrigerator for a late-night snack, are you more likely to grab a slice of chocolate cake or a bag of carrot sticks? Your ability to exercise self-control--i.e., to settle for the carrots--may depend upon just how quickly your brain factors ...