Ferroptosis is a recently recognized form of regulated necrosis. Up until now, this form of cell death has only been thought to be a possible therapeutic approach to treat tumour cells. Yet, ferroptosis also occurs in non-transformed tissues as demonstrated by this study, thus implicating this cell death pathway in the development of a wide range of pathological conditions. More specifically, the deletion of the ferroptosis-regulating enzyme Gpx4* in a pre-clinical model results in high ferroptosis rates in kidney tubular epithelial cells causing acute renal failure. Specific ...

The increasing complexity and interconnection of socioeconomic and environmental systems leaves them more vulnerable to seemingly small risks that can spiral out of control, according to the new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study examines risks are perceived as extremely unlikely or small, but because of interconnections or changes in systems, can lead to major collapses or crises. These risks, which the researchers term "femtorisks," can include individuals such as terrorists, dissidents, or rogue traders, or factors ...

This news release is available in German. Scientists have been conducting research on micrometre-sized actuators which one day may make it possible to transport drugs or chemical sensor molecules to specific locations throughout the human body. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now taken the development of such micro-devices a crucial step forward: a new production technology and new materials have made it possible to manufacture tiny actuators in any form and optimise them for future applications. The elongated actuators elements, which can move through liquids, possess ...

Melbourne researchers have identified why some people with coeliac disease show an immune response after eating oats. The researchers have identified the key components in oats that trigger an immune response in some people with coeliac disease. The findings may lead to better tests for oat toxicity, and have implications for new treatments being developed for coeliac disease. As many as one in 60 women and one in 80 men in Australia have coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition caused by consuming gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. The abnormal immune ...

Young people growing up in impoverished neighborhoods who perceive their poor communities in a positive light report better health and well-being than those with worse perceptions of where they live, new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests. As part of the Well-Being of Adolescents in Vulnerable Environments (WAVE) study, researchers surveyed nearly 2,400 adolescents ages 15 to 19 in poor sections of five cities across the world: Baltimore; New Delhi, India; Ibadan, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Shanghai, China. The survey ...

Blocking a key receptor in brain cells that is used by oxygen free radicals could play a major role in neutralizing the biological consequences of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at Temple University. The researchers' findings, "Modulation of AD Neuropathology and Memory Impairments by the Isoprostane F2α Is Mediated by the Thromboxane Receptor," were published Oct. 13 by the journal Neurobiology of Aging. The human body's use of oxygen to produce energy often results in the formation of highly reactive molecules called oxygen free radicals. Oxidative ...

As genome sequencing has gotten faster and cheaper, the pace of whole-genome sequencing has accelerated, dramatically increasing the number of genomes deposited in public archives. Although these genomes are a valuable resource, problems can arise when researchers misapply computational methods to assemble them, or accidentally introduce unnoticed contaminations during sequencing. The first complete bacterial genome, Haemophilus influenzae, appeared in 1995, and today the public GenBank database contains over 27,000 prokaryotic and 1,600 eukaryotic genomes. The vast majority ...

The landmark discovery of a tiny defect in a vital heart protein has for the first time enabled heart specialists to accurately pinpoint a therapeutic target for future efforts in developing a drug-based cure for cardiovascular diseases. Scientists from Cardiff University and the Slovak Academy of Science have identified defects in a colossal heart protein which often leads to stroke and heart failure. "Our research has revealed that a genetic alteration in the largest membrane protein, responsible for triggering each and every heartbeat, produces a small structural ...

Scientists have revealed the mechanisms that enable certain brain cells to persuade others to create 'Mexican waves' linked with cognitive function. Ultimately, the team say their work may help researchers understand more about normal brain function and about neurocognitive disorders such as dementia. Neurons are cells in the brain that communicate chemical and electrical information and they belong to one of two groups- inhibitory or excitatory. While much is known about excitatory neurons, the role of inhibitory neurons is still being debated. Inhibitory neurons ...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (NOVEMBER 18, 2014). Neurosurgeons and neurointerventionalists at Kyungpook National University in the Republic of Korea have developed a formal protocol for delivering emergency treatment to patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) from ruptured aneurysms within the first few hours after bleeding occurs. The emergency treatment plan, offered day and night, is shown to reduce the incidence of repeated hemorrhage during the hospital stay and improve clinical outcomes in patients with aneurysmal SAH. This treatment plan is described and discussed in ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. - Radiologists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Emory University School of Medicine have issued a special report on radiology preparedness for handling cases of Ebola virus. The report, outlining their protocols and recommendations, is published in the online edition of the journal Radiology. Healthcare administrators are placing a major emphasis on Ebola preparedness training at medical facilities throughout the U.S. Failure to have proper procedures in place to diagnose and treat patients with Ebola virus was cited as a major reason for ...

New federal regulations requiring school meals to contain more whole grains, less saturated fat and more fruits and vegetables, while perhaps improving some aspects of the food being served at schools across the United States, may also be perpetuating eating habits linked to obesity, diabetes and other diet-related diseases, an analysis by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers has found. The reasons: Based on analysis of school meals and the new requirements, the whole grains served are mostly processed, which means they are converted into sugar ...

NEW ORLEANS (Nov. 18, 2014) - Researchers from Drexel University in Philadelphia will present research on a wide range of public health topics emphasizing urban health challenges, geographic methods in public health, community resilience and more, at the 142nd annual meeting and exposition of the American Public Health Association Nov. 15-19. A few selected highlights among the dozens of posters and presentations by faculty, staff and students from the Drexel University School of Public Health include: What Makes Communities Resilient in Times of Adversity? Psychologists ...

Early sodium supplementation for very premature infants can enhance weight gain according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The results of the study, published today in the OnlineFirst version of the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (JPEN), the research journal of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.), examined 53 infants during the first months of life who had been born at less than 32 weeks of pregnancy. Poor growth of premature ...

Researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis say acculturative stress may explain, in part, why Indiana's Latino youth face an alarming disparity in depression and suicide rates when compared to their white counterparts. While examining epidemiological health disparities data, a team of researchers led by Silvia Bigatti at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health noticed that Latino teens in Indiana had a 65 percent higher rate of suicide attempts and a 24 percent higher rate of depression than white teens. "When we saw the alarming disparity ...

Promoting and maintaining financial fraud whistleblower programs, such as those of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is costly. Cases involving whistleblowers require significant resources as they take nearly 10 months longer to complete. Rewards for whistleblowers who come forward with original information leading to an enforcement action can be large, ranging from 10% to 30% of monetary sanctions over $1 million. This past September, the SEC awarded $30 million to a whistleblower--it's largest award yet. ...

Researchers are studying the Caulobacter crescentus bacterium because of its developmental process and cellular cycle, which serve as models for a number of pathogenic bacteria. They all have in common the use of polysaccharides to create a particularly effective protective envelope, or capsule. Professor Viollier's laboratory at the University of Geneva's (UNIGE) Faculty of Medicine has just unraveled the secrets of capsule formation during the cellular cycle and perhaps even identified potential Achilles' heel of bacteria. These results were published in the last edition ...

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 18, 2014 - When a viral infection spread through five genetically identical mice in a row, the virus replicated faster and became more virulent or severe. But when the infection spread one-by-one through five genetically diverse mice, the virus had trouble adapting and became less virulent. By showing this long-suspected mechanism holds true within a single species of vertebrate animal, namely, mice, the University of Utah study suggests that increased genetic diversity should be promoted in livestock and in captive-bred endangered species so as to ...

This news release is available in French. There is no significant difference in the prevalence of verbal abuse in the workplace between men and women, according to a systematic review of the literature conducted by researchers at the Institut universitaire de santé mentale de Montréal and the University of Montreal. Verbal abuse is the most common form of workplace violence. It can lead to many consequences, particularly at the psychological and organizational levels. Several studies underline the importance of taking into account sociodemographic variables ...

Ewing sarcoma is a cancer of bone or its surrounding soft tissue that primarily affects children and young adults. A hallmark of Ewing sarcoma is a translocation event that results in the fusion of an RNA binding protein, known as EWS, with a transcription factor, such as FLI1. Previous work suggested that the fusion protein EWS-FLI1 promoted cancer by changing gene expression; however, the gene targets were unknown. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation indicates that a long noncoding RNA named Ewing sarcoma-associated transcript 1 (EWSAT1) is a critical ...

Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of heart attacks and stroke. The narrowing of blood vessels that is caused by atherosclerosis can be treated with angioplasty or stenting to improve blood flow. However, the stenting process induces deleterious remodeling of the blood vessel that can increase thrombosis risk, limiting the use of this strategy. In an article published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, a research team led by Ziad Ali of the Columbia University Medical Center now provides new insights into the pathological remodeling that occurs following blood ...

PHILADELPHIA - Programming electronic health records to make generic drugs the default choice when physicians write prescriptions may offer one way to reduce unnecessary spending and improve health care value in the face of spiraling U.S. health expenditures, according to a new study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine, The Wharton School and the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. The study is published in a special issue of Annals of Internal Medicine featuring ...

This news release is available in French. Montreal, November 17, 2014 - Resistance to antibiotics is an important health concern that affects both the spread of infections, like Clostridium difficile, and the medication budget. Researchers at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) examined the effectiveness of adopting an antibiotic "time-out" during treatment, which involves regularly re-evaluating the treatment strategy as the clinical situation evolves. The study, published in this month's issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that structured time-outs, ...

Minneapolis, MN - November 17, 2014 - At the 2014 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago, Ill., Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Research Cardiologist Dr. Michael Miedema gave a presentation entitled "The Implications of the Recent American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines for the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol on a Rural Community: The Heart of New Ulm Project." "The recently released cholesterol guidelines appear to have significantly increased the number of middle-aged adults who qualify for a cholesterol-lowering ...

MAYWOOD, Ill. - Obesity is a known risk factor for atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disorder. Obesity is commonly measured as a person's body mass index (BMI). But a Loyola University Medical Center study has found that the layer of fat around the outside of the heart is more closely associated with atrial fibrillation than BMI. "Many people who would not be considered obese by their BMI nevertheless have high volumes of fat around their hearts, which could put them at risk for atrial fibrillation. Simple measures such as BMI may fail to completely ...