CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Cancer drugs known as ErbB inhibitors have shown great success in treating many patients with lung, breast, colon and other types of cancer. However, ErbB drug resistance means that many other patients do not respond, and even among those who do, tumors commonly come back. A new study from MIT reveals that much of this resistance develops because a protein called AXL helps cancer cells to circumvent the effects of ErbB inhibitors, allowing them to grow unchecked. The findings suggest that combining drugs that target AXL and ErbB receptors could offer ...

WASHINGTON D.C. August 6, 2013 -- The Large Area Picosecond Photodetector (LAPPD) collaboration has developed big detectors that push the timing envelope, measuring the speed of particles with a precision down to trillionths of a second. As described in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments, which is produced by the AIP Publishing, a team of researchers within the LAPPD collaboration developed an advanced facility for testing large area photodetectors -- with a level of spatial precision measured in micrometers and time resolutions at or below a picosecond. "Innovation ...

URBANA, Ill. – There was bad news, then good news from University of Illinois broccoli researchers this month. In the first study, they learned that frozen broccoli lacks the ability to form sulforaphane, the cancer-fighting phytochemical in fresh broccoli. But a second study demonstrated how the food industry can act to restore the frozen vegetable's health benefits. "We discovered a technique that companies can use to make frozen broccoli as nutritious as fresh. That matters because many people choose frozen veggies for their convenience and because they're less expensive," ...

Philadelphia, PA, August 6, 2013 – Much attention has focused on school meals, both in the United States and across the globe. Researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, evaluated teachers eating lunch with the school children. In Sweden, this practice is referred to as "pedagogic meals" because it offers the opportunity of having children learn by modeling adults. The researchers wanted to observe how the teachers interacted with the children during meals in order to better understand how to interpret results of this practice. The study is published in the September/October ...

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Americans are increasingly installing wind turbines near their homes, farms and businesses to generate their own energy, concludes a new report released today. The 2012 Market Report on Wind Technologies in Distributed Applications is the first comprehensive analysis on a growing field called distributed wind, which involves generating wind energy close to where it will be used instead of purchasing power from large, centralized wind farms. Distributed wind can range from a small, solitary turbine in someone's backyard to several large turbines that ...

MAYWOOD, Il. – Nearly 59 percent of liver transplant patients experience metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, according to a study lead by liver specialist Eric R. Kallwitz, MD, of Loyola University Medical Center. But despite this high risk, exercise might be a key in preventing metabolic syndrome – and the intensity of exercise might be more important than the duration. The study is published in Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation ...

New research reveals that metabolic syndrome—risk factors that can lead to heart disease and/or stroke—is common in liver transplant recipients, with rates highest at one year following the procedure. Findings published in Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, indicate that exercise could reduce complications from metabolic disease in patients post-transplantation. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute suggests that obesity, physical inactivity, and insulin ...

Enhancing and manipulating the light emission of organic molecules is at heart of many important technological and scientific advances, including in the fields of organic light emitting devices, bio-imaging, bio-molecular detection. Researchers at MIT have now discovered a new platform that enables dramatic manipulation of the emission of organic molecules when simply suspended on top of a carefully designed planar slab with a periodic array of holes: so-called photonic crystal surface. Influenced by the fast and directional emission channels (called 'resonances') provided ...

BALTIMORE, MD (August 6, 2013)— For the first time scientists have been able to develop a completely vegetarian diet that works for marine fish raised in aquaculture, the key to making aquaculture a sustainable industry as the world's need for protein increases. The findings led by Aaron Watson and Allen Place at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology, are published in the August issue of the journal Lipids. "Aquaculture isn't sustainable because it takes more fish to feed fish than are being produced," ...

In some ways, granular material — such as a pile of sand — can behave much like a crystal, with its close-packed grains mimicking the precise, orderly arrangement of crystalline atoms. Now researchers at MIT have pushed that similarity to a new limit, creating two-dimensional arrays of micrograins that can funnel acoustic waves, much as specially designed crystals can control the passage of light or other waves. The researchers say the findings could lead to a new way of controlling frequencies in electronic devices such as cellphones, but with components that are only ...

A recent study by the RN Work Project found that newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) who were verbally abused by nursing colleagues reported lower job satisfaction, unfavorable perceptions of their work environment, and greater intent to leave their current jobs. Now, a new study by the same research team finds that high levels of physician verbal abuse are closely associated with more negative work environments. The RN Work Project is a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The study found that nurses who experienced high (more than five times in the last ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – The splash from rain hitting a windowpane or printer ink hitting paper all comes down to tiny droplets hitting a surface, and what each of those droplets does. Cornell University researchers have produced a high-resolution "photo album" of more than 30 shapes an oscillated drop of water can take. The results, a fundamental insight into how droplets behave, could have applications in everything from inkjet printing to microfluidics. Susan Daniel, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, led the study, to be published in Physical Review ...

NEW YORK—Patients with celiac disease who had persistent intestine damage (identified with repeat biopsy) had a higher risk of lymphoma than patients whose intestines healed, according to findings published in the August 6, 2013, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Celiac disease is a common autoimmune disease, affecting approximately one percent of individuals in Western nations. It is characterized by damage to the lining of the small intestine that over time reduces the body's ability to absorb components of common foods. The damage is due to a reaction to eating ...

1. Poorly Controlled Celiac Disease Linked to Higher Risk for Lymphoma Patients with Celiac disease and persistent intestinal damage have a higher risk for lymphoproliferative malignancy (LPM) than patients whose intestines have healed. Celiac is an autoimmune disease in which a reaction to gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye) causes symptoms such as diarrhea, weight loss, and iron-deficiency anemia. Several studies have found an increased risk for LMP in patients with Celiac disease. The risk for LMP decreases over time after diagnosis, presumably from ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The small intestine employs more cells and mechanisms than scientists previously thought to absorb relatively large particles, such as those that could encapsulate protein-based therapeutics like insulin, according to a new study. The findings, published the week of Aug. 5, 2013, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, open another window for drug makers to increase absorption of medicines taken by mouth. Scientists at Brown University and Wayne State University worked with rats to quantify the intestinal absorption ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- UC Davis researchers have identified how and where in the genome a cancer chemotherapy agent acts on and 'un-silences' the epigenetically silenced gene that causes Angelman syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe intellectual disability, seizures, motor impairments, and laughing and smiling. The agent, Topotecan, is a topoisomerase inhibitor, part of a class of drugs that in earlier research has been found to un-silence the Angelman gene, suggesting that it might be therapeutic for the condition, which affects approximately ...

The onset of the Great Recession and, more generally, deteriorating economic conditions lead mothers to engage in harsh parenting, such as hitting or shouting at children, a team of researchers has found. But the effect is only found in mothers who carry a gene variation that makes them more likely to react to their environment. The study, conducted by scholars at New York University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine, appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). "It's ...

Organized mailing campaigns could substantially increase colorectal cancer screening among uninsured patients, a study published in the August 5 online edition of JAMA Internal Medicine reveals. The research also suggests that a non-invasive colorectal screening approach, such as a fecal immunochemical test (FIT) might be more effective in promoting participation in potentially life-saving colon cancer screening among underserved populations than a colonoscopy, a more expensive and invasive procedure. The study was led by Samir Gupta, MD, MSCS, an associate professor ...

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Aug. 5, 2013) – Addiction to smoking and other substances involves a particular set of brain areas related to self-control, according to numerous research. For a new study, researchers wondered if a training approach designed to influence this addiction pathway could influence smokers to reduce their tobacco use -- even if smokers did not intend to do so. It worked. The study, published online in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that smokers trained with a form of mindfulness meditation known as Integrative ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- The painful, red skin that comes from too much time in the sun is caused by a molecule abundant in the skin's epidermis, a new study shows. Blocking this molecule, called TRPV4, greatly protects against the painful effects of sunburn. The results were published the week of Aug. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Early Edition online. The research, which was conducted in mouse models and human skin samples, could yield a way to combat sunburn and possibly several other causes of pain. "We have uncovered a novel explanation ...

SEATTLE – Older women who take certain types of medication to combat high blood pressure may be putting themselves at greater risk for developing breast cancer, according to a new study by a team of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists led by Christopher Li, M.D., Ph.D. The study is the first to observe that long-term use of a class of antihypertensive drugs known as calcium-channel blockers in particular are associated with breast cancer risk. The team's findings will be published online Aug. 5 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Antihypertensive drugs are the most ...

Long-term use of a calcium-channel blocker to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) is associated with higher breast cancer risk, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Antihypertensive medications are the most commonly prescribed class of drugs in the United States and in 2010 totaled an estimated 678 million filled prescriptions, Christopher I. Li, M.D., Ph.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, and colleagues write in the study background. "Evidence regarding the relationship between different ...

Among underserved patients whose colorectal cancer (CRC) screening was not up to date, mailed outreach invitations appear to result in higher CRC screening compared with usual care, according to a study by Samir Gupta, M.D., M.S.C.S., of the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, and the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues. A total of 5,970 participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1,593 to fecal immunochemical test (FIT) outreach, 479 to colonoscopy outreach, and 3,898 to usual care. Researchers measured for screening participation ...

A study by Valentina Moskvina, Ph.D., of the Cardiff University School of Medicine, Wales, United Kingdom, and colleagues, examined the genetic overlap between Parkinson disease (PD) and Alzheimer disease (AD). Data sets from the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the United States were used to perform a combined genome-wide association analysis (GWA). The GWA study of AD included 3,177 patients with AD and 7,277 control patients, and the GWA analysis for PD included 5,333 patients with PD and 12,298 control patients. The gene-based analyses resulted in no significant ...

Honolulu, HI – Future warming from fossil fuel burning could be more intense and longer-lasting than previously thought. This prediction emerges from a new study by Richard Zeebe at the University of Hawai'i who includes insights from episodes of climate change in the geologic past to inform projections of man-made future climate change. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Humans keep adding large amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, among them carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important man-made greenhouse gas. Over the ...