Atlanta, September 23, 2013—Limiting the amount of radiation absorbed in the hippocampal portion of the brain during whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) for brain metastases preserves memory function in patients for up to six months after treatment, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The single-arm, phase II study was a multi-institutional, international clinical trial in the U.S. and Canada, conducted through the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). Researchers compared the study group ...

Atlanta, September 23, 2013 – A shorter course of androgen suppression therapy prior to radiation therapy, when compared to a longer course of androgen suppression therapy, yields favorable outcomes and fewer adverse effects for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO) 55th Annual Meeting. The study confirmed a disease-specific-survival (DSS) rate of 95 percent when patients received fewer weeks of neoadjuvant (NEO) total androgen suppression (TAS). The multi-institutional ...

The bacterial outer envelope is densely packed with proteins that form small pores and facilitate the passage of nutrients, toxins and signaling molecules. Professors Timm Maier and Sebastian Hiller from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel now demonstrate how these transporter proteins are integrated into the outer membrane. Using x-ray structural analysis they reveal the structure-function relationship of the protein TamA, which plays an important role in the assembly of transport proteins in the bacterial outer membrane. Their findings have been published recently ...

Atlanta, September 23, 2013 — Cancer patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) who are potentially suffering from depression can be effectively identified by a two-item questionnaire, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The Radiation Oncology Therapy Group (RTOG) Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP)-supported multi-institutional study screened 455 patients receiving radiation treatment at 37 centers around the U.S. Participants in the study were seeking treatment for breast cancer (45 ...

Eukaryotic cells are compartmentalized by membranes, whose shape and dynamics are precisely regulated to maintain their correct functions. Consequently, many cellular processes such as endocytosis, migration and morphogenesis rely on proteins that bind directly to membranes and sculpt them into desired shapes. BAR domain proteins are among the central membrane-sculpting proteins in all eukaryote cells. Studies by Pekka Lappalainen laboratory at Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Finland, now reveal that BAR domain proteins not only bend membranes, but ...

San Francisco, CA. -- Do you have a smartphone in your pocket or purse? If so, you may be carrying the future of mobile medical monitoring technology, according to a special article in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). Smartphones and tablet computers have an emerging role as mobile medical monitoring devices -- and may help to extend the use of pulse oximetry for monitoring blood oxygen levels to developing countries around the world, according to the article by Dr J. Mark Ansermino ...

Why don't apes have musical talent, while humans, parrots, small birds, elephants, whales, and bats do? Matz Larsson, senior physician at the Lung Clinic at Örebro University Hospital, attempts to answer this question in the scientific publication Animal Cognition. In his article, he asserts that the ability to mimic and imitate things like music and speech is the result of the fact that synchronised group movement quite simply makes it possible to perceive sounds from the surroundings better. The hypothesis is that the evolution of vocal learning, that is musical traits, ...

Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2013 – It is often said that once people develop an addiction, they can never completely eliminate their attraction to the abused substance. New findings provide further support for this notion by suggesting that even long-term abstinence from cocaine does not result in a complete normalization of brain circuitry. Scientists are currently trying to answer some of the 'chicken and egg' questions surrounding the abuse of drugs. In particular, one of those questions is whether individuals who abuse psychostimulants like cocaine are more impulsive ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (09/23/2013) -- New research from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has uncovered the role gene ORMDL3 plays in the disease asthma. ORMDL3, a gene recently linked to asthma susceptibility, has now been linked to the body's ability to recruit inflammatory cells during an airway allergic reaction. Study findings appear today in the journal Nature Communications. U of M researchers including Srirama Rao, Ph.D., (P. Sriramarao), CVM professor in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences and associate dean for ...

Not only do U.S. travelers to West Africa who consult health providers before they leave and take prescribed preventive medications substantially reduce their risk of contracting malaria, they also reduce costs to their health insurance providers and, in most cases, to themselves. In a report that has been published online in Clinical Infectious Disease, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) report finding that the costs associated with contracting malaria -- to both third-party payers and ...

This news release is available in German. The mild winters experienced in Northern Europe are thanks to the Gulf Stream, which makes up part of those ocean currents spanning the globe that impact on the climate. However, our climate is also influenced by huge eddies of over 150 kilometres in diameter that rotate and drift across the ocean. Their number is reportedly on the rise in the Southern Ocean, increasing the northward transport of warm and salty water. Intriguingly, this could moderate the negative impact of melting sea ice in a warming climate. However, ...

The Feline Vaccination Advisory Panel of the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) issue new guidelines on vaccination schedules for feline patients based on risk assessment. From Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (2013) The American Association of Feline Practitioners' (AAFP) Feline Vaccination Advisory Panel has this month released updated guidelines on appropriate feline vaccination schedules based on risk assessment. The guidelines offer recommendations for vaccination of household pet cats, shelter house cats, and cats in breeding catteries. ...

Jena (Germany) 'Just in time' – not only cars are being built according to this principle nowadays. Aircraft, mobile phones and computers are also produced following this method, in which all components are delivered exactly at the time when they are needed. This saves storage capacity and therefore cash. Hence it is supposed to be particularly efficient. In nature – the byword for efficiency – production processes are also following the 'just-in-time-principle' as well – at least according to the scientific consensus until now. "Living beings just can't afford to produce ...

Recent decades have seen massive changes to many river systems. To improve passage for ships, humans have been straightening, deepening, and reinforcing river banks and altered the natural flow regime. Water temperatures are also rising as a result of climate change. All of which provides perfect conditions for the round goby, a fish traditionally found in the lower stretches of the Danube and along the coasts of the Black Sea. Today, however, round goby has expanded its distribution range significantly and can now be found in the headwater of the Danube as well as in the ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study provides evidence that one important part of memory undergoes substantial development even after the age of 7. Researchers found that episodic memory – the ability to remember not only what happened, but where and when – takes longer to develop than often assumed. That means young children may have no problem with remembering certain simple events or facts. But in some cases, they may have difficulty placing them in the right place, time or context. The results have widespread implications, including what young children can be expected ...

While searching for ever smaller devices that can be used as data storage systems and novel sensors, physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have directly observed magnetization dynamics processes in magnetic nanowires and thus paved the way for further research in the field of nanomagnetism. Small magnetic domain wall structures in nanowires can be used to store information and, for example, can be used as angle sensors. Initial applications based on magnetic domain walls have been developed and are already in use in sensor technology. The current findings ...

This news release is available in Spanish. Is there any connection between wine and biodiesel? The answer is yes, however surprising it may seem. Acetals are chemical compounds found in many wines, like port, for example, which give it a unique, sweet smell. However if acetals are blended with biodiesel, they improve its properties. The SUPREN research group of the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Environment of the Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao (UPV/EHU) is working on a project that is seeking to encourage the use of this rare fuel. The idea is to produce ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Using low-frequency laser pulses, a team of researchers has carried out the first measurements that reveal the detailed characteristics of a unique kind of magnetism found in a mineral called herbertsmithite. In this material, the magnetic elements constantly fluctuate, leading to an exotic state of fluid magnetism called a "quantum spin liquid." This is in contrast to conventional magnetism, found in materials called ferromagnets — where all of the magnetic forces align in the same direction, reinforcing each other — or antiferromagnets, where adjacent ...

NEW YORK (September 18, 2013) — A camera trap set out for endangered Siberian (Amur) tigers in the Russian Far East photographed something far more rare: a golden eagle capturing a young sika deer. The three images only cover a two-second period, but show an adult golden eagle clinging to the deer's back. Its carcass was found two weeks later, just a few yards from the camera, initially puzzling researchers. The paper and images appear in the September issue of the Journal of Raptor Research. Authors include Linda Kerley of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and ...

BUFFALO, N. Y. -- University at Buffalo translational researchers are developing a richer understanding of atherosclerosis in humans, revealing a key role for stem cells that promote inflammation. The research was published last month in PLOS One. It extends to humans previous findings in lab animals by researchers at Columbia University that revealed that high levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol promote atherosclerosis by stimulating production of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC's). "Our research opens up a potential new approach to preventing heart attack and ...

A new study shows that exposure to diesel exhaust particles from traffic pollution leads to increased asthma severity in children. Moreover, the study finds that this is due to increased blood levels of IL-17A, a protein associated with several chronic inflammatory diseases, in children with high diesel exposure. The study by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The research, conducted in mice and in humans, showed that neutralizing IL-17A prevented airway inflammation. Neutralization ...

San Francisco, CA. (September 23, 2013) – Rates of severe sepsis and deaths from sepsis among U.S. women hospitalized for delivery have risen sharply over the last decade, reports a study in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). "Maternal severe sepsis and sepsis-related deaths are increasing in the United States," concludes the report by Dr Melissa E. Bauer of University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, and colleagues. Although the study identifies certain groups of women at increased ...

It's not the chicken or the egg, but marine scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have answered a basic question about red drum fish and their eggs that may eventually help save the state of Texas a great deal of money in hatcheries management and make fish farming more environmentally friendly. Every year the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department spends millions of dollars breeding red drum, a popular game fish, releasing between 20 and 30 million hatchery-raised fingerlings into eight different bays and estuaries along the coast. In order to maximize the numbers ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Adults across the U.S. rate childhood cancer as their top priority for research into improving children's health, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and in this latest poll, 76 percent of adults rated research into childhood cancers as "very important." That was followed by diabetes, with 70 percent rating it "very important" and birth defects or other genetic problems with 68 percent. "So many people know a child or family ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have sequenced the genomes of nearly 6,900 organisms, but they know the functions of only about half of the protein-coding genes thus far discovered. Now a multidisciplinary effort involving 15 scientists from three institutions has begun chipping away at this mystery – in a big way. Their work to identify the function of one bacterial protein and the biochemical pathway in which it operates will also help identify the functions of hundreds of other proteins. A report of their new approach and findings appears in the journal Nature. The ...