Shoppers spend over £10 billion on bananas annually and now this demand is being linked to the contamination of Central America's crocodilians. New research, published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, analyses blood samples from spectacled caiman in Costa Rica and finds that intensive pesticide use in plantations leads to contaminated species in protected conservation areas. "Banana plantations are big business in Costa Rica, which exports an estimated 1.8 million tonnes per year; 10% of the global total," said author Paul Grant from Stellenbosch University, ...

A class of proteins that controls visual system development in the young brain also appears to affect vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease in the aging brain. The proteins, which are found in humans and mice, join a limited roster of molecules that scientists are studying in hopes of finding an effective drug to slow the disease process. "People are just beginning to look at what these proteins do in the brain. While more research is needed, these proteins may be a brand new target for Alzheimer's drugs," said Carla Shatz, Ph.D., the study's lead investigator. Dr. Shatz ...

Like normal cells, cancer cells require amino acids for growth, maintenance, and cell signaling, and L-type amino acid transporters (LATs) are the delivery vehicles that supply them. Metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells are highly dependent on LATs to deliver the amino acid leucine that the cells need for growth and proliferation, according to a study published September 19 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. To investigate the function of LATs in prostate cancer, Qian Wang, Ph.D., of the Origins of Cancer Laboratory, Centenary Institute, ...

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory -- Investigators at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) today report important progress in research aimed at finding ways to fight cancer by targeting the local environment in which tumors grow and from which they draw sustenance. The targeting of interactions between cancer cells and their environment together with the traditional tactic of directly targeting cancer cells with drugs or radiation is an important new front in the fight against cancer. The study was conducted by two CSHL scientists from different disciplines who joined ...

STANFORD, Calif. — Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown how a protein fragment known as beta-amyloid, strongly implicated in Alzheimer's disease, begins destroying synapses before it clumps into plaques that lead to nerve cell death. Key features of Alzheimer's, which affects about 5 million Americans, are wholesale loss of synapses — contact points via which nerve cells relay signals to one another — and a parallel deterioration in brain function, notably in the ability to remember. "Our discovery suggests that Alzheimer's disease starts ...

Each of our cells has an energy furnace, and it is called a mitochondrion. A Northwestern University-led research team now has identified a new mode of timekeeping that involves priming the cell's furnace to properly use stored fuel when we are not eating. The interdisciplinary team has identified the "match" and "flint" responsible for lighting this tiny furnace. And the match is only available when the circadian clock says so, underscoring the importance of the biological timing system to metabolism. "Circadian clocks are with us on Earth because they have everything ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — More than 20 years ago, geologist Harry Green, now a distinguished professor of the graduate division at the University of California, Riverside, and colleagues discovered a high-pressure failure mechanism that they proposed then was the long-sought mechanism of very deep earthquakes (earthquakes occurring at more than 400 km depth). The result was controversial because seismologists could not find a seismic signal in the Earth that could confirm the results. Seismologists have now found the critical evidence. Indeed, beneath Japan, they have even ...

When the pharmaceutical industry develops new medicines – for example for cancer treatment – it is important to have detailed knowledge of the body's molecular response to the medicine. "With a better knowledge of the many complex processes which are activated in connection with illness and medication, the better the possibility of developing new drugs. We have now moved closer to targeting and treating certain cancers using the so-called PARP inhibitors – medical inhibitors used in the latest types of cancer treatment. Certain types of tumours rely heavily on PARP proteins ...

Genome sequencing has identified several infection transmission chains of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in humans. The study published in the Lancet, which produced the largest number of MERS-CoV genomes described to date, provides evidence that MERS-CoV transmission patterns are more complicated than previously considered. Globally, 111 people have been diagnosed with MERS-CoV since 2012, including 52 deaths. Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Edinburgh University and University College London are working with the Kingdom ...

The World Alzheimer Report 2013 'Journey of Caring: An analysis of long-term care for dementia', released today, calls for governments around the world to make dementia a priority by implementing national plans, and by initiating urgent national debates on future arrangements for long-term care. Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) and Bupa commissioned a team of researchers, led by Professor Martin Prince from King's College London, to produce the report. The report reveals that, as the world population ages, the traditional system of "informal" care by family, ...

Paracetamol has a significant effect on exercise performance and the body's ability to cope with the thermal challenge of exercise in the heat, shows a study published today [20 September] in Experimental Physiology. The research team have previously shown that paracetamol can improve endurance performance through a reduction in exercise-induced pain. This study suggests, for the first time, that paracetamol can also improve the length of time someone can exercise for in hot conditions. The data suggests that this is achieved by reducing the body's temperature during ...

The explosion of animal life on Earth around 520 million years ago was the result of a combination of interlinked factors rather than a single underlying cause, according to a new study. Dozens of individual theories have been put forward over the past few decades for this rapid diversification of animal species in the early Cambrian period of geological time. But a paper by Professor Paul Smith of Oxford University and Professor David Harper of Durham University suggests a more holistic approach is required to discover the reasons behind what has become known as the ...

A multi-center study led by University of Iowa researchers to determine whether wearing back braces would prevent the need for spinal correction surgery in children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) was cut short when early results were overwhelmingly in favor of bracing. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine today (Sept. 19. 2013). Stuart Weinstein, MD, Ignacio V. Ponseti Chair and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Professor of Pediatrics at University of Iowa Children's Hospital, and Lori Dolan, PhD, a research scientist in The Department ...

Augusta, Ga. – Researchers have found a way to make early liver cancer show its true colors. They have developed a test that will help pathologists clearly distinguish early liver cancer cells from nearly identical normal liver cells by giving them a distinctive red-brown hue. The inability to definitively tell the difference often means the disease is detected late when treatment options are less effective, said Dr. Ravindra Kolhe, pathologist and Medical Director of the Georgia Esoteric, Molecular Labs, LLC, at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. ...

Breast cancer that spreads to other organs is extremely difficult to treat. Doctors can buy patients time, but a cure remains elusive. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that human breast tumors transplanted into mice are excellent models of metastatic cancer and could be valuable tools in the search for better treatments. According to new research published Sept. 19 in Cell Reports, these transplanted tumors maintain the genetic errors that caused the original cancer, even though they are growing in mice. As such, mice ...

Despite the success of recent approved therapeutics to treat advanced melanoma, metastatic cancer cells inevitably evolve resistance to drugs. In the journal Cell Reports, a team of researchers based at The Wistar Institute, report on the mechanics by which melanoma can evolve resistance to a powerful combination of drugs—BRAF and MEK inhibitors. They found that resistant melanomas acquired a mutation in the MEK2 gene and multiple copies of the mutant BRAF oncogene, simultaneously decreasing the sensitivity to both drug targets. Their findings also uncovered a new potential ...

It is difficult to underestimate the importance of telomerase, an enzyme that is the hallmark of both aging and the uncontrolled cell division associated with cancer. In an effort to understand and control telomerase activity, researchers at The Wistar Institute have discovered a protein "motif," named TFLY, which is crucial to the function of telomerase. Altering this motif disrupts telomerase function, they found, a fact that they believe will help them in their efforts to identify inhibitors of telomerase with potential cancer therapeutic properties. Their findings ...

If the development of our nervous system is disturbed, we risk developing serious neurological diseases, impairing our sensory systems, movement control or cognitive functions. This is true for all organisms with a well-developed nervous system, from man to worm. New research from BRIC, University of Copenhagen reveals how a tiny molecule called mir-79 regulates neural development in roundworms. The molecule is required for correct migration of specific nerve cells during development and malfunction causes defects in the nervous system of the worm. The research has just ...

Thursday, September 19, 2013, Cleveland: Overweight patients with type 2 diabetes continue to experience the benefits of bariatric surgery up to nine years after the procedure, according to new research from Cleveland Clinic's Bariatric & Metabolic Institute, published online today in the journal, Annals of Surgery. Prior research has shown that bariatric surgery effectively treats diabetes and reduces cardiovascular risk factors, but few studies have reported the long-term metabolic effects of bariatric surgery. This trial shows that obese patients with type 2 diabetes ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Some overweight older adults don't need to lose weight to extend their lives, but they could risk an earlier death if they pack on more pounds. In fact, the nationwide study found that people who were slightly overweight in their 50s but kept their weight relatively stable were the most likely to survive over the next 16 years. They had better survival rates than even normal-weight individuals whose weight increased slightly, but stayed within the normal range. On the other hand, those who started out as very obese in their 50s and whose weight continued ...

Berkeley — Calcium can do much more than strengthen bones. The mineral is a critical nutrient for healthy tree growth, and new research shows that adding it to the soil helps reverse the decades-long decline of forests ailing from the effects of acid rain. The paper, published today (Thursday, Sept. 19), in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (EST) Letters, and led by John Battles, professor of forest ecology at the University of California, Berkeley, also presents strong evidence that acid rain impairs forest health. The paper reports on 15 years of ...

Scientists have successfully analysed the genetic make-up of the offspring of pregnant coelacanth females for the first time. They found that the likelihood that the offspring is fathered by one single individual is very high – unlike with many other fish species. Dr Kathrin Lampert from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Prof Dr Manfred Schartl from the University of Würzburg, together with their colleagues, report about their findings in the journal "Nature Communications". Analysis of the microsatellite DNA The pregnant coelacanth females studied by the researchers ...

The breakthrough concerns a gene called OPA1, which when mutated is responsible for dominant optic atrophy, a hereditary visual disease characterized by a progressive and symmetrical loss vision that becomes apparent early in life. In an in-depth study of OPA1, groups led by Dr. Luca Scorrano, professor of Biochemistry at the University of Padua and researcher of the Dulbecco Telethon Institute, and Dr. José Antonio Enríquez, coordinator of the Tissue Homeostasis and Repair Program at the CNIC, found that this gene has the capacity to act as a "helper" in cellular metabolism, ...

A piece of research submitted by the Artificial Intelligence and Approximate Reasoning Group (GIARA) of the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre received an award from the European Association of Fuzzy Logic and Soft Computing (EUSFLAT) during its biennial meeting (EUSFLAT 2013) held in Milan last week. The researchers have developed a method that improves the delimitation of tumours in medical images. As they explained, "when the doctor decides where tumour tissue should be separated from healthy tissue, our algorithm ensures that he/she is never going choose the worst ...

The entorhinal cortex is a link between the brain's memory centre, the hippocampus, and the other areas of the brain. It is, however, more than an interface that only transfers nervous impulses. The entorhinal cortex also has an independent role in learning and thinking processes. This is particularly applicable for spatial navigation. "We know precious little about how this happens," says Prof. Dietmar Schmitz, a researcher at the Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Site Speaker for the DZNE in Berlin. "This is why we are investigating ...