This press release is available in Spanish.Ensuring the monarch butterfly's survival by saving its milkweed habitat could result from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) studies initially intended to improve detection of boll weevils with pheromone traps. Charles Suh and his colleagues at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Areawide Pest Management Research Unit in College Station, Texas, have found a pheromone formula that is attractive to a major milkweed pest, the milkweed stem weevil. The discovery stems from research originally designed to help improve ...

Bethesda, MD—A research report appearing in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology helps explain how specific immune cells, called macrophages, accumulate triglycerides to support their function. Because a characteristic finding in atherosclerosis is the accumulation of fat in macrophages in the arterial wall, understanding how macrophages accumulate triglycerides may lead to new approaches toward slowing or stopping the development of atherosclerosis. "Activation of macrophages leads to the accumulation of triglycerides in macrophages by multiple pathways that may have beneficial ...

With a combination of microscopic laser scissors and modern sequencing methods, biologists at the Ruhr-Universität have analyzed the activity of genes in the entire genome of certain fungi in one fell swoop. Especially with organisms in the millimetre size range, it is a particular challenge because little cell material is available. The scientists of the RUB Department of General and Molecular Botany took advantage of the method to investigate the development of small multicellular fungi. The results are reported in the journal BMC Genomics. Gene activity differs from ...

Gender roles and norms play a key role in sexual behavior between men and women. It is often assumed that men should dominate women sexually. This assumption may lead to loss of both power and the ability to control sexual behavior among women and men, as well as lead to increased sexual risk-taking, such as not using a female condom. The new study, by Dr. Lisa Rosenthal from Yale University in the US, and her colleagues, is published online in Springer's journal Sex Roles. Social dominance orientation is a measure of people's level of support for social power inequalities ...

Previous studies that have associated the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) – which include popular anti-heartburn medications like Prilosec and Nexium – with an increased incidence of pneumonia may not have found a true cause-and-effect relationship. A study that has been released online by the Journal of General Internal Medicine outlines a strategy for determining when the results of such observational studies may have been distorted by unmeasured factors and then finds that may be the case with the association between PPIs and pneumonia risk. "Our study is the ...

Reston, Va. (October 1, 2012) – Determining the optimal treatment course and predicting outcomes may get easier in the future for patients with head and neck sqaumous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) with the use of an investigational imaging agent. Research published in the October issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with 3'-deoxy-3'F-18-fluorothymidine (18-F-FLT) during treatment and early follow-up has the potential to predict therapeutic responses and identify patients needing close follow-up to detect persistent or ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – While it's leveling off, a decade of increased use of sophisticated, expensive, imaging studies has put radiologists and their specialty front and center in health care reform, says the chair of an academic radiology department. That seemingly dubious distinction gives radiologists the chance to take a leadership role in reducing costs, optimizing utilization and improving patient care, said Dr. James V. Rawson, Chair of the Medical College of Georgia Department of Radiology at Georgia Health Sciences University. Rawson and Dr. Ruth Carlos, Professor ...

Researchers from the University of Alicante (Spain) have analysed ten brands of cigarettes and found that the concentrations of certain harmful and carcinogenic substances vary significantly from one brand to another. Until now legislation has not covered these compounds and only establishes limits for nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide. Scientists have also developed catalysts to reduce the harmful products in tobacco. In accordance with current legislation, cigarette packets indicate the nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide concentrations in order to confirm that these ...

Bethesda, MD—President Obama's national plan to fight Alzheimer's disease just got a lift thanks to a team of international researchers whose recent discovery may lead to enhanced imaging of and improved drug delivery to the brain. A research report appearing in The FASEB Journal, describes an entirely new class of antibody discovered in camelids (camels, dromedaries, llamas, and alpacas) that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, diffuse into brain tissue, and reach specific targets. Having such antibodies, which are naturally available, may be part of a "game changer" ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (Oct. 1, 2012) – A research team from Germany has found that optimal benefit and functional improvement for ischemic stroke results when human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (hUCB MNCs) are transplanted into rat stroke models within 72 hours of the stroke. Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:6), now freely available on-line at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. "Ischemic stroke is one of the most frequent causes of death and the most common reason for permanent disabilities in adults in ...

Tampa, Fla. (Oct. 1, 2012) – In a study to investigate the detection by MRI of six kinds of positively-charged magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles designed to help monitor transplanted islet cells, a team of Japanese researchers found that the charged nanoparticles they developed transduced into cells and could be visualized by MRI while three kinds of commercially available nanoparticles used for controls could not. The study is published in a recent special issue of Cell Medicine [3(1)], now freely available on-line at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/cm. "Our ...

Bethesda, MD— Being underweight at birth may have consequences above and beyond the known short-term effects says a research report published in the October 2012 issue of The FASEB Journal. The report shows that rats with a low birth weight have an increased long-term risk for developing cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and diabetes. What's more, older females are at higher risk of developing high blood pressure before and during pregnancy, which in turn, may restrict growth in the womb, putting offspring at risk for being born at a low birth weight. "Ensuring ...

Using biological markers--genetic characteristics that are associated with some patients with breast cancer--can increase the success rate of clinical trials for breast cancer drugs by almost 50 per cent, says new research from the University of Toronto Mississauga. "It's been increasingly difficult for pharmaceutical companies to bring new drugs to market," says Jayson Parker, a faculty member in the Department of Biology and medical biotechnology analyst at the University of Toronto. "On average, about 80 per cent of drugs fail at some point in the clinical trial process." There ...

MAYWOOD, Il. - Loyola University Medical Center has launched the first clinical trial in the Midwest of an experimental melanoma treatment that genetically engineers a patient's immune system to fight the deadly cancer. A batch of the immune system's killer T cells will be removed from the patient and genetically modified in a Loyola lab. Two genes will be inserted into the T cells so that they will recognize tumor cells as abnormal. The patient will undergo high-dose chemotherapy to kill most of his or her remaining T cells. This will make room for the genetically modified ...

The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth (JGR-B), Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans (JGR-C), and Water Resources Research (WRR). In this release: 1. The pros and cons of trading water: A case study in Australia 2. Linking typhoon tracks with rainfall patterns and flood timing 3. Novel observations of currents and drag generated by a tsunami 4. More water stored along major rivers during El Nino years 5. Model suggests Earth ...

PHILADELPHIA - The hormone prolactin is produced by the pituitary gland in the brain and then travels via the bloodstream to cells throughout the body, where it exerts multiple reproductive and metabolic effects, most notably on the breast where it is the master regulator of lactation. In recent years researchers have found that prolactin is also produced by some tissues outside the brain, however little is known about the functions of extra-pituitary prolactin or how its production is regulated in these tissues. Now, the laboratory of Lewis A. Chodosh, MD, PhD, chair ...

Changes in ocean and climate systems could lead to smaller fish, according to a new study led by fisheries scientists at the University of British Columbia. The study, published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, provides the first-ever global projection of the potential reduction in the maximum size of fish in a warmer and less-oxygenated ocean. The researchers used computer modeling to study more than 600 species of fish from oceans around the world and found that the maximum body weight they can reach could decline by 14-20 per cent between years 2000 and ...

Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London have discovered how a key molecule controls the body's inflammatory responses. The molecule, known as p110delta, fine-tunes inflammation to avoid excessive reactions that can damage the organism. The findings, published in Nature Immunology today (30 September), could be exploited in vaccine development and new cancer therapies. A healthy immune system reacts to danger signals – from microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses, or from the body's own rogue cells, such as cancer cells. This tightly controlled reaction starts ...

CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have found a new genetic mutation responsible for deafness and hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 1. These findings, published in the Sept. 30 advance online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, could help researchers develop new therapeutic targets for those at risk for this syndrome. Partners in the study included the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Baylor College of Medicine and the University of ...

A new study out today (Sunday 30 September) reveals that the emergence and spread of a rapidly evolving invasive intestinal disease, that has a significant mortality rate (up to 45%) in infected people in sub-Saharan Africa, seems to have been potentiated by the HIV epidemic in Africa. The team found that invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) disease is caused by a new form of the bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium that has spread from two different focal hubs in Southern and Central Africa beginning 52 and 35 years ago, respectively. They also found that one of the ...

Combine the tree-ring growth record with historical information, climate records, and computer-model projections of future climate trends, and you get a grim picture for the future of trees in the southwestern United States. That's the word from a team of scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Arizona, and other partner organizations. If the Southwest is warmer and drier in the near future, widespread tree death is likely and would cause substantial changes in the distribution of forests and of species, the researchers ...

Two proteins previously found to contribute to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, have divergent roles. But a new study, led by researchers at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, shows that a common pathway links them. The discovery reveals a small set of target genes that could be used to measure the health of motor neurons, and provides a useful tool for development of new pharmaceuticals to treat the devastating disorder, which currently has no treatment or cure. Funded in part by ...

Vibration-induced white finger disease (VWF) is caused by continued use of vibrating hand held machinery (high frequency vibration >50 Hz), and affects tens of thousands of people. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Clinical Epigenetics finds that people with a genetic polymorphism (A2191G) in sirtuin1 (SIRT1), a protein involved in the regulation of endothelial NOS (eNOS), are more likely to suffer from vibration-induced white finger disease. VWF (also known as hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)) is a secondary form of Raynaud's disease involving ...

Human epidermal growth factor (HER2) positive breast cancers are often treated with the same therapy regardless of hormone receptor status. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research shows that women whose HER2 positive cancer was also hormone (estrogen and progesterone) receptor (HR) negative had an increased risk of early death, and that their cancer was less likely to recur in bone than those whose cancer retained hormone sensitivity. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with many different subtypes. HR positive cancer ...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Over the last two decades, scientists have come to understand that the genetic code held within DNA represents only part of the blueprint of life. The rest comes from specific patterns of chemical tags that overlay the DNA structure, determining how tightly the DNA is packaged and how accessible certain genes are to be switched on or off. As researchers have uncovered more and more of these "epigenetic" tags, they have begun to wonder how they are all connected. Now, research from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine has established ...