CHICAGO – Persistent ocular tremors that prevent eye stability during fixation appear to be common among patients with Parkinson disease (PD) suggesting that precise oculomotor testing could provide an early physiological biomarker for diagnosing PD, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology, a JAMA Network publication. "Although a number of studies describe various oculomotor abnormalities in subjects with PD, conflicts about the specific deficits remain," writes George T. Gitchel, M.S., of the Southeast Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, ...

CHICAGO – A randomized controlled trial involving patients with persistent clinically significant diabetic macular edema (swelling of the retina) suggests the greater efficacy of bevacizumab compared with macular laser therapy that was previously demonstrated at 12 months was maintained through 24 months, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Ophthalmology, a JAMA Network publication. Modified Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) macular laser therapy (MLT) has been the mainstay of treatment for clinically significant diabetic macular ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Analyzing massive amounts of data officially became a national priority recently when the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced the Big Data Research and Development Initiative. A multi-disciplinary team of University of Missouri researchers rose to the big data challenge when they solved a major biological question by using a groundbreaking computer algorithm to find identical DNA sequences in different plant and animal species. "Our algorithm found identical sequences of DNA located at completely different places on multiple ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- A female's social status affects how her genes turn on and off, and those who rank higher tend to be healthier -- so long as their social status doesn't decline, according to a study of rhesus macaques published in the April 9 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is the first to use an experimental approach to observe how gene expression patterns across a range of genes correlate with an animal's social dominance. It estimates that gene expression can predict the social status of an individual with 80 percent accuracy. "Our study ...

If a monkey's social status changes, her immune system changes along with it say researchers who conducted the study with rhesus macaques at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. This finding may have implications for how the stress of low socioeconomic status affects human health and how individuals' bodies adapt after a shift in their social environment. The results are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. Researchers led by Jenny Tung, PhD, say they can predict a rhesus macaque's rank within a small group ...

NEW YORK (April 9, 2012 ) -- An international research team led by Weill Cornell Medical College investigators have discovered two inherited-genetic deletions in the human genome linked to development of aggressive prostate cancer. The findings, published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), indicate a man's risk of developing prostate cancer either triples or quadruples, depending on the genetic variant they inherit. In the study, one genetic deletion is shown to affect the functioning of a known gene, while the other, found ...

BETHESDA, MD -- April 9, 2012 -- Scientists have moved a step closer to correcting some unhealthy gene mutations with diet, according to a new research report appearing in the April 2012 issue of the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org/). Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, determined variations and responses to vitamin treatment in the human cystathionine beta synthase gene, which when defective, causes the disease homocystinuria, an inherited metabolic disorder sometimes treatable with vitamin B6. After the analysis, scientists correlated specific ...

Boston, MA – New research from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) suggests that seemingly small changes in summer temperature swings—as little as 1°C more than usual—may shorten life expectancy for elderly people with chronic medical conditions, and could result in thousands of additional deaths each year. While previous studies have focused on the short-term effects of heat waves, this is the first study to examine the longer-term effects of climate change on life expectancy. The study will be published online April 9, 2012 in the Proceedings of the National Academy ...

The release of the new iPad must surely have convinced even the hardest of cynics that the Apple tablet computer is here to stay. This is particularly great news for mobile casino enthusiasts who like to play a quick game of blackjack, roulette, craps or slots while on the move. The success of the latest Apple tablet looks set to revolutionise the world of iPad Casinos in the near future. Most of us at this stage have played real money casino apps on our iPhone or Android smartphones and have enjoyed their many benefits. Blackjack, keno and video poker apps look and ...

Researchers at the University of Central Florida have developed a novel technique that may give doctors a faster and more sensitive tool to detect pathogens associated with inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease. The new nanoparticle-based technique also may be used for detection of other microbes that have challenged scientists for centuries because they hide deep in human tissue and are able to reprogram cells to successfully evade the immune system. The microbes reappear years later and can cause serious health problems such as seen in tuberculosis ...

(WASHINGTON, April 9, 2012) –A novel anti-leukemia compound with little toxicity successfully treated zebrafish with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), suggesting its potential to become a new highly targeted therapy for humans – even those resistant to conventional therapies – according to results from a study published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). T-ALL is a cancer of the white blood cells in which genetic mutations cause normal immature T-cells to develop into leukemic cells, or "blasts." These blasts then ...

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2012– Education research experts will unveil findings critical to the future of education at the upcoming AERA 2012 Annual Meeting, the largest gathering of education research experts in the world. More than 13,000 participants from over 60 countries plan to attend the meeting from April 13 through 17 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Researchers will present their latest findings in more than 2,400 sessions, invited lectures, and other events. New peer-reviewed research findings address a wide range of areas in education including the public ...

The ranking of a monkey within her social environment and the stress accompanying that status dramatically alters the expression of nearly 1,000 genes, a new scientific study reports. The research is the first to demonstrate a link between social status and genetic regulation in primates on a genome-wide scale, revealing a strong, plastic link between social environment and biology. In a comparison of high-ranking rhesus macaque females with their low-ranking companions, researchers discovered significant differences in the expression of genes involved in the immune response ...

Motiso Group's signature networking event, AFTER 5 Biz, is an elegant evening of networking, fundraising, and cocktails on April 13, 2012 at L2 Lounge in Washington, DC. Proceeds will benefit Motiso Group's mission to advance socially and economically disadvantaged businesses. AFTER 5 Biz is an initiative Motiso Group uses to connect minority and women entrepreneurs with a community of individual and business supporters. The premiere networking event occurs twice annually, with continued growth and support through an online networking platform. The network is targeted ...

Macrophages playing an important role in the immune system eat and fight against pathogens and foreign substances in the very beginning of infection. In this condition, macrophages produce reactive oxygen species for sterilization. However, the relation with the temperature sensor was not previously known. Professor Makoto TOMINAGA from National Institute for Physiological Sciences (Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, and his research team member Ms. Makiko KASHIO have identified the mechanism through which TRPM2 is activated ...

PHILADELPHIA — Niacin, or vitamin B3, is the one approved drug that elevates "good" cholesterol (high density lipoprotein, HDL) while depressing "bad" cholesterol (low density lipoprotein , LDL), and has thereby attracted much attention from patients and physicians. Niacin keeps fat from breaking down, and so obstructs the availability of LDL building blocks. Patients often stop taking niacin because it causes uncomfortable facial flushing, an effect caused by the release of a fat called prostaglandin or (PG)D2. PGD2 is the primary cause of the unwanted vasodilation, ...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – (April 6, 2012) – Using its unique online research platform, 23andMe, a leading personal genetics company, has found five significant genetic associations for hypothyroidism in the largest known genome-wide association study of hypothyroidism conducted to date. The details of the study are now available online in the journal PLoS ONE. "With nearly 90 percent of our 125,000 customers participating in our online research, 23andMe is making crowd-sourced science a reality," stated 23andMe CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki. "Our online research platform ...

A North Carolina State University researcher has developed a more efficient, less expensive way of cooling electronic devices – particularly devices that generate a lot of heat, such as lasers and power devices. The technique uses a "heat spreader" made of a copper-graphene composite, which is attached to the electronic device using an indium-graphene interface film "Both the copper-graphene and indium-graphene have higher thermal conductivity, allowing the device to cool efficiently," says Dr. Jag Kasichainula, an associate professor of materials science and engineering ...

WASHINGTON—April 9, 2012— New York voters recognize the importance of global health research and are concerned about the United States' ability to compete globally, according to a new poll commissioned by Research!America, yet an overwhelming majority (93%) of those polled don't know where global health research is conducted in their own state. The majority of New Yorkers (64%) think that New York residents should be concerned about global health and an additional 63% believe that spending money on global health is important to their state's economy. However, poll results ...

HOUSTON -- (April 9, 2012) -- Using light-harvesting nanoparticles to convert laser energy into "plasmonic nanobubbles," researchers at Rice University, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) are developing new methods to inject drugs and genetic payloads directly into cancer cells. In tests on drug-resistant cancer cells, the researchers found that delivering chemotherapy drugs with nanobubbles was up to 30 times more deadly to cancer cells than traditional drug treatment and required less than one-tenth the clinical dose. "We ...

Philadelphia, PA, April 9, 2012 – Scientists from Duke University Medical Center have determined that genes acting as molecular "on/off" switches can define clinically relevant molecular subtypes of ovarian cancer, providing ideal potential targets for use in clinical prognostic and diagnostic testing. These bimodal genes can define tumor subtypes that have different overall prognoses and respond to different therapeutic regimens. The researchers' results are published in the May issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. "We identified a very small set of genes ...

Up to 30% of the world's population is infected with Tuberculosis (TB), but in many areas of the world, TB diagnosis still relies on insensitive, poorly standardized, and time-consuming methods. A new diagnostic tool, endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), may change that. Dr. Thomas Bodmer shows how it's done in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE). Currently, TB is diagnosed through either a skin test, which produces a small bump on the patient's arm when administered and needs to be checked after 72 hours, and through smear microscopy, a method that ...

WirelessTimeClock.com, a trusted source for web-based time clocks, has re-launched its website (http://www.wirelesstimeclock.com) with a more intuitive and streamlined design, promising a more enriching experience for businesses searching for reliable employee time clocks and time and attendance management solutions. "Our customers have been asking for a more intuitive, resourceful site," says Scott Tobin, owner of WirelessTimeClock.com. "We wanted to make sure they could find exactly the clocks and monthly plans that would fit their business needs." With ...

Daejeon, the Republic of Korea, April 9, 2012—The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced that a research team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has developed a technology that enables scientists and engineers to observe processes occurring in liquid media on the smallest possible scale which is less than a nanometer. Professor Jeong Yong Lee and Researcher Jong Min Yuk, in collaboration with Professor Paul Alivisatos's and Professor Alex Zettl's groups at the University of California, Berkeley, succeeded in making ...

Combining two strategies designed to improve the results of cancer treatment – antiangiogenesis drugs and nanomedicines – may only be successful if the smallest nanomedicines are used. A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers, appearing in Nature Nanotechnology, finds that normalizing blood vessels within tumors, which improves the delivery of standard chemotherapy drugs, can block the delivery of larger nanotherapy molecules. "We found that vascular normalization only increases the delivery of the smallest nanomedicines to cancer cells," says ...