Patients with Barrett's esophagus may have a lower risk of esophageal cancer than previously reported, according to a large, long-term study published online June 16 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Barrett's esophagus is a premalignant condition, and patients who have it are often advised to have regular endoscopies to watch for signs of esophageal adenocarcinoma, the most common kind of esophageal cancer in many parts of the world. But how often Barrett's esophagus progresses to cancer has not been clear. Previous estimates of the rate of progression ...

Stem cell technologies have been proposed for cell-based diagnostics and regenerative medicine therapies. However, being able to make stem cells efficiently develop into a desired cell type -- such as muscle, skin, blood vessels, bone or neurons -- limits the clinical potential of these technologies. New research presented on June 16, 2011 at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) shows that systematically controlling the local and global environments during stem cell development helps to effectively direct the process of differentiation. ...

Avoiding germs to prevent sickness is commonplace for people. Wash hands often. Sneeze into your elbow. Those are among the tips humans learn. But plants, which are also vulnerable to pathogens, have to fend it alone. They grow where planted, in an environment teeming with microbes and other substances ready to attack, scientists note. Now, researchers are learning from plants' immune response new information that could help them understand more about humans' ability to ward off sickness and avoid autoimmune diseases. This week's journal Science reports findings by ...

Researchers may have found the key to developing a method to rid the body of stem cells responsible for driving fat expansion. According to a report in the June 16 Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, they've landed the first protein marker on the surface of those so-called adipose stromal cells (ASCs), which serve as progenitors of the cells that make up fat tissue. "Our long-term goal is to identify an approach to inactivate these cells in disease," said Mikhail Kolonin of University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. "By administering a peptide with a ...

By taking advantage of a "body swap" illusion, researchers have captured the brain regions involved in one of the most fundamental aspects of self-awareness: how we recognize our bodies as our own, distinct from others and from the outside world. That self-perception is traced to specialized multisensory neurons in various parts of the brain that integrate different sensory inputs across all body parts into a unified view of the body. The findings, reported online on June 16 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, may have important medical and industrial applications, ...

FrontDoorSoftware Corporation has been nominated for a 2011 Apex Award in the category of Technology Company of the Year. The Apex Awards are awarded annually to the top technology companies by the Colorado Software and Internet Association (CSIA), or "Colorado's Technology Association." "We are thrilled to be nominated for the Apex Awards' Technology Company of the Year," said Carrie Hafeman, president of FrontDoorSoftware Corporation. "The CSIA and its members represent outstanding achievements and progress in software, technology, and the ...

During the winter of 2009-2010 the average temperature for the UK was 1.6 degrees centigrade (°C), making it the coldest recorded winter in the last 30 years. Using winter data from 2005 to 2010, new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health demonstrates an inverse relationship between temperature and the number of falls on snow and ice, which result in emergency admission to hospital, and looks at the cost of these falls. Researchers from the North West Public Health Observatory, based at the Centre of Public Health, Liverpool John ...

After being hit in the eye by a stone, a detached retina left a man blind in his right eye. Despite surgery to remove a cataract when the man was 23, which temporarily restored light perception, the patient was completely blind in that eye. Doctors at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary have reported a case, published in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Medical Case Reports, describing how this patient had functional vision restored 55 years after the childhood accident which left him blind. Whilst it is unusual for a retina to become detached, common causes include ...

Combining information from hospitals and police can prevent violence and make communities safer, according to a study published on bmj.com today. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified interpersonal violence as a global public health issue. In 2008-9, police recorded over 900,000 violent incidents in England and Wales, yet a substantial proportion of violence which results in treatment by doctors is not known to the police. Targeted police work prevents violence, but depends on knowledge of when and precisely where violence occurs. So a team led by Professor ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A brain implant developed at the University of Michigan uses the body's skin like a conductor to wirelessly transmit the brain's neural signals to control a computer, and may eventually be used to reactivate paralyzed limbs. The implant is called the BioBolt, and unlike other neural interface technologies that establish a connection from the brain to an external device such as a computer, it's minimally invasive and low power, said principal investigator Euisik Yoon, a professor in the U-M College of Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering ...

New research by faculty at Rice University, the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) and the University of Minnesota finds that men's conspicuous spending is driven by the desire to have uncommitted romantic flings. And, gentlemen, women can see right through it. The series of studies, "Peacocks, Porsches and Thorstein Veblen: Conspicuous Consumption as a Sexual Signaling System," was conducted with nearly 1,000 test subjects and published recently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. "This research suggests that conspicuous products, such as Porsches, ...

People often talk about "boosting" their immunity to prevent and fight colds. Nutritional supplements, cold remedies and fortified foods claim to stave off colds by augmenting the immune system. A new University of Michigan study shows this strategy might actually be flawed. The results may hold important implications for individuals with asthma, who often experience life-threatening flare-ups due to infections with cold viruses. The study, using a novel mouse model, shows that, in the airways, the immune response to the common cold is actually maladaptive. Mice ...

Cells in the human body are constantly being exposed to stress from environmental chemicals or errors in routine cellular processes. While stress can cause damage, it can also provide the stimulus for undoing the damage. New research by a team of scientists at the University of Rochester has unveiled an important new mechanism that allows cells to recognize when they are under stress and prime the DNA repair machinery to respond to the threat of damage. Their findings are published in the current issue of Science. The scientists, led by biologists Vera Gorbunova and Andrei ...

EDMONTON (National Access & Privacy Conference 2011) – June 16, 2011 – Canadian privacy experts have issued a new report (link will go live after embargo lift) today that strongly backs the practice of de-identification as a key element in the protection of personal information. The joint paper from Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, and Dr. Khaled El Emam, the Canada Research Chair in Electronic Health Information at the University of Ottawa and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, comes as some privacy policy makers ...

HOUSTON--Patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms that lead to acute aortic dissections are 12 times more likely to have duplications in the DNA in a region of chromosome 16 (16p13.1) than those without the disease, according to a study led by genetic researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The results of the innovative study, which included researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, are published in the June 16 issue of the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. In human DNA, there are regions of the DNA that are deleted or ...

Menlo Park, CA.--Glass, by definition, is amorphous; its atoms lack order and are arranged every which way. But when scientists squeezed tiny samples of a metallic glass under high pressure, they got a surprise: The atoms lined up in a regular pattern to form a single crystal. It's the first time researchers have glimpsed this hidden property in a glass. The discovery, reported June 17th in Science, offers a new window into the atomic structure and behavior of metallic glasses, which have been used for decades in products such as anti-theft tags and power transformers ...

The first roadmap to mathematical modeling of a powerful basic "decision circuit" in breast cancer has been developed and published in Nature Reviews Cancer. The preliminary mathematical model is the first result of a $7.5 million federal grant, awarded to scientists at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and collaborators at Virginia Tech and Fox Chase Cancer Center, to develop a systems approach to understanding and treating one of the most common forms of breast cancer. "A cell is an information processing system ...

On May 25, 2011, Ocean City DWI Attorney John W. Tumelty was successful in getting Vanessa Camacho found not guilty of a DWI "for drugs" charge following a two day trial. The Ocean City Police arrested Ms. Camacho several months ago for speeding over the 9th Street Bridge-Causeway. She was stopped for doing 76 mph in a 30 mph speed zone. The police ordered Ms. Camacho out of the vehicle, had her perform field sobriety tests, and placed her under arrest for DWI. The arresting officer stated that the defendant failed the field sobriety tests that where performed ...

Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have obtained a precise molecular map of the binding site for an allosteric inhibitor in a subtype of the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor, which is commonly expressed in brain cells. The newly discovered binding site -- a docking port within the receptor -- is important because it is a potential target for drugs that can modulate NMDA receptors, dysfunctions of which have been implicated in depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases as well as stroke-related brain injuries. Allosteric ...

University of Granada researchers have proved that fetal electrocardiogram (ECG) is the best method for detecting early acidosis and the risk of loss of fetal wellbeing. This method allows to have healthy fetuses, since it shows the effects of lack of oxygen in the heart and brain of the fetus. A study conducted at the University of Granada has proved that this system is better than pulse oximetry, which measures oxygen saturation in fetuses and allows to estimate risks to the fetus. This study was carried out by Mercedes Valverde Pareja, a researcher at the Department ...

In Europe, a serious treatment gap is leaving millions of people at high risk of fragility fractures. The findings were revealed in 'Osteoporosis: Burden, health care provision and opportunities in the EU', a landmark report prepared by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) in collaboration with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA). The report found that only a minority of high risk patients are receiving treatment to prevent fractures - contrary to the recommendations of most national osteoporosis guidelines and despite continued ...

Should you find yourself in a position where you have been charged with drunk driving your first responsibility to yourself is to contact a criminal lawyer for advice. They will examine the charges and explain the probable consequences. For example, were you to have registered a 'warn' reading on the drunk driver breathalyzer test, you may receive an instant roadside driving ban of between 3 and 30 days. Blowing a 'fail' reading on the other hand may result in a 90-day IRP (Immediate Roadside Prohibition) or further criminal investigation. Even in the instance ...

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Reinforcing President Obama's call to improve America's science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education over the next decade, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced his plan to strengthen the service's future workforce at a June 15-16 conference sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. "I have committed to doubling the Navy's investment in STEM education over the next five years," Mabus said in his keynote speech as he kicked off the 2011 Naval STEM Forum in Alexandria, Va. "We are going to double it in a targeted and innovative way so ...

The delicacy of such situations further highlights the importance of contacting an experienced criminal lawyer to explain, in detail, the intricate laws pertaining to sexual assault and the precise procedure that preparing a criminal defence or prosecution would entail. Nevertheless, to have a basic grasp of the legalities of sexual crime can only be beneficial. Sexual Assault Falling short of rape and possibly not even involving physical violence, sexual assault can be termed as applying force of a sexual nature to another person without that person's consent. Further ...

Youths in groups or gangs choose to own dogs primarily for socializing and companionship. Dogs are also used for protection and enhancing status, but to a lesser extent, contrary to popular perception. The research by Jennifer Maher and Harriet Pierpoint from the Centre for Criminology at the University of Glamorgan in the UK, is published online in Springer's journal Crime, Law and Social Change. There is rising concern in the UK over irresponsible dog ownership, and the use of so-called status or weapon dogs, by street-based youth groups. Youth criminal and antisocial ...