The press release
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Science7 Sep 2012

Ancient, bottom-dwelling critter proves: Newer isn't always better

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Tiny sea creatures called rhabdopleurids reside on the ocean floor, building homes of collagen on the shells of dead clams. Rhabdopleurid colonies are small, and the critters are by no means the dominant animals in their ecosystem. But they have lived this way -- and survived -- for more than 500 million years. And in doing so, they have outlasted more elaborate species that also descended from a common ancestor, according to a new study in the journal Lethaia. Though rhabdopleurids' age and modern existence are well-documented, the paper breaks new ground ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Strategy developed to improve delivery of medicines to the brain

New research offers a possible strategy for treating central nervous system diseases, such as brain and spinal cord injury, brain cancer, epilepsy, and neurological complications of HIV. The experimental treatment method allows small therapeutic agents to safely cross the blood-brain barrier in laboratory rats by turning off P-glycoprotein, one of the main gatekeepers preventing medicinal drugs from reaching their intended targets in the brain. The findings appeared online Sept. 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is the result of a study from ...

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Environment7 Sep 2012

NASA keeping an 'eye' on Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael's eye was so clear on new satellite imagery from NASA that the surface of the Atlantic Ocean could be seen through it. NASA satellites have provided visible, infrared and microwave imagery of Hurricane Michael as it tracks north in the eastern Atlantic. A stunning visible image of Hurricane Michael was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on Sept. 6 at 12:20 p.m. EDT. In the image, Michael's eye was so clear that the ocean surface is visible through it. Since that time infrared ...

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Science7 Sep 2012

Stress prompts some to retain as much salt as eating fries

AUGUSTA, Ga. – When stressed, about 30 percent of blacks hold onto too much sodium, the equivalent of eating a small order of fast food French fries or a small bag of potato chips, researchers say. "This response pattern puts you under a greater blood pressure load over the course of the day and probably throughout the night as well, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Gregory Harshfield, hypertension researcher at the Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Georgia Health Sciences University. In response to stress, they hold onto about 160 ...

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Social Science7 Sep 2012

Who's the most influential in a social graph?

At an airport, many people are essential for planes to take off. Gate staffs, refueling crews, flight attendants and pilots are in constant communication with each other as they perform required tasks. But it's the air traffic controller who talks with every plane, coordinating departures and runways. Communication must run through her in order for an airport to run smoothly and safely. In computational terms, the air traffic controller is the "betweenness centrality," the most connected person in the system. In this example, finding the key influencer is easy because ...

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Environment7 Sep 2012

Next generation of advanced climate models needed, says new report

WASHINGTON — The nation's collection of climate models should advance substantially to deliver more detailed, smaller scale climate projections, says a new report from the National Research Council. To meet this need, the report calls for these assorted climate models to take a more integrated path and use a common software infrastructure while adding regional detail, new simulation capabilities, and new approaches for collaborating with their user community. From farmers deciding which crops to plant next season, to mayors preparing for possible heat waves, to insurance ...

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Science7 Sep 2012

Experts recommend screening adults for hypertriglyceridemia every five years

Chevy Chase, MD—The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertriglyceridemia. Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood and are associated with cardiovascular risk. The CPG, entitled "Evaluation and Treatment of Hypertriglyceridemia: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline" appears in the September 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society. The most common reasons for high triglycerides include being overweight, lack ...

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Social Science7 Sep 2012

Analysis finds benefits to racial quotas in Brazilian higher education

A racial quota system at one of the leading universities in Brazil raised the proportion of black students from low-income families, without decreasing their efforts to succeed in school, a major new study finds. "Critics of affirmative action policies often argue that making it easier for people to get into college lowers their incentive to try hard academically. That argument doesn't stand up to our data," says Andrew Francis, an economist at Emory University and co-author of the study. Francis conducted the research with Maria Tannuri-Pianto, an economist at the ...

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Engineering7 Sep 2012

Northwestern researchers set world record for highest surface area material

Northwestern University researchers have broken a world record by creating two new synthetic materials with the greatest amount of surface areas reported to date. Named NU-109 and NU-110, the materials belong to a class of crystalline nanostructure known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are promising vessels for natural gas storage for vehicles, catalysts, and other sustainable materials chemistry. The materials' promise lies in their vast internal surface area. If the internal surface area of one NU-110 crystal the size of a grain of salt could be unfolded, ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Novel surgery removes rare tumor, rebuilds face and jaw

DETROIT – Using a novel surgical approach, it's possible to rebuild a functional lower jaw and mouth, and preserve a patient's ability to eat and speak after removing an invasive facial tumor, according to a new report from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. This case study not only documents a successful surgical technique to create a fully functional lower jaw, but also reports the rare occurrence of a bone cancer (osteosarcoma) that spread from the patient's right femur to his jaw bone. Most commonly, osteosarcoma is found in the long bones of the leg and does not ...

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Science7 Sep 2012

Study finds how BPA affects gene expression, anxiety; Soy mitigates effects

New research led by researchers at North Carolina State University shows that exposure to the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) early in life results in high levels of anxiety by causing significant gene expression changes in a specific region of the brain called the amygdala. The researchers also found that a soy-rich diet can mitigate these effects. "We knew that BPA could cause anxiety in a variety of species, and wanted to begin to understand why and how that happens," says Dr. Heather Patisaul, an associate professor of biology at NC State and lead author of a paper describing ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

University of Alberta medical scientists first in the world to look at structure of vital molecule

Molybdenum is an essential metal required in all living beings from bacteria to plants to humans. But as vital as this metal is, no one understood the importance of its structure until the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry's Joel Weiner and his team jumped on the case. Molybdenum plays critical roles in human health. It does not act alone but is found attached to certain proteins, called molybdenum enzymes, by a very large organic molecule. The organic molecule that holds the molybdenum in place in a protein is extraordinarily complex. and "expensive" for the cell to make, ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

People who get kidney stones more likely to develop kidney failure: U of A medical research

People who have had kidney stones are twice as likely to need dialysis or a kidney transplant later in life, demonstrates recently published findings by medical researchers at the University of Alberta. Their article was recently published in the British Medical Journal. Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researchers Todd Alexander and Marcello Tonelli tracked data of more than three million Albertans over an 11-year period from 1997 to 2009. They discovered those with a history of kidney stones were twice as likely to have serious kidney problems later in life when compared ...

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Environment7 Sep 2012

NASA saw Michael become an Atlantic hurricane, wind speed more than doubled

The Atlantic Ocean hurricane season spawned two hurricanes this week and NASA satellites have been monitoring them and providing valuable data to forecasters. NASA's TRMM satellite saw very heavy rainfall and powerful towering thunderstorms in Michael when the storm became a hurricane. Michael's wind speeds more than doubled in 24 hours and it is now a major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Tropical Storm Michael became a hurricane on Sept. 5 and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed by and collected data on rainfall and cloud heights. ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Rice University researchers optimize photoluminescent probes to study DNA and more

Sorting good data from bad is critical when analyzing microscopic structures like cells and their contents, according to researchers at Rice University. The trick is to find the right window of time through which to look. A new paper by the Rice lab of Angel Martí, an assistant professor of chemistry and bioengineering, offers a methodology to optimize the sensitivity of photoluminescent probes using time-resolved spectroscopy. Martí and co-author Kewei Huang, a graduate student in his group, found their technique gave results nearly twice as good as standard fluorescence ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Adding bavituximab to second-line chemotherapy doubles response rate

Adding the monoclonal antibody bavituximab to docetaxel chemotherapy doubles overall response rate and improves progression-free survival and overall survival in late-stage non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (NS-NSCLC) patients who have already received one prior chemotherapy regimen, according to research presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the International Association for the Study of Lung ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Genetic discovery in Montreal for a rare disease in Newfoundland

This press release is available in French.Researchers from the Guy Rouleau Laboratory affiliated with the CHUM Research Centre and the CHU–Sainte-Justine Research Centre have discovered the genetic cause of a rare disease reported only in patients originating from Newfoundland: hereditary spastic ataxia (HSA). This condition is characterized by lower-limb spasticity (or stiffness) and ataxia (lack of coordination), the latter leading to speech and swallowing problems, and eye movement abnormalities. The disease is not deadly, but people start developing gait problems ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Stage I NSCLC patients who receive radiation therapy are surviving longer

Stage I, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who received radiation therapy have an increased median survival of 21 months compared to 16 months, and the percentage of patients who receive no treatment declined from 20 percent to 16 percent, respectively, when comparing the two eras evaluated, 1999-2003 and 2004-2008, according to detailed analysis of the SEER-17 (Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results, National Cancer Institute) national database presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Brain radiation after lung cancer treatment reduces risk of cancer spreading

Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with surgery and/or radiation therapy have a significantly reduced risk of developing brain metastases if they also receive prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI); however, this study did not show an improvement in overall survival with PCI, according to research presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the International Association for the ...

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Science7 Sep 2012

Changes in water chemistry leave lake critters defenseless

TORONTO, Sept. 6, 2012 – Imagine that the players on your favourite football team were smaller than their opponents, and had to play without helmets or pads. Left defenseless, they would become easy prey for other teams. Similarly, changes in Canadian lake water chemistry have left small water organisms vulnerable to their predators, which may pose a serious environmental threat, according to a new study. "At low calcium levels the organisms grow slower and cannot build their armour," says study lead author Howard Riessen, professor of biology, SUNY College at Buffalo. ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Standard chemotherapy provides higher survival rate than experimental in lung cancer patients

Treatment with pemetrexed, carboplatin and bevacizumab followed by maintenance pemetrexed and bevacizumab (Pem+Cb+B) is no better than standard therapy with paclitaxel, carboplatin and bevacizumab followed by bevacizumab (Pac+Cb+B) in patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NS-NSCLC), according to research presented at the 2012 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the International Association ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Childhood virus RSV shows promise against adult cancer

SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 6, 2012) — RSV, a virus that causes respiratory infections in infants and young children, selectively kills cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone, researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio said. Santanu Bose, Ph.D., of the School of Medicine, is the inventor on a pending U.S. patent of RSV as an oncolytic therapy. This represents a new use for the virus. Bandana Chatterjee, Ph.D., of the School of Medicine and the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, is the co-inventor. Oncolytic ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Social psychologists espouse tolerance and diversity -- do they walk the walk?

Every ten years or so, someone will make the observation that there is a lack of political diversity among psychological scientists and a discussion about what ought to be done ensues. The notion that the field discriminates against and is skewed toward a liberal political perspective is worthy of concern; scholars, both within and outside the field, have offered various solutions to this diversity problem. As psychological scientists Yoel Inbar and Joris Lammers point out, however, we have few of the relevant facts necessary to understand and address the issue. In ...

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Medicine7 Sep 2012

Parents' skin cancer concern doesn't keep kids inside

Pick your poison: sun exposure that leads to skin cancer or low physical activity that leads to obesity? In fact, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease shows that parents' concern about skin cancer doesn't make them keep their kids indoors. "Actually, our hypothesis was the opposite – that if parents were concerned about skin cancer they wouldn't let their children go out as much," says Alexander Tran, summer fellow working with Lori Crane, PhD, CU Cancer Center investigator and chair of the Department ...

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Science7 Sep 2012

UF Guantanamo Bay Lepidoptera study sets baseline for future research

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida scientists publishing the first study on butterflies and moths of Guantanamo Bay Naval Station have discovered vast biodiversity in an area previously unknown to researchers. Appearing in the Bulletin of the Allyn Museum Sept. 5, the study creates a baseline for understanding how different plant and animal species have spread throughout the Caribbean. "Biodiversity studies are extremely important because they give us clues about where things were and how they evolved over time so we can better understand what may happen in ...

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