NEW YORK, NY -- A study by Columbia researchers suggests that cells in the patient's intestine could be coaxed into making insulin, circumventing the need for a stem cell transplant. Until now, stem cell transplants have been seen by many researchers as the ideal way to replace cells lost in type I diabetes and to free patients from insulin injections. The research—conducted in mice—was published 11 March 2012 in the journal Nature Genetics. Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The pancreas cannot replace these ...

Medical professionals have long thought that traumatic brain injuries do not affect young children as significantly as they do adults. Two new studies, however, suggest otherwise. Young children suffering from severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) may actually suffer continued impairment later in life than experts first thought. The studies yielded important new information on childhood traumatic brain injuries. Children who suffered severe traumatic brain injuries, for example, had slower intellectual functioning, showing that the traumatic brain injury may have affected ...

A retinoid called all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), which is a vitamin A-derivative, is already used successfully to treat a rare sub-type of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), however this drug has not been effective for the more common types of AMLs. Team leader Arthur Zelent, Ph.D., and colleagues at the ICR have been working to unlock the potential of retinoids to treat other patients with AML. In a paper published in Nature Medicine today, they show that the key could be an antidepressant called tranylcypromine (TCP). "Retinoids have already transformed one rare type ...

The newly renovated Comfort Inn & Conference Center Northeast in Atlanta, near Doraville, offers special rates to fans attending the 2012 NCAA South Regional Men's Basketball Tournament at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, GA. The Road to the Final Four , the NCAA South Regional (Division I) tournament will be held from March 23 - 25, 2012. Featuring the NCAA "Sweet 16 " and "Elite Eight " Rounds of the NCAA Tournament, this year's winner of the two-day event will be awarded a spot in the 2012 NCAA Final FOUR that will be held in New Orleans. Located ...

Sheraton Atlanta Perimeter Hotel North, located in Sandy Springs, GA near Atlanta Perimeter Center, announces a new special savings package. Travelers can enjoy luxury for less with this exclusive offer for members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program. Book weekend stays now through March 31, 2013 and enjoy: - Up to 35% off Best Available rates - Continental breakfast for two Reference rate plan SPG35B. Offer is subject to availability; some restrictions may apply. "Conveniently situated only 15 miles north of downtown Atlanta and near many of the areas points ...

Peritectic solidification involves the nucleation and growth of the primary phase, the peritectic reaction of the primary phase with the remnant liquid phase, and the microstructural evolution of the product peritectic phase. It provides an effective approach for the synthesis or processing of various kinds of advanced materials. Professor WEI Bingbo and his group from the Department of Applied Physics, Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), in Xi'an, China, have demonstrated novel dual solidification mechanisms for a ternary Fe47.5Cu47.5Sn5 peritectic-type alloy. ...

Rodriguez MD, a leading Lawrenceville clinic and bilingual Lawrenceville family practice near Gwinnett Medical Center, is currently offering spring allergy testing and treatments. This includes treatments for inhalant allergies, reactions to foods, hay fever, chronic sinus problems, immune disorders, eczema, and hives. Rodriguez MD offers comprehensive evaluations; then they will provide diagnosis and sustainable treatment plans. This may include giving allergy shots. The spring season is a common time for people to experience increased reactions to allergies caused ...

A new analysis led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that circumcision before a male's first sexual intercourse may help protect against prostate cancer. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that circumcision can hinder infection and inflammation that may lead to this malignancy. Infections are known to cause cancer, and research suggests that sexually transmitted infections may contribute to the development of prostate cancer. Also, certain sexually transmitted infections ...

The number of children with conditions such as muscular dystrophy, neurodegenerative disorders or severe cerebral palsy who are surviving into adulthood has been underestimated, a new study shows. Research led from the University of Leeds, has shown that the number of children and young adults in England with a 'life limiting condition'* is far higher than had previously been thought and is increasing year on year. As numbers continue to rise, this will place a growing burden on paediatric palliative care providers and young adult services, particularly in deprived areas. The ...

Energy is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Prior to deregulation, there was an energy monopoly which generally set the rates that consumers paid. Because of the lack of competition, it became very easy for a company to make tremendous profits at the expense of the consumer. When deregulation came into the picture, the energy industry opened its doors for competition in the marketplace - creating a win/win situation for the consumer. Ambit Energy is a leading energy provider supplying natural gas and electricity to residents in Texas, New York, Illinois, ...

Gemstone dealer with over 20 years' experience investigates the mysterious Mayan crystal skull. Wayne Sedawie, founder of Gemrockauctions.com, has been wholesaling and cut over a million gemstones and sold over 1000 crystal skulls and has an experienced understanding of all aspects of how a crystal skull could have been carved! With in-depth gemstone knowledge and practical experience he has researched and investigated the crystal skull mystery and used his experience from operating Gemstone cutting factories, Opal mining operations and International gemstone wholesale ...

Rhode Island Attorney, David Slepkow, was honored to be sworn into the Exclusive United States Supreme Court Bar. This honor is a culmination of 15 years of Legal excellence by RI Auto Accident and Family Law Lawyer, David Slepkow. David is also honored to receive a Superb rating by AVVO, an industry leading Legal Information provider. This is the highest rating that AVVO awards to attorneys. Rhode Island Personal Injury Attorney David also was rated 4.9 out of 5, Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell Client Review Rating. Martindale-Hubbell states the following on its ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– What if bacteria could talk to each other? What if they had a sense of touch? A new study by researchers at UC Santa Barbara suggests both, and theorizes that such cells may, in fact, need to communicate in order to perform certain functions. The findings appear today in the journal Genes & Development. Christopher Hayes, UCSB associate professor of molecular, cellular, and development biology, teamed with graduate students Elie Diner, Christina Beck, and Julia Webb to study uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), which causes urinary tract infections ...

Indiana University biologists have found that specific types of RNA polymerase enzymes, the molecular machines that convert DNA into RNA, can differ in function based on variation in the parts -- in this case protein subunits -- used to assemble those machines. The new findings on the synthesis and function of different RNA polymerases (Pols), including two RNA polymerases that lead author Craig Pikaard discovered over a decade ago -- the plant-specific enzymes Pol IV and Pol V -- indicate that subunit composition of the polymerases plays a role in selecting how some ...

Treatment with vitamin D reduced the size of uterine fibroids in laboratory rats predisposed to developing the benign tumors, reported researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. Uterine fibroids are the most common noncancerous tumors in women of childbearing age. Fibroids grow within and around the wall of the uterus. Thirty percent of women 25 to 44 years of age report fibroid-related symptoms, such as lower back pain, heavy vaginal bleeding or painful menstrual periods. Uterine fibroids also are associated with infertility and such pregnancy complications ...

For the last dozen years, scientists have known that minuscule strings of genetic material called small RNA are critically important to our genetic makeup. But finding out what they do hasn't been easy. Now a scientist from Michigan Technological University and his team have developed a way to turn off small RNAs and find out just how important they can be. When it comes to inheritance, DNA is just the half of it. What we are is also driven by the epigenetic world of RNA: the countless, twisting molecules that DNA churns out. RNA in turn transforms the amino acid soup ...

Researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have identified a new function for a gene that normally prevents the development of cancer. Scientists had known that the gene, which encodes a protein called p14 ARF, works inside the cell to control proliferation and division. A team led by Erwin Van Meir, PhD, discovered that p14 ARF also regulates tumor-induced angiogenesis, the process by which growing cancers attract new blood vessels. The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provide insight into how cancers form and progress, ...

VIDEO: The new simulation program represents every individual in a ten-thousand crowd and shows color-coded crowd densities. Click here for more information. At twenty past five on Saturday evening in the German city of Kaiserslautern, 40,000 rival soccer fans pour out of the Fritz-Walter stadium after the final whistle has been blown on a league game. All of the fans are either heading to the parking lots or train stations. Even without any incidents, this is a difficult ...

ENERGY -- Designing tomorrow's water heater . . . Consumers and the environment could ultimately be the beneficiaries of a high-efficiency CO2 heat pump water heater concept being researched by General Electric and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Through a cooperative research and development agreement, GE and ORNL are designing a prototype residential water heater that will feature an energy factor of greater than 2.0 with a first hour rating of more than 50 gallons. If the design proves to be technically and economically viable, it could ultimately result in a commercial ...

First, the bad news: all across America, trucks and tractor-trailers are transporting industrial explosives on nearly every artery of the country's interstate and highway system. That's right, volatile explosives, including munitions, rocket motors, and dynamite, are moving at a high rate of speed down a roadway not too far from you. Now, the good news: America's track record in transporting these materials is about as safe as they come. Very rarely, almost never in fact, are the potential dangers of these transports realized, largely due to instituted safeguards that ...

Cleveland . . . Cut marks found on Ice Age bones indicate that humans in Ohio hunted or scavenged animal meat earlier than previously known. Dr. Brian Redmond, curator of archaeology at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, was lead author on research published in the Feb. 22, 2012 online issue of the journal World Archaeology. Redmond and researchers analyzed 10 animal bones found in 1998 in the collections of the Firelands Historical Society Museum in Norwalk, Ohio. Found by society member and co-author Matthew Burr, the bones were from a Jefferson's Ground Sloth. ...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- More than 70 years after the first sulfa drugs helped to revolutionize medical care and save millions of lives, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have determined at an atomic level the mechanism these medications use to kill bacteria. The discovery provides the basis for a new generation of antibiotics that would likely be harder for bacteria to resist and cause fewer side effects. The work focused on sulfa drugs and their target enzyme, dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS). Most disease-causing microorganisms need DHPS to help make the molecule ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Four leading heart organizations representing cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons released initial recommendations today for creating and maintaining transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) programs. The recommendations are aimed at ensuring optimal care for patients with aortic stenosis, a form of valvular heart disease, as use of the new TAVR procedure grows. Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of TAVR in November 2011, interest in the procedure has quickly grown among cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons as ...

Grave consequences can result from bad decisions made by people in leadership positions. Case in point: the 2009 Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster. British Petroleum (BP) executives had downplayed potential risks associated with their oil well, claiming that it was virtually impossible that a major accident would ever occur. That same oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and causing a massive oil spill that's costing BP an estimated $100 billion. For USC Marshall professor Nathanael Fast and his co-authors, the BP case represents only one example that illustrates a fundamental ...

Miami, FL – March 1, 2012 -- Scientists at the Diabetes Research Institute have developed a revolutionary technique to provide critical oxygen for maintaining the survival of insulin-producing cells. This is the first time that scientists have been able to successfully deliver oxygen locally to beta cells using a biomaterial. The results of the study, which represents a major step toward the goal of developing an alternative site to house insulin-producing cells, were just published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). One ...