How the frequency and intensity of wildfires and intentional biomass burning will change in a future climate requires closer scientific attention, according to CSIRO's Dr Melita Keywood. Dr Keywood said it is likely that fire – one of nature's primary carbon-cycling mechanisms – will become an increasingly important driver of atmospheric change as the world warms. "Understanding changes in the occurrence and magnitude of fires will be an important challenge for which there needs to be a clear focus on the tools and methodologies available to scientists to predict ...

Scripps Research Institute scientists have discovered a basic mechanism that can enable developing cancer cells to sustain abnormal growth. The finding is expected to lead to the targeting of this mechanism with drugs and diagnostic techniques. The study, which recently appeared in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, illuminates the roles of two nearly identical proteins, Cks1 and Cks2. These proteins were known to be overexpressed in many cancers, but scientists hadn't understood why. Now it appears that Cks proteins' overexpression ...

Lung cancer patients given amrubicin (Calsed) as a second-line therapy had a significantly improved response rate and longer progression-free survival than patients treated with topotecan (Hycamtin), according to research presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). "Amrubicin showed significant improvements in tumor shrinkage, symptom control and progression-free survival over topotecan without improving overall survival, the primary endpoint of the trial," said principal ...

In the largest reported series yet to compare transcervical extended mediastinal lymphadenectomy (TEMLA) with endoscopic and surgical primary staging and restaging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), TEMLA showed a significantly higher diagnostic yield, according to research presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Diagnostic yield refers to the likelihood that a procedure will provide the necessary information to establish a diagnosis. In the study, 617 patients ...

Patients who underwent endoscopic testing prior to surgery for lung cancer had significantly better quality of life at the end of the staging process, with no significant difference in costs between the two strategies, according to data presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). "Given that assessment of lymph glands using the endoscopic approach was more effective, better tolerated by patients and no more expensive than the surgical approaches, we recommend that investigation ...

Cancer patients with blood clots -- which occur in one of every 200 cancer patients and are the second most common cause of death among cancer patients -- gain no benefit from the insertion of an inferior vena cava filter (IVCF) to the anticoagulant medication fondaparinux (Arixtra), according to research presented today at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. "This is the first prospective study to evaluate the treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) or blood clots in cancer patients and is ...

SAN DIEGO, CA – Creating a baseline for each youth athlete is a critical part of accurate future concussion assessment, according to researchers presenting their study at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Diego. Differences in how females and males scored on a standardized concussion assessment tool were also investigated. "Our research analyzed whether the new Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-2 (SCAT2) has any variability in data for youth athletes and whether gender makes a difference on the scores," said presenting researcher, ...

SAN DIEGO, CA – Gender may be associated with an increased risk of cartilage lesions in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injured knees, according to research being presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Diego. "Having articular cartilage lesions (a hole or rough spot in the cartilage of the knee) is considered a predictor of future osteoarthritis-a debilitating joint condition," said lead author Jan Harald Roetterud, MD, from Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway. "Our research is exciting because it highlights ...

SAN DIEGO, CA – A smaller sized hamstring graft in an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction patient less than 20 years old may increase revision rates, according to research presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Diego today. "Hamstring grafts are commonly used in ACL reconstruction surgeries and vary in size, with the average being 8mm in diameter. Our research illustrated that when a patient was younger than 20 years old and had a graft of less than 8mm, they were more likely to have a future revision surgery," ...

SAN DIEGO, CA – A history of cancer was a significant risk factor for developing blood clotting issues following knee arthroscopy, according to a study being presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Diego. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota analyzed the records of more than 12,000 patients who had undergone the common knee procedure. "A history of malignancy has not been widely recognized as a significant risk factor for developing a VTE (venous thromboembolytic event) following knee arthroscopy," ...

An international team of scientists has discovered that the female ancestor of all living polar bears was a brown bear that lived in the vicinity of present-day Britain and Ireland just prior to the peak of the last ice age -- 20,000 to 50,000 years ago. Beth Shapiro, the Shaffer Associate Professor of Biology at Penn State University and one of the team's leaders, explained that climate changes affecting the North Atlantic ice sheet probably gave rise to periodic overlaps in bear habitats. These overlaps then led to hybridization, or interbreeding -- an event that caused ...

Foxp2, a gene involved in speech and language, helps regulate the wiring of neurons in the brain, according to a study which will be published on July 7th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. The researchers identified this functional link by first identifying the major targets of Foxp2 in developing brain tissue and then analysing the function of relevant neurons. Foxp2 codes for a regulatory protein that provides a window into unusual aspects of brain function. In 2001, scientists discovered that mutations of the human gene cause a rare form of speech and language ...

Researchers have uncovered a new target that could stop the growth of glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. In the July 8th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, a new study identifies an enzyme found in glioma stem cells that allows them to grow and seed tumors. Importantly, normal stem cells, including those in the brain, don't appear to share that same dependency. "When thinking about therapeutics [targeting cancer stem cells], you have to be careful that you aren't interfering with normal stem cells," said Christine Eyler of the Cleveland Clinic. ...

Polar bears' unique characteristics allow them to survive in one of the most extreme environments on Earth, but that survival is now threatened as rising temperatures and melting ice reshape the Arctic landscape. Now it appears that the stress of climate change, occurring both long ago and today, may be responsible for surprising twists in the bears' history and future as well. According to DNA evidence reported in the July 7th Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, polar bears and brown bears have mated successfully many times in the last 100,000 years. As a result ...

An injection of stem cells into the heart could offer hope to many of the 850,000 Americans whose chest pain doesn't subside even with medicine, angioplasty or surgery, according to a study in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association. Patients who received the new treatment reported half as many chest pain episodes and improved exercise capability compared to those who received a placebo. The study was the first randomized, controlled trial of stem-cell therapy to show significant improvements in both chest pain and exercise tolerance – the two ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- It seems we may have parasites to thank for the existence of sex as we know it. Indiana University biologists have found that, although sexual reproduction between two individuals is costly from an evolutionary perspective, it is favored over self-fertilization in the presence of coevolving parasites. Sex allows parents to produce offspring that are more resistant to the parasites, while self-fertilization dooms populations to extinction at the hands of their biological enemies. The July 8 report in Science, "Running with the Red Queen: Host-Parasite ...

Lesions to the brain or spinal cord rarely heal fully, which leads to permanent functional impairment. After injury to the central nervous system (CNS), neurons are lost and largely replaced by a scar often referred to as the glial scar based on its abundance of supporting glial cells. Although this process has been known to science for over a century, the function of the scar tissue has long been disputed. However, there are indications that it stabilizes the tissue and that it inhibits the re-growth of damaged nerve fibres. In this present study, Professor Jonas Frisén ...

An analysis of heart disease and stroke statistics collected in 192 countries by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the relative burden of the two diseases varies widely from country to country and is closely linked to national income, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. Reporting this week in the journal Circulation, the UCSF scientists found that developing countries tend to suffer more death and disability by stroke than heart disease – opposite the situation in the United States and other countries with higher national ...

Boulder, CO, USA – Highlights for articles published online 7 July 2011 are provided below. Keywords include: Coast Mountains batholith, Anderson Reservoir, Canada, Alaska, Chugach terrane, Valdez Group, Basin and Range province, and Sierra Nevada. LITHOSPHERE is now regularly posting pre-issue publication content -- finalized papers ready to go to press and not under embargo. GSA invites you to sign up for e-alerts (http://www.gsapubs.org/cgi/alerts) or RSS feeds (http://lithosphere.gsapubs.org/rss/) to have access to new journal content as soon as it is posted online. ...

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- High blood pressure during pregnancy is a leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality worldwide. Pregnant women face a risk of stroke that is 2.4 times higher than the risk in non-pregnant women, according to a medical journal article by Loyola University Health System researchers. The review article on pregnancy-induced high-blood-pressure syndromes is published in the journal Women's Health. "Prompt diagnosis and identification of patients at risk allows for early therapeutic interventions and improved clinical outcomes," the Loyola authors wrote. Pregnancy-induced ...

SAN DIEGO, CA – Lace-up ankle braces can reduce the occurrence of acute ankle injuries in male and female high school basketball players, according to research presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Diego. The study demonstrated that the braces are effective for athletes both with and without a history of ankle injury. "We wanted to see whether the use of lace-up ankle braces is a viable option for injury prevention in high school basketball players," said lead researcher, Timothy A. McGuine, PhD, ATC, with the University ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL 12P.M. EST, Friday, July 8, 2011, Cleveland: Cleveland Clinic researchers have identified a cellular pathway that cancer stem cells use to promote tumor growth in malignant glioma, an aggressive brain tumor. The research – published in the July 8 issue of Cell – also found that existing medications block this cancer-promoting pathway and delay glioma growth in animal models, suggesting a new treatment option for these often fatal brain tumors. Malignant gliomas account for more than half of the 35,000-plus primary malignant brain tumors diagnosed each ...

Advances in research into Alzheimer's disease: transporter proteins at the blood CSF barrier and vitamin D may help prevent amyloid β build up in the brain Advancing age is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and is associated with build- up of the peptide amyloid β in the brain. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Fluids and Barriers of the CNS shows that removal of amyloid β from the brain depends on vitamin D and also on an age-related alteration in the production of transporter proteins which move amyloid β in ...

Geneva/Boston (July 8, 2011) -- Today at the Neglected Tropical Diseases Meeting of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID-NTD) in Boston, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) announced the first research and development project in its new helminth infection drug portfolio to address unmet needs of patients in Africa and Asia. The project will assess the potential of the drug flubendazole to treat a highly neglected subset of helminth infections, notably co-infection of two of the three filarial diseases: onchocerciasis (river blindness) ...

Scientists have shed light on why it is easier to learn about things related to what we already know than it is to learn about unfamiliar things, according to a new study. The team says this is a paradox, as very different things are arguably more novel, yet adding to what we already know is so much easier. Researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Tokyo have found that building on existing knowledge activates a key set of genes in the brain. These 'plasticity' genes do not respond so well to subjects about which we know very little, making it harder for us ...