PITTSBURGH—A redesign of the nation's donor-liver distribution network developed by University of Pittsburgh researchers could result in several hundred more people each year receiving the transplants they need. The team reports in the journal INFORMS Management Science that donor livers currently are doled out to 11 national regions that evolved with little regard for geography and demographics, an arrangement that prevents many livers from getting to prospective recipients in time. The Pitt researchers instead trimmed the network down to six regions that better account ...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - New findings by a University of Maryland-led team of scientists indicate that a genetically engineered fungus carrying genes for a human anti-malarial antibody or a scorpion anti-malarial toxin could be a highly effective, specific and environmentally friendly tool for combating malaria, at a time when the effectiveness of current pesticides against malaria mosquitoes is declining. In a study published in the February 25 issue of the journal Science, the researchers also say that this general approach could be used for controlling other devastating ...

SEATTLE – Full-term pregnancy has long been associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer, but a new study finds that the more times a woman gives birth, the higher her risk of "triple-negative" breast cancer, a relatively uncommon but particularly aggressive subtype of the disease. Conversely, women who never give birth have a 40 percent lower risk of such breast cancer, which has a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer and doesn't respond to hormone-blocking therapies such as tamoxifen. These findings, from a study led by Amanda Phipps, Ph.D., a postdoctoral ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — There's more than one way to silence gene activity, according to a Michigan State University researcher. Downregulating activity is how healthy genes should shift out of their development cycle. The results, published in this week's Current Biology, discuss how specific repressor proteins – which researchers have named Hairy and Knirps – slow genes during development and how the process is comparable to slowing down a car, says molecular biologist David Arnosti. The binding of repressor proteins to DNA provides a molecular switch for such regulation. ...

As if the recent prediction that half of all Americans will have diabetes or pre-diabetes by the year 2020 isn't alarming enough, a new genetic discovery published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) provides a disturbing explanation as to why: we took an evolutionary "wrong turn." In the research report, scientists show that human evolution leading to the loss of function in a gene called "CMAH" may make humans more prone to obesity and diabetes than other mammals. "Diabetes is estimated to affect over 25 million individuals in the U.S., and 285 million ...

How severe can climate change become in a warming world? Worse than anything we've seen in written history, according to results of a study appearing this week in the journal Science. An international team of scientists led by Curt Stager of Paul Smith's College, New York, has compiled four dozen paleoclimate records from sediment cores in Lake Tanganyika and other locations in Africa. The records show that one of the most widespread and intense droughts of the last 50,000 years or more struck Africa and Southern Asia 17,000 to 16,000 years ago. Between 18,000 and 15,000 ...

Cambridge, MA- Adding particles to liquids to make currents visible is a common practice in the study of fluid mechanics. The approach was adopted and perfected by artist Paul Matisse in sculptures he calls Kalliroscopes. Matisse's glass-enclosed liquid sculptures contain an object whose movement through the liquid creates whorls that can be seen only because elongated particles trailing the object align with the direction of the current; light reflects off the particles, making the current visible to the viewer. Researchers at MIT recently demonstrated that this same ...

With the genetics of so many organisms that have different traits yet to study, and with the techniques for gathering full sets of genetic information from organisms rapidly evolving, the "forest" of evolution can be easily lost to the "trees" of each individual case and detail. A review paper published this week in Science by David Wake, Marvalee Wake and Chelsea Specht, all currently National Science Foundation grantees, suggests that studying examples of homoplasy can help scientists analyze the overwhelming deluge of genetic data and information that is currently ...

Montreal, February 24, 2011 – The interventional cardiology team at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) recently began patient enrolment for a new device, the Neovasc ReducerTM, designed to treat patients suffering from refractory angina. The treatment method is a first in North America and is being conducted as part of an international study, the COSIRA trial. This innovative treatment is promising for thousands of Canadians disabled by refractory angina and who lack alternatives for relieving their symptoms and improving their quality of life. Developed in Canada by ...

A strong link between victimization experiences and substance abuse has been discovered by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The correlation is especially prevalent among gays, lesbians and bisexuals -- more so than in heterosexuals, says Tonda Hughes, professor and interim head of health systems science in the UIC College of Nursing. Hughes is lead author of the study, published in the journal Addiction. Researchers compared victimization experiences of unwanted sexual activity, neglect, physical violence, and assault with a weapon, across four ...

ARLINGTON, Va. - One Sailor's request to replace humming fluorescent bulbs with a quiet alternative inspired the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to create the Solid State Lighting (SSL) project, currently being evaluated aboard several ships and submarines across the U.S. Navy. A product of ONR's TechSolutions program, SSL is one of several rapid-response technologies created using recommendations and suggestions from Navy and Marine Corps personnel. (Watch TechSolutions products in action via YouTube.) The SSL project introduced the energy-saving, nonhazardous LED ...

Age alters memory. But in what ways, and why? These questions comprise a vast puzzle for neurologists and psychologists. A new study looked at one puzzle piece: how older and younger adults encode and recall distracting, or irrelevant, information. The results, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association of Psychological Science, can help scientists better understand memory and aging. "Our world contains so much information; we don't always know which is relevant and which is irrelevant," said Nigel Gopie, who cowrote the study with Fergus I.M. Craik ...

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego say an evolutionary gene mutation that occurred in humans millions of years ago and our subsequent inability to produce a specific kind of sialic acid molecule appears to make people more vulnerable to developing type 2 diabetes, especially if they’re overweight. The findings are published in the Feb. 24 online edition of The FASEB Journal, a publication of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology. Corresponding study author, Jane ...

Wheat growers in the Southwest have a better idea about how to adjust to climate change in the decades ahead, thanks to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists in Arizona. Researchers with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) installed infrared heaters in experimental wheat fields at the agency's Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center in Maricopa, Ariz., to simulate growing conditions expected by 2050. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA priority of responding to climate change. Wheat ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research shows that a less-toxic combination of a targeted immune-based drug and a chemotherapy drug can produce long-term remissions in some chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients. And it does so without increasing the risk of later therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia, which can often occur with a three-drug combination used to treat these patients. The multi-institutional study, led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research ...

Spraying malaria-transmitting mosquitoes with a genetically modified fungus can kill the malaria parasite without harming the mosquito, potentially reducing malaria transmission to humans, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, the study was led by Raymond J. St. Leger, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland, College Park. An estimated 225 million malaria cases occur worldwide annually, resulting in about 781,000 deaths each year, ...

MOAB, Utah — Drier conditions projected to result from climate change in the Southwest will likely reduce perennial vegetation cover and result in increased dust storm activity in the future, according to a new study by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of California, Los Angeles. The research team examined climate, vegetation and soil measurements collected over a 20-year period in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in southeastern Utah. Long-term data indicated that perennial vegetation in grasslands and some shrublands declined with temperature ...

Boulder, CO, USA - GSA BULLETIN is now posting pre-issue publication content -- finalized papers that are ready to go to press and not under embargo. GSA invites you to sign up for e-alerts and be the first to have access to new journal content as it becomes available. Sign in at http://www.gsapubs.org/cgi/alerts with your e-mail address to manage subscriptions for pre-issue postings, full tables of contents alerts, and more. Keywords: Silicic calderas, Quaternary, Iberian Peninsula, Tsuboi's technique, Colorado River, Gran Desierto dune field, ASTER. Eel River, LiDAR, ...

Acute viral infection does not appear to be a primary cause of acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive, deadly disease resulting in thickening and scarring of the lungs, according to a study conducted by researchers from the U.S., Korea and Japan. Previous studies had suggested viral infection might cause exacerbation of IPF in a majority of patients who have the condition, which occurs most often in people between 50 and 70 years of age. The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American ...

A team of scientists led by John Badding, a professor of chemistry at Penn State University, has developed the very first optical fiber made with a core of zinc selenide -- a light-yellow compound that can be used as a semiconductor. The new class of optical fiber, which allows for a more effective and liberal manipulation of light, promises to open the door to more versatile laser-radar technology. Such technology could be applied to the development of improved surgical and medical lasers, better countermeasure lasers used by the military, and superior environment-sensing ...

At the 3rd International Conference on innovative approaches in Head and Neck Oncology (ICHNO), Dr Hanna Rahbek Mortensen and colleagues at hospitals and institutes in Denmark presented results from a large prospective trial, the DAHANCA 6 & 7 study. The study, conducted across the country, investigated risk factors for developing dysphagia (swallowing dysfunction), after undergoing radiotherapy treatment for a head & neck cancer. "We followed 1,476 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and found out the existence of factors related to the cancer itself, ...

Boston, MA – The World Bank and World Health Organization have voiced fears that policymakers will break their commitments to support desperately needed global health services in low- and middle-income countries because of the ongoing global economic downturn. Yet, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health, there is surprisingly little historical evidence to justify reversing these commitments. "In order to achieve a sustainable economic recovery, governments must first take care of people's most basic health needs," said David Stuckler, assistant ...

An inexpensive and rapid testing method can effectively identify a sub-group of never-smoking lung cancer patients whose tumors express a molecule associated with increased risk of disease progression or recurrence, US researchers have found. Dr Ping Yang from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, and colleagues, reported the findings at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), 24-26 February 2011, Lugano, Switzerland. Approximately 8% - 12% of patients with lung adenocarcinoma who have never smoked cigarettes carry tumors that express a protein ...

Spanish researchers have identified a gene whose expression level strongly predicts how well certain lung cancer patients will respond to treatment with the drug erlotinib. Dr Rafael Rosell and colleagues reported their findings at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), 24-26 February 2011 in Lugano, Switzerland. The researchers studied 55 patients with non-small cell lung cancer, whose tumors had mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene. All were being treated with the drug erlotinib, which acts on the EGFR molecule. "Currently ...

A drug that is currently used to help treat bone metastases in patients with lung cancer could also be useful at an earlier stage of treatment, to prevent the cancer from spreading in the first place, Italian researchers have found. Dr Michela Quirino and colleagues from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome have reported important new evidence that zoledronic acid may be able to prevent lung cancer metastases from recruiting the new blood vessels they need to survive. This process of recruiting new blood vessels is called angiogenesis. "Our investigation ...