The University of Colorado Boulder is involved with five different space science payloads ranging from antibody tests that may lead to new bone-loss treatments to an experiment to improve vaccine effectiveness for combating salmonella when Atlantis thunders skyward July 8 on the last of NASA's 135 space shuttle missions. One experiment, sponsored by the global pharmaceutical companies Amgen and UCB, will test an antibody to sclerostin -- a protein that has a negative effect on bone formation, mass and strength -- on lab mice flying on the shuttle. Researchers on the project ...

One of nature's most perfect foods may be even better for us than previously thought. While eggs are well known to be an excellent source of proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals, researchers at the University of Alberta recently discovered they also contain antioxidant properties, which helps in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Jianping Wu, Andreas Schieber and graduate students Chamila Nimalaratne and Daise Lopes-Lutz of the U of A Department of Agricultural Food and Nutritional Science examined egg yolks produced by hens fed typical diets of ...

HOUSTON- (July 5, 2011) - The self-paced walking test, known as the 400-meter walk test, is effective in measuring improved physical function in postmenopausal women who have lost weight through healthy physical activity and dietary changes, according to collaborative research conducted by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and The University of Pittsburgh. "The 400-meter self-paced walk test is a simple, cost-efficient and effective test clinicians or researchers can use to evaluate progress in a weight loss or physical activity program," ...

The size of leaves can vary by a factor of 1,000 across plant species, but until now, the reason why has remained a mystery. A new study by an international team of scientists led by UCLA life scientists goes a long way toward solving it. In research federally funded by the National Science Foundation, the biologists found that smaller leaves are structurally and physiologically better adapted to dry soil because of their distinct vein systems. The research will be published in an upcoming print issue of the journal Plant Physiology and is currently available in ...

A team of researchers led by Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) oncologist Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., has identified a genetic marker that may predict which patients with rectal cancer can be cured by certain chemotherapies when combined with surgery. The discovery, scheduled for publication in the August 1 edition of Clinical Cancer Research, brings doctors closer to customizing cancer treatment to individual patients. Lenz, professor of medicine and preventive medicine in the division of medical oncology at the Keck School and the study's ...

Archaea are among the oldest known life-forms, but they are not well understood. It was only in the 1970s that these single-celled microorganisms were designated as a domain of life distinct from bacteria and multicellular organisms called eukaryotes. Robert Gunsalus, a UCLA professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, developed an interest in Archaea because of their ability to thrive in harsh environments. Now, using state-of-the-art imaging equipment at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA, he has shown for the first time that a type ...

EUGENE, Ore. -- Emerging from the heads of most cud-chewing mammals, headgear inspire an almost mystical and certainly majestic aura. But, scientists say, we know shockingly little about them. In a paper appearing online ahead of regular publication in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a London-based international journal dedicated to biology, a three-member scientific team spells out what is known -- and not known -- about antlers, horns, pronghorns and ossicones. For antlers, think deer, moose and elk. Horns are worn by cattle, sheep and goats; ossicones by ...

Increasing a specific protein in areas of the pancreas that produce insulin blocks the immune attack that causes type 1 diabetes, researchers reported in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, published early online. The discovery could lead to a drug that prevents the progression of type 1 diabetes in people newly diagnosed who are in the "honeymoon" phase of the disease, when the immune system has not yet destroyed all of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The finding could also lead to new drugs for overcoming organ rejection in ...

July 5, 2011– Anxiety, stress and depression during pregnancy may lead to a greater risk of asthma for your child, according to researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Study results are published in the July issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). "Approximately 70% of mothers who said they experienced high levels of anxiety or depression while they were pregnant reported their child had wheezed before age 5," said Marilyn Reyes, senior research ...

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed a technique that delivers gene therapy into human brain cancer cells using nanoparticles that can be freeze-dried and stored for up to three months prior to use. The shelf-stable particles may obviate the need for virus-mediated gene therapy, which has been associated with safety concerns. The report appears in the August issue of Biomaterials. "Most nonviral gene therapy methods have very low efficacy," says Jordan Green, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins. ...

A significant discovery by University of Adelaide researchers shows that the loss of a twin during early pregnancy explains the increased risk of birth defects in multiple IVF pregnancies. The annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Stockholm today will hear Associate Professor Michael Davies explain how the "vanishing twin" phenomenon is linked to a nearly two-fold increased risk of congenital malformation in the surviving baby, and a threefold increase in multiple birth defects. The phenomenon occurs when there are fewer babies ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – New research finds breastfeeding doesn't appear to protect against multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses, despite previous studies suggesting there may be a protective role. The research is published in the July 6, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). "Breastfeeding should not be encouraged by doctors to protect against MS relapses, especially among women with MS who have high disease activity and high risk of postpartum relapses," said study author Emilio Portaccio, MD, of the University of Florence ...

If Canada's smoking rates were cut by half to an average national rate of 11% within five years, it would result in 35,900 fewer cases of lung cancer by 2030 and save $656 million in treatment costs, according to analysis using a new web-enabled platform developed for the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). "The Cancer Risk Management simulation model developed for the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer simulates the demographic ...

Women, older people and minorities are enrolled less frequently in lung cancer drug trials and the numbers do not reflect the prevalence of lung cancer in these populations, 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). "Our results suggest that the trial population used for approval of drugs do not represent well the U.S. population who may receive the marketed agent," said principal investigator Dr. Shakun Malik, a medical officer at the U.S. Food ...

New developments such as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy and improvements in surgical care in early-stage lung cancer have led to large survival gains for elderly Dutch patients, according to a population-based study presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). The median survival for Dutch non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients increased by nearly 8 months between 2003 and 2009, following the advent of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy. "In fit patients, surgery ...

Increased investment in specialist thoracic surgical expertise can lead to a significant rise in the lung cancer resection rate, based on data from England between 2008 and 2009 that was presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). In England, lung cancer resection is less common than in other countries, and is performed by both cardiothoracic and pure thoracic surgeons. Researchers tested the hypotheses that resection rate was related to the caseload and local provision ...

PHILADELPHIA — Celecoxib may emerge as a potent chemopreventive agent for lung cancer, according to a recent study in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Researchers tested celecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor, among patients who were former smokers and found a significant benefit in bronchial health as measured by the Ki-67 labeling index, a marker of cellular proliferation or growth, as well as a number of other biomarkers. The findings follow a previous report published in Cancer Prevention Research that showed a similar effect ...

(Deerfield, Ill., USA - July 6, 2011) A cheap, common heartworm medication that is already being used to fight other parasites in Africa could also dramatically interrupt transmission of malaria, potentially providing an inexpensive tool to fight a disease that kills almost 800,000 people each year, according to a new study published today in the July edition of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The study by scientists from Senegal and Colorado State University found that transmission of malaria parasites by mosquitoes fell substantially among people ...

Professional development workshops for college teachers, designed to encourage the use of active, "learner-centered" teaching methods, may be less effective than the participants believe, according to research reported in the July issue of BioScience. Diane Ebert-May of Michigan State University and her colleagues studied the teaching of participants in two such established programs for faculty teaching introductory biology courses. Although after the workshops most of the faculty judged themselves to be providing the favored, learner-centered teaching, which encourages ...

Gray whales survived many cycles of global cooling and warming over the past few million years, likely by exploiting a more varied diet than they do today, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, and Smithsonian Institution paleontologists. The researchers, who analyzed California gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) responses to climate change over the past 120,000 years, also found evidence to support the idea that the population of gray whales along the Pacific Coast before the arrival of humans was two to four times today's population, which ...

More than 99 per cent of modern vertebrates (animals with a backbone, including humans) have jaws, yet 420 million years ago, jawless, toothless armour-plated fishes dominated the seas, lakes, and rivers. There were no vertebrates yet on land and the recently evolved jawed fishes were minor players in this alien world, some sporting unusual jaw shapes and structures that bear little physical resemblance to modern animals. The researchers, led by Dr Philip Anderson of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, applied concepts from physics and engineering to unravel the potential ...

BOULDER, Colo. – Showcasing new tools for widespread development of quantum circuits made of mechanical parts, scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a flexible, broadly usable technique for steadily calming the vibrations of an engineered mechanical object down to the quantum "ground state," the lowest possible energy level. Described in a Nature paper posted online July 6,* the NIST experiments nearly stop the beating motion of a microscopic aluminum drum made of about 1 trillion atoms, placing the drum in a realm ...

Results from a study of over 50 000 pregnancies revealed that women who gave up smoking when their pregnancy was confirmed gave birth to babies with a similar birthweight to those born to mothers who had never smoked, Professor Nick Macklon, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Southampton, UK, told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday). Low birthweight is the most common negative outcome of smoking during pregnancy, but foetuses exposed to maternal smoking are also at risk of premature ...

The group looked at 60,650 singletons in a common Nordic database from ART registers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and compared these to a control group of 360,022 naturally conceived (NC) singletons. In both groups 0.4 % of singletons were stillborn, with a definition of stillbirth as a dead child after 22 weeks of gestation. After having been matched with the control group regarding mother's parity and year of birth, the overall risk of stillbirth was found to be marginally higher (1.1 fold) in ART children after adjusting for factors such as maternal age and ...

Other important data the European IVF Monitoring group (EIM) on 2008 cycles and the International Committee Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART) on 2007 cycles highlighted were Sweden's low rate of multiple births – the lowest in the world – and Spain's 30 % share of egg donations in Europe. The EIM collected data on frozen oocyte retrieval (FOR) cycles for the first time. Until today, egg freezing is still not offered on a wide scale but can be an option for women who wish to postpone motherhood or are facing cancer therapy to save their lives. Recently, ...