Scientists believe they may have found a new target for treating triple negative breast cancer – one of the more difficult breast cancers to treat successfully and for which there is no targeted therapy at present. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a cancer that does not express receptors for oestrogen (ER), progesterone (PR) or the human epidermal growth factor (HER2). It tends to be more aggressive, occurs more often in younger women, and is difficult to treat successfully as it lacks the receptors that currently available targeted therapies such as tamoxifen ...

Washington, D.C. (November 16, 2010) -- For more than 250 years, researchers have known that under certain conditions vapor bubbles can form in fluids moving swiftly over a surface. These bubbles soon collapse with such great force that they can poke holes in steel and damage objects such as ship propellers, turbine blades, nozzles and pump impellers. Scientists have conducted extensive research for decades to try to understand this phenomenon -- called cavitation. But most experiments to date have been related to open-water objects like ship propellers. Now a group ...

Washington, D.C. (November 16, 2010) -- While our direct knowledge of black holes in the universe is limited to what we can observe from thousands or millions of light years away, a team of Chinese physicists has proposed a simple way to design an artificial electromagnetic (EM) black hole in the laboratory. In the Journal of Applied Physics, Huanyang Chen at Soochow University and colleagues have presented a design of an artificial EM black hole designed using five types of composite isotropic materials, layered so that their transverse magnetic modes capture EM waves ...

Washington, D.C. (November 16, 2010) -- In a move that holds great significance for the semiconductor industry, a team of researchers has created an alternative to conventional logic gates, demonstrated them in silicon, and dubbed them "chaogates." The researchers present their findings in Chaos, a journal published by the American Institute of Physics. Simply put, they used chaotic patterns to encode and manipulate inputs to produce a desired output. They selected desired patterns from the infinite variety offered by a chaotic system. A subset of these patterns was ...

CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that fat around the outside of arteries may lead to the development of cardiovascular disease and could be linked to its onset in individuals with diabetes. David Manka, PhD, a researcher in the division of cardiovascular diseases, and his team found that this fat—known as perivascular adipose tissue—could possibly lead to the formation of fatty buildup inside of arteries and could cause existing buildup to break loose, leading to stroke or heart attack. These findings are being presented at the ...

The increase in the legal age of sexual consent from 14 to 16 years in 2008 may not be protecting those at greatest risk, according to researchers who have analyzed British Columbia population-based data and recommend additional strategies to safeguard vulnerable children and teens. In the first study of its kind in Canada, researchers from the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University tested the government's reasons for changing the law. Their findings are published in the current issue the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. According to the study's ...

Risø Energy Report 9 lists a wide range of energy technologies in the market with low or no emissions of greenhouse gases, describing how several of these will be made commercially available in the next decades. However, it is not possible to make the world's energy supply CO2-free as cheaply as possible, using only technology development in the current energy systems. There must be room for technological leaps and there is a need for an integrated process to optimise the entire energy system, from energy production, through transformation into energy carriers, to energy ...

Long-nosed Cape rock elephant-shrews are fond of sticky treats, according to Dr. Petra Wester from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Her investigations show for the first time that the elephant-shrew, Elephantulus edwardii, licks the nectar of the flowers and pollinates the Pagoda lily. Her results are published in Springer's journal, Naturwissenschaften – The Science of Nature. Dr. Wester studied the behavior of the animals in the northern Cederberg area of South Africa, where Pagoda lily plants, Whiteheadia bifolia (Hyacinthaceae), are found in shady rock ...

CINCINNATI—University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have discovered a new protein that could be cardioprotective during heart attack, potentially leading to more targeted treatments for patients at risk. These findings are being presented at the American Heart Association's (AHA) Scientific Sessions in Chicago Nov. 16. Researchers in the department of pharmacology and cell biophysics, led by Chi Keung Lam, a PhD student, and Wen Zhao, PhD, under the direction of Litsa Kranias, PhD, AHA distinguished scientist and chair of the department, found that HAX-1, an anti-cell ...

For Immediate Release – November 16, 2010 – (Toronto) – A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found that 29,000 Ontario students from grades 7-12 report behaviours indicating that they are gambling problematically. The study also found that more than two-thirds of these students reported problems with substance use and/or alcohol use, and 25% reported a suicide attempt in the past year. The Ontario Youth Gambling Report looked at self-report data from over 9,000 students across Ontario to monitor trends and areas for concern regarding ...

Dr. Joseph Glavy at Stevens Institute of Technology studies the smallest and most basic elements of life. The Assistant Professor of Chemical Biology runs the Glavy Lab, where advanced student scientists study the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) in cells, observing the minutest mechanisms of life as they unfold during mitosis. The Glavy Lab's formal purpose is to study the NPC at the molecular level in the pursuit of the unknown or unexpected in the well-studied but not always well-understood nuclei of living cells. His team has uncovered a disease-related protein outside ...

A new study revealed that the novel self-expanding super-elastic all-metal endoprosthesis stent (SESAME StentTM) used in patients undergoing angioplasty of degenerated saphenous vein graft (SVG) lesions has 100% acute success, low 30 day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) rates, and 9-month patency comparable to balloon expandable stents without embolic protection. Results of the study are published in the November issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Intervention, a peer-reviewed journal from The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. Percutaneous ...

Two essential genes that control the accumulation and detoxification of arsenic in plant cells have been identified. This discovery is the fruit of an international collaboration involving laboratories in Switzerland, South Korea and the United States, with the participation of members of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Plant Survival. The results presented are a promising basis for reducing the accumulation of arsenic in crops from regions in Asia that are polluted by this toxic metalloid, as well as for the cleanup of soils contaminated by heavy metals. ...

Scientists are learning more about how protein gets in the urine when the kidneys begin to fail and how a new drug blocks it. "We have known for a long time that renal failure comes with protein in your urine, especially in diabetes," said Dr. David Pollock, renal physiologist at the Medical College of Georgia Vascular Biology Center. It's also known that a new class of drugs called endothelin A receptor antagonists reduce protein in the urine. New research published in the journal Hypertension connects the two, providing more information about how new drugs under study ...

WASHINGTON — The United States is missing significant opportunities to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries, and could save lives by implementing a more rigorous, comprehensive program that adopts successful safety practices from other countries, says a new report by the National Research Council. The committee that wrote the report reviewed traffic safety practices and strategies in high-income countries around the world and compared them with those in the United States. From 1995 to 2009, fatalities dropped 52 percent in France, 38 percent in the United Kingdom, ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Failure to have a prescription filled can undermine medical treatment, result in increased health care costs and potentially have devastating results for the patient. An editorial in the Nov. 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine highlights the problem and issues a call to action. In the editorial, "Prescription Abandonment: Another Path to Medication Nonadherence," Michael D. Murray, PharmD, MPH, a Regenstrief Institute, Inc. investigator and Purdue University professor of pharmacy practice, and Jeff Harrison, Ph.D., of the University of Auckland, ...

Montreal, November 16, 2010 – Disadvantaged kids are more likely to drop out of high school, become premature parents and raise their own children in poverty, according to an exhaustive new study from researchers at Concordia University and the University of Ottawa. Published in the International Journal of Behavioral Development, the investigation was the first to follow boys and girls over three decades to examine whether childhood aggression, social withdrawal and low socio-economic status could impact adult wellbeing. "Low socioeconomic status appears to have ...

A new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet shows that asthma drugs are a potential treatment for aortic aneurysm. These drugs, which block cysteinyl-leukotrienes, could reduce the break down of vessel wall tissue and the dilation of the aortic wall, and thus the risk of its rupturing. This could both save lives and reduce the need for complicated and risky surgery. The results are presented in the scientific journal PNAS. Aortic aneurism is a life-threatening disease caused by the weakening of a section of the wall of the aorta, which then ...

HealthSpace, the internet-accessible personal health organiser developed as part of the National Programme for IT in the National Health Service, was significantly less popular than anticipated, a research team from the University of London has found. Instead of the predicted 5-10% of the population signing up, only 0.13% of those invited got as far as activating the full functionality of their personal health record, according to the study published on bmj.com today. Professor Trisha Greenhalgh from Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry led the team ...

Researchers from the Group of Applied Artificial Intelligence (GIAA) on the Colmenarejo Campus of UC3M have presented this application at the latest Salón Internacional de Material Eléctrico y Electrónico, recently held in Madrid. The participants at the stand of Infaimon, the company which has collaborated on this project, had the opportunity to test this interface with a videogame operated simply by moving ones hands as if holding a virtual steering wheel. For this purpose, the scientists have employed a time of flight camera or TOF with which they capture in 3D user's ...

An open letter from 20 consultants and a patient group published on bmj.com today, calls on the prime minister to take action over a legal loophole that allows drug companies to make easy profits by licensing existing treatments for rare (orphan) diseases. They argue that the current situation concerning orphan drugs is not in the best interests of patients or the NHS and that the cost to the NHS is likely to be above £10m a year. The original purpose of this legislation was to encourage drug companies to conduct research into rare diseases and develop new treatments. ...

The metallic particles in the smoke emitted by fireworks pose a health risk, particularly to people who suffer from asthma. This is the conclusion of a study led by researchers from the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), published this week in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. "The toxicological research has shown that many of the metallic particles in the smoke from fireworks are bio-reactive and can affect human health", Teresa Moreno, a researcher from the IDAEA (CSIC) and lead author of a study that has been published this week ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan researchers have solved the structure of a protein that is integral to processes responsible for maintaining a healthy heart and nervous system. The protein structure in question is cystathionine beta-synthase, known as CBS. CBS uses vitamin B6 to make hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gaseous signaling molecule that helps maintain a healthy heart and nervous system. H2S also induces a state of suspended animation or hibernation in animals by decreasing body temperature and lowering metabolic rate. The work to decode the structure ...

Arlington, Va. — New research being presented at the 2010 International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress (PSWC) in association with the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition will feature an inhalable dry powder antibiotic that when used alone or with current treatments may significantly reduce treatment for tuberculosis (TB) and multi-drug resistant TB. There are an estimated 9.4 million new cases of TB worldwide, according to the most recent statistics from the World Health Organization. ...

Whether a small cut with a fruit knife, a surgical wound or a major injury caused by a fall – the body's defense and repair system leaps into action and tries to close the wound as quickly as possible. Small injuries usually heal within a few days, but a gaping wound will take longer to heal, and an infection can take hold even after several days. Dressings protect the site of the injury but to check the wound they have to be removed. This can be painful for the patient and moreover it risks giving germs the chance to enter and cause infection. Scientists at the Fraunhofer ...