Researchers discover human immune system has emergency backup plan
2010-12-21
New research by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences reveals that the immune system has an effective backup plan to protect the body from infection when the "master regulator" of the body's innate immune system fails. The study appears in the December 19 online issue of the journal Nature Immunology.
The innate immune system defends the body against infections caused by bacteria and viruses, but also causes inflammation which, when uncontrolled, can contribute to chronic illnesses ...
Scientists take plasmon lasers out of deep freeze
2010-12-21
Berkeley – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new technique that allows plasmon lasers to operate at room temperature, overcoming a major barrier to practical utilization of the technology.
The achievement, described Dec. 19 in an advanced online publication of the journal Nature Materials, is a "major step towards applications" for plasmon lasers, said the research team's principal investigator, Xiang Zhang, UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering and faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
"Plasmon ...
Despite damage, membrane protein structure can be seen using new X-ray technology, study reveals
2010-12-21
Australian researchers have identified a way to measure the structure of membrane proteins despite being damaged when using X-ray Free-Electron Lasers (XFELs), a discovery that will help fast track the development of targeted drugs using emerging XFELs technology.
About 70% of drugs on the market today depend on the activity of membrane proteins, which are complex molecules that form the membranes of the cells in our body.
A major problem for the design of new pharmaceuticals, often known as the "membrane protein problem", is that they do not form the crystals needed ...
Study identifies cells that give rise to brown fat
2010-12-21
BOSTON – December 20, 2010 – In some adults, the white fat cells that we all stockpile so readily are supplemented by a very different form of fat—brown fat cells, which can offer the neat trick of burning energy rather than storing it. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center, which last year led the way in demonstrating an active role for brown fat in adults, now have identified progenitor cells in mouse white fat tissue and skeletal muscle that can be transformed into brown fat cells.
"This finding opens up a whole new avenue for researchers interested in designing molecules ...
Acid suppressive medication may increase risk of pneumonia
2010-12-21
Using acid suppressive medications, such as proton pump inhibitors and histamine2 receptor antagonists, may increase the risk of developing pneumonia, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj092129.pdf.
Acid suppressive drugs are the second leading medication worldwide, totaling over US$26 billion in sales in 2005. Recently, medical literature has looked at unrecognized side effects in popular medications and their impact on public health.
This systematic review, which incorporated all relevant ...
Strict heart rate control provides no advantage over lenient approach
2010-12-21
Strictly controlling the heart rate of patients with atrial fibrillation provides no advantage over more lenient heart rate control, experts report in a focused update of the 2006 guidelines for the management of patients with atrial fibrillation.
The new recommendations, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and HeartRhythm Journal, are updates of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association/European Society of Cardiology 2006 Guidelines for the Management of Patients ...
Young female chimps treat sticks like dolls
2010-12-21
Researchers have reported some of the first evidence that chimpanzee youngsters in the wild may tend to play differently depending on their sex, just as human children around the world do. Although both young male and female chimpanzees play with sticks, females do so more often, and they occasionally treat them like mother chimpanzees caring for their infants, according to a study in the December 21st issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.
The findings suggest that the consistently greater tendency, across all cultures, for girls to play more with dolls ...
Meat-eating dinosaurs not so carnivorous after all
2010-12-21
December 20th, 2010 – Tyrannosaurus rex may have been a flesh-eating terror but many of his closest relatives were more content with vegetarian fare, a new analysis by Field Museum scientists has found.
The scientists, Lindsay Zanno and Peter Makovicky, who will publish their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used statistical analyses to determine the diet of 90 species of theropod dinosaurs. Their results challenge the conventional view that nearly all theropods hunted prey, especially those closest to the ancestors of birds. ...
Brain imaging predicts future reading progress in children with dyslexia
2010-12-21
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Brain scans of adolescents with dyslexia can be used to predict the future improvement of their reading skills with an accuracy rate of up to 90 percent, new research indicates. Advanced analyses of the brain activity images are significantly more accurate in driving predictions than standardized reading tests or any other measures of children's behavior.
The finding raises the possibility that a test one day could be developed to predict which individuals with dyslexia would most likely benefit from specific treatments.
The research was published ...
Expansion of HIV screening cost-effective in reducing spread of AIDS, Stanford study shows
2010-12-21
STANFORD, Calif. — An expanded U.S. program of HIV screening and treatment could prevent as many as 212,000 new infections over the next 20 years and prove to be very cost-effective, according to a new study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.
The researchers found that screening high-risk people annually and low-risk people once in their lifetimes was a worthwhile and cost-effective approach to help curtail the epidemic. The screening would have to be coupled with treatment of HIV-infected individuals, as well as programs to help change risky behaviors.
"We ...
Neuroimaging at Stanford helps to predict which dyslexics will learn to read
2010-12-21
STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have used sophisticated brain imaging to predict with 90 percent accuracy which teenagers with dyslexia would improve their reading skills over time.
Their work, the first to identify specific brain mechanisms involved in a person's ability to overcome reading difficulties, could lead to new interventions to help dyslexics better learn to read.
"This gives us hope that we can identify which children might get better over time," said Fumiko Hoeft, MD, PhD, an imaging expert and instructor at ...
Children with autism lack visual skills required for independence
2010-12-21
The ability to find shoes in the bedroom, apples in a supermarket, or a favourite animal at the zoo is impaired among children with autism, according to new research from the University of Bristol. Contrary to previous studies, which show that children with autism often demonstrate outstanding visual search skills, this new research indicates that children with autism are unable to search effectively for objects in real-life situations – a skill that is essential for achieving independence in adulthood.
Previous studies have tested search skills using table-top tasks ...
Component in common dairy foods may cut diabetes risk
2010-12-21
Boston, MA – Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and collaborators from other institutions have identified a natural substance in dairy fat that may substantially reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. The compound, trans-palmitoleic acid, is a fatty acid found in milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter. It is not produced by the body and so only comes from the diet.
Reporting in the December 21, 2010, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, investigators led by Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at HSPH and Division of ...
Transferring trauma patients may take longer than 2 hours -- but not for the most serious injuries
2010-12-21
Many trauma patients in Illinois who are transferred to another facility for care are not transported within the state-mandated two-hour window, but the most seriously injured patients appear to reach care more quickly, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Trauma systems have been designed to optimize the outcomes of injured patients by encouraging providers to triage patients to appropriate levels of care, defining pre-hospital and interhospital transport patterns and educating caregivers in the recognition ...
Racial disparities evident in early-stage liver cancer survival
2010-12-21
Black patients with early-stage liver cancer appear more likely to die of the disease than Hispanic or white patients with the same condition, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Hepatocellular carcinoma, or cancer of the liver, is the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide, according to background information in the article. The five-year rate of survival for patients with advanced-stage disease is 5 percent, but those who are diagnosed at an early stage are more likely to be successfully treated. ...
Features of the metabolic syndrome common in persons with psoriasis
2010-12-21
Individuals with psoriasis have a high prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the April 2011 print issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
According to background information in the article, individual features of the metabolic syndrome include obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and high total cholesterol and triglycerides. Additional background information notes that while past studies have suggested a link between psoriasis and individual components of the metabolic syndrome, ...
About one-fifth of women, less than 7 percent of men report use of indoor tanning
2010-12-21
Women are more likely to report use of indoor tanning facilities than men, and some characteristics common to indoor tanners differ by sex, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, few tanners—male or female—mention avoiding tanning beds when asked about ways to reduce skin cancer risk.
"Skin cancer is the most common form of malignancy in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimated that 1 million new cases of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer were diagnosed in 2009; 8,650 deaths ...
Most patients can speak and swallow after combination treatment for head and neck cancer
2010-12-21
Most patients do not have ongoing speaking or swallowing difficulties following combined chemotherapy and radiation treatment for advanced head or neck cancer, but several factors may be associated with worse outcomes in these functions, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Speaking and swallowing deficits are experienced by many survivors of primary cancers of the head and neck," the authors write as background information in the article. "Although it is often difficult to separate ...
Outcomes after recurrence of oral cancer vary by timing, site
2010-12-21
Patients who have recurrence of oral squamous cell carcinoma tend to do worse if the new cancer appears at the same site early or if it appears in the lymph nodes six months or longer after initial treatment, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Treating recurrences of oral squamous cell carcinoma (cancer in the thin, flat cells that line the lips and mouth) involves balancing the risk of complications against the potential benefit to the patient in terms of survival or controlling ...
Study finds injectable and oral birth control do not adversely affect glucose and insulin levels
2010-12-21
GALVESTON, December 17, 2010 – Fasting glucose and insulin levels remain within normal range for women using injectable or oral contraception, with only slight increases among women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), commonly known as the birth control shot, according to new research from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) in Galveston.
The study, published in the January 2011 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology and conducted over three years, is the largest to measure fasting glucose and insulin levels among women using DMPA, oral (desogestrel) ...
Factors linked to speech/swallowing problems after treatment for head and neck cancers
2010-12-21
DURHAM, NC – Most patients with locally advanced head and neck cancers who successfully complete treatment with chemotherapy and radiation manage to do so without losing the ability to speak clearly and swallow comfortably, according to researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute.
"This is good news," said Joseph K. Salama, MD, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Duke and the corresponding author of the study. "I hope it brings some comfort to newly-diagnosed patients who are understandably worried about what long-term effects treatment might involve."
The ...
New research shows virus previously linked to chronic fatigue syndrome is a lab contaminant
2010-12-21
A virus previously thought to be associated with chronic fatigue syndrome is not the cause of the disease, a detailed study has shown. The research shows that cell samples used in previous research were contaminated with the virus identified as XMRV and that XMRV is present in the mouse genome.
XMRV was first linked to chronic fatigue syndrome – also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) – in a study published in October 2009, where blood samples from chronic fatigue syndrome patients were found to have traces of the virus. XMRV had also been identified previously in ...
Without intervention, Mariana crow to become extinct in 75 years
2010-12-21
Researchers from the University of Washington say the Mariana crow, a forest crow living on Rota Island in the western Pacific Ocean, will go extinct in 75 years.
The extinction could happen almost twice as soon as previously believed.
The crow's extinction can be prevented with a bird management program that focuses on helping fledgling birds reach their first birthday, said James Ha, UW research associate professor in psychology.
Ha examined survival rates in 97 Mariana crows – Corvus kubaryi – that had been tracked between 1990 and 2010 by researchers. He found ...
Finnish researchers find a compound that prevents the growth of prostate cancer cells
2010-12-21
Evidence pointing to the effects of monensin emerged in a project investigating the effects of nearly 5,000 drugs and micromolecules on the growth of prostate cancer cells. The project involved most of the drugs on the market today. Researchers found that small amounts of compounds – disulfiram (Antabus), thiram, tricostatin A, and monensin – can prevent the growth of prostate cancer cells without significant effects on the growth of the normal human prostate epithelial cells.
Further studies revealed that monensin caused prostate cancer cell death by reducing the amount ...
Subsidies have no effect on Spanish cinema productivity
2010-12-21
Awards have an impact on Spanish movie productivity, since they increase internal and external distribution demand, but subsidies have no effect whatsoever on the productivity of the Spanish film industry. This is the conclusion of researchers at the University of Granada (UGR), who have studied the production of films in Spain.
"Awards increase the amount of films produced by increasing productivity. In other words film industry workers and companies are more productive and efficient. However, we did not detect that subsidies had any such effect on productivity", Henry ...
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