MIAMI — Mexican women who do not smoke but are exposed to smoking, known as environmental smoke exposure, are at three times higher risk for breast cancer than non-smoking women not exposed to passive smoking, according to findings presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, being held Sept. 30-Oct.3, 2010. "Everyone should avoid secondhand smoke," said Lizbeth López-Carrillo, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology, at the National Institute for Public Health, Mexico City, Mexico. "Tobacco smoking produces both mainstream smoke, which ...

MIAMI — Awareness of genetic testing was higher among adults in Puerto Rico compared to previous U.S. population-based studies, while use of genetic testing was lower, according to data presented at the Third AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held Sept. 30 to Oct 3, 2010. Genetic tests are increasingly being offered direct-to-consumers through the Internet and other venues, providing individual access to genetic tests without the involvement or consultation of a health care provider. Researchers analyzed data from the Health Information National ...

MIAMI — Vigorous exercise of more than two hours per week reduces the risk of developing breast cancer in postmenopausal African-American women by 64 percent, compared to women of the same race who do not exercise, according to researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Results were presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, 2010. "People often want to know what they can do to reduce their risk of disease, and we have found that just two or more hours of vigorous activity per week ...

AUDIO: Siblings of children with autism have more frequent language delays and other subtle characteristics of the disorder than previously understood. Girls also may be mildly affected more often than recognized... Click here for more information. Siblings of children with autism have more frequent language delays and other subtle characteristics of the disorder than previously understood. Girls also may be mildly affected more often than recognized in the past. A new ...

Berkeley — A new study led by a University of California, Berkeley, researcher could give women a little extra motivation to visit their dentist more regularly. The study suggests that women who get dental care reduce their risk of heart attacks, stroke and other cardiovascular problems by at least one-third. The analysis, which used data from nearly 7,000 people ages 44-88 enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study, did not find a similar benefit for men. Published online Sept. 29 in the journal Health Economics, the study compared people who went to the dentist ...

Our ideal image of the perfect partner differs greatly from our real-life partner, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Montpellier in France. The research found that our actual partners are of a different height, weight and body mass index than those we would ideally choose. The study, which was published this week (27 September 2010) in the Journal PLoS ONE, found that most men and women express different mating preferences for body morphology than the actual morphology of their partners and the discrepancies between real ...

You've heard them at tennis matches – a loud, emphatic grunt with each player's stroke. A University of Hawai'i at Mānoa researcher has studied the impact of these grunts and come up with some surprising findings. Scott Sinnett, assistant psychology professor at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, has co-authored a study on the potential detrimental effect that noise has on shot perception during a tennis match. Sinnett's work is published in the October 1 online issue of Public Library of Science ONE. He co-authored the study with Alan Kingstone, psychology ...

Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) have produced a new league table of Spanish savings banks based on economic, financial and social criteria. This is the first study of these characteristics carried out in Spain, and the data used come from the savings banks' annual accounts for 2007. "All the banking sector rankings previously produced have revolved around a single variable, such as size, number of assets or number of deposits, meaning they fail to give an overall vision of the organisation as a whole", Fernando García, co-author of the study ...

(Boston) – Boston Medical Center (BMC) doctors have proven the reliability of the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS), a tool that assesses the cleanliness of the colon during colonoscopies. This study, published in the October 2010 issue of the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, demonstrates the scale's accuracy and could become an international standardized tool to rate colon cleanliness during colonoscopy. Audrey Calderwood, MD, a physician in BMC's section of gastroenterology and an assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), is lead author ...

(Rosemont, IL) Oct. 1 – For the past three decades, saturated fat has been considered a major culprit of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and as a result dietary advice persists in recommending reduced consumption of this macronutrient. However, new evidence shows that saturated fat intake has only a very limited impact on CVD risk -- causing many to rethink the "saturated fat is bad" paradigm. A series of research articles published in the October issue of Lipids provides a snapshot of recent advances in saturated fat and health research, based on science presented at ...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2010 — The American Chemical Society (ACS) today posted a new online collection of resources related to climate change, including audio and visual presentations from a recent ACS forum on the science of climate change and video from an ACS press briefing on this forum. The forum featured four world-class experts who discussed the state of the science and the importance of dealing with this issue in a scientifically informed manner. The climate experts and their presentations include: Michael McElroy, Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Studies, Harvard ...

Montreal, October 1, 2010 – As baby boomers retire in greater numbers, serious doubts continue to be raised about the ability of the retirement income system to provide adequate replacement wages for the next generation of Canadians. According to a new study conducted by a Concordia University researcher for the Institute for Research on Public Policy, our country can learn valuable policy lessons from recent pension reforms in Norway, Sweden, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Patrik Marier, Canada Research Chair in Comparative Public Policy and a professor in the Concordia ...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today released a new study by scientists and conservationists showing that non-federal rangelands in the Western United States are productive, but that non-native grasses and shrubs pose a potential threat to the rangelands' productivity. "American ranchers and farmers are at the front line of the effort to protect the health and productivity of our western rangelands," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "This new study not only provides valuable information about the current state of these lands, but also sets a baseline ...

New York, 1 October, 2010 – A special article published today in the journal Nutrition sharply criticizes the recent Report of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). Authors Hite et al. argue the Report fails to conform to the standards of evidence-based medicine, despite its claimed reliance on a newly created USDA Nutrition Evidence Library. The authors call the DGAC to task for failing to consider recent scientific results while at the same time further confusing the American public. The Dietary Guidelines are the basis for the USDA Food Pyramid, and ...

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found that variations in a gene for an enzyme involved in cell energy metabolism appear to increase the risk for prostate cancer. The genetic variations all impair the enzyme phosphodiesterase 11A (PDE11A), which helps regulate a cell's responses to hormones and other signals. Previous studies by NIH researchers have linked genetic variations that inactivate PDE11A with increased susceptibility to testicular cancer and adrenal tumors The researchers found that a group of men with prostate cancer were nearly four ...

EUGENE, OR, October 1, 2010 – A newly published study in the October 2010 issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), conducted at New York University's College of Dentistry, confirms the safety and efficacy of a new novel method for controlling xerostomia, or dry mouth. The double masked, randomized controlled crossover study concludes that use of a unique mucoadhesive patch, affixed to the hard palate inside the mouth, provides statistically significant and sustainable improvements in salivary flow rates and subjective moistness for dry mouth sufferers. ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST.PAUL (October 1, 2010) – After a major review of scientific information, six leading tobacco research and policy experts have concluded that a nicotine reduction strategy should be an urgent research priority because of its potential to profoundly reduce the death and disease from tobacco use. Their findings were published today in the journal Tobacco Control. According to this new report, reducing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels could have a significant public health impact on prevention and smoking cessation. Over time, ...

A calcium-sensing protein, STIM1, known to activate store-operated calcium channels has been found to also inhibit voltage-operated calcium channels, according to researchers at Temple University. The researchers published their findings, The Calcium Store Sensor, STIM1, Reciprocally Controls Orai and Cav1.2 Channels, in the Oct. 1 issue of Science magazine (www.sciencemag.org). Calcium, not just important for bones and teeth, is a universal signaling agent that is pivotal in controlling a wide range of cell functions including fast muscle and nerve responses and slower ...

An analysis of geological records that preserve details of the last known period of global warming has revealed 'startling' results which suggest current targets for limiting climate change are unsafe. The study by climate change experts at the University of Exeter has important implications for international negotiators aiming to agree binding targets for future greenhouse gas emission targets. Professor Chris Turney and Dr Richard Jones, both from the University's Department of Geography, have reported a comprehensive study of the Last Interglacial, a period of warming ...

The convergence in the coming year of three cyclical conditions affecting ocean temperatures and weather is likely to create unprecedented challenges for states that depend on water from the Colorado River, a new UCLA study suggests. "If I were concocting a recipe for a perfect drought, this would be it," said Glen MacDonald, co-author of the study and director of UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Along with a former graduate student, MacDonald has found that the combination of La Niña with two less commonly known ocean conditions — the Pacific ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Faster development of the promising field of cellulosic biofuels – the renewable energy produced from grasses and trees – is being significantly hampered by a "deep and thorny regulatory thicket" that makes almost impossible the use of advanced gene modification methods, researchers say. In a new study published today in the journal BioScience, scientists argue that major regulatory reforms and possibly new laws are needed to allow cellulosic bioenergy to reach its true potential as a form of renewable energy, and in some cases help reduce greenhouse ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Biomedical researchers at the University at Buffalo have engineered adult stem cells that scientists can grow continuously in culture, a discovery that could speed development of cost-effective treatments for diseases including heart disease, diabetes, immune disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. UB scientists created the new cell lines – named "MSC Universal" – by genetically altering mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow and can differentiate into cell types including bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, and beta-pancreatic islet cells. ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- In a review article published in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings,(http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com) Mayo Clinic physicians differentiate the ethical and legal permissibility of withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments and accepted comfort measures, specifically palliative sedation, from that of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia. Physician reviewers find that palliative sedation has an important place on the continuum of appropriate palliative care. "At the end of life, patient goals often shift to comfort, and removal ...

What does it take to save a species in the 21st century? The specter of climate change, with predicted losses to biodiversity as high as 35 percent, has some scientists and managers considering taking their conservation strategies on the road. Managed relocation (MR) is literally the physical relocation of endangered or threatened species of plants and animals, by humans, to new, and foreign geographical climes. It addresses the concern that climate shifts may make many species' historical ranges environmentally inhospitable, and that the rapid speed of change and habitat ...

In a "marriage" that U.S. east coast residents would object to, the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole coupled with an upper level low pressure area have dumped record rainfall from the Carolinas to New England on Sept. 30. The GOES-13 Satellite captured that massive "union" of a system as it begins to push off the northeastern U.S. coast today, Oct. 1. At 1401 UTC (10:01 a.m. EDT) on Oct. 1, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite called GOES-13 captured a visible image of the extensive cloud cover of this coupled system. The GOES image shows the system's ...