Heart imaging specialists at Johns Hopkins have shown that a combination of CT scans that measure how much blood is flowing through the heart and the amount of plaque in surrounding arteries are just as good as tests that are less safe, more complex and more time-consuming to detect coronary artery disease and its severity. "Our findings should reassure cardiologists and patients that the newer, state-of-the-art CT scans are just as good as established older technologies in diagnosing the presence and severity of coronary artery disease," says cardiologist and lead study ...

Rolling back suggestions from previous studies, a Johns Hopkins study of 950 healthy men and women has shown that taking daily doses of a cholesterol-lowering statin medication to protect coronary arteries and ward off heart attack or stroke may not be needed for everyone. In a study to be presented Nov. 16 at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago, the Johns Hopkins team found that nearly 95 percent of all heart attacks, strokes or heart-related deaths occurred in the half of study participants with some measureable buildup of artery-hardening ...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. policymakers must focus more closely on developing new energy storage technologies as they consider a national renewable electricity standard, according to one of the principal recommendations in a newly released report, Integrating Renewable Electricity on the Grid, by the American Physical Society's Panel on Public Affairs (POPA). Establishing a national renewable electricity standard will help to unify the fragmented U.S. grid system—an important step in the wider adoption of using more wind and solar for energy generation. But, without the focus ...

The types of gut bacteria that populate the guts of primates depend on the species of the host as well as where the host lives and what they eat. A study led by Howard Ochman at Yale University examines the gut microbial communities in great apes, showing that a host's species, rather than their diet, has the greatest effect on gut bacteria diversity. These findings will publish next week in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology. "Bacteria are crucial to human health. They enhance the immune system, protect against toxins, and assist in the maturation and renewal ...

Keeping in close contact with heart failure patients once they leave the hospital has been an ongoing challenge for physicians. A patient's condition can worsen with no notice and early intervention could potentially make a big difference. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine thought they found the solution with a telephone call-in program designed to improve doctor-patient communication. But results from their study published in the November 16 New England Journal of Medicine shows that this program failed to improve patient outcomes. The paper will be presented simultaneously ...

The nine-month pregnancy in humans is influenced by the structure of the placenta, according to new research into the evolution of reproduction in mammals which ends a 100-year mystery. The study, by Durham and Reading universities, shows that babies grow twice as fast in the wombs of some mammals compared to others. The difference in growth rates appears to be due to the structure of the placenta and the way it connects mother and baby. The research has found that the more intimate the connection is between the tissues of the mother and the foetus, the faster the ...

A key enzyme in Mycobacterium tuberculosis that enables the microbe to reproduce rapidly could be a golden target for new drugs against tuberculosis (TB), according to a study published in Microbiology on 17 November. The human equivalent of this enzyme has been targeted in some cancer treatments as well as in immunosuppressive chemotherapies. Scientists at the University of Birmingham have now shown that inhibiting the same enzyme in M. tuberculosis effectively kills the bacterial cells. The enzyme called IMPDH is crucial for the survival of both human and bacterial ...

Targeted cancer therapies such as trastuzumab (Herceptin), gefitinib (Iressa) and erlotinib (Tarceva) could be used to treat a wider range of cancers than previously thought, according to new research presented today (Wednesday) at the 22nd EORTC-NCI-AACR [1] Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Berlin. Scientists in the USA have studied 20 genes that are targeted by existing therapies and found that there are significant changes to these genes in a broad range of patients' tumours, including many for which these drugs are not being used at present. ...

Researchers have shown that point mutations – mis-spellings in a single letter of genetic code – that drive the onset and growth of cancer cells can be detected successfully in advanced ovarian cancer using a technique called OncoMap. The finding opens the way for personalised medicine in which every patient could have their tumour screened, specific mutations identified, and the appropriate drug chosen to target the mutation and halt the growth of their cancer. Using mass spectrometry for identifying the genetic make-up of cancer cells, OncoMap can determine the point ...

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, ...