(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 ...

A major instrument due to fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is getting its first taste of space in the test facilities at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom. The Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) has been designed to contribute to areas of investigation as diverse as the first light in the early Universe and the formation of planets around other stars. "The start of space simulation testing of the MIRI is the last major engineering activity needed to enable its delivery to NASA. It represents the culmination of 8 years of work by the ...

The use of computer-aided detection (CAD) is increasing, in both screening and diagnostic mammography, according to a study in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (www.jacr.org). CAD software systems highlight and alert the radiologist of abnormal areas of density, mass or calcification on a digitized mammographic image (of the breast) that may indicate the presence of cancer. Screening mammography is an X-ray exam of the breast that is used as a screening tool to detect early breast cancer in women experiencing no symptoms. Diagnostic ...

Researchers working in a radiology department at a mid-sized hospital were able to increase productivity and improve efficiency by developing a simple method for measuring general technologist productivity, according to a study in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (www.jacr.org). "Improving productivity and maintaining team spirit are often competing priorities that may be difficult to achieve simultaneously," said C. Daniel Johnson, MD, co-author of the study. "In an era of cost reductions, radiology departments need to be able to ...

Boulder, CO, USA - This month's themed issue, "Advances in 3D imaging and analysis of geomaterials," edited by Guilherme A.R. Gualda, Don R. Baker, and Margherita Polacci, features papers from the 2009 AGU Joint Assembly session "Advances in 3-D Imaging and Analysis of Rocks and Other Earth Materials." Studies include 3-D imaging and analysis techniques for Wild 2 comet material returned from the NASA Stardust mission and the first 3-D X-ray scans of crystals from the Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Introduction: Advances in 3D imaging and analysis of geomaterials Guilherme ...

Reston, Va.— Research reported in the October issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) shows that a molecular imaging technique may prove useful in early assessment of treatment response for cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer. "One of the most promising aspects of molecular imaging is its potential capacity to measure therapy effects long before changes in the tumor size and shape are detected," said Marijke De Saint-Hubert, medical scientist in the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium, and one of the authors on ...

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that the over-activation of a single protein may shut down the brain-protecting effects of a molecule and facilitate the most common form of Parkinson's disease. The finding of this mechanism could lead to important new targets for drugs already known to inhibit it, thus controlling symptoms of the disorder, which affects about 1 million older Americans. Previous research demonstrated that a protein called parkin protects brain cells by "tagging" certain toxic elements that are then destroyed naturally. It was also known that ...

Johns Hopkins Medicine Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a way to turn off the immune system's allergic reaction to certain food proteins in mice, a discovery that could have implications for the millions of people who suffer severe reactions to foods, such as peanuts and milk. The findings, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, provide hope that the body could be trained to tolerate food allergies that lead to roughly 300,000 emergency room visits and 100 to 200 deaths each year. The research team, led by Shau-Ku Huang, Ph.D., a professor of medicine, ...

An intensive lifestyle intervention program designed to achieve and maintain weight loss improves diabetes control and cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes, according to four-year results of the Look AHEAD study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The results are published in the Sept. 27, 2010, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) is a multi-center, randomized clinical trial investigating the effects of ...