for Thursday, August 14, 2008
Novel Mechanism That Controls The Development Of Autoimmunity Discovered (August 14, 2008) -- Scientists have found a mechanism in the immune systems of mice that can lead to the development of autoimmune disease when turned off. The findings shed light on the processes that lead to the development of autoimmunity and could also have implications for the development of drugs to increase the immune response in diseases such as cancer and HIV. ... > full story
Alternative Energy Technologies: Solar-powered Home Appliances Being Developed By Students (August 14, 2008) -- UC's solar house is now a summer class room where students experiment with alternative-energy technologies. ... > full story
Pandemic Potential Of H9N2 Avian Influenza Viruses (August 14, 2008) -- Since their introduction into land-based birds in 1988, H9N2 avian influenza A viruses have caused multiple human infections and become endemic in domestic poultry in Eurasia. This particular influenza subtype has been evolving and acquiring characteristics that raise concerns that it may become more transmissible among humans. Mechanisms that allow infection and subsequent human-to-human transmission of avian influenza viruses are not well understood. ... > full story
Cardiac Resynchromization: Race, Age, Geography Matter, Study Shows (August 14, 2008) -- Race, age, and geography appear to play important roles in who receives cardiac resynchronization therapy, a proven treatment for some patients with heart failure. ... > full story
Trapping White Blood Cells Proves Novel Strategy Against Chronic Viral Infections (August 14, 2008) -- A drug that sequesters white blood cells in lymph nodes can allow mice to fight off a chronic infection by a virus that causes meningitis. The novel strategy of restricting white blood cells' circulation has implications for treating chronic viral infections in humans. ... > full story
Sensitivity To Antidepressants Linked With TrkB-mediated Neural Proliferation (August 14, 2008) -- Scientists have unveiled a functional link between production of new neurons and the effectiveness of antidepressants in an animal model. The study, published by Cell Press in the journal Neuron, provides exciting insight into a mechanism that might underlie a poor response to antidepressive medications for anxiety or depression. ... > full story
Built Environment Connected With Obesity In Baby Boomers (August 14, 2008) -- Results showed significant associations among built-environment factors and the prevalence of overweight/obesity and various forms of physical activity in middle-aged and older adults. These findings suggest the need for public health and city planning officials to consider how modifiable neighborhood-level, built-environment characteristics can create more livable residential communities and promote active, healthy lifestyles. ... > full story
Childhood Dairy Intake May Improve Adolescent Bone Health (August 13, 2008) -- Dairy is recognized as a key component of a healthy, balanced diet. However, until recently it was unclear how long-term dairy intake contributes to the many aspects of bone health in children, including bone density, bone mineral content and bone area. A new study soon to be published in the Journal of Pediatrics investigates the effect of childhood dairy intake on adolescent bone health. ... > full story
Virtual Reality Goggles Create An Equal Opportunity Eye Test (August 13, 2008) -- Visual field tests are widely used by eye doctors and neurologists. By determining the health of the retina, optic nerve and the visual pathway throughout the brain, the test can uncover glaucoma and conditions such as optic neuritis or brain damage. Essential to undergo before one can drive a car or fly a plane, the visual field test is also used to pinpoint neurological damage after an accident or surgery. ... > full story
Overweight Hispanic Children At Significant Risk For Pre-diabetes, According To New Study (August 13, 2008) -- Overweight Hispanic children are at significant risk for pre-diabetes, a condition marked by higher than normal blood glucose levels that are not yet high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. The persistence of pre-diabetes during growth is associated with progression in risk towards future diabetes, according to the study. ... > full story
Reserve, National Guard At Higher Risk Of Alcohol-related Problems After Returning From Combat (August 13, 2008) -- Younger service members and Reserve and National Guard combat personnel returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are at increased risk of new-onset heavy drinking, binge drinking and other alcohol-related problems, according to a new study. ... > full story
Scientists Use Old Enemy To K.O. Cancer (August 13, 2008) -- Chemists are pulling cancer onto a sucker punch by getting infected cells to drop their guard -- according to research published today. They are using the metal ruthenium as a catalyst to a cancer-busting reaction which calls up an old cellular enemy -- oxidants -- as an ally. ... > full story
Prostatectomy Improves Outcome Of Some Men With Prostate Cancer Over Watchful Waiting (August 13, 2008) -- Men with early prostate cancer who undergo radical prostatectomy have a lower rate of death due to prostate cancer than men who are followed without treatment, known as watchful waiting, according to a randomized controlled trial. ... > full story
Simply Listening To Music Affects One's Musicality (August 13, 2008) -- Researchers have demonstrated how much the brain can learn simply through active exposure to many different kinds of music. "More and more labs are showing that people have the sensitivity for skills that we thought were only expert skills," Henkjan Honing (UvA) explains. "It turns out that mere exposure makes an enormous contribution to how musical competence develops." ... > full story
Adverse Reactions To Antibiotics Send Thousands Of Patients To The ER (August 13, 2008) -- Adverse events from antibiotics cause an estimated 142,000 emergency department visits per year in the United States, according to a new study. ... > full story
Breast Cancer Patients Still Have Risk Of Relapse After 5 Years Of Systemic Therapy (August 13, 2008) -- Breast cancer survivors continue to have a substantial risk of disease recurrence after five years of systemic therapy, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Among breast cancer patients who were cancer-free five years after initiating systemic therapy, 89 percent remained recurrence-free at five years (approximately 10 years after a woman's initial diagnosis) and 80 percent remained recurrence free at 10 years (approximately 15 years after diagnosis). ... > full story
Nature Or Nurture: Are You Who Your Brain Chemistry Says You Are? (August 13, 2008) -- Researchers using positron emission tomography (PET) have validated a long-held theory that individual personality traits -- particularly reward dependency -- are connected to brain chemistry, a finding that has implications for better understanding and treating substance abuse and other addictive behaviors. ... > full story
Nano Vaccine For Hepatitis B Shows Promise For Third World (August 13, 2008) -- A new needle-less vaccine is highly effective and can be stored without refrigeration, studies in animals show. The vaccine should also be safer to administer than existing hepatitis B vaccines and effective with only two immunizations. The technique, a nanoemulsion given in the nose, is a step closer to human trials, possibly within a year. Hepatitis B kills an estimated 1 million people annually. ... > full story
Gene's Newly Explained Effect On Height May Change Tumor Disorder Treatment (August 13, 2008) -- A mutation that causes a childhood tumor syndrome also impairs growth hormone secretion. The new discovery provides new insights into an old mystery, revealing why patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 are frequently shorter than their peers. ... > full story
Tai Chi Program Helps Prevent Falls Among Older Adults (August 13, 2008) -- Senior community centers in Oregon have successfully adopted an evidence-based Tai Chi program to prevent falls among older adults. Based on this success, the Oregon Department of Human Services has now adopted the Tai Chi program for wider dissemination. ... > full story
Tiny Molecule Helps Control Blood-vessel Development (August 13, 2008) -- The development and repair of heart tissue and blood vessels is intimately tied to a tiny piece of ribonucleic acid that is found nowhere else in the body, researchers have found. ... > full story
Why Some Infected With HIV Remain Symptom Free Without Antiretroviral Drugs (August 13, 2008) -- AIDS experts say they have compelling evidence that some people with HIV who for years and even decades show extremely low levels of the virus in their blood never progress to full-blown AIDS and remain symptom free even without treatment, probably do so because of the strength of their immune systems, not any defects in the strain of HIV that infected them in the first place. ... > full story
Experimental Chemotherapy Regimen Shows Promise In Treating Advanced Lung Cancer (August 13, 2008) -- A combination of chemotherapy agents that have been tested in other tumor types appears to be a promising alternative to standard treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. ... > full story
Contraceptive Pill Influences Partner Choice (August 13, 2008) -- The contraceptive pill may disrupt women's natural ability to choose a partner genetically dissimilar to themselves, research has found. ... > full story
Targeted Radiation Therapy Can Control Limited Cancer Spread (August 13, 2008) -- Precisely targeted radiation therapy can eradicate all evidence of disease in selected patients with cancer that has spread to only a few sites, suggests the first published report from an ongoing clinical trial. Radiation therapy controlled all signs of cancer in 21 percent of patients who had five or fewer disease sites. ... > full story
Cancer Cells With A Long Breath: Seeking Origin Of Brain Tumors In Children (August 13, 2008) -- Medulloblastoma is one of the most common and most malignant brain tumors among children and teenagers. These tumors grow very rapidly, and fifty percent of patients in the long term die from the condition. The details of the processes that lead to the growth of these tumors have remained unknown until now. Scientists have now successfully revealed certain molecular mechanisms that lead to the development of these cerebellar tumors. ... > full story
Poor Coordination In Childhood Linked To Obesity In Later Life (August 13, 2008) -- Poor physical control and coordination in childhood are linked to an increased risk of obesity in later life, suggests a new study. ... > full story
Signs Of Alzheimer's Disease May Be Present Decades Before Diagnosis (August 13, 2008) -- People who develop Alzheimer's disease may show signs of this illness many decades earlier in life, including compromised educational achievement. Adult head size can be used to estimate the size of the fully-developed brain. ... > full story
Single MicroRNA That Controls Blood Vessel Development Identified (August 13, 2008) -- Scientists have identified a key regulatory factor that controls development of the human vascular system, the extensive network of arteries, veins and capillaries that allow blood to reach all tissues and organs. ... > full story
Parents Shape Whether Their Children Learn To Eat Fruits And Vegetables (August 13, 2008) -- To combat the increasing problem of childhood obesity, researchers are studying how to get preschoolers to eat more fruits and vegetables. One way is early home interventions -- teaching parents how to create an environment where children reach for a banana instead of potato chips. ... > full story
Losing Weight Soon After Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis Doubles Positive Outcomes (August 13, 2008) -- A four-year study looked at 2,574 adults and found that people who lost weight in the 18 months after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis were up to twice as likely to have better control of their blood pressure and blood sugar, and were more likely to maintain that control even if they later regained their weight. ... > full story
Widely Prescribed Anti-parasite Drug Targets Cancer-causing Protein (August 13, 2008) -- Researchers have identified mebendazole, a drug used globally to treat parasitic infections, as a novel investigational agent for the treatment of chemotherapy-resistant malignant melanoma. ... > full story
Levels Of C-reactive Protein In The Blood Do Not Cause Diabetes (August 13, 2008) -- Researchers have examined the association between levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation in the blood, and the risk of type 2 diabetes. ... > full story
Caregivers Of Spouses With Dementia Enjoy Life Less (August 13, 2008) -- Spouses of husbands and wives with dementia pay an emotional toll as they care for their ailing spouse. This has prompted a call for new interventions and strategies to assist caregivers in coping with the demands of this difficult time, according to a new study. ... > full story
Childhood Brain Tumor Traced To Normal Stem Cells Gone Bad (August 12, 2008) -- An aggressive childhood brain tumor known as medulloblastoma originates in normal brain "stem" cells that turn malignant when acted on by a known mutant, cancer-causing oncogene, say researchers. The findings hint at potential new treatment approaches for medulloblastoma by targeting the origins of the tumors, and further suggest that not all patients' tumors may be born from the same cells. ... > full story
For The Birds Or For Me? Why Do Conservationists Really Help Wildlife? (August 12, 2008) -- Volunteers who take part in conservation efforts may do it more for themselves than the wildlife they are trying to protect. ... > full story
Alternate Pathway That Leads To Palate Development Identified (August 12, 2008) -- Researchers have uncovered another clue behind the causes of cleft palate and the process that leads to palate formation. ... > full story
Anything But Modest: The Mouse Continues To Contribute To Humankind (August 12, 2008) -- "Big things come in small packages," the saying goes, and it couldn't be more true when discussing the mouse. This little creature has become a crucial part of human history through its contributions in understanding human genetics and disease. In a review published in Disease Models & Mechanisms, genetics researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and Fudan University School of Life Sciences discuss the history and future of mice as a model organism. ... > full story
How Babies Understand The World Around Them And Their Place In It (August 12, 2008) -- New research could provide an insight into the way that babies understand the world around them and their place within it. A new study suggests that babies as young as six or seven months are able to actively respond to stimuli and understand them in relation to their own bodies. ... > full story
New Evidence On Benefits Of Breast Feeding (August 12, 2008) -- Researchers have identified proteins in human breast-milk -- not present in cow's milk -- that may fight disease by helping remove bacteria, viruses and other dangerous pathogen's from an infant's gastrointestinal tract. ... > full story
Key To Treating Cancer May Be Finding Its Original Cell (August 12, 2008) -- Cancer biologists are turning their attention to the normal cells that give rise to cancers, to learn more about how tumor growth might be stopped at the earliest opportunity. ... > full story
New Breastfeeding Study Shows Most Moms Quit Early (August 12, 2008) -- While the CDC recently reported that more moms than ever give breastfeeding a try, a new national study shows most moms do not stick with it as long as they should. Although 77 percent of moms nationally start to breastfeed, the new study found that only 36 percent of babies are breastfed through 6 months, well short of the federal government's goal to hit 50 percent by 2010. ... > full story
Sound Adds Speed To Visual Perception (August 12, 2008) -- The traditional view of individual brain areas involved in perception of different sensory stimuli -- i.e., one brain region involved in hearing and another involved in seeing -- has been thrown into doubt in recent years. A new study shows that, in monkeys, the region involved in hearing can directly improve perception in the visual region, without the involvement of other structures to integrate the senses. ... > full story
Proton Pump Inhibitors Increase Risk Of Bone Fractures, Study Finds (August 12, 2008) -- Patients who use proton pump inhibitors for seven or more years to treat reflux, peptic ulcers and other conditions are at greater risk of osteoporosis-related fractures, according to this large observational study published in CMAJ. ... > full story
Anemia Of Chronic Disease: An Adaptive Response? (August 12, 2008) -- The anemia of chronic disease may be a beneficial, adaptive response to the underlying disease, rather than a negative effect of the illness, postulates an analysis article in CMAJ. ... > full story
Large Reservoir Of Mitochondrial DNA Mutations Identified In Humans (August 12, 2008) -- Clinical analysis of blood samples from almost 3,000 infants showed that at least 1 in 200 individuals in the general public harbor mitochondrial DNA mutations that may lead to disease. ... > full story
Greater Response To Placebo In Children Than In Adults (August 12, 2008) -- In a systematic review of antiepileptic drugs, researchers show that children with drug-resistant partial epilepsy enrolled in trials seem to have a greater response to placebo than adults enrolled in such trials. This finding is an important factor to consider when designing drug trials to be carried out in children with epilepsy. ... > full story
Some Obese Individuals Appear 'Metabolically Healthy,' Without Increased Cardiovascular Risk (August 12, 2008) -- Some obese individuals do not appear to have an increased risk for heart disease, while some normal-weight individuals experience a cluster of heart risks, according to two reports in the August 11/25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. ... > full story
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