Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Ajit Varki, M.D., have shown a new mechanism for how human consumption of red meat and milk products could contribute to the increased risk of cancerous tumors. Their findings, which suggest that inflammation resulting from a molecule introduced through consumption of these foods could promote tumor growth, are published online this week in advance of print publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
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WASHINGTON, DC, November 13, 2008 – Raising taxes on beer, wine and liquor immediately reduces the number of deaths from alcohol-related diseases such as liver disease, oral or breast cancers, and alcohol poisoning, according to a new study published in the online edition of the American Journal of Public Health.
CHICAGO - Patients treated for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer who receive chemotherapy and proton beam therapy have fewer instances of bone marrow toxicity than patients who receive the standard treatment of intensity-modulated radiation (IMRT) and concurrent chemotherapy, according to researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The finding: Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found a genetic marker that controls an enzyme present in aggressive and metastatic cancer. The study suggests an absence of microRNA-101 is related to high expression of the protein EZH2, which was previously shown to be active in metastatic cancers. MicroRNA's are molecules that help regulate gene expression. miR-101 is one of few miRNA's shown to play such an important role in the development of cancer.
A scientific team from the John Innes Centre and University of St Andrews has identified a key gene that was transferred from a Sicilian plant into a close relative in Britain, showing how genetic cross-talk between species can be important for evolution.
HOUSTON – (Nov. 13, 2008) -- Not knowing which way is up can have deadly consequences for pilots. This confusion of the senses, called spatial disorientation, is responsible for up to 10 percent of general aviation accidents in the United States, with 90 percent of these being fatal, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A new UCLA School of Nursing study is the first to reveal the devastating consequences of smoking on the nursing profession. Published in the November–December edition of the journal Nursing Research, the findings describe smoking trends and death rates among U.S. nurses and emphasize the importance of supporting smoking cessation programs in the nursing field.
The Naval Research Laboratory's Spatial Heterodyne Imager for Mesospheric Radicals (SHIMMER) has successfully observed a second northern season of Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs), which are the Earth's highest clouds. This successful observation fulfills the primary goal of the Space Test Program Satellite-1 (STPSat-1) Extended Mission.
When cockroaches flee their predators, they choose, seemingly at random, amongst one of a handful of preferred escape routes, according to a report published on November 13th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.
"By using one of a number of possible trajectories, we think that cockroaches may behave with sufficient unpredictability to avoid the possibility that predators will learn their escape strategy," said Paolo Domenici of CNR-IAMC in Italy. "As we say in our report, the predator is made to guess."
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Developed more than 200 years ago and found in households around the world, chlorine bleach is among the most widely used disinfectants, yet scientists never have understood exactly how the familiar product kills bacteria.
New research from the University of Michigan, however, reveals key details in the process by which bleach works its antimicrobial magic.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are decoding the mysterious mechanisms behind the high-temperature superconductors that industry hopes will find wide use in next-generation systems for storing, distributing and using electricity. In two new papers* on a recently discovered class of high-temperature superconductors, they report that the already complicated relationship between magnetism and superconductivity may be more involved than previously thought, or that a whole new mechanism may drive some types of superconductors.
Montreal, November 13, 2008 – A new cross-Canada study has found that breast and prostate cancer treatment can foster bone loss. In the online edition of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the scientists explain how loss of bone mass might affect 46,000 people diagnosed with breast and prostate cancer each year* and place them at increased risk for osteoporosis and fractures.
Extremely small nanoscale particles are released by common kitchen appliances in abundant amounts, greatly outnumbering the previously detected, larger-size nanoparticles emitted by these appliances, according to new findings* by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). So-called "ultrafine particles" (UFP) range in size from 2 to 10 nanometers. They are emitted by motor vehicles and a variety of indoor sources and have attracted attention because of increasing evidence that they can cause respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.
Electroshock weapons—such as stun guns and other similar devices that temporarily incapacitate a person by delivering a high-voltage, low-current electric shock—have helped law enforcement officers safely subdue dangerous or violent persons for years. The use of these weapons has been challenged, however, by claims that they may have contributed to more than 150 deaths in the United States since 2001.
A gene essential to the growth and development of most organ systems in the body also is vital to female – but not male – embryonic sexual development, scientists report this month.
The study, from researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Texas, appears in Human Molecular Genetics. The findings lend support to a controversial hypothesis about mammalian sexual development.
In the beginning – in terms of their sexual organs – all embryos look alike, said Illinois veterinary biosciences professor Humphrey Yao, who led the study.