In a study conducted by Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) and the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), researchers discovered a new gene that controls blood vessel formation. This work presents a possible new drug target for cancer and heart disease, and was published in the journal, Nature Communications, on 8 July 2016.
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CHICAGO --- Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is related to improved subjective memory in breast cancer survivors, who often complain about memory problems, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. It appears the physical activity alleviates stress and benefits women psychologically, which in turn aids their memory.
A surprising finding is memory problems appear to be related to the high stress load cancer survivors experience, and may not be specific to chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
Scientists have identified for the first time the 'cell of origin' - in other words, the first cell from which the cancer grows - in basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, and followed the chain of events that lead to the growth of these invasive tumours.
Titanium is used medically in applications such as artificial joints and dental implants. While it is strong and is not harmful to tissues, the metal lacks some of the beneficial biological properties of natural tissues such as bones and natural teeth. Now, based on insights from mussels--which are able to attach themselves very tightly to even metallic surfaces due to special proteins found in their byssal threads--scientists from RIKEN have successfully attached a biologically active molecule to a titanium surface, paving the way for implants that can be more biologically beneficial.
Heart failure is a common endpoint for many cardiovascular diseases. This syndrome is characterized by reduced cardiac output that leads to dyspnea, exercise intolerance and later death. More than 20 million people worldwide are estimated to have heart failure and this situation will get worse since the prevalence of heart failure will rise as the mean age of the population increases.
Leading scientists warn: Phosphorus pollution is a major concern. We need to speed up recovery treatments of lakes - or accept poor freshwater quality. In a series of studies published in a special issue of the journal Water Research, leading scientists assess how to control phosphorus pollution in lakes.
The cells of plants, animals and humans all use electrical signals to communicate with each other. Nerve cells use them to activated muscles. But leaves, too, send electrical signals to other parts of the plant, for example, when they were injured and are threatened by hungry insects.
TAMPA, Fla. (July 8, 2016) - Cancer is a group of more than 100 different diseases. All are driven by cells and genes that escape the normal process of division and begin their own plan to replicate in the body. Advances in genetics and molecular biology are providing researchers with better knowledge of the genetic mutations and cell alterations that can lead to cancer, and also how to utilize that information to develop preventive measures and therapies to target the diseases.
Researchers from the Chromatin and Disease group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), led by Dr. Esteban Ballestar, have identified for the first time epigenetic alterations in autoinflammatory diseases, particularly in cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS). The study has been published this week in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the most prestigious journal in the clinical immunology area.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A new study of more than 1,000 primary care melanoma screenings in the western Pennsylvania area in 2014 suggests that overall the practice complies with the old medical maxim to "first do no harm." The numbers show that screenings did not result in a spike in surgical treatments or specialist referrals.
There are thousands of scientific papers dedicated to a particular type of tumor, a particular gene, a type of specific molecular lesion or the effect of a particular drug. However, there are very few examples of publications that integrate these four concepts (type of tumor, gene alteration and drug) in a significant amount of samples. An article published in Cell, in collaboration with the group of Dr.
Your risk of heart attack increases with the amount of traffic noise to which you are exposed. The increase in risk - though slight - is greatest with road and rail traffic noise, less with aircraft noise. Such are the conclusions reached by Andreas Seidler and co-authors in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International after evaluating information from statutory health insurers on over a million Germans over the age of 40 (Dtsch Arztbl Int; 2016; 113: 407-14).
Utah State University scientists report a watershed-scale experiment in highly degraded streams within Oregon's John Day Basin demonstrates building beaver dam analogs allows beavers to increase their dam building activities, which benefits a threatened population of steelhead trout.
"Whether or not beaver dams are beneficial to trout and salmon has been hotly debated," says ecologist Nick Bouwes, owner of Utah-based Eco Logical Research, Inc. and adjunct assistant professor in USU's Department of Watershed Sciences.
When cells die, whether through apoptosis or necrosis, the DNA and other molecules found in those cells don't just disappear. They wind up in the blood stream, where degraded bits and pieces can be extracted.
This cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is degraded due to its exposure to enzymes in the blood but is nonetheless a powerful monitoring tool in cancer, pregnancy and organ transplantation. One fairly recent breakthrough is prenatal testing for conditions such as Down syndrome, as fragments of fetal cfDNA can be detected in a mother's bloodstream.
The resurgence of Zika virus has raised anxieties about the spread of infectious disease by mosquitoes as the Ecological Society of America heads to southern Florida for its 101st Annual Meeting. Research on mosquito biology and disease transmission will have a strong showing at the meeting Fort Lauderdale, this 7-12 August 2016. Climate change and species invasions are strong themes among this year's research presentations on infectious disease.