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Penn research answers long-standing question about swimming in elastic liquids

PHILADELPHIA — A biomechanical experiment conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science has answered a long-standing theoretical question: Will microorganisms swim faster or slower in elastic fluids? For a prevalent type of swimming, undulation, the answer is "slower."

Paulo Arratia, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, along with student Xiaoning Shen, conducted the experiment. Their findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Lack of 'gatekeeper' protein linked to skin cancer

New research from North Carolina State University shows that a "gatekeeper" protein plays an important role in skin-cancer prevention in humans and lab mice.

The protein, C/EBP alpha, is normally abundantly expressed to help protect skin cells from DNA damage when humans are exposed to sunlight. The NC State research shows, however, that the protein is not expressed when certain human skin cancers are present.

Moreover, when the protein is inactivated in special lab mice exposed to small amounts of the UVB solar radiation, the mice become more susceptible to skin cancer.

New Mayo Clinic test targets Lynch syndrome, a risk factor for colon cancer

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic has developed a screening procedure that could dramatically increase testing for Lynch syndrome (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lynch-syndrome/DS00669), a hereditary genetic disorder that raises cancer risk, particularly for colorectal cancer. An estimated 3 percent of colon cancers can be attributed to Lynch syndrome.

Dairy consumption does not elevate heart-attack risk, study suggests

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] —Dairy products can be high in harmful saturated fat but not necessarily in risk to the heart. A newly published analysis of thousands of adults in Costa Rica found that their levels of dairy consumption had nothing to do statistically with their risk of a heart attack.

Scientific study proves that goat milk can be considered as functional food

and Spanish.

The research group AGR 206 at the University of Granada Department of Physiology and Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology "Jose Matáix", coordinated by professor Margarita Sánchez Campos, have proven that goat milk has nutritional characteristics beneficial to health.

Maternal smoking causes changes in fetal DNA

ATS 2011, DENVER - Children whose mothers or grandmothers smoked during pregnancy are at increased risk of asthma in childhood, but the underlying causes of this are not well understood. Now a new study indicates changes in a process called DNA methylation that occurs before birth may be a root cause.

The study will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference.

New study predicts risk of wetland habitat loss in southern United States

Baylor University, in collaboration with the U.S Forest Service (USFS) Rocky Mountain Research Station, has developed a model that predicts the risk of wetland habitat loss based on local wetland features and characteristics of the landscape surrounding the wetland. The new model was used to predict the fate of wetland habitats over a 13-state area in the southern United States and was published in the journal Ecological Applications.

Imaging technology reveals intricate details of 49-million-year-old spider

Scientists have used the latest computer-imaging technology to produce stunning three-dimensional pictures of a 49 million-year-old spider trapped inside an opaque piece of fossilized amber resin.

University of Manchester researchers, working with colleagues in Germany, created the intricate images using X-ray computed tomography to study the remarkable spider, which can barely be seen under the microscope in the old and darkened amber.

Occupational lung diseases in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans

ATS 2011, DENVER – A Wednesday morning session will explore the inhalational exposures and respiratory outcomes of military deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. Presenters will review current knowledge on complex inhalational exposures, epidemiologic studies, animal toxicology studies, and clinical lung findings in U.S. military men and women who are returning from Southwest Asia.

Half of prostate cancers could potentially benefit from new type of cancer drugs, U-M study finds

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — About half of prostate cancers have a genetic anomaly that appears to make tumor cells responsive to a new class of cancer-fighting drugs, a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds.

The drugs, called PARP inhibitors, are currently being tested in breast cancer patients with mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are found in up to 10 percent of all breast cancers.

Increase in risk of certain gastric cancer from heavy drinking

The results from a very well-done meta-analysis support other data generated on the risk of alcohol consumption and gastric cancer – that is – that the risk may be real for heavy alcohol consumption but not for moderate intake. The type of gastric cancer relating to heavier alcohol intake in this study tended to be tumors involving the noncardia, but differences between the association with tumors of the gastric cardia were not significant.

Marker identifies breast cancer patients likely to respond to tamoxifen

PHILADELPHIA—Cancer researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson and an international team of collaborators have discovered a biomarker in breast cancer that may help identify which women will respond to anti-estrogen therapy.

The research appears in the May 16 online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

It's not easy being green

LA JOLLA, CA—The seeds sprouting in your spring garden may still be struggling to reach the sun. If so, they are consuming a finite energy pack contained within each seed. Once those resources are depleted, the plant cell nucleus must be ready to switch on a "green" photosynthetic program. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies recently showed a new way that those signals are relayed.

Scientists discover switch to speed up stem cell production

A team of scientists from Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have shown how proteins involved in controlling genes work together to carry out their functions in stem cells and demonstrated for the very first time, how they can change interaction partners to make other types of cells.

Hospitals misleading patients about benefits of robotic surgery, study suggests

An estimated four in 10 hospital websites in the United States publicize the use of robotic surgery, with the lion's share touting its clinical superiority despite a lack of scientific evidence that robotic surgery is any better than conventional operations, a new Johns Hopkins study finds.

The promotional materials, researchers report online in the Journal for Healthcare Quality, overestimate the benefits of surgical robots, largely ignore the risks and are strongly influenced by the product's manufacturer.