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A balanced protein diet can reduce accumulation of nitrogen on dairy cattle farms by up to 35 percent

Improving the nutrition of dairy cattle is a key instrument for reducing the environmental problems caused by the accumulation of nitrogen on dairy farms. Research conducted in the Basque Institute for Agricultural Development and Research, Neiker-Tecnalia, and led by the biologist Haritz Arriaga in collaboration with the Universitat Autònoma in Barcelona, has demonstrated that up to 35% of the accumulated nitrogen on dairy farms in the Basque Country can be reduced with a balanced diet in protein content without reducing milk production.

Millenium atoll: A pristine ecosystem

A series of surveys were carried out to characterize the physical and biological parameters of the Millennium Atoll lagoon during a research expedition in April of 2009. Millennium is a remote coral atoll in the Central Pacific belonging to the Republic of Kiribati, and a member of the Southern Line Islands chain. The atoll is among the few remaining coral reef ecosystems that are relatively pristine. The lagoon is highly enclosed, and was characterized by reticulate patch and line reefs throughout the center of the lagoon as well as perimeter reefs around the rim of the atoll.

HPV-positive tumor status indicates better survival in patients with oropharyngeal cancer

HPV-positive tumor status indicates better survival in patients with oropharyngeal cancer

NJIT professor tells architects building practices to withstand hurricanes

NJIT professor tells architects building practices to withstand hurricanes

Rima Taher, an expert in the design of low-rise buildings for extreme winds and hurricane, hopes her phone won't ring much this hurricane season. It's already been busy with requests for information about best building design and construction practices to reduce wind pressures on building surfaces.

Racial disparities in asthma exist even among children with equal access to health care

Within a comprehensive health insurance system, black and Hispanic children appear more likely than white children to have asthma and their outcomes are often worse, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the August print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Genetic factors may be linked with development of disordered gambling among women and men

Genetic influences appear important in the development of gambling disorders in both women and men, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Intimate partner violence against mothers associated with children's obesity

Children whose mothers report being abused by their partners appear more likely to be obese at age 5, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Epigenetic gene silencing may hold key to fatal lung vascular disease

A rare but fatal disease of blood vessels in the lung may be caused in part by aberrant silencing of genes rather than genetic mutation, new research reports.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension, a syndrome characterized by gradual blockage of blood vessels in the lungs, has been linked to genetic causes in a small percentage of patients. But University of Chicago researchers have now found that a form of epigenetics – the modification of gene expression – causes the disease in an animal model and could contribute to the disease in humans.

A rainforest revelation

Global warming may present a threat to animal and plant life even in biodiversity hot spots once thought less likely to suffer from climate change, according to a new study from Rice University.

Research by Amy Dunham, a Rice assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, detailed for the first time a direct correlation between the frequency of El Niño and a threat to life in Madagascar, a tropical island that acts as a refuge for many unique species that exist nowhere else in the world. In this case, the lemur plays the role of the canary in the coal mine.

Follow the money: Wealth, population are key drivers of invasive species

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study of biological invasions in Europe found they were linked not so much to changes in climate or land cover, but to two dominant factors – more money and more people.

Wealth and population density, along with an increase in international trade and commerce, were the forces most strongly associated with invasive species that can disrupt ecosystems and cause severe ecological or agricultural damage, scientists said.

EPAS1 - the genetic secret that allows Tibetans to thrive in thin air

EPAS1 - the genetic secret that allows Tibetans to thrive in thin air

Durham, NC – A new study pinpoints the genetic changes that enable Tibetans to thrive at altitudes where others get sick.

Scripps Research scientists find new way to attack cancerous cells

LA JOLLA, CA – June 7, 2010 –Scripps Research Institute scientists have discovered a new way to target and destroy a type of cancerous cell. The findings may lead to the development of new therapies to treat lymphomas, leukemias, and related cancers.

The study, which appears in the June 10, 2010 edition of the journal Blood, showed in animal models the new technique was successful in drastically reducing B cell lymphoma, a cancer of immune molecules called B cells.

New myeloma drug shows promise in early testing

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A drug designed to target cancerous plasma cells appears promising in treating multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer.

A multi-center study looked at the drug elotuzumab, an antibody which is designed to target CS1, a protein on the surface of malignant plasma cells. The antibody has the potential to attach to malignant plasma cells and eliminates them by an immune mechanism. The early stage trial combined elotuzumab with bortezomib, or Velcade, one of the novel chemotherapies approved to treat multiple myeloma, a cancer that arises in the plasma cells.

Molecular imaging can improve effectiveness of novel therapy for advanced heart disease

SALT LAKE CITY—Molecular imaging may improve the success rate of a new therapy for patients with advanced heart disease, according to a study unveiled at SNM's 57th Annual Meeting. Researchers used a hybrid form of molecular imaging to review patients who have undergone cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), which regulates electrical impulses within different chambers of the heart that are not properly synchronized. Molecular imaging improved physicians' ability to identify risk factors that could impact the effectiveness of therapy.

When eyes aren't enough: Computer analysis can help doctors diagnose severe heart disease

SALT LAKE CITY—A study revealed at SNM's 57th Annual Meeting urges physicians using molecular imaging for the diagnosis of heart disease to use computer data analysis rather than visual interpretation alone. The study shows that when combined, these techniques can improve early detection and diagnosis, especially in conditions that can be more difficult to catch early on, such as diseased arteries.