Cancer researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) have discovered that the ovarian hormone progesterone plays a pivotal role in altering breast stem cells, a finding that has important implications for breast cancer risk.
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University of British Columbia researchers have cast artificial proteins into a new solid biomaterial that very closely mimics the elasticity of muscle.
The approach, detailed in the current issue of the journal Nature, opens new avenues to creating solid biomaterials from smaller engineered proteins, and has potential applications in material sciences and tissue engineering.
The May edition of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology features a study aimed to clarify expression patterns of a novel cancer biomarker, CD24, in non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and to correlate the findings to clinicopathologic variables, such as performance status, age, gender and prognostic significance. Furthermore, the results associated CD24 expression with the new (seventh) edition of the TNM staging. In summary, the study concluded that high expression of CD24 was a negative independent prognostic factor for progression free and cancer-specific survival in NSCLC.
A prescription drug already approved to treat genital warts and skin cancer may have a new use in boosting the effectiveness of future vaccines for bacterial and viral diseases, such as hepatitis C and HIV (the AIDS virus). These findings appear in ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal.
Life without atrazine would complicate weed management in corn, especially for sweet corn growers. A study at the University of Illinois looked at 175 sweet corn fields in the Midwest to find out just how important this 50-year-old, broad-spectrum herbicide is in sweet corn grown for processing.
Farmers who don't rely on or want to minimize the use of chemical herbicides need creative solutions to win the battle against aggressive perennial weeds. In ongoing research at the University of Illinois on Canada thistle, Sudangrass is proving to be a worthy contender as a summer smother crop.
"Sudangrass get very tall. It outcompetes the thistle for light. The Sudangrass creates shade so photosynthesis cannot occur in the thistle," said U of I weed scientist John Masiunas.
Researchers have found evidence that "marine snow"--aggregates of organic material floating in water bodies--may act as microscopic, island-like refuges for pathogens, or disease-causing organisms. This detritus may skew water sampling procedures and mathematical models used to predict the transmission of waterborne diseases to humans.
Patients who can postpone non-cardiac surgery for at least six weeks after receiving a coronary stent are less likely to suffer reduced blood flow to the heart, heart attack and death than those who have surgery sooner, Scottish researchers report in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions, an American Heart Association journal.
A new study led by the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute in Australia has ranked most of the world's countries for their environmental impact.
The research uses seven indicators of environmental degradation to form two rankings – a proportional environmental impact index, where impact is measured against total resource availability, and an absolute environmental impact index measuring total environmental degradation at a global scale.
Chevy Chase, MD— According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), just one night of short sleep duration can induce insulin resistance, a component of type 2 diabetes.
Chevy Chase, MD— According to a new study, long-term elite rhythmic gymnastics exerts positive effects on volumetric bone density and bone geometry in adolescent girls.
Cereal grain kernels consist of three main parts: endosperm, bran and germ. In Europe and worldwide most cereal products, like white bread, are based on kernels or flour after removal of bran and germ, the two parts containing most of the dietary fibre and other bioactive components. In the past decade consumers have been rediscovering whole grain based products. As a result consumption of whole grain products is growing world wide and in Europe also in countries where whole grain products were hardly known.