Body

Corresponding report lays out strategies for a better organized, more efficient health care system

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (August 6, 2008) – A drug-like molecule called Wnt can be substituted for the cancer gene c-Myc, one of four genes added to adult cells to reprogram them to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, according to Whitehead researchers. Researchers hope that such embryonic stem-cell-like cells, known as induced pluripotent (IPS) cells, eventually may treat diseases such as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

COLLEGE STATION, Aug. 6, 2008 — Think researchers know all there is to know about Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli? Think again. "E. coli has more than four thousand genes, and the functions of one-fourth of these remain unknown," says Dr. Deborah Siegele, a biology professor at Texas A&M University whose laboratory specializes in carrying out research using the bacterium.

Harmless E. coli strains are normally found in the intestines of many animals, including humans, but some strains can cause diseases.

A new study suggests that monitoring levels of a hormone called fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) may provide information crucial to the treatment of patients with kidney failure. In the Aug. 7 New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) report that patients with elevated levels of FGF-23 when beginning hemodialysis had a significantly increased risk of death within the first year of treatment, regardless of whether they had other risk factors.

BOSTON, August 7, 2008 - The death sentence that too often accompanies a diagnosis of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) can be commuted if an individualized outpatient therapy program is followed – even in countries with limited resources and a heavy burden of TB.

The research was published today in an advanced, online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The cell cycle, which allows cells to replicate their DNA and produce new cells, is controlled by a complex concert of enzymes and other components. In addition there are "checkpoint" mechanisms that can block continuation of the process if something goes amiss. Via mechanisms still poorly understood, a checkpoint in the reproduction process can detect problems that interfere with DNA copying. This detection can in turn trigger several potential responses.

August 6, 2008 -- Periodontal disease may be an independent predictor of incident Type 2 diabetes, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. While diabetes has long been believed to be a risk factor for periodontal infections, this is the first study exploring whether the reverse might also be true, that is, if periodontal infections can contribute to the development of diabetes. The full study findings are published in the July 2008 issue of Diabetes Care.

Raritan, NJ, August 6, 2008 – The nation's first, prospective registry of complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs), known as SSTIR (the Skin and Soft Tissue Infection Hospital Registry), has begun enrolling patients. The SSTIR, plans to enroll more than 1,200 hospitalized patients by the end of this year, and is designed to better understand treatment patterns and provide data to help improve patient outcomes. The registry is sponsored by Ortho-McNeil, division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

CHICAGO—Chest pain and shortness of breath are common symptoms that send tens of thousands of heart failure (HF) patients into U.S. hospitals each month. Cardiologists at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute of Northwestern Memorial Hospital may be able to curb such visits for some of their HF patients as they recently became Chicago's first researchers using a new wireless pressure sensor technology that allows them to track the pulmonary artery pressure of the subjects while these subjects remain at home.

Physicists at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder, have demonstrated a powerful new technique that reveals hidden properties of ultracold atomic gases.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — By combining stretchable optoelectronics and biologically inspired design, scientists have created a remarkable imaging device, with a layout based on the human eye.

As reported in the Aug. 7 issue of the journal Nature, researchers at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University have developed a high-performance, hemispherical "eye" camera using an array of single-crystalline silicon detectors and electronics, configured in a stretchable, interconnected mesh.

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Digital cameras have transformed the world of photography. Now new technology inspired by the human eye could push the photographic image forward even more by producing improved images with a wider field of view.

Black girls who undergo gender and culturally tailored HIV interventions are significantly less likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease.

The study by Emory University public health researchers is being presented at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. It analyzed the self-reported sexual behavior and condom usage among 439 sexually active black female girls between the ages of 15 and 21.

ALEXANDRIA, VA, August 6, 2008---The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is urging parents and caregivers to ensure that babies get enough "tummy time" throughout the day while they are awake and supervised, in light of a recent survey of therapists who say they've noticed an increase in motor delays in infants who spend too much time on their backs while awake.