Culture | Page 2141 | Science Codex

A strategy for combating drug-resistant cancers

Many cancer therapies function by activating proteins like Caspase-3 (CASP3) that promote cell death. Several forms of cancer develop resistance to these drugs by down regulating CASP3 through an unknown mechanism.

In the absence of CASP3, tumor cells produce another cell death promoting protein CASP7, but it is rendered inactive by the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP). In the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Po-Huang Liang and colleagues at Academia Sinica identify a compound (I-Lys) that disrupts the interaction between CASP7 and XIAP.

Upcoming research to be presented at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium

SAN FRANSISCO, CA – Five additional studies of note are among those that will be presented at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium, taking place September 7-9, 2013 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California. Two studies examine cognitive function in women who undergo treatment for early-stage breast cancer; a third evaluates impact of tumor genotyping on clinical trial enrollment; and the final two evaluate the outcomes of different treatment approaches.

Saturday, September 7 Presentations

Research findings point to new therapeutic approach for common cause of kidney failure

Washington, DC -- New research has uncovered a process that is defective in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, a common cause of kidney failure. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), point to a new potential strategy for preventing and treating the disease.

UCLA researchers describe new form of irritable bowel syndrome

UCLA researchers have described a new form of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) that occurs after an acute bout of diverticulitis, a finding that may help lead to better management of symptoms and relief for patients.

Study IDs trouble areas, aims to speed up construction projects

Research from North Carolina State University identified factors that cause construction site managers to schedule more time than necessary for specific tasks. Understanding these factors and whether they can be reduced or eliminated could help the industry complete construction projects more quickly.

Health information laws can be coordinated with health system delivery improvements under EPSDT

WASHINGTON, DC (September 5, 2013) -- A new analysis by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) examines the relationship between health information laws and health system improvements for children and adolescents under Medicaid's Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit.

Atypical symptoms: Why black women have a higher risk of death from heart disease

Among a group of women with symptoms of angina who were tested for a suspected coronary blockage, nearly 3 times as many black women as white women died of heart disease.

The study determined whether differences in the women's angina symptoms could affect the risk of death in these two groups, and the researchers report their findings in Journal of Women's Health.

Weird academics says religious leaders can bring about conservation "miracles"

Leaders of the major world religions can play a key role in preserving biological diversity, says a new paper by ecologists.

If the world's religious leaders wished to bring about a change, they would be ideally positioned to do so, and so the ecologists allege they have a moral obligation to do so..

China's clean-water program benefits people and the environment, Stanford research shows

The brown, smog-filled skies that engulf Beijing have earned China a poor reputation for environmental stewardship. But despite China's dirty skies, a study led by Stanford environmental scientists has found that a government-run clean water program is providing substantial benefit to millions of people in the nation's capital.

Heart attack death rates unchanged in spite of faster care at hospitals

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Heart attack deaths have remained the same, even as hospital teams have gotten faster at treating heart attack patients with emergency angioplasty, according to a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

Hospitals across the country have successfully raced to reduce so-called door-to-balloon time, the time it takes patients arriving at hospitals suffering from a heart attack to be treated with angioplasty, to 90 minutes or less in the belief that it would save heart muscle and lives.

Data suggests Abbott's test may help more accurately diagnose heart attacks in women

AMSTERDAM, Sept.

Youthful stem cells from bone can heal the heart, Temple scientists report

(Philadelphia, PA) - Many people who survive a heart attack find themselves back in the hospital with a failing heart just years later. And the outcome often is unfavorable, owing to limited treatment options. But scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC) recently found hope in an unlikely source – stem cells in cortical, or compact, bone. In a new study, they show that when it comes to the regeneration of heart tissue, these novel bone-derived cells do a better job than the heart's own stem cells.

Sharing the risks/costs of biomass crops

URBANA, Ill. – Farmers who grow corn and soybeans can take advantage of government price support programs and crop insurance, but similar programs are not available for those who grow biomass crops such as Miscanthus. A University of Illinois study recommends a framework for contracts between growers and biorefineries to help spell out expectations for sustainability practices and designate who will assume the risks and costs associated with these new perennial energy crops.

Review: problem gambling and substance abuse linked, says sociologist

TORONTO, Sept. 4, 2013—Problem gamblers are a hidden population among people with mental health or substance abuse issues who often don't get the treatment they need, a new paper says.

Anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent of people with substance abuse problems also have significant gambling problem, yet few programs are targeted at them and most social service agencies don't have funds to treat them, the study's main author says.

Best of ESC Congress 2013

Amsterdam, 4 September 2013: Close to thirty thousand delegates converged from all over the world, to the ESC Congress 2013 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, this week. Cardiologists came to hear first-hand about the latest research. "A record number of Hot Lines and scientific sessions with new formats allowed for more exchanges between peers presenting results of clinical trials, new Clinical Practice Guidelines and new devices and treatments," said Professor Keith Fox, Chair of the ESC Scientific Programme Committee. We have much to learn from each other!