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Minneapolis, Minn. - May 19, 2016 - Children and adolescents injured in motor vehicle accidents have better outcomes when treated at a stand-alone Level I pediatric trauma center (PTC) than at general adult trauma centers (ATC) or adult trauma centers with added Level I pediatric qualifications (ATC+PTC), according to a new study to be published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery by researchers from Children's Minnesota.

What goes into a surgeon's decision to operate or recommend an alternative treatment option?

Two UCLA-led studies published on the website of the peer-reviewed Annals of Surgery sought to answer that question. The upshot is: It might depend as much on how surgeons perceive the world as it does on the patient's diagnosis.

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have uncovered how two enzymes, ULK1 and ULK2, which are best known for their role in the degradation and recycling of proteins, control the trafficking of specific proteins. The control of the movement of these molecules from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus is essential for maintaining the correct balance of cellular processes. The results are described online in the journal Molecular Cell and in time may help researchers understand how certain neurodegenerative diseases arise.

WHAT: NIH-supported researchers are reporting additional details about a widely-publicized study that linked a systolic blood pressure target under 120 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) with reduced cardiovascular disease and a lower risk of death. The new analysis singles out adults aged 75 and older and confirms that those with high blood pressure also benefit from the lower pressure target similar to the larger group studied in the earlier research: non-diabetic adults aged 50 and older.

A groundbreaking study released today shows that a single injectable dose of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) along with bivalent oral polio vaccine could protect up to 90 percent of children from polio and strengthen community protection against the disease.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- For cancer to spread, the cells that take off into the bloodstream must find a tissue that will permit them to thrive. They don't just go looking, though. Instead, they actively prepare the tissue, in one case by co-opting a protein that suppresses defenses the body would otherwise mount. In a new study, scientists report that by wresting back control of that protein, they could restore multiple defenses in the lungs of mice, staving off cancer's spread there.

Dr. S. Roccabianca and Dr. T.R. Bush, researchers from Michigan State University compiled an extensive review of the key contributions to understanding the mechanics of the bladder ranging from work conducted in the 1970s through the present time with a focus on material testing and theoretical modeling. The review appears in a forthcoming issue of the journal TECHNOLOGY.

A team of Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers has worked out how a new class of anti-cancer drugs kills cancer cells, a finding that helps explain how cancer cells may become resistant to treatment.

The researchers studied a class of anti-cancer drugs called BET inhibitors, which are considered promising new drugs for the treatment of blood cancers such as leukaemias and lymphomas. BET inhibitors reduce tumour growth by blocking BET proteins, a family of proteins that control whether genes are switched on or off.

A team of researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York demonstrated a drug delivery mechanism that utilizes two independent vehicles, allowing for delivery of chemically and physically dis-tinct agents. The mechanism was utilized to deliver a new anti-cancer combination therapy consisting of piperlongumine (PL) and TRAIL to treat PC3 prostate cancer and HCT116 colon cancer cells. PL, a small-molecule hydrophobic drug, was encapsulated in poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles. TRAIL was chemically conjugated to the surface of nanoscale liposomes.

Researchers from Copenhagen Plant Science Centre at University of Copenhagen have succeeded in manipulating a strain of microalgae to form complex molecules to an unprecedented extent. This may pave the way for an efficient, inexpensive and environmentally friendly method of producing a variety of chemicals, such as pharmaceutical compounds.

A team of researchers from the University of Manitoba in collaboration with local clinical scientists in Winnipeg, Canada, have developed a new method for rapid neutrophil chemotaxis test directly from a small drop of whole blood using a microfluidic system. Although many microfluidic devices have been developed for quantitative immune cell migration studies and relevant clinical applications, cell isolation from blood in most studies still relied on specialized facilities. The process is labor-intensive, time-consuming, requires specialized skills, and often causes cell pre-activation.

New research projects that aim to improve the complex formulation processes used to manufacture products such as toothpastes, inhalers, films that coat solar cells and pharmaceuticals are to receive significant funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Seven projects, involving researchers at 16 universities across the UK and over 40 industrial and academic partners, will share £15 million in grants that cover a wide range of research.

Scientists at the University of Bristol have identified the trigger for immune cells' inflammatory response -- a discovery that may pave the way for new treatments for many human diseases.

Immune cells play essential roles in the maintenance and repair of our bodies. When we injure ourselves, immune cells mount a rapid inflammatory response to protect us against infection and help heal the damaged tissue.

Sexual conflict between males and females can lead to changes in the shape of their genitals, according to research on burying beetles by scientists at the University of Exeter.

The study, published today in the journal Evolution, provides new evidence that conflict over how often mating takes place can lead to males evolving longer penis-like organs and females larger 'claws' on their genitalia, within ten generations.

In the Mesozoic, the time of the dinosaurs, from 252 to 66 million years ago, marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs were top predators in the oceans. But their origins and early rise to dominance have been somewhat mysterious.

New research published this week in the journal Paleobiology by palaeobiologists from the University of Bristol shows that they burst onto the scene, rather than expanding slowly into their ecosystems.