Body

DALLAS - March 17, 2016 - Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a second role for a class of RNA-binding proteins, revealing new insights about neurological diseases and conditions associated with this protein such as autism, epilepsy, and certain types of cancer.

WASHINGTON - Researchers have developed a new technique for killing bacteria in seconds using highly porous gold nanodisks and light, according to a study published today in Optical Materials Express, a journal published by The Optical Society. The method could one day help hospitals treat some common infections without using antibiotics, which could help reduce the risk of spreading antibiotics resistance.

Many Danes are prescribed NSAIDs for the treatment of painful conditions, fever and inflammation. But the treatment also comes with side effects, including the risk of ulcers and increased blood pressure. A major new study now gathers all research in the area. This shows that arthritis medicine is particularly dangerous for heart patients, and also that older types of arthritis medicine, which have not previously been in focus, also appear to be dangerous for the heart.

A new breast cancer staging system developed by researchers at The University of TexasMD Anderson Cancer Center finds that incorporating tumor biology is a critical prognostic indicator for women who undergo neoadjuvant, or pre-surgical, therapy for breast cancer.

The Neo-Bioscore staging system, published in JAMA Oncology, incorporates HER2 status, thereby allowing for more precise prognostic stratification of all breast cancer subtypes. Understanding a patient's individual response to therapy could inform clinicians of which patients would benefit from additional therapy.

CHICAGO: Many low- and middle-income countries do not have a defined medical specialty in surgical oncology and lack an educational infrastructure to respond to the local burden of cancer, but a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) fellowship is succeeding in addressing this problem by training foreign medical graduates (FMG) in surgical oncology.

What happens when macrophage immune cells are activated in the course of an inflammation to combat pathogens such as bacteria or viruses? Researchers of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg pursued this very question. The researchers discovered that the immune cells behave differently from what was previously assumed. Their metabolism upholds the production of antimicrobial substances and fatty acids during activation. In this way, they deliver important resources for the immune responses they trigger.

What do the brimstone, meadow brown and small heath butterfly species have in common? All of them are rather habitat specialists, with no specific ecological demands, they tend to have modest requirements when it comes to habitats and larval host plants. They are also more resistant to nitrogen pollution than sensitive habitat specialists, which are going extinct - even in nature conservation areas.

TAMPA, Fla. (March 17, 2016) - Cancer cells have the ability to grow in an acidic tumor environment that is detrimental to other cells, including immune cells. In a Cancer Research cover article published this week, Moffitt Cancer Center reported that neutralizing the acidic tumor environment increases the efficacy of several immune-targeting cancer therapies.

Toronto, ON - Imagine telling a patient suffering from age-related (type-II) osteoporosis that a single injection of stem cells could restore their normal bone structure. This week, with a publication in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, a group of researchers from the University of Toronto and The Ottawa Hospital suggest that this scenario may not be too far away.

Biogas is an important energy source that plays a central role in the energy revolution. Unlike wind or solar energy, biogas can be produced around the clock. Could it soon perhaps even be produced to meet demand? A team of international scientists, including microbiologists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), scientists from Aarhus University and process engineers from the Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ), have been studying the feasibility of this kind of flexible biogas production.

A new explanation for why female animals are usually less colourful and decorated than their male counterparts has been suggested by scientists from the University of Exeter - it could be to avoid sexual harassment.

In many species males attract the sexual attention of females with distinctive plumage, markings or displays of some type. But males can also be choosy about their mates, so the lack of ornamental sexual traits in females remains puzzling.

Oxford, March 17, 2016 - An article recently published in the International Journal of Surgery highlights some of the challenges that England's NHS faces regarding emergency care for elderly patients.

Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University have developed computer models that can simulate the recovery of the immune system in patients undergoing stem cell transplants. In two recent studies, they reinforce the potential of using DNA sequencing and computer modeling to predict which stem cell transplant recipients might suffer complications such as graft-versus-host-disease, a condition where the donor's immune system attacks the recipient's body.

Plant beneficial microbes mediate biocontrol of diseases by interfering with pathogens or via strengthening the host, but the microorganisms' production of the plant hormones phytohormones, including cytokinins, has not been considered as a biocontrol mechanism before.

FROSTBURG, MD (March 17, 2016) -- Wind energy is a growing alternative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. However, one impact of large-scale wind energy development has been widespread mortality of bats. A new study from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science tracks down the origin of bats killed by wind turbines in the Appalachian region in hopes of better understanding the risks to affected populations.