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Aurora, Colo. (Jan. 14, 2016) - Experts from Children's Hospital Colorado (Children's Colorado) co-led a team of researchers in studying new approaches to reducing fall asthma exacerbations in pediatric patients.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - A study of risk communication as it relates to altruistic behavior has found that portraying an event as a distant risk, despite highlighting its importance and potential progression, fails to prompt altruistic behavior intention among the U.S.

DALLAS - Jan. 14, 2016 - Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a previously unrecognized small protein in cells of the human heart that plays a key role in heart muscle contraction. The protein is made from an RNA that was previously believed to be a blank or non-coding RNA, suggesting there may be many other small 'non-coding' segments that play important biological roles.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tracking the path of chemotherapy drugs in real time and at a cellular level could revolutionize cancer care and help doctors sort out why two patients might respond differently to the same treatment.

Researchers at The Ohio State University have found a way to light up a common cancer drug so they can see where the chemo goes and how long it takes to get there.

The chronic state of low-level inflammation seen in many elderly individuals (sometimes called "inflamm-aging"), is associated with diseases such as cardiovascular disease and dementia, as well as susceptibility to infections, especially pneumonia. A study published on January 14th in PLOS Pathogens reveals a crucial role of monocytes in the immune system changes that occur with age, and may help explain why older people are more susceptible to pneumonia.

LA JOLLA, CA--January 14, 2016--Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a versatile new technique for making modifications--especially one type of extremely difficult, but much-sought-after modification--to complex drug molecules.

The feat, reported in the January 15 issue of the journal Science, has already enabled pharma giant Pfizer to proceed with the evaluation of a promising cancer drug candidate that otherwise could not have been made in sufficient quantities.

What do snapping shrimp, naked mole rats, ants, honeybees, and humans all have in common? They all share a similar colony-like organizational system that biologists have termed eusociality. Eusocial species have been remarkably successful in both surviving and thriving through the use of colony-level cooperation. One cooperative behavior used by all eusocial species is the self-sacrifice of individuals to defend the colony. For example, a eusocial bee may sting a predator to stop an attack but die in the process.

Hamilton, ON (Jan. 14, 2016) - Antibiotic treatment alone may not be sufficient to treat pneumonia in older adults, says a study by researchers of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University. In fact, it appears as though the inflammation that comes naturally with age actually increases the risk of developing pneumonia.

SINGAPORE: Researchers from the Pharmacy and the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering departments of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have designed formulations of controlled release microspheres which release the medicine over a prolonged period of time and thereby reduce the number of doses a patient needs to take. It provides a friendly and convenient alternative treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) which is a rare but serious illness and worsens if untreated.

A modified or "rapid" version of an existing wetland assessment tool can accurately assess the quality of wetlands, according to Penn State researchers. Using the rapid version of the tool, known as the Floristic Quality Assessment Index (FQI), can save time and improve upon wetland monitoring strategies.

It almost goes without saying that trust is a defining element of genuine human friendship. Now, a report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on January 14 suggests that the same holds true among chimpanzee pals. The findings suggest that friendship based on trust goes way, way back, the researchers say.

When cells die, they don't vanish without a trace. Instead, they leave behind their fingerprints in the form of cell-free DNA. In people, these tiny fragments of DNA can be found in the bloodstream.

In recent years, research into cell-free DNA has led to a type of test, dubbed the "liquid biopsy," that can diagnose and monitor some cancers, identify fetal abnormalities, and assess the health of transplanted organs, all with a simple blood draw. Despite the promise of these tests, at present the range of conditions they can detect is limited.

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) reconstructed the 3D structure of one of the proteins of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of malaria and the antibodies that act as the first line of defense against the parasite. This research, published in Cell Reports, was conducted at the Structural Cellular Biology Unit, led by Prof. Ulf Skoglund. This study provides valuable knowledge for the design of anti-malaria drugs.

Pluripotent stem cells derived from different cell types are equally susceptible to reprogramming, indicates a recent study.

Published in the Stem Cell Reports journal, the results of the study disprove the assumption that an "epigenetic memory" of cells from different tissue types would significantly impact the differentiation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

The largest analysis of breast cancer cell function to date suggests dozens of new uses for existing drugs, new targets for drug discovery, and new drug combinations.

The authors say the study results, published online January 14 in the journal Cell, will be seized on by labs worldwide to identify new drug candidates in other kinds of cancer, as well to pinpoint mechanisms by which cancer cells resist treatment.