Body

PHILADELPHIA - Each year approximately 1 in 1,000 pregnant women will experience peripartum cardiomyopathy, an uncommon form of often severe heart failure that occurs in the final month of pregnancy or up to five months following delivery. But the cause of peripartum cardiomyopathy has been largely unknown - until now. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania analyzed the genetic variants that have been associated with another form of inherited cardiomyopathy, and determined that peripartum cardiomyopathy is often the result of a genetic mutation.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A new study finds that human activities are likely contributing far less nitrogen to the open ocean than many atmospheric models suggest. That's generally good news, but it also nullifies a potential side benefit to additional nitrogen, says Meredith Hastings, associate professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown University and one of the study's co-authors.

The circadian rhythm, or “daily biological clock,” controls much of an organism’s regular pace of development, and this growth paradigm has been the focus of intense molecular, cellular, pharmacological, and behavioral, research for decades. But then, why do rats mature faster than humans?

New research finds that bile acids which are altered by bacteria normally living in the large intestine inhibit the growth of Clostridium difficile, or C. diff. C. diff is a harmful bacterium that can cause painful and sometimes fatal infections.

Pediatric oncologists from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have reported their latest results in devising new treatments for stubbornly deadly forms of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma.

Building on their previous experiences in treating some refractory subtypes of neuroblastoma with the anticancer drug crizotinib, the researchers have identified a powerful new drug with "unparalleled" strength against forms of the cancer that resist crizotinib.

A newly NIH funded clinical trial (NCT02528942) by University of Colorado Cancer Center investigators and collaborators at Beaumont Health in Michigan and the University of Texas Medical Branch is evaluating a new method for pinpointing and sparing healthy lung tissue during lung cancer radiotherapy. The group is applying advanced image analysis techniques to 4D CT scans already performed as a standard step in targeting lung cancer radiotherapy, to map areas of lung function without additional testing.

Most forensic entomology investigations generally focus on insects such as blow flies or beetles. However, the authors of a paper published in the Journal of Medical Entomology have shown that tiny mites can reveal information as well.

Researchers have found the 'bad seeds' of liver cancer and believe they could one day reprogram them to remain responsive to cancer treatment, a new study has found.

The key to disrupting chemo-resistant stem cells that become liver tumors from multiplying is to target the stem cell marker NANOG, said Keigo Machida, senior author and associate professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

A mechanism by which stress hormones inhibit the immune system, which appeared to be relatively new in evolution, may actually be hundreds of millions of years old.

A protein called the glucocorticoid receptor or GR, which responds to the stress hormone cortisol, can take on two different forms to bind DNA: one for activating gene activity, and one for repressing it.

In a paper published Dec. 28 in PNAS, scientists show how evolutionary fine-tuning has obscured the origin of GR's ability to adopt different shapes.

(Goodyear, Arizona - Jan. 6, 2015) -- In a recent study, researchers at Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) at Western Regional Medical Center (Western), in collaboration with international colleagues, found that statins could be an effective therapeutic against metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

The ALS-related protein TDP-43 takes the first steps toward pathologic aggregation as part of its normal function, according to a new study publishing in the Open Access journal PLOS Biology on Jan. 6, 2016. The study, by Liangzhong Lim, Jianxing Song, and colleagues at the National University of Singapore, supports the emerging idea that protein aggregation in neurologic disease may be an exaggeration of the normal functions of the aggregating proteins.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Doctors at the Duke University School of Medicine have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon's ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt. The imaging technology was developed through collaboration with scientists at Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Lumicell Inc.

Salmon are the primary summer food source for an endangered population of killer whales in the Pacific Northwest, according to an analysis of fish DNA in killer whale poop published Jan. 6, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Michael Ford from the National Marine Fisheries Service and colleagues.

Olfaction may contribute to shark ocean navigation, likely based on their ability to sense chemical changes in the water as they swim, according to a study published January 6, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Andrew Nosal from UC San Diego and colleagues.

The circadian rhythm, or 'daily biological clock,' controls much of an organism's regular pace of development, and this growth paradigm has been the focus of intense molecular, cellular, pharmacological, and behavioral, research for decades. But then, why do rats mature faster than humans?