Culture

Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland, have determined the crystal structure of the ligand binding domain of a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor in complex with one of its ligands (VEGF-C).

Cancer cells require access to blood and lymph vessels for invasive growth and metastasis. By releasing VEGFs, cancer cells stimulate the surrounding blood vessels to invade the cancerous tumor mass. Blocking this process is a new strategy to inhibit tumor growth.

INDIANAPOLIS – The perception of discrimination increases the amount teenage minority boys smoke but does not increase the amount teenage minority girls smoke, according to a new study from the Indiana University School of Medicine.

This study, to be published in the March 2010 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, has been posted by the journal under "First Look" at http://ajph.aphapublications.org/first_look.shtml.

Recruiters from the British Regular Army visit London's poorest schools most often, new research from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine shows.

The research looked into the amount of mainstream secondary state schools visited by the army between September 2008 and April 2009 in Greater London. It also looked at whether the proportion varied with the level of deprivation of the school students, measured using the percentage of children eligible for free school meals.

People born in the 1940s are often portrayed as having both the means and the willingness to spend money on consumption, but how do they appear in the consumption statistics? According to the Consumption Report 2009, published by the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, they top the list in terms of disposable income per consumption unit, but do not seem to be such great spenders.

DALLAS – Jan. 18, 2010 – Can you catch appendicitis?

And if you do, is it necessarily an emergency that demands immediate surgery?

Yes and no, according to a new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center surgeons and physicians.

At the White House yesterday, President Barack Obama bestowed on 100 men and women the United States government's highest honor for scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers--the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Among the awardees, twenty were nominated by the National Science Foundation.

The state of the science and engineering (S&E) enterprise in America is strong, yet its lead is slipping, according to data released at the White House today by the National Science Board (NSB). Prepared biennially and delivered to the President and Congress on even numbered years by Jan. 15 as statutorily mandated, Science and Engineering Indicators (SEI) provides information on the scope, quality and vitality of America's science and engineering enterprise. SEI 2010 sheds light on America's position in the global economy.

The discovery of an inflammatory mediator key to the blinding effects of diabetic retinopathy is pointing toward a potential new treatment, Medical College of Georgia researchers said.

Interleukin-6, known to contribute to the debilitating joint inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis, also helps ignite inflammation of the retina, a first step in a disease that is the leading cause of blindness is working-age adults, MCG researchers reported online in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.

A new report by the Surveillance Camera Awareness Network (SCAN) at Queen's University shows that Canadians believe surveillance cameras promote safety, but their perceptions don't match the actual evidence. The first of its kind in Canada, A Report on Camera Surveillance in Canada will be used as background to help structure new federal surveillance legislation.

Conversely, married borrowers in their 30s with multiple children who earn more modest incomes, a range between $40,000 and $80,000, and live in older, more established neighbors located near city centers are more likely to default, the researchers say.

There are stark geographical contrasts in the incidence of colon cancer worldwide. The new study analyses the causes of these disparities, starting with Spanish trends between 1951 and 2006 in terms of certain changes in consumption (tobacco, alcohol, red and processed meat, fish, vegetables...) and also behaviour (physical exercise, sedentary lifestyles…).

Reasons for requiring a child to repeat the first grade may go far beyond the basic "three R's," reveals a study by two Texas A&M University education psychologists. They say parents must often shoulder at least part of the blame or credit.

Victor Willson and Jan Hughes, professors in the College of Education and Human Development, studied a sample of 784 children to see how psychological and social variables contribute to grade retention. Their research was published in the Elementary School Journal.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling could aggravate the influence of corporate campaign spending that already has skewed justice in some of the nation's courts, a University of Illinois labor law expert warns.

Michael LeRoy says he found evidence that judges' rulings are being swayed by campaign contributions from businesses, based on a new study of more than 200 state court cases. The study will appear in the Iowa Law Review.

NEW YORK, N.Y. (January 13, 2010) – As the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports on the actual decline in U.S. biomedical research funding, Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, again called on the federal government to immediately step up its efforts – and dramatically increase research funding – to address the growing national autism public health crisis. The American Medical Association report, U.S.

Researchers from the University of Malaga have created the 'Inventory of Daily Stressors', a method aimed at schoolchildren. According to experts, worrying about physical appearance, taking part in numerous extracurricular activities and being alone a lot are some of the factors that increase the risk of suffering from childhood stress.