Immunity mechanism discovered
(University of Calgary) Scientists at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine have discovered a mechanism that is used to protect the body from harmful bacteria. Platelets, a component of blood typically associated with clotting, were discovered to actively search for specific bacteria, and upon detection, seal it off from the rest of the body. The findings, which were published in Nature Immunology this week, provide the science community with a greater understanding of immunity....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM -- 
|
Scientists find new biomarker to measure sugar consumption
(University of Alaska Fairbanks) Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks identified a new tool that can dramatically improve the notoriously inaccurate surveys of what and how much an individual eats and drinks. Their research is published in the June 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
UT Dallas study suggests new approach to fight lung cancer
(University of Texas at Dallas) Recent research has shown that cancer cells have a much different -- and more complex -- metabolism than normal cells. Now, scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas have found that exploiting these differences might provide a new strategy to combat lung cancer....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Scientists catch EGFR passing a crucial message to cancer-promoting protein
(University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) Researchers have discovered and mapped the signaling network between two previously unconnected proteins, exposing a link that, if broken, could cut off cancer cell growth at its starting point....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
SimuCase avatars advance speech-language pathology training
(Case Western Reserve University) A new commercial venture, using technology developed at Case Western Reserve University's College of Arts and Sciences and Case School of Engineering, has made available avatars -- virtual patients -- to train speech-language pathologists. SimuCase allows graduate students and others training to evaluate speech-language disorders to practice using an interactive, Web-based program, reducing stress on the trainee, because a diagnosis doesn't have to be made on a real person....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
UH Case Medical Center launches novel clinical trial using stem cells to prevent amputation
(University Hospitals Case Medical Center) University Hospitals Case Medical Center has launched a clinical trial to evaluate the ability of a patient's own stem cells to prevent leg amputations in end stage peripheral arterial disease. The trial is designed to improve blood flow in legs with blocked arteries by attempting to treat diseased blood vessels....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
UH Case Medical Center among first to enroll patients for global carotid artery trial
(University Hospitals Case Medical Center) Physicians at University Hospitals Case Medical Center enrolled their first patients in the ROADSTER Study, a global, multicenter clinical trial evaluating a novel, less-invasive procedure to help clear blockages in carotid arteries and prevent strokes. Every year, more than 300,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with blockages, or plaques in their carotid artery. If left untreated, these blockages can slow or even stop blood flow to the brain, causing a potentially disabling stroke, also known as a "brain attack."...
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Respect may be the key to stopping patient 'no shows'
(Johns Hopkins Medicine) People with HIV are more likely to keep their scheduled medical appointments -- and their disease under control -- if they feel their physician listens, explains things clearly and knows them as a person, not just a "case," new Johns Hopkins research suggests....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Scientists discover new details about rice blast, a deadly plant fungus
(Kansas State University) An international team of researchers discover new information about how rice blast fungus invades plants....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Brandeis scientist invents anti-cholesterol process
(Brandeis University) Senior Brandeis research scientist Daniel Perlman has discovered a way to make phytosterol molecules from plants dispersible in beverages and foods that are consumed by humans, potentially opening the way to dramatic reductions in human cholesterol levels.The ability of phytosterols to reduce cholesterol levels in animals has been recognized since the 1950s, but practical application of this knowledge has been difficult because phytosterols are not naturally water-soluble, and they are only poorly soluble in fatty substances....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
New drug could help AMD sufferers
(University of Iowa) University of Iowa ophthalmologists have tested a new drug to treat age-related macular degeneration in older patients. The researchers report that half of the eyes treated responded to the new drug, Eylea, with reduced fluid in the eyes, while one in three had improved vision after six months. Results appear in the American Journal of Ophthalmology....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
The American Society for Microbiology honors Joshua Obar
(American Society for Microbiology) Joshua Obar, Ph.D., Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Montana State University -- Bozeman, has been honored with a 2013 ICAAC Young Investigator Award for his research on factors affecting the regulation of immunological memory responses to infection....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Early-life air pollution linked with childhood asthma in minorities, in study
(University of California - San Francisco) A research team led by UCSF scientists has found that exposure in infancy to nitrogen dioxide, a component of motor vehicle air pollution, is strongly linked with later development of childhood asthma among African-Americans and Latinos....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Sexual minority youth need specialized treatment from therapists
(University of Missouri-Columbia) Despite advances in civil rights, sexual minority youth are still at greater risk for suicide than their heterosexual peers, according to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. A University of Missouri psychology graduate student recently published recommendation to improve psychologists' treatment of sexual minority youth, which could help improve psychological functioning and reduce depression and suicide rates....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Chemical probe confirms that body makes its own rotten egg gas, H2S, to benefit health
(Southern Methodist University) A new study confirms directly what scientists previously knew only indirectly -- that poisonous "rotten egg" gas hydrogen sulfide is generated by the body's blood vessel cells. Researchers made the confirmation by developing a chemical probe that lights up in reaction to rotten egg gas. The scientists observed the process in real-time through a microscope, said chemist Alexander Lippert, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. "This is going to open up many experiments for scientists," Lippert said....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
NIH to fund collaborations with industry to identify new uses for existing compounds
(NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)) The National Institutes of Health has awarded $12.7 million to match nine academic research groups with a selection of pharmaceutical industry compounds to explore new treatments for patients in eight disease areas, including Alzheimer's disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and schizophrenia....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Atherosclerosis in abdominal aorta may predict adverse cardiovascular events, UTSW scientists report
(UT Southwestern Medical Center) Magnetic resonance imaging of aortic atherosclerosis can predict the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events in otherwise healthy individuals, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
ACS NSQIP® data is more accurate than administrative data for tracking 30-day hospital readmissions
(American College of Surgeons) A new study appearing in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons finds that the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program® led to more accurate data tracking than another popular database, the University HealthSystem Consortium, for tracking 30-day hospital readmissions among colorectal surgical patients....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Tackling a framework for surgical innovation
(Weill Cornell Medical College) An international team of investigators co-led by Weill Cornell Medical College is offering a new framework for evidence-based surgery and device research, similar to the kind of risk and benefit analysis used in evidence-based medicine....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
Herbal extract boosts fruit fly lifespan by nearly 25 percent, UCI study finds
(University of California - Irvine) The herbal extract of a yellow-flowered mountain plant long used for stress relief was found to increase the lifespan of fruit fly populations by an average of 24 percent, according to UC Irvine researchers....
POSTED 06/18/2013 at 12:00 AM --
|
