Feature Channels: All Journal News

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In the gonads of animals, genome parasites such as transposons pose a serious threat to evolutionary fitness. With their ability to bounce around in the genome, they often cause dangerous mutations. To protect genomic integrity, animals evolved a sophisticated mechanism – the so called piRNA pathway – to silence the deleterious transposons. Not much is known about the molecular processes and the involved factors that constitute the piRNA pathway. Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in Vienna have now identified ~50 genes, that play important roles in the piRNA pathway of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster.

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A landmark study, with first author Tyson Oberndorfer, MD, and led by Walter H. Kaye, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, suggests that the altered function of neural circuitry contributes to restricted eating in anorexia and overeating in bulimia. The research may offer a pathway to new and more effective treatments for these serious eating disorders.

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A new study suggests that U.S. businesses pay almost $6,000 per year extra for each employee who smokes compared to the cost to employ a person who has never smoked cigarettes. Researchers say it's the first study to take a comprehensive look at the financial burden for companies employing smokers.

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Most apes eat leaves and fruits from trees and shrubs. New studies spearheaded by the University of Utah show that human ancestors expanded their menu 3.5 million years ago, adding tropical grasses and sedges to an ape-like diet and setting the stage for our modern diet of grains, grasses, and meat and dairy from grazing animals.

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The June issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology focuses on a variety of issues relating to clinical practice, practice management, health services and policy, and radiology education and training. Topics to be covered include the impact of radiologist-patient communication on patient anxiety before and immediately after imaging-guided breast biopsy procedures; imaging informatics; citizenship in radiology; radiology stewardship and quality improvement; reading room electives and the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.

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In 2012, Nicholas Fisher a distinguished professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University and postdoctoral scholar Zosia Baumann, working with a colleague at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, reported that they had detected radioactivity in Pacific bluefin tuna swimming off the California coast. The source of the radioactivity was Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi powerplants, which were damaged by the strong earthquake and subsequent tsunami on 11 March 2011 and released large quantities of radioactivity into the Pacific Ocean. The news prompted widespread media interest and speculation as to the possible risks to seafood consumers posed by the levels of radioactivity found in the tuna.

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New study from University of Michigan Health System shows black patients in most segregated areas more likely to receive surgery at low-quality hospitals

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A study by Hans-Peter Hartung, M.D., of Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldoft, Germany, and colleagues examines the association between IL-17F and treatment response to interferon beta-1b among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

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A study by Helen Wong, R.D., of The Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues examined the safety and efficacy of dietary flaxseed supplementation in the management of hypercholesterolemia (high levels of cholesterol) in children.

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Racial and ethnic disparities in children who are overweight and obese may be determined by risk factors in infancy and early childhood, according to a study published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

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Vegetarian diets are associated with reduced death rates in a study of more than 70,000 Seventh-day Adventists with more favorable results for men than women, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

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Using cholesterol-lowering statins may be associated with musculoskeletal conditions, arthropathies (joint diseases) and injuries, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

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A Saint Louis University study calls for women who are obese to lose weight between pregnancies and not to gain excessive weight when they are pregnant. Obese moms face special health risks during pregnancy, and are more likely to have a baby who is large for his or her gestational age and could have health problems.

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center, have identified a new mechanism that appears to suppress tumor growth, opening the possibility of developing a new class of anti-cancer drugs.

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UCLA researchers find abnormal brain networks in Fragile X syndrome, a genetic malady that is the most common inherited cause of autism and intellectual disability.

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A recent study of physical attractiveness and how it impacts real estate brokers’ pay and productivity shows that the more attractive the real estate agent, the higher the listing price of the home for sale.

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Current immune suppressants have major drawbacks, but a team from The Scripps Research Institute has demonstrated a new technique that may lead to a better way to selectively repress unwanted immune reactions without disabling the immune system as a whole.

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Pumping up heart health messages among the underserved; male abusers harm own work status too; tools for handling dementia; nursing students ready to nurse; deadly HIV-TB treatment puzzle; and more.

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More than a decade of research has shown that using a handheld or hands-free phone while driving is not safe because the brain does not have enough mental capacity to safely perform both tasks at once.

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On June 3rd, JoVE will publish a research technique that allows neural imaging of auditory stimuli in songbirds via MRI. The technique, developed by Dr. Annemie Van der Linden and her laboratory at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, will be one of the first published in JoVE Behavior, a new section of the video journal that focuses on observational and experimental techniques that seek to understand human and animal behavior through physiological, neurological, and genetic means.

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Employees who face high emotional demand and conflicting roles are more likely to report psychological distress—placing them at higher risk of mental health disorders and reduced productivity, reports a study in the June Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

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Scientists at the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues, have discovered that a gene called BACH2 may play a central role in the development of diverse allergic and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, asthma, Crohn's disease, celiac disease, and type-1 diabetes.

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A large, multi-center study led by Johns Hopkins researchers has found a significant link between lifestyle factors and heart health, adding even more evidence in support of regular exercise, eating a Mediterranean-style diet, keeping a normal weight and, most importantly, not smoking.

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Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have determined the role of a key growth factor, found in limited quantities in human skin cells, that helps hair follicles form and regenerate during the wound healing process. When this growth factor, called Fgf9, was overexpressed in a mouse model, there was a two- to three-fold increase in the number of new hair follicles produced. Researchers believe that this growth factor could be used therapeutically for people with various hair and scalp disorders. The study appears in an advance online publication of Nature Medicine.

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A team of researchers led by Jedd Wolchok of the Ludwig Center at MSKCC presented data today at the ASCO Annual Meeting showing promising results from a Phase I clinical trial evaluating the concurrent use of two immunotherapies for the treatment of advanced melanoma.

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The combination of the immunotherapy drug ipilimumab and the investigational antibody drug nivolumab led to long-lasting tumor shrinkage in more than half of patients with metastatic melanoma, according to new research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

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Researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center report preliminary results showing significant antitumor activity with very manageable side effects from a new drug being tested in patients with advanced melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

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A subset of colorectal cancers responds to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) therapies, but develops resistance within months. Among cancers that develop resistance to anti-EGFR therapy, some showed overexpression of a gene called MET, according to a study published in the June issue of Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Preliminary data published in this study showed human tumors with MET amplification, grown in mice, responded to MET inhibitor drugs.

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The American Thoracic Society has released new clinical practice guidelines on sleep apnea, sleepiness, and driving risk on non-commercial drivers.

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Researchers mapped the entrepreneurial personality structures in the United States, Great Britain and Germany, identifying regions where a feeling of entrepreneurial spirit is “most at home.”

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More than 55 Indiana U. researchers participated in ACSM. Here, researchers discuss findings involving elite athletes, arterial stiffening in young and older populations, and a simple program for losing weight and sitting less.

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An international team of researchers – led by principal investigator Paul S. Mischel, MD, a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine – has found that a singular gene mutation helps brain cancer cells to not just survive, but grow tumors rapidly by altering the splicing of genes that control cellular metabolism.

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Columbia Engineering researchers demonstrate that graphene, even if stitched together from many small crystalline grains, is almost as strong as graphene in its perfect crystalline form. This resolves a contradiction between theoretical simulations, which predicted grain boundaries can be strong, and earlier experiments, which indicated they were much weaker than the perfect lattice.

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Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that testing cervical tumors before treatment for vulnerability to chemotherapy predicts whether patients will do well or poorly with standard treatment. The study supports the future possibility of personalized medicine for cervical cancer, a tumor normally addressed with a one-size-fits-all approach.

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Children of women who did not finish high school were twice as likely to experience a major episode of depression in early adulthood as children whose mothers obtained a high school diploma, according to a new study by researchers at McGill University.

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Climate is greatly influenced by the flow of heat energy carried by ocean currents. But precisely quantifying the mixing between the ocean and the atmosphere is hampered by a lack of detail in models of the ocean and of the water cycle. And in both models, knowing the salt content of the water is essential.

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Researchers are targeting a possible new weapon in the fight against malaria, science that could also be applied in the fight against other devastating mosquito-borne illnesses, according to a Vanderbilt study published in PLOS ONE.

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Advances in care, increased focus on LGBT health may explain shift from previous findings.

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A Facebook profile is an ideal version of self, full of photos and posts curated for the eyes of family, friends and acquaintances. A new study shows that this version of self can provide beneficial psychological effects and influence behavior.

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University of Arkansas researchers conducted a life-cycle analysis of fluid milk that will provide guidance for producers, processors and others throughout the dairy supply chain.

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A newly developed, single-step Raman spectroscopy algorithm has the potential to simultaneously detect microcalcifications and enable diagnosis of the associated breast lesions with high precision.

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Testicular orphan nuclear receptor 4 (TR4) is overexpressed in pituitary tumors that spark the excess production of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). The scientists discovered that by knocking down TR4 in lab mice, they were able to reverse tumor growth and excess ACTH production.

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Two processes that turn woody biomass into transportation fuels have the potential to exceed current Environmental Protection Agency requirements for renewable fuels, according to research published in the Forest Products Journal.

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Measuring blood flow in the brain may be an easy, noninvasive way to predict stroke or hemorrhage in children receiving cardiac or respiratory support through a machine called ECMO, according to a new study by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Early detection would allow physicians to alter treatment and take steps to prevent these complications—the leading cause of death for patients on ECMO.

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Researchers have found that a 260-million-year-old reptile is the earliest known version of the turtle. The discovery fills a large gap in the turtle fossil record and provide clues on how the turtle's unique shell evolved.

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While there has been a steep decline in kids’ consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in California, African-American and Latino children may be replacing soda with 100 percent fruit juice while their white peers are not, according to a new study from UC San Francisco.

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A team of speech scientists and psychologists discuss a novel approach to deciphering Armstrong’s famous moon landing quote. The work will be presented at the 21st International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2013), held June 2-7 in Montreal.

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Whether damaged by injury, disease or age, your body can’t create new bone, but maybe science can. Researchers at North Dakota State University, Fargo, are making strides in tissue engineering, designing scaffolds that may lead to ways to regenerate bone. Published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, the research of Dr. Kalpana Katti, Dr. Dinesh Katti and graduate student Avinash Ambre includes a novel method that uses nanosized clays to make scaffolds to mineralize bone minerals such as hydroxyapatite.

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A multi-national team of researchers has identified genetic markers that predict educational attainment by pooling data from more than 125,000 individuals in the United States, Australia, and 13 western European countries.

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The Esther B. O'Keeffe Charitable Foundation has made a $250,000 donation to The Scripps Research Institute to fund neuroscience training and public outreach on the Florida campus.