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Released: 27-Aug-2015 11:05 AM EDT
Breast Cancer Risk Score Impacts Use of Chemotherapy
Duke Health

A genetic test that helps predict whether some women’s breast cancer will recur might influence how chemotherapy is used, according to a study from Duke Medicine. The study found that low-risk patients who had the test appeared to opt for more treatment, and high-risk patients who were tested got less.

Released: 27-Aug-2015 7:00 AM EDT
Optimal Exercise Regimen Could Aid Pulmonary Hypertension Patients
Indiana University

A physical therapy researcher with the IU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis has been awarded a $465,000 National Institutes of Health grant to optimize aerobic exercise training for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension -- a goal that data suggests could reduce patient morbidity and mortality.

24-Aug-2015 1:30 PM EDT
Jammed Up Cellular Highways May Initiate Dementia and ALS
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered some of the first steps in how a very common gene mutation causes the brain damage associated with both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Released: 26-Aug-2015 12:30 PM EDT
Common ‘Heart Attack’ Blood Test May Predict Future Hypertension
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Analysis of blood samples from more than 5,000 people suggests that a more sensitive version of a blood test long used to verify heart muscle damage from heart attacks could also identify people on their way to developing hypertension well before the so-called silent killer shows up on a blood pressure machine.

Released: 26-Aug-2015 10:05 AM EDT
Low-Level Arsenic Exposure Before Birth Associated with Early Puberty and Obesity in Female Mice
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Female mice exposed in utero, or in the womb, to low levels of arsenic through drinking water displayed signs of early puberty and became obese as adults, according to scientists from the National Institutes of Health. The finding is significant because the exposure level of 10 parts per billion used in the study is the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard, or maximum allowable amount, for arsenic in drinking water. The study, which appeared online August 21 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, serves as a good starting point for examining whether low-dose arsenic exposure could have similar health outcomes in humans.

Released: 26-Aug-2015 8:45 AM EDT
Study by Penn Nursing’s Bart De Jonghe May Lead to More Effective Treatment of Chemotherapy Side Effects
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Bart C. De Jonghe, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Nursing and senior author of a new study published in the highly regarded Journal of Neuroscience, has advanced our understanding of how chemotherapy causes side effects. "It is our hope that this knowledge can be used to inform future research with the goal of further limiting, or even altogether preventing, common chemotherapy side effects in cancer patients,” Dr. De Jonghe explains.

Released: 25-Aug-2015 7:05 AM EDT
Cashiers May Have Higher Risk for BPA Exposure Than General Population
Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science

The use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic has been on the decline amid growing concerns that the compound’s estrogen-mimicking properties may cause dangerous hormonal disruptions. Despite the reduction, BPA remains a ubiquitous substance, found in thousands of products. Cashiers who frequently handle thermal printed receipts may be exposed to higher levels of BPA than the general population. For the first time, researchers are studying this workforce segment to measure how their exposure may differ from that of the general population.

20-Aug-2015 11:05 AM EDT
Fertility Concerns Impact Breast Cancer Treatment Decisions
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

Concerns about fertility kept a third of young women with breast cancer from taking tamoxifen, despite its known benefit in reducing the risk of breast cancer coming back.

Released: 24-Aug-2015 3:05 PM EDT
Medical Terms Lead to Divide Between Parents and Doctors
University of Missouri Health

Few things are more stressful than dealing with a sick child. From discussing treatment with a pediatrician to complying with day care policies, a parent must consider many factors when making a decision about their child’s health. Now, a recent study from the University of Missouri and the University of Michigan is shedding light on the significant divide that can exist between patients and physicians about the same terminology—especially when it comes to discussing “pink eye,” a particular flashpoint in childcare.

Released: 24-Aug-2015 3:05 PM EDT
Contrary to Previous Studies, Diabetes Affects Diaphragm, Skeletal Muscle Cells Differently
University of Missouri Health

Previous studies have shown that diabetes adversely affects breathing and respiratory function. However, in the past, researchers have not differentiated diaphragm muscle cells and the muscle cells of limb skeletal muscle in their studies. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri have found that diaphragm muscle cells and other skeletal muscle cells behave differently—a finding that could influence future research on respiratory ailments associated with diabetes.

20-Aug-2015 11:05 AM EDT
Tiny Antibodies Point to Vulnerability in Disease-Causing Parasites
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

By teasing apart the structure of an enzyme vital to the parasites that cause toxoplasmosis and malaria, Whitehead Institute scientists have identified a potentially ‘drugable’ target that could prevent parasites from entering and exiting host cells.

Released: 24-Aug-2015 11:05 AM EDT
Chasing the Invisible Trail of Targeting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
University of Kansas Cancer Center

Priyanka Sharma, M.D., is looking at what she’s calling “BRCAness” or deficiency in DNA damage repair machinery in triple-negative breast cancer as a potential prognostic and predictive marker.

20-Aug-2015 1:00 PM EDT
Genetic Overlapping in Multiple Autoimmune Diseases May Suggest Common Therapies
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Scientists who analyzed the genes involved in 10 autoimmune diseases that begin in childhood have found 22 genome-wide signals shared by two or more diseases. These shared gene sites may reveal potential targets for treatment with existing drugs.

20-Aug-2015 2:05 PM EDT
Mayo Clinic Researchers Find New Code That Makes Reprogramming of Cancer Cells Possible
Mayo Clinic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Cancer researchers dream of the day they can force tumor cells to morph back to the normal cells they once were. Now, researchers on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus have discovered a way to potentially reprogram cancer cells back to normalcy.

Released: 21-Aug-2015 12:05 PM EDT
Physician Support Key to Successful Weight Loss, Study Shows
Johns Hopkins Medicine

A review of survey data from more than 300 obese people who participated in a federally funded weight loss clinical trial found that although the overall weight loss rates were modest, those who rated their primary care doctor’s support as particularly helpful lost about twice as many pounds as those who didn’t.

Released: 20-Aug-2015 3:40 PM EDT
Study Documents Extent of Unexpected Sexual Consequences for Young Women Who Drink Alcohol
Johns Hopkins Medicine

In-depth interviews conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine of 20 young women attending an urban sexually transmitted disease clinic have documented a variety of unexpected, unintended sexual encounters linked to their alcohol use before sex occurs.

Released: 20-Aug-2015 2:05 PM EDT
Maltreated Children’s Brains Show ‘Encouraging’ Ability to Regulate Emotions
University of Washington

A new study led by the University of Washington finds that given the right strategies, abused children have a surprising ability to regulate their emotions.

   
Released: 20-Aug-2015 2:05 PM EDT
Making Hydrogen Fuel from Water and Visible Light Highly Efficient
Michigan Technological University

Michigan Tech researchers have streamlined a method to improve the splitting water into hydrogen molecules using visible light. Their work paves the way for more sustainable hydrogen fuels.

Released: 20-Aug-2015 7:00 AM EDT
NIH Grant Will Fund IUPUI Research Into Collagen's Role in Bone Fracture Resistance
Indiana University

A biomedical engineering researcher at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis has received a $419,000 National Institutes of Health grant to uncover why mechanical stimulation of bones increases their resistance to fractures.

Released: 19-Aug-2015 4:40 PM EDT
Clamshell-Shaped Protein Puts the ‘Jump’ in ‘Jumping Genes’
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Scientists report they have deciphered the structure and unusual shape of a bacterial protein that prepares segments of DNA for the insertion of so-called jumping genes. The clamshell shape, they say, has never before been seen in a protein but connects nicely with its function: that of bending a segment of DNA into a 180-degree U-turn.

14-Aug-2015 3:05 PM EDT
Don’t I Know That Guy?
 Johns Hopkins University

You see a man at the grocery store. Is that the fellow you went to college with or just a guy who looks like him? It turns out that a tiny spot in the brain has the answer.

Released: 19-Aug-2015 11:05 AM EDT
Hypertensive Patients Benefit From Acupuncture Treatments
University of California, Irvine

Patients with hypertension treated with acupuncture experienced drops in their blood pressure that lasted up to a month and a half, researchers with the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine have found.

Released: 18-Aug-2015 3:10 PM EDT
Scientists Report Success Using Zebrafish Embryos to Identify Potential New Diabetes Drugs
Johns Hopkins Medicine

In experiments with 500,000 genetically engineered zebrafish embryos, Johns Hopkins scientists report they have developed a potentially better and more accurate way to screen for useful drugs, and they have used it to identify 24 drug candidates that increase the number of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Released: 18-Aug-2015 1:20 PM EDT
'Jumping Genes' Unusually Active in Many Gastrointestinal Cancers, Studies Find
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Results of a trio of studies done on human cancer tissue biopsies have added to growing evidence that a so-called jumping gene called LINE-1 is active during the development of many gastrointestinal cancers.

Released: 18-Aug-2015 10:05 AM EDT
Researchers Report Biomarkers and Apps That Predict Risk of Suicide
Indiana University

People being treated for bipolar disorder and other psychiatric illnesses are at greater risk of attempting suicide, but physicians may now have tools to predict which of those individuals will attempt it and intervene early to prevent such tragedies from occurring.

12-Aug-2015 2:30 PM EDT
Flooding’s Impact on Wetlands Measurable via Low-Cost Approach
University of Alabama

Scientists designed a new, on-site method for studying potential impacts rising sea levels can have on vital wetlands, said a researcher who led a study publishing Aug. 17 describing the modifiable apparatuses.

Released: 14-Aug-2015 6:05 PM EDT
What’s Lurking in Your Lungs? Surprising Findings Emerge From U-M Microbiome Research
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

With every breath you take, microbes have a chance of making it into your lungs. But what happens when they get there? And why do dangerous lung infections like pneumonia happen in some people, but not others? Researchers have started to answer these questions by studying the microbiome of the lungs.

   
Released: 14-Aug-2015 1:05 PM EDT
NIH Funds First Ever Multi-Site Study of Transgender Youth in the US with a $5.7 Million Award
Children's Hospital Los Angeles

The NIH has awarded $5.7M for a multicenter study to evaluate the long-term outcomes of medical treatment for transgender youth. This study will provide evidence-based information on the impact, as well as safety, of hormone blockers and cross-sex hormone use in this population.

Released: 14-Aug-2015 12:05 PM EDT
Newly Discovered Cells Restore Liver Damage in Mice Without Cancer Risk
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

The liver is unique among organs in its ability to regenerate after being damaged. Exactly how it repairs itself remained a mystery until recently, when researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health discovered a type of cell in mice essential to the process. The researchers also found similar cells in humans.

Released: 14-Aug-2015 11:05 AM EDT
Following the Fire: Preventing Floods and Erosion
Michigan Technological University

Flames are not the only danger from wildfires. Burned areas are at risk for floods and landslides, which Michigan Tech researcher Mary Ellen Miller seeks to prevent.

Released: 14-Aug-2015 10:05 AM EDT
UK Researcher Awarded Grant to Study Link Between Obesity and Cancer
University of Kentucky

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently awarded a $750,000 grant to University of Kentucky researcher Fredrick Onono to study the potential link between obesity and breast cancer.

Released: 13-Aug-2015 12:05 PM EDT
From Protein Design to Self-Driving Cars: UW Researchers Win AI Prize for Radically New Optimization Approach
University of Washington

UW machine learning researchers have developed a new approach to optimization - a key step in predicting everything from election results to how proteins will fold - that recently won a top paper prize at the world's largest artificial intelligence conference.

Released: 12-Aug-2015 4:05 PM EDT
Newly Discovered Brain Network Recognizes What’s New, What’s Familiar
Washington University in St. Louis

New research from Washington University in St. Louis has identified a novel learning and memory brain network that processes incoming information based on whether it’s something we’ve experienced previously or is deemed to be altogether new and unknown, helping us recognize, for instance, whether the face before us is that of a familiar friend or a complete stranger.

Released: 12-Aug-2015 2:05 PM EDT
GSA Pleased to Be a Founding Member of Plant Science Research Network
Genetics Society of America

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to be a founding member of the Plant Science Research Network (PSRN), which was launched this week. This effort, supported by a Research Coordination Network award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), will seek to unite the plant science community and to harness its collective vision and broad expertise to support agricultural sustainability and the growth of the bioeconomy.

Released: 12-Aug-2015 12:00 PM EDT
UNM Cancer Center Awarded National Cancer Institute’s Highest Comprehensive Designation
University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center

The University of New Mexico Cancer Center (UNMCC) has been awarded the highest designation and rating in the United States for cancer treatment and research programs. It has received the National Cancer Institute’s “NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center” designation, identifying it as one of the leading cancer centers in the nation and the only such cancer center in New Mexico.

Released: 12-Aug-2015 10:05 AM EDT
Pancreas Cancer Spread From Multiple Types of Wayward Cells
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Tumor cells associated with pancreatic cancer often behave like communities by working with each other to increase tumor spread and growth to different organs. Groups of these cancer cells are better than single cancer cells in driving tumor spread.

Released: 12-Aug-2015 9:05 AM EDT
Best Interest of the Child: Improving Health, Well-Being of Low Resource Country Orphans
Indiana University

With the support of a second grant of more than $3 million from the National Institutes of Health, researchers from the Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University, Brown University, the University of Toronto, and Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya are building upon their landmark study of Kenyan orphans which found that those living in orphanages were healthier, both physically and mentally, than those living with extended family members.

Released: 12-Aug-2015 8:05 AM EDT
Adrenals Run Amok: Discovery Could Aid Precision Medicine for High Blood Pressure
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

Each of your kidneys wears a little yellow cap that helps keep blood pressure in check, and much more. But in some people, it starts running amok, pumping out a hormone that sends blood pressure sky-high. Why this happens is still a mystery. But new findings could help figure out what's going on.

Released: 12-Aug-2015 7:05 AM EDT
Tell-Tale Biomarker Detects Early Breast Cancer in NIH-Funded Study
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Researchers have shown that MRI can detect the earliest signs of breast cancer recurrence and fast-growing tumors. Their approach detects micrometastases, breakaway tumor cells with the potential to develop into dangerous secondary breast cancer tumors elsewhere in the body. The approach may offer an improved way to detect early recurrence of breast cancer in women and men. The work was completed at Case Western Reserve University and was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, part of NIH.

Released: 11-Aug-2015 3:30 PM EDT
Hepatitis C Infection May Fuel Heart Risk
Johns Hopkins Medicine

People infected with the hepatitis C virus are at risk for liver damage, but the results of a new Johns Hopkins study now show the infection may also spell heart trouble.

Released: 11-Aug-2015 11:30 AM EDT
Research Advances Potential for Globally Accurate Diagnostic Test and Vaccine for Genital and Oral Herpes
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Findings from a pair of new studies could speed up the development of a universally accurate diagnostic test for human herpes simplex viruses (HSV), according to researchers at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The work may also lead to the development of a vaccine that protects against the virus.

Released: 11-Aug-2015 11:05 AM EDT
Finding a Fingerprint for an Invasive Cancer Still in Hiding
University of Kansas Cancer Center

A new study of a biomarker that can identify DCIS patients who are not at risk for subsequent invasion could save many lives and keep women from having to go through medical and surgical therapy.

Released: 11-Aug-2015 9:05 AM EDT
NYU Study Examines Top High School Students’ Stress and Coping Mechanisms
New York University

The study shows that there is growing awareness many subgroups of youth experience high levels of chronic stress, to the extent it impedes their abilities to succeed academically, compromises their mental health functioning, and fosters risk behavior. Furthermore, this chronic stress appears to persist into the college years, and researchers warns it may contribute to academic disengagement and mental health problems among emerging adults.

Released: 10-Aug-2015 3:40 PM EDT
Researchers Identify Nerve-Guiding Protein that Aids Pancreatic Cancer Spread
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified a molecular partnership in pancreatic cancer cells that might help to explain how the disease spreads — metastasizes — in some cases. Their findings reveal urgently needed new targets to treat pancreatic cancer, which strikes nearly 50,000 people in the U.S. each year and has only a 5 percent survival rate five years after diagnosis.

Released: 10-Aug-2015 12:05 PM EDT
WSU/KCI Among Lead Academic Centers Participating in Nationwide NCI Match Trial
Wayne State University Division of Research

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, in partnership with Wayne State University School of Medicine, is one of the lead academic centers participating in the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) MATCH (Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice) Trial in the United States, set to begin in the next few weeks. Of the more than 2,000 National Cancer Trial Network or NCI Community Oncology Research Program sites participating in the MATCH Trial, only 30 are lead academic centers.

Released: 10-Aug-2015 9:05 AM EDT
Study Examines How and Why States Adopt Drunk Driving Laws
New York University

A study by researchers at NYU Steinhardt finds that the severity of drunk driving within the state is not the most important predictor of whether states adopt new laws to restrict drunk driving – nor is the political makeup of the state government. Instead, the two strongest predictors of states adopting their first drunk driving laws were having a large population of young people and a neighboring state with similar driving laws.

Released: 10-Aug-2015 8:30 AM EDT
Parents’ Math Anxiety Can Undermine Children’s Math Achievement
University of Chicago

A team of researchers led by UChicago psychologists Sian Beilock and Susan Levine found that children of math-anxious parents learned less math over the school year and were more likely to be math-anxious themselves—but only when these parents provided frequent help on the child’s math homework.

Released: 7-Aug-2015 1:05 PM EDT
Pediatric Brain Tumors Can be Classified Noninvasively at Diagnosis
Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Medulloblastoma, the most commonly occurring malignant brain tumor in children, can be classified into four subgroups—each with a different risk profile requiring subgroup-specific therapy. Currently, subgroup determination is done after surgical removal of the tumor.

6-Aug-2015 11:20 AM EDT
Scientists Report Explanation for Protein Clumps in Autopsy Brain Cells of ALS Patients
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Autopsies of nearly every patient with the lethal neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and many with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), show pathologists telltale clumps of a protein called TDP-43.

Released: 6-Aug-2015 1:05 PM EDT
One Size Does Not Fit All When It Comes to Marrow Fat, Scientists Say
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

While most of us worry about the fat cells building up on the fleshy parts of our bodies, scientists are paying serious attention to another kind of fat cell deep inside our bones, in the marrow. Today, they’ve published new important clues about it, including a discovery that there are two types.



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