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Released: 16-Sep-2013 2:00 PM EDT
NIH Awards $2 Million for Engineering Approach to Understanding Lymphedema
Georgia Institute of Technology

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Georgia Tech a $2-million research grant to unravel the mechanical forces at play in lymphedema, a poorly understood disease with no cure and little hope for sufferers.

11-Sep-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Toward a Truly White Organic LED
University of Utah

By inserting platinum atoms into an organic semiconductor, University of Utah physicists were able to “tune” the plastic-like polymer to emit light of different colors – a step toward more efficient, less expensive and truly white organic LEDs for light bulbs of the future.

5-Sep-2013 1:55 PM EDT
Study Sheds Light on Genetic of How and Why Fish Swim in Schools
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

How and why fish swim in schools has long fascinated biologists looking for clues to understand the complexities of social behavior. A new study by a team of researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center may help provide some insight.

9-Sep-2013 2:00 PM EDT
Unusual Mechanism of DNA Synthesis Could Explain Genetic Mutations
Georgia Institute of Technology

Researchers have discovered the details of how cells repair breaks in both strands of DNA, a potentially devastating kind of DNA damage.

Released: 11-Sep-2013 12:05 PM EDT
Study Shows Trauma Centers Serving Mostly White Patients Have Lower Death Rates for Patients of All Races
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Nearly 80 percent of trauma centers in the United States that serve predominantly minority patients have higher-than-expected death rates, according to new Johns Hopkins research. Moreover, the research shows, trauma patients of all races are 40 percent less likely to die — regardless of the severity of their injuries — if they are treated at hospitals with lower-than-expected mortality rates, the vast majority of which serve predominantly white patients.

Released: 11-Sep-2013 10:00 AM EDT
'Merlin' Is a Matchmaker, Not a Magician
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Researchers have figured out the specific job of a protein long implicated in tumors of the nervous system. Their new study details what they call the “matchmaking” activities of a fruit fly protein called Merlin, whose human counterpart, NF2, is a tumor suppressor protein known to cause neurofibromatosis type II when mutated.

Released: 10-Sep-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Redefining the Criteria for ALK Positive Lung Cancer
University of Colorado Cancer Center

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the journal Cancer shows that the current criteria used to match lung cancers with the drug crizotinib may miss some patients who could benefit from the drug.

5-Sep-2013 12:00 PM EDT
ER Visits After Surgery: Study Finds High Rate Among Seniors & Lots of Variation Among Hospitals
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

Nearly one in five older adults who have common operations will end up in the emergency department within a month of their hospital stay, a new study finds – a surprisingly high number found in the first national look at the issue.

Released: 8-Sep-2013 11:00 PM EDT
Wireless Network Detects Falls by the Elderly
University of Utah

University of Utah electrical engineers have developed a network of wireless sensors that can detect a person falling. This monitoring technology could be linked to a service that would call emergency help for the elderly without requiring them to wear monitoring devices.

6-Sep-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Researchers Uncover Genetic Cause of Childhood Leukemia
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

For the first time, a genetic link specific to risk of childhood leukemia has been identified, according to a team of researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, University of Washington, and other institutions.

4-Sep-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Some Immune Cells Appear to Aid Cancer Cell Growth
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that a subset of immune cells provide a niche where cancer stem cells survive.

   
Released: 5-Sep-2013 9:00 AM EDT
Robots Could One Day Help Surgeons Remove Hard to Reach Brain Tumors
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

NIBIB-funded scientists and engineers are teaming up with neurosurgeons to develop technologies that enable less invasive, image-guided removal of hard-to-reach brain tumors. Their technologies combine novel imaging techniques that allow surgeons to see deep within the brain during surgery with robotic systems that enhance the precision of tissue removal.

1-Sep-2013 7:00 PM EDT
Experimental Compound Reverses Down Syndrome-Like Learning Deficits In Mice
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health have identified a compound that dramatically bolsters learning and memory when given to mice with a Down syndrome-like condition on the day of birth. As they report in the Sept. 4 issue of Science Translational Medicine, the single-dose treatment appears to enable the cerebellum of the rodents’ brains to grow to a normal size.

Released: 4-Sep-2013 12:00 PM EDT
UNC Partners with NIH to Explore Genomic Testing for Newborns
University of North Carolina Health Care System

As the clinical use of genomic testing expands, the practical and ethical considerations of using the technology to screen newborns for genetic conditions will be the focus of a new study undertaken at the University of North Carolina.

Released: 3-Sep-2013 3:00 PM EDT
Ease of Access Improves Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

A new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center shows that community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs may be a feasible approach for providing fresh fruits and vegetables to under-resourced communities.

Released: 3-Sep-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Tissue Loss Triggers Regeneration in Planarian Flatworms
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

By investigating regeneration in planarian flatworms, Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a mechanism—involving the interplay of two wound-induced genes—by which the animal can distinguish between wounds that require regeneration and those that do not.

Released: 29-Aug-2013 2:45 PM EDT
Researcher Receives $1.3 Million for Type 2 Diabetes Study on Role of Hormone Amylin
George Washington University

George Washington University researcher Aleksandar Jeremic will study the role the human pancreatic hormone plays in the development of the disease.

27-Aug-2013 5:00 PM EDT
CRISPR/Cas Genome Engineering System Generates Valuable Conditional Mouse Models
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Whitehead Institute researchers have used the gene regulation system CRISPR/Cas (for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR-associated) to engineer mouse genomes containing reporter and conditional alleles in one step. Animals containing such sophisticated engineered alleles can now be made in a matter of weeks rather than years and could be used to model diseases and study gene function.

28-Aug-2013 12:10 PM EDT
School-Age Drinking Increases Breast Cancer Risk​​​​​​
Washington University in St. Louis

​For every daily drink a girl or woman consumes before motherhood, she increases her lifetime risk of breast cancer by 13 percent, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Released: 28-Aug-2013 2:40 PM EDT
Researchers Aim to Use Light—Not Electric Jolts—to Restore Healthy Heartbeats
 Johns Hopkins University

When a beating heart slips into an irregular, rhythm, the treatment is electric current from a pacemaker or defibrillator. But the electricity itself can cause pain, tissue damage and other side-effects. Now, researchers want to replace jolts with a gentler remedy: light.

   
Released: 27-Aug-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Quantum Inverted Pendulum: Scientists Dynamically Control Quantum System
Georgia Institute of Technology

Researchers have demonstrated a way to maintain an unstable quantum system by applying bursts of microwave radiation. The technique is comparable to methods used for controlling an inverted pendulum in classical physics.

Released: 27-Aug-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Calcium Supplements May Not Prevent Bone Loss in Women with Breast Cancer
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center finds that the recommended daily doses of calcium and vitamin D supplements may not prevent loss of bone mineral density (BMD) in women undergoing breast cancer.

Released: 27-Aug-2013 10:55 AM EDT
Stem Cells May Do Best With A Little Help From Their Friends
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Like volunteers handing out cups of energy drinks to marathon runners, specially engineered “helper cells” transplanted along with stem cells can dole out growth factors to increase the stem cells’ endurance, at least briefly, Johns Hopkins researchers report. Their study, published in the September issue of Experimental Neurology, is believed to be the first to test the helper-cell tactic, which they hope will someday help to overcome a major barrier to successful stem cell transplants.

26-Aug-2013 2:30 PM EDT
Novel Approach to Gene Regulation Can Activate Multiple Genes Simultaneously
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

By creating a powerful new gene regulation system called CRISPR-on, Whitehead Institute researchers now have the ability to increase the expression of multiple genes simultaneously and precisely manipulate each gene’s expression level. The system is effective in both mouse and human cells as well as in mouse embryos.

23-Aug-2013 3:00 PM EDT
Touch and Movement Neurons Shape the Brain’s Internal Image of the Body
Duke Health

The brain’s tactile and motor neurons, which perceive touch and control movement, may also respond to visual cues, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

Released: 26-Aug-2013 1:20 PM EDT
Four or More Cups of Coffee a Day May Keep Prostate Cancer Recurrence and Progression Away
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer recurrence and progression, according to a new study by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists that is online ahead of print in Cancer Causes & Control.

20-Aug-2013 12:50 PM EDT
Researchers Uncover New Biological Target For Combating Parkinson's Disease
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have brought new clarity to the picture of what goes awry in the brain during Parkinson’s disease and identified a compound that eases the disease’s symptoms in mice. Their discoveries, described in a paper published online in Nature Neuroscience on August 25, also overturn established ideas about the role of a protein considered key to the disease’s progress.

Released: 23-Aug-2013 12:00 PM EDT
New Project Investigates Immune System's Role in Multiple Sclerosis
Houston Methodist

A $1.3 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke could help Houston Methodist scientists better understand how the body's own immune system drives multiple sclerosis.

Released: 23-Aug-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Creating Plants That Make Their Own Fertilizer
Washington University in St. Louis

Much of modern agriculture relies on biologically available nitrogenous compounds (called “fixed” nitrogen) made by an industrial process developed by German chemist Fritz Haber in 1909. Himadri Pakrasi, PhD, a scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, thinks it should be possible to design a better nitrogen-fixing system. His idea is to put the apparatus for fixing nitrogen in plant cells, the same cells that hold the apparatus for capturing the energy in sunlight. The National Science Foundation just awarded Pakrasi and his team $3.87 million to explore this idea further.

21-Aug-2013 5:00 PM EDT
Drug Used for Blood Cancers May Stop Spread of Breast Cancer Cells
Mayo Clinic

A drug used to treat blood cancers may also stop the spread of invasive breast cancer, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have discovered.

21-Aug-2013 12:40 PM EDT
Antipsychotic Drug Use in Children for Mood/Behavior Disorders Increases Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Prescribing of “atypical” antipsychotic medications to children and young adults with behavioral problems or mood disorders may put them at unnecessary risk for type 2 diabetes, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study shows. Young people using medications like risperidone, quetiapine, aripiprazol and olanzapine led to a threefold increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the first year of taking the drug, according to the study published Aug. 21 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Released: 20-Aug-2013 1:45 PM EDT
Chromosome 21 Abnormality Tells Oncologists to Treat Pediatric ALL More Aggressively
University of Colorado Cancer Center

A recent study by members of the Children’s Oncology Group reports results of a large trial showing that children whose leukemia cells have amplification of a portion of chromosome 21 may require more aggressive treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) than children without this gene amplification.

Released: 20-Aug-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Researchers Identify Conditions Most Likely to Kill Encephalitis Patients
Johns Hopkins Medicine

People with severe encephalitis — inflammation of the brain — are much more likely to die if they develop severe swelling in the brain, intractable seizures or low blood platelet counts, regardless of the cause of their illness, according to new Johns Hopkins research.

Released: 20-Aug-2013 7:00 AM EDT
The How-to Parenting Program Improves the Mental Health of Children
Universite de Montreal

While children of all ages will be heading back to school in a few days, a new study from the Université de Montréal may encourage their parents to return to the classroom themselves ... at least for a few evenings! The results of a study in developmental psychology published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies show that the How-to Parenting Program improves the mental health of children.

Released: 19-Aug-2013 10:45 AM EDT
Therapeutic Eye Injections May Be Needed Less Often
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Biomedical engineers have created a new drug-delivery strategy for a type of central vision loss caused by blood vessel growth at the back of the eye, where such growth should not occur. The team gave the drug a biodegradable coating to keep it in the eye longer. If effective in humans, monthly needle sticks to the eye, which are the current standard of care, could be replaced with only two or three injections per year.

Released: 19-Aug-2013 10:00 AM EDT
3-D Images Show Flame Retardants Can Mimic Estrogens in NIH Study
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

By determining the three-dimensional structure of proteins at the atomic level, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered how some commonly used flame retardants, called brominated flame retardants (BFRs), can mimic estrogen hormones and possibly disrupt the body’s endocrine system. BFRs are chemicals added or applied to materials to slow or prevent the start or growth of fire.

13-Aug-2013 4:00 PM EDT
In Regenerating Planarians, Muscle Cells Provide More Than Heavy Lifting
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

By studying the planarian flatworm, a master of regenerating missing tissue and repairing wounds, the lab of Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien has identified an unexpected source of position instruction: the muscle cells in the planarian body wall. This is the first time that such a positional control system has been identified in adult regenerative animals.

Released: 15-Aug-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Sympathetic Neurons “Cross Talk” with Pancreas Cells During Early Development
 Johns Hopkins University

Sympathetic neurons “cross-talk” -- or engage in reciprocal signaling -- with the tissues they connect to. And when they don't, there's trouble.

Released: 15-Aug-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Creighton Researcher Receives $3.52 Million to Study Obesity and Fat Around the Heart
Creighton University

Five Creighton researchers will study a form of fat that surrounds the heart. They believe this fat undergoes a chemical change in some obese patients, which could be the cause behind the narrowing of arteries and development of heart disease.

   
Released: 15-Aug-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Bench-to-Bedside Asthma Research to Study Potential Biomarker
Creighton University

A cancer biologist's chance finding during a prostate cancer study has yielded promising results for diagnosing and treating asthma. This research could result in a new biomarker for asthma as well as novel therapies.

Released: 15-Aug-2013 10:00 AM EDT
Making Medical Decisions for a Cognitively Impaired Family Member Is Complicated
Indiana University

Decision-making by a surrogate for a family member who is unable to make medical decisions is more complicated than decision-making by patients themselves.

Released: 15-Aug-2013 8:00 AM EDT
Seattle BioMed Awarded $16.6 Million Tuberculosis Grant From National Institutes of Health
Center for Infectious Disease Research, formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (Seattle BioMed)

Seattle BioMed has been awarded a grant that will take a comprehensive systems approach to the problem of tuberculosis (TB) infection, harnessing the power of technology and systems biology to examine the progression from latent infection to disease.

Released: 14-Aug-2013 6:00 PM EDT
Preterm Babies at Risk for Later Cognitive Difficulties
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have received a five-year, $3 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will fund a longitudinal study designed to track the developmental trajectory in cognitive, academic and brain measures as very preterm children transition from preschool to grade school. Results will provide the foundation for designing appropriate learning interventions.

Released: 14-Aug-2013 2:00 PM EDT
Boise State Research Team Building a Computer Chip Based on the Human Brain
Boise State University

A Boise State research team has taken on the challenge of developing a new kind of computing architecture that works more like a brain than a digital computer.

Released: 14-Aug-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Study Finds Prenatal Anti-HIV Meds Not Linked to Children’s Language Delays
University of Kansas, Life Span Institute

Typical combinations of anti-HIV medications do not appear to cause language delays in children who where exposed to HIV in the womb and whose mothers took the antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy.

Released: 13-Aug-2013 12:50 PM EDT
‘Hyper-Vigilance’ About Race Linked to Elevated Blood Pressure in Black Patients
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Black patients preoccupied with racial concerns have higher blood pressure than those who aren’t, according to results of new Johns Hopkins-led research. The findings suggest that heightened race consciousness could at least in part account for the disproportionately high rate of hypertension in black Americans — the highest prevalence of any group in the United States and one of the highest rates in the world.

Released: 13-Aug-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Newly Discovered ‘Switch’ Plays Dual Role In Memory Formation
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have uncovered a protein switch that can either increase or decrease memory-building activity in brain cells, depending on the signals it detects. Its dual role means the protein is key to understanding the complex network of signals that shapes our brain’s circuitry, the researchers say.

7-Aug-2013 2:30 PM EDT
Mediterranean Diet Counteracts a Genetic Risk of Stroke, Study Reports
Tufts University

A gene variant strongly associated with development of type 2 diabetes appears to interact with a Mediterranean diet pattern to prevent stroke, report researchers from Tufts University and from Spain. The results are a significant advance for nutrigenomics, the study of the linkages between nutrition and gene function.

8-Aug-2013 1:45 PM EDT
Inducing and Augmenting Labor May Be Associated with Increased Risk of Autism
Duke Health

Pregnant women whose labors are induced or augmented may have an increased risk of bearing children with autism, especially if the baby is male, according to a large, retrospective analysis by researchers at Duke Medicine and the University of Michigan.

Released: 12-Aug-2013 12:20 PM EDT
Perception of Fertility Affects Quality of Life in Young, Female Cancer Survivors
University of Colorado Cancer Center

A recently published CU Cancer Center study shows that beyond the fact of fertility, a young woman's perception of fertility based on regular menstrual cycles after cancer treatment affects her quality of life long after treatment ends.



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