Body

In what could lead to a major advance in the treatment of prostate cancer, scientists now know exactly why polyphenols in red wine and green tea inhibit cancer growth. This new discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), explains how antioxidants in red wine and green tea produce a combined effect to disrupt an important cell signaling pathway necessary for prostate cancer growth.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The combination of decitabine and carboplatin appears to improve the outcome of women who have late-stage ovarian cancer. In an upcoming issue of the journal Cancer (online today), Indiana University researchers report four of 10 patients who participated in a phase I clinical trial had no disease progression after six months of treatment. One patient experienced complete resolution of tumor tissue for a period of time.

Faster and more efficient emergency evacuations from buildings—especially tall structures—and better communications between first responders during an emergency are among the safety improvements expected from 17 major and far-reaching building and fire code changes approved recently by the International Code Council (ICC) based on recommendations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The recommendations were based on NIST's investigation of the collapses of New York City's World Trade Center (WTC) towers and WTC 7 on Sept. 11, 2001.

Coral reefs – kaleidoscopes of pink anemones and silver sharks – are the planet's most colorful ecosystems and among its most endangered, say marine scientists.

As global warming raises ocean temperatures, many corals blanch and die, a phenomenon called "coral bleaching." And pumping large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere could make the ocean more acidic, further decimating corals and the fish that depend on them for food and shelter.

The world's largest DNA scan for familial autism has uncovered new genetic changes in autistic children that are often not present in their parents. Identified in less than 1 percent of the population, these rare variants occur nearly 20 percent more in autistic children.

Published in the June 9 online edition of Nature, the findings emphasize the need for larger study samples to illuminate the diverse genetic causes of the brain disorder.

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time differentiated human stem cells to become heart cells with cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle cells are abnormal. The discovery will allow scientists to learn how those heart cells become diseased and from there, they can begin developing drug therapies to stop the disease from occurring or progressing. The study is published in the June 9th issue of Nature.

Researchers at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) have created a three-dimensional picture of an important protein that is involved in how HIV -- the virus responsible for AIDS -- is produced inside human cells. The picture may help researchers design drugs that can prevent HIV from reproducing.

University of Illinois at Chicago researchers are part of an international consortium working with Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, which today reports new autism genetic discoveries.

The results, from the second phase of the collaborative Autism Genome Project, are published in the June 10 issue of the journal Nature.

A mutation that enhances the function of a specific ion channel has been identified as the cause of a rare inherited pain disorder. The research, published by Cell Press in the June 10 issue of the journal Neuron, proposes a potential treatment for the disorder and may lead to a better understanding of chronic pain in humans.

New research suggests that abnormalities in the process of blood clot formation may contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study, published by Cell Press in the June 10 issue of the journal Neuron, advances our understanding of the link between vascular pathology and AD and proposes a new therapeutic strategy aimed at slowing cognitive decline.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have discovered a new sea anemone that is thought to have established itself in Swedish waters. Larvae from similar anemones causes skin problems for sea bathers in the USA.

Lowell, MA – Eating about a handful of pecans each day may play a role in protecting the nervous system, according to a new animal study published in the current issue of Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research. The study, conducted at the Center for Cellular Neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, suggests adding pecans to your diet may delay the progression of age-related motor neuron degeneration. This may include diseases like amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Adding a second agent may make a new, experimental anti-cancer drug effective against a wide range of cancers, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found.