Body

A new study suggests that jewel scarab beetles find each other—and hide from their enemies—using the same technology that creates the 3D effects for the blockbuster movie Avatar.

According to researchers from the University of Texas, the jewel scarab species Chrysina gloriosa can distinguish between circularly polarized and unpolarized light. That ability could provide the beetles with a tremendous advantage, the researchers say, because most of the light reflected off these beetles' colorful bodies happens to be circularly polarized.

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas (IPMN) shows a wide spectrum of histological presentations, ranging from adenoma with mild atypia to adenocarcinoma. In general, branch duct IPMN develops slowly and has a comparatively good prognosis. However, in several studies, it became evident that IPMN is a disease that very frequently coexists with cancer. Several investigators have suggested that the prognosis of the IPMN is more closely related to coexisting diseases than IPMN per se.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-threatening autosomal recessive disease in Caucasian children; it has an incidence of 1 case in every 2500 children born alive. CF involves an anomalous function of the exocrine glands, caused by a mutation of a gene (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, CFTR) located on chromosome 7, which codes for a protein involved in ion transport through the cell membrane. Pulmonary complications are the most common causes of mortal¬ity, but the presenting symptoms are very often linked to gastrointestinal and pancreatic biliary diseases.

Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic recurrent disease, which mainly consists of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and whose causes are as yet unclear. Many clinical and research studies have indicated that intestinal flora dysbacteriosis contributes to the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. Probiotics are non-pathogenic beneficial flora, which have important effects on maintaining the balance of intestinal flora. Many studies have discussed the positive effects of probiotics for treating stomach and intestine diseases, including ulcerative colitis.

Scientists have discovered for the first time that antibodies in common eggs laid by hens vaccinated against the H5N1 virus can potentially prevent a possible H5N1 pandemic, raising the possibility that the same principle could be applied to the current H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Mortality of patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) approaches 30%-40%. An imbalance between the early systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and the later compensatory counter-inflammatory response, and development of multiple organ failure (MOF) are considered to be the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in SAP. Excessive leukocyte activation (including neutrophils and monocyte-macrophage lineage) with cytokinemia play a critical role in the pathogenesis of pancreatitis and even more so, of the subsequent inflammatory response.

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is upregulated in human pancreatic cancer tissues but is not expressed in surrounding non-cancerous tissues. Serum level of IGF-I is elevated in pancreatic cancer patients. Histological analysis has shown that IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) is positive in the membrane of pancreatic cancer tissues. These facts suggest that IGF-I acts as a growth factor for pancreatic cancer and inhibition of its action might be a good candidate for molecular therapy of pancreatic cancer.

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Its mortality is very high due to relatively late diagnosis and inefficient treatment. The ability to reverse the outcome of esophageal cancer is limited due to a poor understanding of its biology. Progression of esophageal cancer may be associated with sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and its receptors S1P1-5, which play an important role in other cancers.

Morbid obesity is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in Western countries. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has become a common procedure for achieving short- and long-term weight loss. It has gained great popularity among surgeons and patients in recent years. Long-term complications are still being discovered. Because of the altered anatomy, absorption of iron from the proximal gastrointestinal tract is impaired. Anemia develops in some patients with inadequate oral supplementation or chronic occult blood loss.

Liver surgery has become a safe procedure in the past years and is mainly done because of malignant tumors. A common strategy to reduce blood lossduring surgery is to temporarily shut down the blood supply to the liver [pringle maneuver (PM)], which, however may be associated with severe hepatocellular injury and consequent enhanced morbidity. Many efforts were undertaken to overcome the deleterious effects of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury of the liver caused by the PM. A new method of hepatocellular protection comprises ischemic preconditioning (IP), i.e.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for about 3% of all solid tumours in adults, and worldwide, more than 200.000 new cases and 100.000 deaths result each year from this malignancy.

The latest results from the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 30904 study were presented in a plenary session today at the Anniversary EAU Congress, which showed that conservative surgery is not inferior to radical renal surgery or nephrectomy.

The European Association of Urology reiterated that it does not recommend a mass screening policy in Europe for men who are concerned over prostate cancer, a stance which reflects the position it issued last year regarding prostate cancer screening.

"We don't believe that the time has come for mass screening," said EAU Secretary General. Per-Anders Abrahamsson in reply to a query on whether a mass screening policy in Europe would be eventually recommended.

In a plenary session scheduled for Monday, April 19 at 8 a.m. at the AACR annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Bert Vogelstein, M.D., will offer his definition of the landscape of cancer genetics research for an audience of more than 10,000 scientists.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Overexpression of a specific type of microRNA can derail treatment by disabling an important molecular brake on breast cancer cell proliferation, according to evidence presented by researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center at the American Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting 2010.

The study showed that MiRNA-21 interferes with trastuzumab (Herceptin®) therapy by blocking the phosphates and tensing homolog gene known as PTEN.