Body

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Behavioral risk factors have a significant effect on cancer risk in the U.S. elderly population, according to research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. Understanding these factors may allow clinicians to make specific recommendations for their elderly patients in order to reduce their risks of future cancers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Exercise is good for more than just your waistline. A recent study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research suggests that regular physical activity can lower a woman's overall risk of cancer – but only if she gets a good night's sleep. Otherwise, lack of sleep can undermine exercise's cancer prevention benefits.

Why do so many of us give up on those New Year's resolutions to lose weight orcurb luxury spending? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says ithas to do with the way our goals intersect with our natures.

The pathbreaking study by authors Cait Poynor (University of Pittsburgh) andKelly L. Haws (Texas A&M University) is one of the first to try to understandwhy some people have more trouble than others regulating behaviors. It uncoverssome important differences in the way people categorize "necessities" and"luxuries."

PASADENA, Calif.--The bacterial cell wall that is the target of potent antibiotics such as penicillin is actually made up of a thin single layer of carbohydrate chains, linked together by peptides, which wrap around the bacterium like a belt around a person, according to research conducted by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). This first-ever glimpse of the cell-wall structure in three dimensions was made possible by new high-tech microscopy techniques that enabled the scientists to visualize these biological structures at nanometer scales.

When atoms in a crystal are struck by laser light, their electrons, excited by the light, typically begin moving back and forth together in a regular pattern, resembling nanoscale soldiers marching in a lockstep formation. But according to a new theory developed by Johns Hopkins researchers, under the right conditions these atoms will rebel against uniformity. Their electrons will begin moving apart and then joining together again repeatedly like lively swing partners on a dance floor.

Rockville, MD – Researchers are investigating microneedles, nanoparticles and polymer carriers as potential new techniques to combat the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in the United States, according to a report from the Third Annual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Institute Conference.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Non-white medical students are more likely to embrace orthodox medicine and reject therapies traditionally associated with their cultures. That is one finding from an international study that measures the attitudes of medical students toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). While seemingly counter-intuitive, white students view CAM more favorably than their non-white counterparts, the study authors say.

Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have made major headway in explaining a mechanism by which plant cells silence potentially harmful genes.

Differential gene expression profoundly influences the way in which organisms grow and develop. For instance, although every cell in the human body has the same genetic information, different subsets of the DNA get activated to make an eye different from a toe. RNA polymerases, the enzymes responsible for making RNA from DNA templates, are key players in determining which genes get switched on and which get left off.

Treating infectious diseases while meeting escalating costs to do so continues to pose worldwide challenges, with one of the main issues being the ability to provide an adequate supply of drugs to treat infectious diseases. While this may sound simple, ensuring a sufficient supply of effective drugs to each country that needs them remains a challenge until the demand for those drugs is accurately predicted and understood.

That photo of your smiling kids on the refrigerator door might do more than justmake you feel good; you might make healthier food choices after looking at it. Anew study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that positive moods canincrease our ability to understand the big picture.

"A positive mood enhances efforts to attain future well-being, encourages broaderand flexible thinking, and increases openness to information," write the study'sauthors Aparna A. Labroo (University of Chicago) and Vanessa M. Patrick(University of Georgia).

What does it take for marketers to reach customers who are already loyal to aparticular brand? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examinesbrand loyalty and the way it affects perceptions of advertising.

Chemists can learn from some shellfish. Mussels, for example, produce an adhesive that sticks strongly to metal and stone, even under water. Chemists have reproduced the protein responsible for this in a synthetic material that contains the same adhesive elements. Irrespective of whether the adhesive is completely made up of these elements or whether they represent just a tenth of its make-up, adhesion is equally good. These findings were made by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.

SALT LAKE CITY – Nov. 17, 2008 – Researchers at the University of Utah are enrolling people in a new clinical trial that uses a patient's own stem cells to treat ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure.

The one-year Cardiac Repair Cell Treatment of Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy (IMPACT-DCM) study will look at the safety of injecting Cardiac Repair Cells (CRC) and their ability to improve heart function.

MAYWOOD – The temperature might not be the only thing plummeting this winter. Many people also will experience a decrease in their vitamin D levels, which can play a role in heart disease, according to a new review article in Circulation.

Vitamin D deficiency results in part from reduced exposure to sunlight, which is common during cold weather months when days are shorter and more time is spent indoors.

Why do so many of us give up on those New Year's resolutions to lose weight orcurb luxury spending? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says ithas to do with the way our goals intersect with our natures.

The pathbreaking study by authors Cait Poynor (University of Pittsburgh) andKelly L. Haws (Texas A&M University) is one of the first to try to understandwhy some people have more trouble than others regulating behaviors. It uncoverssome important differences in the way people categorize "necessities" and"luxuries."