Body

SAN FRANCISCO — Amplification of anaplastic lymphoma kinase, which has been reported in other cancers such as non-small cell lung cancers, may be a primary driver of the rapid metastasis that patients with inflammatory breast cancer experience.

If validated, the use of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors may be a new treatment approach for patients with this lethal form of breast cancer.

These data were presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held Nov. 12-16, 2011.

According to a state survey, fewer than 6 percent of doctors fully follow national guidelines for assessing sudden cardiac death risk during high school sports physicals, researchers said at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

The study was based on responses of 1,113 pediatricians and family doctors and 317 high school athletic directors in Washington state.

Controlling blood glucose early in the course of type 1 diabetes yields huge dividends, preserving kidney function for decades. The new finding from a study funded by the National Institutes of Health was published online in the New England Journal of Medicine Nov. 12 to coincide with presentation at a scientific meeting.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Examining the chin and upper and lower abdomen is a reliable, minimally invasive way to screen for excessive hair growth in women, a key indicator of too much male hormone, researchers report.

"We wanted to find a way to identify this problem in women that was as non-intrusive and accurate as possible," said Dr. Ricardo Azziz, reproductive endocrinologist and President of Georgia Health Sciences University.

Highlights

Los Angeles, CA (NOVEMBER 11, 2011) More than 300 million play soccer across the globe and while the game is one of fast footwork, two organizations are trying to make sure these athletes stay on their feet. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) have teamed up on a special supplement of Cartilage (published by SAGE) that examines the effects of articular cartilage injury and degeneration in soccer players.

PHILADELPHIA - The lining of the intestine regenerates itself every few days as compared to say red blood cells that turn over every four months. The cells that help to absorb food and liquid that humans consume are constantly being produced. The various cell types that do this come from stem cells that reside deep in the inner recesses of the accordion-like folds of the intestines, called villi and crypts.

The hermaphroditic cleaner shrimp Lysmata amboinensis usually live in monogamous pairs, but dark passions underlie their social structure. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology shows that cleaner shrimp, in any group larger than two, viciously attack and kill each other until only a single pair remains.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool and the universities of California, Berkley and del Valle, Guatemala, have found that cases of severe pneumonia among young children are reduced by one-third in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys on cooking stoves.

The research, published in the Lancet, highlighted the health effects of exposure to smoke from open fires and dirty cooking stoves, the primary source of cooking and heating for 43% of the world's population, affecting some three billion people.

The study carried out by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Aalto University and University of Oulu investigated the ownership and governance structure of Finnish infrastructure networks and utilities. A part of the research focused on investors' and owners' returns.

29 municipal and state owned units, limited companies and some private entities were analysed using the financial statement data for 2002-2009. The study covered water supply, roads, streets, ports, airports, railways and energy networks. The report annexes even wider empirical material.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK -- Analysis of a massive set of mammal data accessed through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Data Portal has helped quantify the influence of various environmental factors on which species are present in a particular area.

A team of Israeli scientists based at the Technion Institute, Haifa, used all available mammal occurrence records with detailed coordinates in the 'lower 48' states of the continental United States.

Infectious diseases specialists from Austin Health are working closely with Microbiologists from the University of Melbourne to understand how Staph is becoming resistant to all antibiotic therapies.

The treatment of serious infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus (Golden Staph) is complicated by the development of antibiotic resistance. Seriously ill patients, vulnerable to infections can be at additional risk if antimicrobial agents become less effective in fighting infections.

A study analyses the dietary patterns of the adult Spanish population with high cardiovascular risk. The results reveal a high consumption of both red meat and fish. However, whilst eating lots of cured meats is associated with greater weight gain and a higher obesity rate, the consumption of fish is linked to lower glucose concentrations and a smaller risk of developing diabetes.