Body

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — All the excitement about nanotechnology comes down to this: Structures of materials at the scale of billionths of a meter take on unusual properties. Technologists often focus on the happier among these newfound capabilities, but new research by an interdisciplinary team of scientists at Brown University finds that nanoparticles of nickel activate a cellular pathway that contributes to cancer in human lung cells.

Scientists have discovered that bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella have a sneaky way of making minor alterations to their genes to boost their chances for infection.

It's a fascinating discovery made at Ohio State University, which is featured in the Aug. 14 issue of Nature Chemical Biology. This discovery shows how bacteria make tweaks in their genes, and their proteins to gain strength.

Smokers who also have alcohol, drug and mental disorders would benefit greatly from smoking cession counseling from their primary care physicians and would be five times more successful at kicking the habit, a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

There are numerous specialized growth factors that are responsible for cells of different tissues of our body to divide and differentiate when needed. These hormone-like factors bind to matching receptors on the surface of their target cells and thus give order for the cell to divide. However, a single genetic alteration can be sufficient for the whole system to get out of control. If, for example, the gene for such a growth factor or for the matching receptor is hyperactive, then the cell permanently receives signals to divide – and this can result in cancer.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Aug. 23, 2011 — Employing technology that reads the entire DNA code, researchers led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have pinpointed the source of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that killed more than 6,000 people and sickened 300,000.

Ependymomas are the second most frequent type of malignant brain tumor in children. Ependymoma develops from precursor cells of the tissue that lines the hollow cavities of the brain. Therapy results of ependymoma vary immensely: While in some patients tumor growth comes to a standstill after surgery and radiotherapy, in other children the disease rapidly takes a severe course. In about half of those affected the tumor continues to grow and the patients often succumb to the disease.

Amman, Jordan, August 23, 2011 – Elsevier, the world's leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today that the Saudi Ministry of Health has published its 2011 health conditions for travelers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). The publication, published in the August Issue of Journal of Infection and Public Health (JIPH), informs visitors of the full requirements for entry into Saudi Arabia.

University of British Columbia researchers have solved a long-standing mystery surrounding the activation of T-cells, white blood cells that find and kill viruses and bacteria but also participate in the rejection of transplanted organs.

While highly potent embryonic stem cells are often the subject of ethical and safety controversy, adult-derived stem cells have other problems. As we age, our stem cells are less pliant and less able to transform into the stem cells that science needs to find breakthrough treatments for disease.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Skewed skulls may have helped early whales discriminate the direction of sounds in water and are not solely, as previously thought, a later adaptation related to echolocation. University of Michigan researchers report the finding in a paper to be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of Aug. 22.

In research that will help address a long-running debate and apparent contradiction between short- and long-term evolutionary change, scientists have discovered that although evolution is a constant and sometimes rapid process, the changes that hit and stick tend to take a long time.

Give or take a little, one million years seems to be the magic number.

Researchers have discovered a key mechanism used by intestinal cells to defend themselves against one of the world's most common hospital-acquired bacterial infections, Clostridium difficile; a mechanism they think they can exploit to produce a therapy to protect against the effects of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The scientists made their discovery while investigating cellular responses to two powerful toxins generated by C. difficile, which can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening bowel inflammation.

HOUSTON, Aug. 22, 2011 – University of Houston (UH) researchers have their sights set on developing possible treatments for breast and colon cancer.

The toxicities associated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) may explain the lack of overall survival improvement compared with tamoxifen, according to a study published August 22 in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute.

(PHILADELPHIA – August 18, 2011) New research from the Jefferson Heart Institute shows that patients in the United States who receive cardiac electrophysiological devices (CIEDs), including permanent pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are now at greater risk of contracting an infection over the life span of the device.