Body

PHILADELPHIA – New research from Penn Medicine shows that incisionless transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) surgery cuts length of hospital stay by 30 percent and has no impact on post-operative vascular complication rates when compared with conventional transfemoral TAVR, which requires an incision in the groin. The complete study is available in the current issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Scientists at Duke Medicine have found an immunologic mechanism that makes broadly neutralizing antibodies in people who are HIV-1 infected.

These findings, published online July 24, 2014, in the journal Cell, are a major development toward determining the key to induction of potent neutralizing antibodies by an HIV vaccine.

Researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered that endostatin, a protein that once aroused intense interest as a possible cancer treatment, plays a key role in the stable functioning of the nervous system.

A substance that occurs naturally in the body, endostatin potently blocks the formation of new blood vessels. In studies in mice in the late 1990s, endostatin treatment virtually eliminated cancer by shutting down the blood supply to tumors, but subsequent human clinical trials proved disappointing.

Metastasis, the strategy adopted by tumor cells to transform into an aggressive form of cancer, are often associated with a gloomy prognosis. Managing to block the metastasis or, even better, prevent their formation would be a giant step towards the fight against cancer. Researchers at Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium) successfully performed this world first on models of human tumors in mice. The results of their study are published online on 24 July in the prestigious journal Cell Reports.

Researchers in Ohio and Rhode Island have identified two previously undescribed radiological signs of potentially life-threatening slippage of laparoscopically adjustable gastric bands. Adding widespread knowledge of the new signs—inferior displacement of the superolateral band margin by more than 2.4 cm from the diaphragm and the presence of an air-fluidlevel above the band on a frontal radiograph—to radiologists' knowledge base will aid them in diagnosing affected bariatric patients.

Insecticides similar to nicotine, known as neonicotinoids, were found commonly in streams throughout the Midwest, according to a new USGS study. This is the first broad-scale investigation of neonicotinoid insecticides in the Midwestern United States and one of the first conducted within the United States.

Up to 5 percent of all prenatal ultrasounds uncover antenatal hydronephrosis, or enlarged kidneys, the most commonly detected prenatal abnormality in the United States. Many children with this abnormality are treated continually with preventive antibiotics for the first few years of life with the hopes of preventing the condition's associated urinary tract infections. Until recently, however, little evidence existed as to the benefits of this treatment, which involves considerable cost and inconvenience for families.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- To reduce fire hazard in the United States, wildland managers often utilize the silvicultural practice of mechanically cutting woody shrubs and suppressed trees (ladder fuels). These cuttings and other post-logging debris are then burned during periods of low fire danger in order to dispose of the material. To improve the burning and minimize hazardous air pollutants, managers often cover all or part of the debris pile with low-density polyethylene plastic, commonly referred to as agricultural plastic, in order to keep water out.

Skin Cancer cells work together to spread further and faster, according to a new study published in Cell Reports. The discovery could lead to new drugs to tackle melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.

Cancer Research UK scientists at The University of Manchester found that some melanoma cells are particularly fast growing, but not very good at invading the surrounding tissue, while other melanoma cells are the opposite – highly invasive but slow-growing.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – A yearlong study funded by the New Jersey Recovery Fund and conducted by researchers at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University has found that individual property owners in Sandy-affected towns are skeptical about the likelihood of community-based rebuilding solutions.

Athens, Ga. – When asked who is going to win an election, people tend to predict their own candidate will come out on top. When that doesn't happen, according to a new study from the University of Georgia, these "surprised losers" often have less trust in government and democracy.

And the news media may be partly to blame, according to Barry Hollander, author of the study and UGA professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Glenview, Illinois -- The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) announced today the Online First publication of 'Total and State-Specific Medical and Absenteeism Costs of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years in the United States for 2010 and Projections Through 2020' in the journal CHEST.

The report, presented by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), finds:

The latest flare-up in the Middle East catches children in the midst of their long-anticipated summer break. The wail of sirens replaces the jingle of ice cream trucks, and boys and girls dash to a bomb shelter instead of playing tag at the park. Young people are enduring a summer of violence, devastation, panic, and isolation. What are the long-term effects of these conditions?

Millenials are narcissistic, scientists are geeky and men like sports — or so cultural stereotypes would have us believe.

Regardless of whether we believe them to be true, we all have extensive knowledge of cultural stereotypes. But how does this information become associated with certain groups in the first place?

Research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that cultural stereotypes are the unintended but inevitable consequence of sharing social information.

The Atlantic Forest is a hotspot of biodiversity and one of the most species richness biome of anurans (frogs, tree-frogs, and toads) in the world. However, current levels of diversity might be still underestimated. In the past few years has been an increase in the description of new endemic species of this biome along with the advance of molecular techniques and availability of samples for DNA analysis.