Body

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 18, 2014 - When a viral infection spread through five genetically identical mice in a row, the virus replicated faster and became more virulent or severe. But when the infection spread one-by-one through five genetically diverse mice, the virus had trouble adapting and became less virulent.

This news release is available in French.

There is no significant difference in the prevalence of verbal abuse in the workplace between men and women, according to a systematic review of the literature conducted by researchers at the Institut universitaire de santé mentale de Montréal and the University of Montreal.

Ewing sarcoma is a cancer of bone or its surrounding soft tissue that primarily affects children and young adults. A hallmark of Ewing sarcoma is a translocation event that results in the fusion of an RNA binding protein, known as EWS, with a transcription factor, such as FLI1. Previous work suggested that the fusion protein EWS-FLI1 promoted cancer by changing gene expression; however, the gene targets were unknown.

Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of heart attacks and stroke. The narrowing of blood vessels that is caused by atherosclerosis can be treated with angioplasty or stenting to improve blood flow. However, the stenting process induces deleterious remodeling of the blood vessel that can increase thrombosis risk, limiting the use of this strategy.

PHILADELPHIA - Programming electronic health records to make generic drugs the default choice when physicians write prescriptions may offer one way to reduce unnecessary spending and improve health care value in the face of spiraling U.S. health expenditures, according to a new study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine, The Wharton School and the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.

This news release is available in French.

African Americans, Hispanics, and those who receive care at a community hospital are all significantly less likely than other patients to receive treatment for early stage non-small cell lung cancer, according to a report in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

ANN ARBOR--In recent years, scientists have linked chemicals known as phthalates with complications of pregnancy and fetal development.

Now, a study led by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health sheds light on the mechanism that may be to blame.

If the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards for school meals and food sold in other venues such as vending machines and snack bars are fully implemented, there is potential to substantially improve school nutrition because only a small fraction of students attended schools with five USDA healthy nutritional components in place from 2008 through 2012, according to a study published online by JAMA Pediatrics.

Minneapolis, MN - November 17, 2014 - At the 2014 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago, Ill., Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Research Cardiologist Dr. Michael Miedema gave a presentation entitled "The Implications of the Recent American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines for the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol on a Rural Community: The Heart of New Ulm Project."

We like to think of evolution as a fine-tuning process, one that whittles away genetic redundancies. The only problem is, we are not fine-tuned machines. Our bodies are chock-full of parts that either don't work anymore or are so buggy that our biology has Macgyvered a way to make it work.

Why is Jamaica, with a population smaller than that of Los Angeles, home to so many of the world's elite sprinters - runners who compete in the 100, 200, 400 and 800-meter races?

An antibody therapy already in clinical trials to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) may also prove effective against ovarian cancer - and likely other cancers as well, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in a study published in the Nov. 17 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

LA JOLLA, CA - November 17, 2014 - Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified weak spots on the surface of Ebola virus that are targeted by the antibodies in ZMapp, the experimental drug cocktail administered to several patients during the recent Ebola outbreak.

The study, led by TSRI structural biologists Andrew Ward and Erica Ollmann Saphire and published online ahead of print this week by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides a revealing 3-D picture of how the ZMapp antibodies bind to Ebola virus.

A team of researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine has discovered a receptor on blood vessels that causes the vessel to relax in response to light, making it potentially useful in treating vascular diseases. In addition, researchers discovered a previously unknown mechanism by which blood vessel function is regulated through light wavelength.

The study is published in the Nov. 17 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.