Body

New research from Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and the Puget Sound Blood Center (PSBC) has revealed how stresses of flow in the small blood vessels of the heart and brain could cause a common protein to change shape and form dangerous blood clots. The scientists were surprised to find that the proteins could remain in the dangerous, clot-initiating shape for up to five hours before returning to their normal, healthy shape.

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Each year, more than 130,000 children younger than 13 are treated in U.S. emergency departments after motor-vehicle crash-related injuries.

Each of these visits offer a chance to pass along tips for proper use of child passenger restraints, but a new study from the University of Michigan indicates emergency departments may not be taking advantage of those opportunities.

UA geneticists have discovered the oldest known genetic branch of the human Y chromosome – the hereditary factor determining male sex.

The new divergent lineage, which was found in an individual who submitted his DNA to Family Tree DNA, a company specializing in DNA analysis to trace family roots, branched from the Y chromosome tree before the first appearance of anatomically modern humans in the fossil record.

Experiencing ostracism — being deliberately ignored or excluded — hurts, but ostracizing someone else could hurt just as much, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Humans are social animals and they typically avoid causing harm to others when they can. But past experiments — and real-life events — suggest that people are willing to inflict harm in order to comply with authorities.

Sao Paulo, Brazil - March 5, 2013 – New studies revealed today by Latin American researchers and global health leaders suggest that the highest burden of deadly pneumococcal disease in Latin America may be shifting to adults as countries successfully immunize more infants with new vaccines. The experts called for increased disease monitoring and more surveillance to understand the full extent of pneumococcal disease in the Americas, including its economic impact, and to devise effective strategies to prevent it.

It's among the most ancient of questions: What are the origins of life on Earth?

A new experiment simulating conditions in deep space reveals that the complex building blocks of life could have been created on icy interplanetary dust and then carried to Earth, jump-starting life.

A combination of financial, cultural and communication barriers plays a role in preventing underserved Latino men with prostate cancer from accessing the care and treatment they need, according to a new study by researchers at the UCLA School of Nursing.

The study, "Barriers to Prostate Cancer Care: Affordable Care Is Not Enough," is published in the March issue of the peer-reviewed journal Qualitative Health Research.

New York, NY, March 5, 2013 – A JDRF-funded study out of Switzerland has shown that a single gene called SIRT1 may be involved in the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and other autoimmune diseases. The study, "Identification of a SIRT1 Mutation in a Family with Type 1 Diabetes," was published today in Cell Metabolism and represents the first demonstration of a monogenetic defect leading to the onset of T1D.

NEW YORK, NY (March 5, 2013) — Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), with collaborators at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, have discovered how the most common genetic mutations in familial Parkinson's disease damage brain cells. The mutations block an intracellular system that normally prevents a protein called alpha-synuclein from reaching toxic levels in dopamine-producing neurons.

In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, but the precise cause has not been clear. A study published by Cell Press on March 5th in Cell Metabolism reveals that a single mutation in the "longevity gene" SIRT1 can cause type 1 diabetes in humans. The findings unearth the role this gene plays in human autoimmunity and disease and also offer new avenues for treating a range of autoimmune disorders.

Mitochondria, which are probably derived from distant bacterial ancestors incorporated into our cells, have their own DNA. However, we know little about how these organelles, which convert oxygen and consumed nutrients into energy, regulate the expression of their own genes. Jean-Claude Martinou, professor at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and his team, have discovered the existence of compartments at the heart of mitochondria, consisting of hundreds of different proteins.

Encouraging consumers to feel ownership of products they haven't yet purchased can backfire because consumers tend to see themselves in the products they own, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Companies assume that consumers who are made to feel ownership of a product prior to purchase will prefer it over competing products, but this can actually have the opposite effect and lead consumers to judge the product less favorably," write authors Liad Weiss and Gita V. Johar (both Columbia University).

DALLAS – March 5, 2013 – UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists report the first successful blocking of tumor development in a genetic mouse model of an incurable human cancer.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (March 4, 2013) – Cesarean delivery is the most common surgery in the United States, performed on 1.67 million American women annually. Yet hospital cesarean rates vary widely according to new research from the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health.

The latest study, appearing today in Health Affairs, shows that cesarean delivery rates varied tenfold across U.S. hospitals, from 7.1 percent to 69.9 percent.

SALT LAKE CITY – Researchers have identified a critical protein role in the metastasis of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Inhibition of the protein known as adenosine diphosphate ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) reduces the spread of melanoma to the lungs in mice, according to a study published in the March 5 issue of Science Signaling online, suggesting that targeting ARF6 may be an effective approach to preventing melanoma metastasis.