Body

In a novel study, a University of Oklahoma researcher and collaborators found a common bioindicator, Hyalella azteca, used to test the toxicity of water or sediment was resistant to insecticides used in agricultural areas of central California. The study is the first to demonstrate that the indicator species may adapt to polluted conditions of a habitat and become an entirely unreliable source of information about ecosystem health.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—For the first time, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown the predictive power of a group of overlooked lymph nodes--known as the posterior intercostal lymph nodes--that could serve as a better tool to stage and ultimately treat patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

The findings were presented October 28 at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Infants who get hepatitis C from their mothers during childbirth may inherit a viral strain that replicates more quickly than strains found in non-pregnant hosts, according to a new study published Oct. 27 in Nature Medicine. The findings, from a team in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, are the first to describe how a virus that has infected 180 million people worldwide takes advantage of immune changes during pregnancy.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new review suggests that omega-3 fatty acids taken in excess could have unintended health consequences in certain situations, and that dietary standards based on the best available evidence need to be established.

"What looked like a slam dunk a few years ago may not be as clear cut as we thought," said Norman Hord, associate professor in OSU's College of Public Health and Human Sciences and a coauthor on the paper.

Having children early and in rapid succession are major factors fueling high infant mortality rates in the South Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan where one in 14 births to young mothers ends with the death of the child within the first year, say researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

A unique nanostructure developed by a team of international researchers, including those at the University of Cincinnati, promises improved all-in-one detection, diagnoses and drug-delivery treatment of cancer cells.

The first-of-its-kind nanostructure is unusual because it can carry a variety of cancer-fighting materials on its double-sided (Janus) surface and within its porous interior. Because of its unique structure, the nano carrier can do all of the following:

San Francisco, CA. (October 28, 2013) – Can a new liposomal bupivacaine product provide long-lasting nerve block with a single injection? An initial study in humans shows promise—but also some "confusing results," reports the November issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

Global warming and forest disturbances may have a silver lining for threatened species of grizzly bears in Alberta, Canada.

In a 10-year study that monitored 112 bears in Alberta's Rocky Mountain region, University of Alberta biologist Scott Nielsen and his colleagues found that warmer temperatures and easier access to food associated with forest disturbances helped the grizzlies to build more body fat, known to increase the chances of successful reproduction for mothers.

MAYWOOD, Il. – Loyola University Medical Center researchers have published the first ever study of emotional and psychological anguish, known as "moral distress," experienced by nurses in an intensive care unit for burn patients.

The study by first author Jeanie M. Leggett, RN, BSN, MA and colleagues is published in the Journal of Burn Care and Research.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a molecular switch that causes small, beneficial clots that stop bleeding to enlarge further during wound healing. By blocking this switch in lab mice, the researchers prevented small clots from growing -- a process that can pose a danger in humans -- while preserving their ability to staunch bleeding. Their findings, published online in Nature, open up the possibility for developing potent anti-clotting drugs that don't raise the risk of bleeding.

The subfamily of rodents known as Murinae (mice, rats, etc.), which first appeared in Asia 12 million years ago, spread across the entire Old World (Eurasia, Africa, Australia) in less than 2 million years, a remarkably fast rate. Researchers have long suspected that one of the reasons for their evolutionary success is related to their unique masticatory apparatus.

San Francisco, CA. (October 28, 2013) – Developed using molecular-level techniques, the "designer" sedative drug remimazolam provides a promising new alternative for sedation in patients undergoing colonoscopy, reports a study in the November issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

"Remimazolam has the attributes of a sedative drug, with success rates comparable with recent studies of other drugs," according to the new research, led by Dr Mark T. Worthington of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered how a lipid secreted by cancer tumors prevents the immune system from mounting an immune response against it. When lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) binds to killer T cells, it acts almost like an "invisibility cloak," preventing T cells from recognizing and attacking nascent tumors.

AMHERST, Mass. – Two new papers from reproductive biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with international partners, report advances in understanding the basic processes of sperm capacitation that may one day improve success rates of in vitro fertilization (IVF) by providing a shortcut to bypass problems, and may eventually lead to a male contraceptive.

The protein LIMP-2 is vital for both humans and animals. If it is absent – due, for example, to a hereditary disease – substances of an unknown nature, probably lipids, accumulate in the organism. Up to now, scientists were unsure what the protein looks like and how exactly it functions. Privatdozent [senior lecturer] Dr. Michael Schwake from the Faculty of Chemistry at Bielefeld University (Germany) is doing research on the protein – and thereby preparing the way for future therapies.