Body

The combined measles–mumps–rubella–varicella (MMRV) vaccine shows a slightly increased risk of febrile seizures in children, compared with the previously separate vaccines for MMR and varicella (chickenpox) (MMR+V), according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

The MMRV vaccine was developed for young children to reduce the number of needles they receive. However, the combined vaccine has been associated with slightly higher rates of febrile seizures.

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have shown that stem cell behaviour can be modified by manipulating the nanoscale properties of the material they are grown on - improving the potential of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering as a result.

June 9, 2014 – (BRONX, NY) – Investigators at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center will present their latest research at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions. Einstein-Montefiore scientists and clinicians are participating in nearly three dozen presentations, sessions and symposia during the five-day meeting.

WASHINGTON – Much as human DNA can be used as evidence in criminal trials, genetic information about microorganisms can be analyzed to identify pathogens or other biological agents in the event of a suspicious disease outbreak. The tools and methods used to investigate such outbreaks belong to an emerging discipline known as microbial forensics, but the field faces substantial scientific and technical challenges, says a new report from the National Research Council.

In the healthy pancreas of someone without type 1 diabetes (T1D), the hormone insulin (essential for turning food into energy) is produced, stored, and released in a normal "factory-like" process within pancreatic beta cells in response to glucose in the diet. Early in the course of T1D, however, excessive or pathologic stress in beta cells compromises their ability to properly secrete insulin, triggering a cascade of events ultimately contributing to the beta cell death.

Let's say you're buying a car. You have a wealth of data at your fingertips, from safety information to performance, to guide your decision.

The same is not as true in health care, especially if you're pricing procedures. A new study from the University of Iowa compared the cost of prostate cancer surgery at 100 hospitals throughout the United States. The quote for the procedure, the researchers found, varied from $10,100 to $135,000, a 13-fold range. (The average price was nearly $35,000, more than double the Medicare reimbursement.)

Penn Medicine researchers will be among the featured presenters at the 18th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Stockholm, Sweden, from Sunday, June 8 to Thursday, June 12, 2014.

Matthew Stern, MD, director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center in the Department of Neurology and current president of the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Society, will chair a plenary session entitled "New insights into the pathology, progression, and heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease."

Reducing Maternal Mortality In Zambia and Uganda. Margaret E. Kruk of Columbia University and co-authors assessed the effectiveness of Saving Mothers, Giving Life, a new global public-private partnership that aims to reduce maternal mortality in eight districts in Uganda and Zambia. They evaluated the first six to twelve months of the program's implementation, its ownership by national ministries of health, and its effects on health systems.

Huntsville, Ala. – String bean, snap bean, haricot bean, and pinto and navy bean. These are just a few members of the common bean family — scientifically called Phaseolus vulgaris. These beans are critically important to the global food supply. They provide up to 15 percent of calories and 36 percent of daily protein for parts of Africa and the Americas and serve as a daily staple for hundreds of millions of people.

Huntsville, Ala. – Sequencing the genomes of domesticated citrus revealed a very limited genetic diversity that could threaten the crop's survival prospects, according to an international research team. In a study published in the June issue of Nature Biotechnology, the international consortium of researchers from the United States, France, Italy, Spain and Brazil analyzed and compared the genome sequences of 10 diverse citrus varieties, including sweet and sour orange along with several important mandarin and pummelo cultivars.

A new study in The Journal of Experimental Medicine reveals that a high-risk group of patients with follicular lymphoma could benefit from a novel drug combination.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Twelve years ago, UNC School of Medicine researcher Brian Strahl, PhD, found that a protein called Set2 plays a role in how yeast genes are expressed – specifically how DNA gets transcribed into messenger RNA. Now his lab has found that Set2 is also a major player in DNA repair, a complicated and crucial process that can lead to the development of cancer cells if the repair goes wrong.

(Salt Lake City) —What contributed to the evolution of faces in the ape-like ancestors of humans? The prehistoric version of a bar fight —over women, resources and other slug-worthy disagreements, new research from the University of Utah scheduled for publication in the journal Biological Reviews on June 9 suggests.

A study by researchers from Finland found that diagnosis and treatment of anemia is important to improve quality of life among women with heavy periods. Findings published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, a journal of the Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, suggest clinicians screen for anemia and recommend iron supplementation to women with heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia).

Physical activity after breast cancer diagnosis has been linked with prolonged survival and improved quality of life, but most participants in a large breast cancer study did not meet national physical activity guidelines after they were diagnosed. Moreover, African-American women were less likely to meet the guidelines than white women. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings indicate that efforts to promote physical activity in breast cancer patients may need to be significantly enhanced.