Body

New research published today in Nature's Scientific Reports, identifies a new type of light sensor that could allow medical and security imaging, via low cost cameras.

The team of researchers from the University of Surrey have developed a new 'multispectral' light sensor that detects the full spectrum of light, from ultra-violet (UV), to visible and near infrared light.

The news items below are from oral presentations or poster sessions scheduled for the 50th annual ASCO conference.

Yale Cancer Center will have experts available to speak with the media before or during ASCO.

Survival, response duration, and activity by BRAF mutation (MT) status of nivolumab (NIVO, anti-PD-1, BMS-936558, ONO-4538) and ipilimumab (IPI) concurrent therapy in advanced melanoma (MEL). (LBA #9003)

Italian scientists have developed a miniaturised kidney dialysis machine capable of treating the smallest babies, and have for the first time used it to safely treat a newborn baby with multiple organ failure. This technology has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of infants with acute kidney injury, according to new research published in The Lancet.

Washington, DC (May 22, 2014) — Patients with a certain form of kidney disease may have a reduced risk of cancer compared with patients with other kidney diseases, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have identified a small molecule that prevents bacteria from forming into biofilms, a frequent cause of infections. The anti-biofilm peptide works on a range of bacteria including many that cannot be treated by antibiotics.

"Currently there is a severe problem with antibiotic-resistant organisms," says Bob Hancock, a professor in UBC's Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology and lead author of the study published today in PLOS Pathogens. "Our entire arsenal of antibiotics is gradually losing effectiveness."

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have identified chemical signals that certain breast cancers use to recruit two types of normal cells needed for the cancers' spread. A description of the findings appears in the online early May edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Despite worsening economic conditions for those at the bottom, infant health has steadily improved among the most disadvantaged Americans, according to a review published in Science by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

The researchers cite programs and policies like Medicaid, the Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the Food Stamp program – now known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – as the driving forces behind such marked improvements.

NEW YORK, NY (May 22, 2014) — Researchers have discovered how a gene commonly linked to obesity—FTO—contributes to weight gain. The study shows that variations in FTO indirectly affect the function of the primary cilium, a little-understood hair-like appendage on brain and other cells. Specific abnormalities of cilium molecules, in turn, increase body weight, in some instances, by affecting the function of receptors for leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite.

PHILADELPHIA— In the largest group of results to date, researchers from Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center and other institutions have shown in clinical trials that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) blocked autophagy in a host of aggressive cancers—glioblastoma, melanoma, lymphoma and myeloma, renal and colon cancers—and in some cases helped stabilize disease. Autophagy—an essential process cancer cells need to fuel their growth—is a key troublemaker spurring tumor growth.

New Haven, CT – A pair of Yale Cancer Center interventional studies involving breast cancer survivors found that lifestyle changes in the form of healthy eating and regular exercise can decrease biomarkers related to breast cancer recurrence and mortality. The abstracts are scheduled to be presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago May 30-June 3rd.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (May 22, 2014) – The way in which the sex of an organism is determined may require lifelong maintenance, finds new research from the University of Minnesota. According to the study published today in the journal Developmental Cell, sex-specific transcription factors perform lifelong work to maintain sexual determination and protect against reprogramming of cells from one sex to the other.

Scientists from the California Academy of Sciences and more than 60 other international research institutions spanning six continents have responded to a recent paper in Science, which questioned current methods of scientific collecting and advocated the use of non-lethal alternatives. The response, led by Luiz Rocha, Ph.D., the Academy's Assistant Curator and Follett Chair of Ichthyology, and co-authored by such science luminaries as Harvard's E. O.

In the Lewis Carroll classic, Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty states, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less." In turn, Alice (of Wonderland fame) says, "The question is, whether you can make words mean so many different things." All organisms on Earth use a genetic code, which is the language in which the building plans for proteins are specified in their DNA. It has long been assumed that there is only one such "canonical" code, so each word means the same thing to every organism.

"We still have additional trials ahead of us, first in another animal model, but we hope to begin Phase I trials in humans very soon," Kurtis said. "Our findings support PfSEA-1 as a potential vaccine candidate, and we are confident that by partnering with our colleagues at the National Institutes of Health and other researchers focused on vaccines to prevent the parasites from entering red blood cells, we can approach the parasite from all angles, which could help us develop a truly effective vaccine to prevent this infectious disease that kills millions of children every year."

ANN ARBOR—Collecting plant and animal specimens is essential for scientific studies and conservation and does not, as some critics of the practice have suggested, play a significant role in species extinctions.

Those are the conclusions of more than 100 biologists and biodiversity researchers who signed a letter to the journal Science scheduled for online publication May 22.