Body

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — First things first. If cancer patients are having trouble tolerating chemotherapy after chemoradiation and surgery, then try administering it beforehand. Reordering the regimen that way enabled all but six of 39 patients to undergo a full course of standard treatment for rectal cancer, according to research to be presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.

The scientists - Boris Kuzin, Ekaterina Nikitina, Roman Cherezov, Julia Vorontsova, Mikhail Slezinger, Olga Zatsepina, Olga Simonova, Grigori Enikolopov and Elena Savvateeva-Popova - studied Drosophila flies, in whose genome weak mutations of two different genes were combined. The paper is published in the PLoS One. They concluded that these mutations synergistically strengthen their mutual phenotypic expression. In other words, the aggregate effect of these mutations is much greater than that which can be produced by one of them individually.

The scientists – Alexander Zhavoronkov, Anton Buzdin, Andrey Garazha, Nickolay Borisov and Alexey Moskalev– have based the new research on their previously-developed methods in the study of cancer cells. Each cell uses particular schemes of molecular interaction, which physiologists call intercellular signaling pathways.

It's common knowledge that all organisms inherit their mitochondria – the cell's "power plants" – from their mothers. But what happens to all the father's mitochondria? Surprisingly, how – and why – paternal mitochondria are prevented from getting passed on to their offspring after fertilization is still shrouded in mystery; the only thing that's certain is that there must be a compelling reason, seeing as this phenomenon has been conserved throughout evolution.

Researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago have uncovered evidence that sugar has a direct effect on risk factors for heart disease, and is likely to impact on blood pressure, independent of weight gain.

Research Fellow with Otago's Department of Human Nutrition Dr Lisa Te Morenga, Professor Jim Mann and colleagues have conducted a review and meta-analysis of all international studies that compared the effects of higher versus lower added sugar consumption on blood pressure and lipids (blood fats or cholesterol) – both of which are important cardiovascular risk-factors.

A new University of British Columbia study identifies when the clock runs out on an NHL player's peak performance, giving team executives insight into how best to build a roster.

The study by Sauder School of Business professor James Brander found that the performance of forwards peaks between the ages of 27 and 28. Defencemen are best between 28 and 29, and the performance of goaltenders varies little by age.

This news release is available in German.

Zinc supplements reduce diarrhoea and other infections in malnourished children, and may prevent death, according to a new study published in The Cochrane Library. The study is the first Cochrane systematic review to focus on zinc as a means to prevent childhood death, including deaths caused by diarrhoea, one of the biggest killers of under-fives.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a silent killer. Produced by incomplete combustion, the colourless, odourless gas binds to the oxygen carrying protein – haemoglobin – in the blood of smokers and fire victims, insidiously clogging the protein to prevent it from transporting oxygen, resulting in suffocation. However, in recent years, CO has undergone something of a rehabilitation. Michael Tift, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA, explains that we all produce minute quantities of CO naturally. However, at very low concentrations, the gas has beneficial effects.

With its imperceptible features, carbon monoxide is widely known as the "silent killer" due to its risks at lethal concentrations. Far less known is that carbon monoxide is produced naturally in small quantities in humans and animals, and in recent years medical researchers have evaluated the gas as a treatment for diabetes, heart attacks, sepsis, and other illnesses.

The discovery of a new sauropod dinosaur species, Leinkupal laticauda, found in Argentina may be the first record of a diplodocid from South America and the youngest record of Diplodocidae in the world, according to results published May 14, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Pablo Gallina and colleagues from the Fundación Azara (Universidad Maimónides), and Museo E. Bachmann, in Argentina.

Wind conditions during spring migration may be a predictor of apparent annual survival and the timing of breeding in yellow warblers, according to results published May 14, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Anna Drake from Simon Fraser University, Canada and colleagues.

A blood-based diagnostic test accurately predicted whether 70% of female study participants with threatened preterm labor (TPTL) would or would not give birth prematurely. Results were published May 14, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE, by Dr Jan Heng and Professor Stephen Lye from the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Nearly 4 million Americans may be infected with the hepatitis C virus, with many people unaware of their status. The virus can take decades to make those infected ill with cirrhosis, cancer or liver failure.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Problematic as it is for society, the high incarceration rate in the United States presents an important public health opportunity, according to a new "Perspective" article in the New England Journal of Medicine. It could make staving off the worst of the oncoming hepatitis C epidemic considerably easier.