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In a first, researchers at the University of Iowa and the University of Missouri (MU) have developed a pig model for cystic fibrosis (CF) that appears to closely mimic the disease in human infants. The striking similarities between disease manifestations in the CF piglets and human newborns with CF suggest that this new model will help improve understanding of the disease and may also speed discovery of new treatments. The study is published in the Sept. 26 issue of Science.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Cystic Fibrosis (CF) continues to be a lethal disease for humans despite the identification of the problematic gene two decades ago. Many humans born with CF – the most common genetic disease in Caucasians - often die because of a lung disease developed later. Scientists have been unable to develop an animal model that develops the fatal lung disease. Now, a University of Missouri researcher is producing pigs born with cystic fibrosis that mimic the exact symptoms of a newborn with CF.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The majority of children vaccinated against hepatitis B are not at an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study to be published in the October 8, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have found the right formula of radiation and immunotherapy for fighting lung cancer tumors in mice, which they hope will translate to better treatment in human lung cancers.

The study was presented today at the 50th annual American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology conference in Boston.

Three enzymes called phosphatases that shut down a molecule called SRC-3 (steroid receptor coactivator 3) could provide a new pathway for fighting cancer, particularly tumors of the breast and prostate, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Molecular Cell.

ARGONNE, Ill. – Scientists at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National laboratory are putting the pressure on metal-organic frameworks (MOF).

In MOF materials, metal ions can be connected by organic molecules to form scaffolding-like structures similar to a molecular Tinker toy. The struts that make up the framework structure do not fill space efficiently, in the way that Lego blocks might, leaving extra spaces in the structure which are capable of containing guest molecules.

Santa Barbara, CA – September 24, 2008 – Content analyses demonstrate that TV programming is highly saturated with sexual content and risky sexual behavior. A new study in the Journal of Communication shows that people with direct experience with such behavior are not influenced by its portrayal on TV. However, those without direct experience are more likely to participate in the unsafe behavior in the future, regardless of the consequences displayed.

CHAPEL HILL – Nationally, an estimated 15 percent of students experience some form of mental illness such as major depression while in college. Many often struggle with where to get support.

But a new study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill could close this gap by encouraging students to consider their needs and treatment options well in advance.

Portland, OR – September 24, 2008 – When a hospital is capacity constrained, the constraint can affect admission and discharge decisions. A new study in the RAND Journal of Economics examined how hospitals' admission and discharge behavior is affected by fluctuations in demand. Results show that on days when hospitals face high demand, patients are discharged earlier than expected when compared to those discharged on days when demand is low.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – An estimated 35.1 million Americans live in "food insecure" households, meaning that at some time during the previous year they were unable to obtain or were uncertain of having enough food to fulfill their basic needs. Consequently, many of those people seek aid from federal sources including the Food Stamp Program. Now, a University of Missouri poverty expert has found that, depending on the food stamp benefit amount, the emotional distress associated with food insufficiency is higher among food stamp participants.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have found what may provide a solution to one of the more troubling complications of diabetes -- delayed gastric emptying or gastroparesis. The researchers showed in animal models that a red blood cell derivative increases production of a key molecule, normalizing the digestive process. The findings appear in the current online issue of the journal Gastroenterology (http://www.gastrojournal.org/).

SAP is a serious type of acute pancreastitis (AP), with a serious pathological condition, always combined with pancreas necrosis and complicatins of toxic shock, with a mortality of 25% - 40% according to recent reviews. Patients with SAP tend to cause IAP elevation, and abrupt elevation of IAP eventually causes IAH. IAH causes organ dysfunction such as respiratory failure, circulatory failure, and renal failure, which are referred to ACS. About 11% of SAP patients suffer from the complication of ACS.

Biliary atresia (BA) is a common progressive and obstructive pathological change of the intrahepatic and extrahepatic duct, often causing cirrhosis immediately and leading to death. Prompt and accurate early diagnosis determines its optimal operation opportunity and therapeutic efficacy. With the unceasing updating of ultrasonic apparatus, especially the application of high resolution detecting head, the sonogram is becoming more and more clear, and more and more doctors have investigated and accumulated experiences in the ultrasonic diagnosis for BA.

Two patients with the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension related to hepatitis infection were admitted to Shanghai Ruijin hospital due to recurrent melena and hematemesis. Isolated gastric varices were observed in the gastric fundus during the retroflexion of gastroscope. The authors carried out endoscopic sclerotherapy using cyanoacrylate combined with aethoxysklerol for bleeding gastric varices, which disappeared dramatically within six months after two sclerotherapies for each patient.

New approaches in cancer therapy that facilitate selective targeting of cancers have been emerging in recent years. Apoptin represents a new anti-cancer tool in such new approaches with great potentials. Two routes can be taken using Apoptin or its encoding cDNA, i.e. as protein therapy or gene therapy.