Body

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Prometheus, the mythological figure who stole fire from the gods, was punished for this theft by being bound to a rock. Each day, an eagle swept down and fed on his liver, which then grew back to be eaten again the next day.

Menlo Park, Calif. — Through innovations to a printing process, researchers have made major improvements to organic electronics – a technology in demand for lightweight, low-cost solar cells, flexible electronic displays and tiny sensors. The printing method is fast and works with a variety of organic materials to produce semiconductors of strikingly higher quality than what has so far been achieved with similar methods.

CHICAGO, JUNE 2, 2013 — The combination of the immunotherapy drug ipilimumab and the investigational antibody drug nivolumab led to long-lasting tumor shrinkage in more than half of patients with metastatic melanoma, according to results from a Phase I trial simultaneously published online on Sunday, June 2, in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researchers at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center report that a new drug in preliminary tests has shown promising results with very manageable side effects for treating patients with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The results were presented at the 2013 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology today in Chicago by Dr. Antoni Ribas, professor of medicine in the UCLA division of hematology-oncology, who led the research. Following Ribas' presentation, the study was published online ahead of press in the New England Journal of Medicine.

(CHICAGO) Patients with cancer that has spread to their bones are often treated with radiation therapy to reduce pain. But if that treatment doesn't work, or can't be used again, a second, effective option now exists. Results of a clinical trial on the new therapy, presented by a researcher at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center, is being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Madison, Wis. — Genetically engineered immune cells seem to promote healing in mice infected with a neurological disease similar to multiple sclerosis (MS), cleaning up lesions and allowing the mice to regain use of their legs and tails.

The new finding, by a team of University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health researchers, suggests that immune cells could be engineered to create a new type of treatment for people with MS.

Acidifying oceans could dramatically impact the world's squid species, according to a new study led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers and soon to be published in the journal PLOS ONE. Because squid are both ecologically and commercially important, that impact may have far-reaching effects on the ocean environment and coastal economies, the researchers report.

Marine conservationists from Plymouth University, and the Universidad Federal da Bahia in Brazil, have spent more than 17 years analysing the diversity and density of coral colonies off the coast of South America.

That coincided with the catastrophic El Niño event of 1997-98, creating an opportunity for the first detailed assessment of the long-term impact a major environmental incident of this nature can have on coral assemblages.

Orange, Calif., May 31, 2013 — Any breast cancer surgeon who regularly performs lumpectomies confronts the question "Did I get it all?" Thirty to 60 percent of the time in the U.S., the answer is "no," requiring the patient to undergo a second surgery to remove the remaining tumor.

Food insecurity increases the risk of death among injection drug users living with HIV/AIDS even when they are receiving life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a new study involving Simon Fraser University.

Philadelphia, PA—The first few hours to days following exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can be of critical importance in determining if infection occurs in a patient. But the low numbers of viruses and infected cells at this stage makes it very difficult to study these events in humans or animal models.

Theoretical mathematical models can help analyze viral dynamics in this early phase, and hence offer insights into therapeutic and prevention strategies, as evidenced by a paper published last month in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics.

An international team of researchers – led by principal investigator Paul S. Mischel, MD, a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine – has found that a singular gene mutation helps brain cancer cells to not just survive, but grow tumors rapidly by altering the splicing of genes that control cellular metabolism.

The findings are published online in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Researchers at the University of Georgia, Athens, have identified a strong link between the prevalence and load of certain food-borne pathogens on poultry farms, and later downstream at the processing plant. They report their findings in a manuscript published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Philadelphia, PA—Recurrent infection is a common feature of persistent viral diseases. It includes episodes of high viral production interspersed by periods of relative quiescence. These quiescent or silent stages are hard to study with experimental models. Mathematical analysis can help fill in the gaps.

Don't let low grades haunt your students. A new study in the Journal of Animal Science shows that performance in foundational biology courses is a strong predictor of performance in high-level animal science courses.