Body

Researchers predict greener Greenland

Scientists expect the future climate to become warmer, and that this will apply to the Arctic in particular. Here the temperature is expected to increase considerably more than the average on Earth, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change average scenario (A1B).

What will this mean for Greenland? A very significant change will be the emergence of forests, where there are currently only four species of trees and large bushes indigenous to Greenland – and they only grow in small areas in the south.

Waterloo mathematician solves 40-year-old problem

WATERLOO, Ont (Wednesday, August 28, 2013) – A team of mathematicians has solved a problem first posed more than 40 years ago that has confounded modern mathematicians, until now.

Professor Jim Geelen of the University of Waterloo and his colleagues, Professor Bert Gerards of Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica and the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, and Professor Geoff Whittle of Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand have proved the famous Rota's Conjecture.

Broccoli could be key in the fight against osteoarthritis

A compound found in broccoli could be key to preventing or slowing the progress of the most common form of arthritis, according to new research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Results from the laboratory study show that sulforaphane slows down the destruction of cartilage in joints associated with painful and often debilitating osteoarthritis. The researchers found that mice fed a diet rich in the compound had significantly less cartilage damage and osteoarthritis than those that were not.

Zealous imaging fuelling unnecessary and harmful treatment of low risk thyroid cancers

New technologies such as ultrasound, CT and MRI scanning can detect thyroid nodules as small as 2mm – many of these small nodules are papillary thyroid cancers.

In the US, cases have tripled in the past 30 years - from 3.6 per 100,000 in 1973 to 11.6 per 100,000 in 2009 – making it one of the fastest growing diagnoses. Yet the death rate from papillary thyroid cancer has remained stable.

New approach to celiac testing identifies more Australians at risk

Australian researchers have developed a new approach to detecting coeliac disease, revealing this immune disorder is far more common than previously recognised.

In a study of more than 2500 Victorians the researchers combined traditional antibody testing (measuring the immune response to gluten) with an assessment of specific genetic risk markers. They found more than half of Australians had genetic risk factors for developing coeliac disease. The research is published online today in the journal BMC Medicine.

Mayo Clinic: High-tech imaging contributing to overdiagnosis of low-risk thyroid cancers

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- An increasing gap between the incidence of thyroid cancer and deaths from the disease suggests that low-risk cancers are being overdiagnosed and overtreated, a study from the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery finds. The study appears in the current issue of the British Medical Journal.

The importance of treating pediatric AIDS in the elimination agenda

Scott Kellerman and colleagues argue that the scope of the current HIV elimination agenda must be broadened in order to ensure access to care and treatment for all children living with HIV.

The extraordinary evolution of REVs

A new study by Anna Maria Niewiadomska and Robert Gifford, of The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, reveals that reticuloendotheliosis viruses (REVs), which originated in mammals, spread to birds as a result of medical intervention. Their findings will be published August 27 in the open access journal PLOS Biology.

"We became intrigued by these viruses", says Gifford, "…because their distribution in nature suggests something very unusual has occurred during their evolution."

3 subtypes of gastric cancer suggest different treatment approaches

SINGAPORE – Stomach cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide, actually falls into three broad subtypes that respond differently to currently available therapies, according to researchers at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore.

The finding could greatly improve patient care with the development of a genetic test to classify tumors and match them to the therapies that offer the best outcomes.

Researchers develop rapid, cost-effective early detection method for organ transplant injury

Hercules, CA — August 27, 2013 — A recently reported blood test for the early detection of organ transplant injury could enable more timely therapeutic intervention in transplant patients and thus help to avoid longer term damage.

Joslin scientists identify genetic variant associated with coronary heart disease in type 2 diabetes

BOSTON -- August 27, 2013 -- Joslin scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Italian research institutes, have identified a previously unknown genetic variant associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in type 2 diabetic patients. This discovery has the potential to lead to the development of new treatments for CHD in diabetic patients. The findings appear in the [month] issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Genetic variant identified that may increase heart disease risk among people with type 2 diabetes

Boston, MA — A newly discovered genetic variant may increase the risk of heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes by more than a third, according to a study led by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Joslin Diabetes Center. It is the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify a novel genetic variant associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) in people with type 2 diabetes, who have a two- to four-fold higher risk of heart disease compared with those without diabetes.

Combination drug regimen may benefit patients with hepatitis C

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection with the interferon-free regimen of sofosbuvir and ribavirin resulted in a high sustained virologic response rate in a patient population with unfavorable treatment characteristics, according to a study in the August 28 issue of JAMA.

Study examines relationship of a commercial ACO contract with medical spending

Payment incentives implemented with a commercial accountable care organization (ACO) initiative in Massachusetts –Blue Cross Blue Shield's Alternative Quality Contract (AQC) – were associated with lower spending for Medicare enrollees served by the provider groups participating in the AQC, findings that suggest that evaluations of ACO programs may need to consider the implications for other patient populations to assess their full clinical and economic benefits, according to a study in the August 28 issue of JAMA.

Genetic variant associated with increased CHD risk in individuals with type 2 diabetes

Researchers have identified a previously unknown genetic locus (the place a gene occupies on a chromosome) significantly associated with increased coronary heart disease risk among patients with type 2 diabetes, but the association was not found in individuals without diabetes, according to a study in the August 28 issue of JAMA. The variant is functionally related to glutamic acid metabolism, suggesting a mechanistic link.