Body

TORONTO, ON - New research from the University of Toronto shows that a little training can go a long way in a desperate situation.

Carmen Logie, assistant professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, demonstrated that marginalized and displaced women in Leogane, Haiti, can measurably impact mental and sexual health behaviours in their village. Leogane was at the epicentre of a 2010 earthquake that displaced entire populations and led to the collapse of business, social and health infrastructure throughout the country.

Washington, D.C., March 4, 2014 – A new study published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine addresses the common call to action from public health experts to improve access to and consumption of fruits and vegetables. Findings from the Michigan State University (MSU) study show that canned foods deliver on nutrition, affordability and safety helping people increase their fruit and vegetable intake, regardless of geography or income level.

Brandeis University researchers have unlocked a controversial structure in heart cells responsible for regulating heart contractions.

For years, scientists have debated how many KCNE1 proteins are required to build a potassium ion channel, theorizing anywhere between one and 14. Now, Brandeis University researchers found that these channels are built with two E1s. Understanding the construction of this channel is key to understanding life-threatening heart conditions, such as arrhythmias, and developing drugs to threat those conditions.

Two recent genetic studies expand the list of genes involved with body fat and body mass index, and their connection to major Western health problems: heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. One study showed that higher body mass index (BMI) caused harmful effects on the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and inflammation, while another study found gene signals linked to higher levels of body fat metrics, without showing causality.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — March 4, 2014 — Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have discovered a protein, Mcl-1, that helps enable one of the most common and deadly types of cancer to survive radiation and drug treatments.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) makes up about 85 percent of the nearly 160,000 Americans expected to die this year from lung cancer, which by far kills more patients than any other type of cancer; accounting for more than 1 in 4 cancer deaths in the U.S. annually. The 5-year survival rate for advanced NSCLC is less than 10 percent.

The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common source of infections that occur after surgeries involving prosthetic joints and artificial heart valves. The grape-shaped microorganism adheres to medical equipment, and if it gets inside the body, it can cause a serious and even life-threatening illness called a Staph infection. The recent discovery of drug-resistant strains of S. aureus makes matters even worse.

Fathers who returned after military service report having difficulty connecting with young children who sometimes don't remember them, according to a study released this week.

While the fathers in the study had eagerly anticipated reuniting with their families, they reported significant stress, especially around issues of reconnecting with children, adapting expectations from military to family life, and co-parenting.

Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue and other debilitating symptoms that persist months to years after their course of treatment has ended.

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified a set of genes that appear to predict which tumors can evade detection by the body's immune system, a step that may enable them to eventually target only the patients most likely to respond best to a new class of treatment.

Researchers at Norris Cotton Cancer Center have found an antibody that may be used in future treatments for recurrent small-cell lung cancer, which currently has no effective therapy. The mouse monoclonal antibody they have developed, MAG-1, targets the ProAVP surface marker. When given alone, it significantly slows the growth of tumor xenografts of human recurrent small-cell lung cancer in mice. The study, "Growth Impairment of Small-Cell Cancer by Targeting Pro-Vasopressin with MAG-1 Antibody," was recently published online in Frontiers in Oncology.

Identification of factors that influence breast cancer metastasis to bone

In current research related to improving cancer treatments, one promising area of research is the effort to find ways to selectively pinpoint and target cancer cells while minimizing effects on healthy cells.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Teaching crop plants to concentrate carbon dioxide in their leaves could increase photosynthetic efficiency by 60 percent and yields by as much as 40 percent, researchers report in a new study.

The team used a computer model to simulate how adding genes from a type of photosynthetic algae known as cyanobacteria might influence photosynthetic efficiency in plants. Cyanobacteria contain small structures, called carboxysomes, which concentrate carbon dioxide at the site of photosynthesis.

Naturally occurring electricity in our cells is key to how our bodies function, and that includes the healing of wounds.

And externally applied low-amplitude electric fields have been shown to help hard-to-heal chronic wounds, like those associated with diabetes, where there is insufficient blood supply and drug treatments are not effective. The externally applied electric field manipulates the body's naturally occurring electricity, such that the new vessels are formed, and blood supply to the wound is increased.

PITTSBURGH, March 3, 2014 – A new analysis led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health offers insights for nonprofit hospitals in implementing community health improvement programs.In a special issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved that focuses on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a multidisciplinary team of Pitt researchers explore published research on existing community benefit programs at U.S.