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BOSTON–Afghanistan's geography is dominated by a collection of craggy peaks, the highest—a mountain known as Noshaq—has been measured to 7,492 meters. Consequently, the soldiers on duty in this mountainous terrain must often ascend to great heights as part of their duty. However, quick climbs without adapting to altitude can lead to a condition called acute mountain sickness (AMS), marked by headache, fatigue, gastrointestinal distress, nausea, and insomnia.

Geneva, Switzerland: Unavoidable damage caused to the heart and lungs by radiotherapy treatment of tumours in the chest region can be limited by the administration of an ACE inhibitor, a drug commonly used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, a group of Dutch researchers have found. [1]

Common cancers such as breast, oesophagus, lung, and Hodgkin's lymphoma are frequently treated with radiotherapy, but the radiation dose that can be given safely is limited by the sensitivity of the health lung tissue which is also irradiated.

Functional loss of limb control in individuals with spinal cord injury or stroke can be caused by interruption of the neural pathways between brain and spinal cord, although the neural circuits located above and below the lesion remain functional.

An artificial neural connection that bridges the lost pathway and connects brain to spinal circuits has potential to ameliorate the functional loss.

Middle school students from rural Maine will present a poster at the Experimental Biology 2013 conference detailing how their involvement with the Aspirnaut science-outreach program led to them becoming active scientific researchers.

Geneva, Switzerland: Two large, landmark radiotherapy studies have shown that it is possible to treat cervical cancer effectively with high doses specifically adapted to each tumour, and with fewer serious side-effects to the surrounding normal organs.

In two presentations today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) researchers will tell the 2nd Forum of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) that image-guided brachytherapy is able to deliver very high doses, which prevent the tumour from growing in over 90% of patients, with few serious side-effects.

Women with larger cup sizes seem to be more susceptible, but childless women also seem to be more prone, and wearing a sports bra doesn't always help, finds the study, which publishes as London gears up for its annual international marathon tomorrow (Sunday April 21).

The authors base their findings on the responses of just under 1300 female competitors passing through the registration zone for last year's marathon in the capital.

Many competitors try to prevent pain interfering with their performance by taking painkillers that are readily available in pharmacies and supermarkets, say the authors.

And in a bid to find out what impact these common drugs might have, the authors quizzed participants in the 2010 Bonn Marathon/Half-Marathon about their use of medication and any symptoms they had during and/or after the race.

In all, just under 4000 (56%) of all 7048 competitors returned their online questionnaires. Most (87%) had run marathons before.

HOUSTON – A protein which is intimately involved in cancer-promoting cell signaling also keeps a key component of the signaling pathway tied down and inactive, a team led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports this week in Nature Structural Molecular Biology.

A new genome-wide association study of more than 6,000 people has identified seven new genetic regions associated with pulmonary fibrosis. In findings published online in Nature Genetics on April 14, 2013, researchers at National Jewish Health, the University of Colorado and several other institutions found a number of genes associated with host defense, cell-cell adhesion and DNA repair, which provide clues to possible mechanisms underlying this currently untreatable disease.

LEMONT, Ill. (Apr. 19, 2013) – In a new study performed at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, researchers have for the first time seen the self-assembly of nanoparticle chains in situ, that is, in place as it occurs in real-time.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A monoclonal antibody targeting a protein known as SFPR2 has been shown by researchers at the University of North Carolina to inhibit tumor growth in pre-clinical models of breast cancer and angiosarcoma.

New York City, April 17, 2013—Think Elephants International, a not-for-profit organization that strives to promote elephant conservation through scientific research, education programming and international collaborations, today announced its latest study, "Visual Cues Given by Humans are Not Sufficient for Asian Elephants (Elephas Maximus) to Find Hidden Food." This study has been published in the April 17, 2013 issue of PLOS ONE, an international publication that reports original research from all disciplines within science and medicine.

DALLAS – April 22, 2013 – Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that alternative splicing – a process that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins – appears to be a new potential target for anti-telomerase cancer therapy.

Wild fires turn millions of hectares of vegetation into charcoal each year. An international team of researchers led by Thorsten Dittgar from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen and Rudolf Jaffé from Florida International University's Southeast Environmental Research Center in Miami has now shown that this charcoal does not remain in the soil, as previously thought. Instead, it is transported to the sea by rivers and thus enters the carbon cycle. The researchers analyzed water samples from all over the world.

MAYWOOD, Il. - Young athletes who specialize in one sport and train intensively have a significantly higher risk of stress fractures and other severe overuse injuries, even when compared with other injured athletes, according to the largest clinical study of its kind.

For example, young athletes who spent more hours per week than their age playing one sport – such as a 12-year-old who plays tennis 13 or more hours a week – were 70 percent more likely to experience serious overuse injuries than other injuries.