Body

WASHINGTON, DC—October 5, 2009—The latest research from the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management explores the wide disparities in advanced high school course-taking (such as Advanced Placement courses) among race, poverty, and gender groups in Florida.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have found that certain structural features within breast tissue can indicate a woman's individual cancer risk. The findings appear online today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The study shows that acini (AS-ih-nye), the small milk-producing elements in breast lobules, can be counted in sample biopsies. The percentage of acini present per lobule at a given age indicates cancer risk. Researchers say this method is more accurate in predicting risk for an individual than the Gail model (see National Cancer Institute).

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Drivers with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease may be at higher risk of crashes on foggy days and other times of low visibility. The research, involving a driving simulation test, is published in the October 6, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

In addition to affecting movement, Parkinson's disease affects visual skills, such as the ability to see contrast, and the speed of processing what is seen.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Latinas who spoke little English were less likely to undergo reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy for breast cancer, according to a study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study compared breast reconstruction among white women, African-American women, Latina women who were highly acculturated and Latina women who were less acculturated. Acculturation is a measure of how much a person is integrated into American society. For Latinas, a significant factor is whether they speak primarily English or Spanish.

Individuals who follow the Mediterranean dietary pattern—rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and fish—appear less likely to develop depression, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Exposure to a certain class of antidepressant medications during pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, a low five-minute Apgar score (a measure of overall health of the baby) and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

When compared with infants born between 1993 and 1995, more infants born at 22 to 24 weeks' gestation at one academic medical center in 2001 to 2003 received life-sustaining interventions but were no more likely to survive, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

STANFORD, Calif. - Scientists have long struggled to understand the body's biological clock. Its tick-tock wakes us up, reminds us to eat and tells us when to go to bed. But what sets that circadian rhythm?

New research now shows that daily fluctuations in powerful hormones called glucocorticoids directly synchronize the biological clock as an integral part of our mechanism for regulating blood sugar.

The first century BC in Italy was culturally a brilliant age, unequaled by any other period in Roman history. It was a time of Cicero, Caesar, Vergil, Horace and many other major literary figures of the Antiquity.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Oct 5, 2009) – A new drug designed to "seek and destroy" common cancers such as breast, prostate, endometrial, pancreatic, ovarian, skin and testicular cancers is being tested at TGen Clinical Research Services (TCRS) at Scottsdale Healthcare.

The Phase 1 clinical trial will help determine if EP-100 is safe and effective for use among patients with solid cancer tumors, with fewer side effects than chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions. In addition, the study has revealed surprisingly large structural differences between natural prions and the closest synthetic analogs that scientists have created in the lab.

The first demonstration of a renewable method for hydrogen production from wastewater using a microbial electrolysis system is underway at the Napa Wine Company in Oakville. The refrigerator-sized hydrogen generator will take winery wastewater, and using bacteria and a small amount of electrical energy, convert the organic material into hydrogen, according to a Penn State environmental engineer.

HOBOKEN, N.J. — The current recession has focused top information technology executives on cost-cutting, but they are not slashing jobs the way they did in previous economic downturns, according to a 2009 benchmark report commissioned by the Society for Information Management.

"While IT organizations have slashed spending on infrastructure, they don't seem to be laying off IT people; the IT turnover rate is at 6.9 percent. In fact, the most successful IT organizations are not being asked to cut their own expenses, but to help the overall business reduce their costs.

San Diego, CA – Increased intakes of antioxidant vitamins have no bearing on whether or not a man will develop hearing loss, but higher folate intake can decrease his risk by 20 percent, according to new research presented at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, in San Diego, CA.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University researcher has discovered that the absence of certain proteins needed for proper cell duplication can lead to cancer.

Xiaoqi Liu, an assistant professor of biochemistry, found that cytoplasmic linker protein-170, or CLIP-170, plays a major role in proper cell duplication and DNA distribution. When the protein is removed, cell duplicates lack entire copies of DNA and can become cancerous. Liu's findings were published in the early online version of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.