Public Release: 5-Oct-2009
2009 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO
Higher folates, not antioxidants, can reduce hearing loss risk in men
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 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, in San Diego, Calif.
Contact: Matt Daigle
newsroom@entnet.org
703-535-3754
American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery
Public Release: 5-Oct-2009
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Air pollution may trigger appendicitis
A new study in CMAJ suggests that air pollution may trigger appendicitis in adults.
Contact: Kim Barnhardt
kim.barnhardt@cmaj.ca
613-520-7116 x2224
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Public Release: 5-Oct-2009
Prostate cancer gives a new outlook on life
Men who have prostate cancer often feel quite healthy, but the diagnosis still gives them a whole new outlook on life. Once they have learned to live with their cancer, they choose to focus on valuable relationships and appreciate the little things in life, shows a dissertation thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Contact: Elin Lindström Claessen
elin.lindstrom@sahlgrenska.gu.se
46-317-863-869
University of Gothenburg
Public Release: 5-Oct-2009
PLoS ONE
Research points to potential chink in cancer's armor
Scientists at the University of York have successfully silenced the JNK2 gene that appears essential to cancer cell survival.
Yorkshire Cancer Research
Contact: James Reed
jr576@york.ac.uk
0044-190-443-2029
University of York
Public Release: 5-Oct-2009
Experimental Eye Research
Toronto researchers discover novel circulation in human eye, new glaucoma treatment target
Researchers at the University of Toronto, St. Michael's Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre have discovered a previously unidentified form of circulation within the human eye which may provide important new insights into glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness.
Contact: April Kemick
april.kemick@utoronto.ca
416-978-5949
University of Toronto
Public Release: 5-Oct-2009
Current Anthropology
High mortality rates may explain small body size
A new study suggests that high mortality rates in small-bodied people, commonly known as pygmies, may be part of the reason for their small stature. The study, by Jay Stock and Andrea Migliano, both of the University of Cambridge, helps unravel the mystery of how small-bodied people got that way.
Contact: Kevin Stacey
kstacey@press.uchicago.edu
773-834-0386
University of Chicago Press Journals
Public Release: 5-Oct-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
For future superconductors, a little bit of lithium may do hydrogen a lot of good
Scientists have a long and unsuccessful history of attempting to convert hydrogen to a metal by squeezing it under incredibly high and steady pressures.
Contact: Jennifer A. Grasswick
jgrasswi@nsf.gov
703-292-4972
National Science Foundation
Public Release: 6-Oct-2009
Could antioxidants make us more, not less, prone to diabetes? Study says yes
We've all heard about the damage that reactive oxygen species -- aka free radicals -- can do to our bodies and the sales pitches for antioxidant vitamins, skin creams or "superfoods" that can stop them. In fact, there is considerable scientific evidence that chronic ROS production within cells can contribute to human diseases, including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Public Release: 6-Oct-2009
MicroRNA drives cells' adaptation to low-oxygen living
Researchers have fresh insight into an evolutionarily ancient way that cells cope when oxygen levels decline, according to a new study in the October 7 issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. In studies of cells taken from the lining of human pulmonary arteries, they show that a microRNA -- a tiny bit of RNA that regulates the activity of particular genes and thus the availability of certain proteins -- allows cells to shift their metabolic gears, in a process known as the Pasteur effect.
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Public Release: 6-Oct-2009
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Heart disease: B vitamin pills have no effect
B vitamin supplements should not be recommended for prevention of heart disease, say scientists. A Cochrane Systematic Review has shown these supplements do not reduce the risk of developing or dying from the disease.
Contact: Jennifer Beal
medicalnews@wiley.com
44-012-437-70633
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 6-Oct-2009
American Journal of Epidemiology
Eating liquorice in pregnancy may affect a child's IQ and behavior
Expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of liquorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child's intelligence and behavior, a study has shown. A study of 8-year-old children whose mothers ate large amounts of liquorice when pregnant found they did not perform as well as other youngsters in cognitive tests.
Contact: Tara Womersley
tara.womersley@ed.ac.uk
44-131-650-9836
University of Edinburgh
Public Release: 6-Oct-2009
Deutsches Ärzteblatt International
Preventing allergies
Vaccination can lower children's risk of allergy. Cathleen Muche-Borowski and her co-authors present a clinical practice guideline for allergy prevention in the current issue of Deutsches Aerzteblatt International.
Contact: E. Bartholomaeus
49-223-470-11133
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
Public Release: 6-Oct-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
New findings about brain proteins suggest possible way to fight Alzheimer's
The action of a small protein that is a major villain in Alzheimer's disease can be counterbalanced with another brain protein, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study.
National Institutes of Health, American Health Assistance Foundation, Perot Family Foundation, Humboldt Foundation
Contact: Aline McKenzie
aline.mckenzie@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Public Release: 6-Oct-2009
British Journal of Cancer
New chemo cocktail blocks breast cancer like a strong fence
A Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researcher has developed a new chemotherapy cocktail that cuts the spread of breast cancer by half and is the first drug to attack metastasizing breast cancer. The disease becomes fatal when it travels outside the mammary ducts, enters the bloodstream and spreads to the bones, liver or brain. Currently, there are only drugs that try to stem the uncontrolled division of cancer cells within the ducts.
Contact: Marla Paul
marla-paul@northwestern.edu
312-503-8928
Northwestern University
Public Release: 6-Oct-2009
Journal of Clinical Oncology
New treatment more than doubles survival for high risk childhood leukemia
Phase 2 study results show high-dose imatinib plus chemo more than doubled survival for high risk type of childhood leukemia.
NIH/National Cancer Institute
Contact: Jennifer Kohm
jkohm@cw.bc.ca
604-875-2401
Child & Family Research Institute
Public Release: 7-Oct-2009
Unnatural selection: Birth control pills may alter choice of partners
Is it possible that the use of oral contraceptives is interfering with a woman's ability to choose, compete for and retain her preferred mate? A new paper published by Cell Press in the October issue of the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution reviews emerging evidence suggesting that contraceptive methods which alter a woman's natural hormonal cycles may have an underappreciated impact on choice of partners for both women and men and, possibly, reproductive success.
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Italian scientist reproduces Shroud of Turin
Reuters
An Italian scientist says he has reproduced the Shroud of Turin
By Philip Pullella – Mon Oct 5, 11:30 am ET
Really?
The Claim: With a Runny Nose, Green Calls for an Antibiotic
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Does the color of nasal discharge indicate the need for antibiotics?
Vital Signs
Childhood: Autism Diagnoses Rising, U.S. Reports
By BENEDICT CAREY
More than 1 in 100 American children and teenagers may have autism, Asperger’s syndrome or a related developmental problem, according to a government report released on Monday.
Mind
How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect
By BENEDICT CAREY
When things don’t add up, the mind goes into high gear.
Secrets of the Cell
Self-Destructive Behavior in Cells May Hold Key to a Longer Life
By CARL ZIMMER
To the surprise of scientists, links are emerging between our inner recycling and protection from disease.
Opinion
The Wild Side
‘Leopard Behind You!’
By OLIVIA JUDSON
Not only do many animals have sufficient vocabularies to sound an alarm when predators are near, but they're able to get very specific.
Public Release: 7-Oct-2009
Science Translational Medicine
Strategy for mismatched stem cell transplants triggers protection against graft-vs.-host disease
A technique being tested in stem cell transplants from imperfectly matched donors has revealed an unforeseen response that can suppress graft-versus-host disease, report Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers. The previously unrecognized specificity of regulatory T cells helps explain why the patients treated with the new strategy -- known as "co-stimulatory blockade" -- have shown a low level of GVHD. The findings suggest that the technique might prove valuable in solid organ transplants, as well as in treating autoimmune disease.
National Institutes of Health, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Contact: Bill Schaller
william_schaller@dfci.harvard.edu
617-632-5357
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Public Release: 7-Oct-2009
Nature
Genome-wide study of autism published in Nature
In one of the first studies of its kind, an international team of researchers has uncovered a single-letter change in the genetic code that is associated with autism. The finding, published in the Oct. 8 issue of the journal Nature, implicates a neuronal gene not previously tied to the disorder and more broadly, underscores a role for common DNA variation.
Autism Consortium, Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation, NARSAD, NIH/National Center for Research Resources, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Simons Foundation, others
Contact: Nicole Davis
ndavis@broadinstitute.org
617-714-7152
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Public Release: 7-Oct-2009
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
Heartburn drugs deemed safe for fetuses according to Ben-Gurion University researchers
H2 blocker drugs, such as Famotidine, Cimetidine and Ranitidine, approved in the US for acid reflux, pose no significant risks for the fetus according to a large collaborative cohort study by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Contact: Andrew Lavin
andrewlavin@alavin.com
212-290-9540
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427293.000-targeted-therapies-exploit-tiny-chinks-in-cancers-armour.html
Has the pill changed the rules of sexual attraction?
17:23 07 October 2009
Oral contraceptives may interfere with the natural processes by which women choose, compete for and retain male partners – so should we worry?
Public Release: 7-Oct-2009
INFORMS Annual Meeting
Specialty hospitals cherry-pick patients, exaggerate success, says INFORMS meeting paper
Although many specialized hospitals deliver better and faster services in cardiac care and other specialties, a paper being presented at the annual meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences maintains that these hospitals cherry-pick patients to achieve these results, and that average patients actually receive worse care.
Contact: Barry List
barry.list@informs.org
443-757-3560
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Public Release: 7-Oct-2009
Journal of Applied Physics Letters
Researchers create smaller and more efficient nuclear battery
Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.
Contact: Kelsey Jackson
JacksonKN@missouri.edu
573-882-8353
University of Missouri-Columbia
Public Release: 7-Oct-2009
2009 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Conference
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference proceedings
New aluminum-water rocket propellant promising for future space missions
Researchers are developing a new type of rocket propellant made of a frozen mixture of water and "nanoscale aluminum" powder that is more environmentally friendly than conventional propellants and could be manufactured on the moon, Mars and other water-bearing bodies.
NASA, US Air Force
Contact: Emil Venere
venere@purdue.edu
765-494-4709
Purdue University
Targeted therapies exploit tiny chinks in cancer's armour
THIS WEEK:  18:00 07 October 2009
Drugs that turn otherwise insignificant weaknesses into fatal flaws could open a new front in the war on cancer
Cheap naked chips snap a perfect picture
FEATURE:  18:00 07 October 2009
Take the lid off a memory chip and you have an image sensor with the potential to be cheaper and more powerful than the one in your camera
10 October 2009 12:50 UK
Revealed: The human genome in 3D
Scientists have worked out the 3D structure of the human genome.
Why the 'peak oil' debate is irrelevant
17:20 08 October 2009
Even the most optimistic estimate for when world oil production will start declining makes it too late for us to prepare, a major new report warns
Public Release: 8-Oct-2009
American Society of Clinical Oncology's Breast Cancer Symposium
Women with breast cancer have low vitamin D levels
Women with breast cancer should be given high doses of vitamin D because a majority of them are likely to have low levels of vitamin D, which could contribute to decreased bone mass and greater risk of fractures, according to scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
NIH/National Cancer Institute
Contact: Leslie White
leslie_white@urmc.rochester.edu
585-273-1119
University of Rochester Medical Center
Public Release: 8-Oct-2009
BJU International
PMH clinicians map group at high risk for aggressive, 'hidden' prostate cancer
Clinical researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital can now answer the question that baffles many clinicians -- why do some men with elevated prostate specific antigen levels who are carefully monitored and undergo repeated negative biopsies still develop aggressive prostate cancer?
Contact: Jane Finlayson
jane.finlayson@uhn.on.ca
416-946-2846
University Health Network
Paper Challenges Ideas About ‘Early Bird’ Dinosaur
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Published: October 8, 2009
The “early bird” Archaeopteryx may not be a bird, after all.
Public Release: 8-Oct-2009
Science
Last time carbon dioxide levels were this high: 15 million years ago, scientists report
You must go back 15 million years to find carbon dioxide levels as high as they are today, Earth scientists report Oct. 8 in the journal Science online. "The last time carbon dioxide levels were apparently as high as they are today and sustained at those levels, global temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they are today," said Aradhna Tripati, UCLA assistant professor of Earth and space sciences and lead author.
Contact: Stuart Wolpert
swolpert@support.ucla.edu
310-206-0511
University of California - Los Angeles
Public Release: 8-Oct-2009
Hepatology
Liver cells grown from patients' skin cells
Scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have successfully produced liver cells from patients' skin cells opening the possibility of treating a wide range of diseases that affect liver function. The study was led by Stephen A. Duncan, D. Phil., Marcus Professor in Human and Molecular Genetics, and professor of cell biology, neurobiology and anatomy, along with postdoctoral fellow Karim Si-Tayeb, Ph.D., and graduate student Ms. Fallon Noto.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Toranj Marphetia
toranj@mcw.edu
414-456-4744
Medical College of Wisconsin
Public Release: 8-Oct-2009
Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may involve a form of sudden, rapid aging of the immune system
The results from a current study, published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, suggest that premature aging of the immune system appears to play a role in the development of ALS. The researchers found that thymic malfunction occurs simultaneously with motor neuron dysfunction, both in laboratory mice bred to mimic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and in humans suffering from the disease.
Israeli ALS Research Association, Israeli Academy of Science, Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute, Marciano Family Foundation
Contact: Sandy Van
sandy@prpacific.com
808-526-170-880-088-02397
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Chronic fatigue syndrome linked to 'cancer virus'
19:00 08 October 2009
Evidence of a virus associated with prostate cancer has been found in two-thirds of a group of people with CFS
Learning to juggle grows brain networks for good
 18:00 11 October 2009
People who did regular juggling training developed fresh connections in the brain's "white matter" – and they stayed even when the juggling stopped
Public Release: 9-Oct-2009
Journal of American College of Cardiology
Patients who received donated pacemakers survive without complications
The argument for pacemaker reuse has been debated for decades. But the idea is gaining ground as experts at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center report promising results of providing donated pacemakers to underserved nations. A series of 12 patients in the Phillippines who received donated pacemakers survived without complications from the devices.
Hewlett Foundation, Mardigan Foundation, University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center
Contact: Shantell M. Kirkendoll
smkirk@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System