news from the lab

Medicine/Pharmacology - Life Sciences - 3.02
UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center Offers New Hope for Deadly Brain Tumor
Jim Black is fighting the meanest, most aggressive, most common kind of brain tumor in the United States: recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In the United States, each year, approximately 10,000 patients are affected by GBM.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Agronomy/Food Science - 2.02
Higher intake of processed meat linked to greater type 2 diabetes risk in population with high diabetes rates
Diabetes risk is increased in men and women who eat a diet that is high in processed meats, according to a study published online this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . Processed meats include hot dogs, lunch meat, sausages and canned meats.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Life Sciences - 2.02
Alzheimer’s Disease May Spread by
For decades, researchers have debated whether Alzheimer's disease starts independently in vulnerable brain regions at different times, or if it begins in one region and then spreads to neuroanatomically connected areas.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 1.02
Stem cells could drive hepatitis research forward
By creating liver-like cells, scientists can study why people respond differently to the disease. Hepatitis C, an infectious disease that can cause inflammation and organ failure, has different effects on different people.

Chemistry - Physics/Astronomy - 31.01
Freezing technique exposes molecule-to-molecule attachments
Researchers at Yale University have developed a new way of exposing the atomic attachments that keep complex molecules in precise alignment. The new method could provide insight into the mechanics of a variety of molecular structures, potentially aiding efforts to manipulate them for drug discovery and other purposes.

Physics/Astronomy - Medicine/Pharmacology - 30.01
Bright Lights of Purity
Luminescence of CdSe/CuS nanocrystals prepared by cation-exchange. On the left are crystals prior to purification, on the right are the same nanocrystals after impurities have been removed.

Agronomy/Food Science - Environmental Sciences - 30.01
Kids under chronic stress more likely to become obese
The more ongoing stress children are exposed to, the greater the odds they will become obese by adolescence, reports Cornell environmental psychologist Gary Evans in the journal Pediatrics (129:1). Nine-year-old children who were chronically exposed to such stressors as poverty, crowded housing and family turmoil gain more weight and were significantly heavier by age 13 than they would have been otherwise, the study found.

Physics/Astronomy - Earth Sciences - 29.01
Astronomers solve mystery of vanishing electrons
Researchers have explained the puzzling disappearing act of energetic electrons in Earth's outer radiation belt, using data collected from a fleet of orbiting spacecraft. The team shows that the missing electrons are swept away from the planet by a tide of solar wind particles during periods of heightened solar activity.

Life Sciences - History/Philosophy - 26.01
Survey suggests family history of psychiatric disorders shapes intellectual interests
by Morgan Kelly A hallmark of the individual is the cultivation of personal interests, but for some people, their intellectual pursuits might actually be genetically predetermined. Survey results published by Princeton University researchers in the journal PLoS ONE suggest that a family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging.

Medicine/Pharmacology - 25.01
Pairing masks and hand washing could drastically slow spread of pandemic flu
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Masks and hand hygiene could cut the spread of flu-like symptoms up to 75 percent, a University of Michigan study found. A new report shows the second-year results (2007-2008) of the ground-breaking U-M M-Flu study found up to a 75 percent reduction in flu-like illness over the study period when using hand hygiene and wearing surgical masks in residence halls, said Allison Aiello, associate professor of epidemiology in the U-M School of Public Health.

Chemistry - 25.01
Study unravels ’worm speak’ that uses chemicals to communicate
A species of small, transparent roundworms have a highly evolved language in which they combine chemical fragments to create precise molecular messages that control social behavior, reports a new study from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) at Cornell and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Medicine/Pharmacology - Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics - 25.01
Researchers Suggest a Proximate Cause of Cancer
AUSTIN, TX — Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Chemical Engineering are the first to show that mechanical property changes in cells may be responsible for cancer progression - a discovery that could pave the way for new approaches to predict, treat and prevent cancer.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Life Sciences - 25.01
Researchers Induce Alzheimer’s Neurons From Pluripotent Stem Cells
Stem-cell-derived neurons, made from patients with Alzheimer's disease, provide a new tool for unraveling the mechanisms underlying the neurodegenerative disease. In this image, DNA is shown in blue, dendrites and cell bodies in red and endosomal markers Rab5 and EEA1 in green and orange, respectively.

Medicine/Pharmacology - 24.01
Saliva HIV test passes the grade
RI-MUHC-led study compares saliva self-test to blood test Montreal January 24, 2012 - A saliva test used to diagnose the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is comparable in accuracy to the traditional blood test, according to a new study led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and McGill University.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Arts and Design - 24.01
Drug treatment delays progression of prostate cancer
Treatment with the drug dutasteride (Avodart) and regular monitoring delays the progression of low-risk, localized prostate cancer, according to the results of a three-year clinical trial conducted by the University of Toronto's Neil Fleshner .

- 22.01
Common mechanism of hypertension

- 18.01
Educational Disadvantages Associated with Race Still Persist in Brazil