ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Vitamin D levels linked with health of blood vessels
• Avoiding or controlling diabetes may reduce cancer risk and mortality
• Metabolic syndrome may increase risk for liver cancer
• Smoking does not influence breast cancer risk among obese women, study suggests
• Nurturing newborn neurons sharpens minds in mice
• Self-cooling observed in graphene elctronics
• Potential treatment found for debilitating bone disease in wounded soldiers and children
• Four new genes for Alzheimer's disease risk identified
• Common 'chaperone' protein found to work in surprising way
• Nanoparticles offer hope for common skin allergy
• Search for advanced materials aided by discovery of hidden symmetries in nature
• 'Last resort' antibiotics use on the rise, study suggests
• Hypothermia proves successful in younger cardiac patients too
• Mum’s the word when it comes to children’s happiness
• New way to predict breast cancer survival and enhance effectiveness of treatment
• Routine periodic fasting is good for your health, and your heart, study suggests
• Regional prevention project involving 10,000 adults cuts heart attacks by 25 percent
• Heart drug cuts prostate cancer risk, holds potential for therapeutic use
• Immune system may guide chemotherapy for breast cancer
• New target identified for squamous cell lung cancer
• Scientists identify KRAS rearrangements in metastatic prostate cancer
• Young black athletes with sickle cell trait might be susceptible to sudden death
• First broad-scale maps of life on Australia's sea-shelf

Vitamin D levels linked with health of blood vessels Posted: 03 Apr 2011 05:52 PM PDT A lack of vitamin D, even in generally healthy people, is linked with stiffer arteries and an inability of blood vessels to relax, researchers have found.

Avoiding or controlling diabetes may reduce cancer risk and mortality Posted: 03 Apr 2011 05:52 PM PDT Diabetes is associated with lower risk of prostate cancer in men but with higher risk of other cancers in both men and women, according to new research. The data also showed an association between diabetes and higher cancer mortality rates.

Metabolic syndrome may increase risk for liver cancer Posted: 03 Apr 2011 05:52 PM PDT Scientists have confirmed that metabolic syndrome, a constellation of conditions that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, may also increase the risk of the two most common types of liver cancer.

Smoking does not influence breast cancer risk among obese women, study suggests Posted: 03 Apr 2011 05:52 PM PDT Smoking increases the risk of breast cancer, but the risk differs by obesity status in postmenopausal women, according to new data.

Nurturing newborn neurons sharpens minds in mice Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:16 AM PDT Adult mice engineered to have more newborn neurons in their brain memory hub excelled at accurately discriminating between similar experiences -- an ability that declines with normal aging and in some anxiety disorders. Boosting such neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus also produced antidepressant-like effects when combined with exercise. The study pinpointed effects of enhanced adult neurogenesis by creating mice lacking a gene required for programmed cell death of newborn neurons in the adult hippocampus.

Self-cooling observed in graphene elctronics Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT With the first observation of thermoelectric effects at graphene contacts, researchers have found that graphene transistors have a nanoscale cooling effect that reduces their temperature. Using an AMF tip to measure temperature, they found that thermoelectric cooling effects can be stronger at graphene contacts than resistive heating, so graphene transistors are self-cooling.

Potential treatment found for debilitating bone disease in wounded soldiers and children Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT Promising new research reveals a potentially highly effective treatment for heterotopic ossification (HO), a painful and often debilitating abnormal buildup of bone tissue. HO comes in two main forms -- one that appears in children and is congenital, another that strikes wounded military personnel and surgery patients and is triggered by severe injuries and wounds. An animal study by developmental biologists shows that a drug that interrupts a signaling-nuclear protein pathway can prevent HO.

Four new genes for Alzheimer's disease risk identified Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT Researchers have identified four new genes linked to Alzheimer's disease. Each gene individually adds to the risk of having this common form of dementia later in life. The findings offer new insight into the underlying causes of Alzheimer's disease.

Common 'chaperone' protein found to work in surprising way Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT In the constantly morphing field of protein structure, scientists offer yet another surprise: a common "chaperone" protein in cells thought to help other proteins fold has been shown instead to loosen them.

Nanoparticles offer hope for common skin allergy Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT Tiny particles only billionths of a meter in diameter -- about two thousand would fit across the width of a human hair -- could offer big hope in a small package to the many millions of people who are allergic to the nickel in everything from jewelry to coins and cell phones.

Search for advanced materials aided by discovery of hidden symmetries in nature Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT A new way of understanding the structure of proteins, polymers, minerals, and engineered materials has been discovered. The discovery, a new type of symmetry in the structure of materials, greatly expands the possibilities for discovering or designing materials with desired properties. The research is expected to have broad relevance in many development efforts involving physical, chemical, biological, or engineering disciplines, including the search for advanced ferroelectric ferromagnet materials for next-generation ultrasound devices and computers.

'Last resort' antibiotics use on the rise, study suggests Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT A study of antibiotic use demonstrates increased use of carbapenems, over the last five years. These drugs are often considered the last treatment option for severe infections with multi-drug resistant pathogens. The increased carbapenem use is alarming because carbapenem-resistant bacteria are becoming more common.

Hypothermia proves successful in younger cardiac patients too Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:13 AM PDT Young adult patients with genetic heart diseases, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), substantially benefitted from therapeutic hypothermia, which could further extend the role for this treatment strategy in new patient populations, according to new research.

Mum’s the word when it comes to children’s happiness Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:03 AM PDT Young people's satisfaction with their family situation is clearly related to the quality of relationships with parents and especially their mother's happiness.

New way to predict breast cancer survival and enhance effectiveness of treatment Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:03 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a new way to predict breast cancer survival based on an "immune profile" -- the relative levels of three types of immune cells within a tumor. Knowing a patient's profile may one day help guide treatment.

Routine periodic fasting is good for your health, and your heart, study suggests Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT New evidence from cardiac researchers demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is good for your health, and your heart. The study found that fasting not only lowers one's risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes significant changes in a person's blood cholesterol levels.

Regional prevention project involving 10,000 adults cuts heart attacks by 25 percent Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT A project which is merging environmental, peer leadership and individual interventions across an entire rural Minnesota community with the assistance of a health-care system, worksites and the general community to prevent coronary heart disease, has shown a 24 percent reduction in the number of acute heart attacks in a five-quarter period, compared with the previous five-quarter period of evaluation.

Heart drug cuts prostate cancer risk, holds potential for therapeutic use Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT New research suggests that men using the cardiac drug, digoxin, have a 24 percent lower risk for prostate cancer. The scientists say further research about the discovery may lead to use of the drug, or new ones that work the same way, to treat the cancer.

Immune system may guide chemotherapy for breast cancer Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT A new study has shown that evaluating the immune response in the tumor microenvironment can help researchers better target therapy in breast cancer.

New target identified for squamous cell lung cancer Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT Scientists have identified a mutation in the DDR2 gene that may indicate which patients with squamous cell lung cancer will respond to dasatinib.

Scientists identify KRAS rearrangements in metastatic prostate cancer Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT Scientists have uncovered a genetic characteristic of metastatic prostate cancer that defines a rare sub-type of this disease.

Young black athletes with sickle cell trait might be susceptible to sudden death Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT The sickle cell trait could be a cause -- albeit rare -- of sudden death in young African-American competitive athletes, most commonly during football training, according to new research.

First broad-scale maps of life on Australia's sea-shelf Posted: 01 Apr 2011 09:14 AM PDT Marine scientists from five research agencies have pooled their skills and resources to compile a directory of life on Australia's continental shelf.

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