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Body’s ibuprofen, SPARC, reduces inflammation and thus bladder cancer development and metastasis
So new it doesn’t have a name: Yale researchers discover tick-borne infection
In the eastern U.S., spring flowers keep pace with warming climate
Gene in eye melanomas linked to good prognosis
Aerial Platform Supports Development of Lightweight Sensors for UAVs
Discovery that some seizures arise in glial cells could offer new targets for epilepsy treatment
Surgical-Site Infections May Increase Risk of Deadly Blood Clots after Colorectal Surgery
Transmission of Tangles in Alzheimer's Mice Provides More Authentic Model of Tau Pathology
Mindfulness meditation may relieve chronic inflammation
Researchers Create Flexible, Nanoscale ‘Bed of Nails’ for Possible Drug Delivery

Body’s ibuprofen, SPARC, reduces inflammation and thus bladder cancer development and metastasis

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 07:00 AM PST

Cancer researchers are increasingly aware that in addition to genetic mutations in a cancer itself, characteristics of the surrounding tissue can promote or suppress tumor growth. One of these important tissue characteristics is inflammation – most cancers prosper in and attach to inflamed tissue and so many cancers have developed ways to create it.

So new it doesn’t have a name: Yale researchers discover tick-borne infection

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 06:54 AM PST

A new tick-borne infection that shares many similarities with Lyme disease has been discovered in 18 patients in southern New England and neighboring New York by researchers at the Yale Schools of Public Health and Medicine. The report is published in the Jan. 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

It is the first time that the disease — so new that it does not yet have a name — has been confirmed in humans in the United States.

In the eastern U.S., spring flowers keep pace with warming climate

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:21 PM PST

Using the meticulous phenological records of two iconic American naturalists, Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold, scientists have demonstrated that native plants in the eastern United States are flowering as much as a month earlier in response to a warming climate.

The new study is important because it gives scientists a peek inside the black box of ecological change. The work may also help predict effects on important agricultural crops, which depend on flowering to produce fruit.

Gene in eye melanomas linked to good prognosis

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:54 PM PST

Melanomas that develop in the eye often are fatal. Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have identified a mutated gene in melanoma tumors of the eye that appears to predict a good outcome.

The research is published in the advance online edition of Nature Genetics.

Aerial Platform Supports Development of Lightweight Sensors for UAVs

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:03 PM PST

A research team at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing an airborne testing capability for sensors, communications devices and other airborne payloads. This aerial test bed, called the GTRI Airborne Unmanned Sensor System (GAUSS), is based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made by Griffon Aerospace and modified by GTRI.

Discovery that some seizures arise in glial cells could offer new targets for epilepsy treatment

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 11:54 AM PST

Epileptic seizures occur when neurons in the brain become excessively active. However, a new study from MIT neuroscientists suggests that some seizures may originate in non-neuronal cells known as glia, which were long believed to play a mere supporting role in brain function.

Surgical-Site Infections May Increase Risk of Deadly Blood Clots after Colorectal Surgery

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 09:27 AM PST

Despite receiving blood thinners and other clot prevention treatment, some patients still develop potentially lethal blood clots in the first month after their operations anyway, especially if they developed a surgical-site infection while in the hospital, according to results of a study at Johns Hopkins.

Transmission of Tangles in Alzheimer's Mice Provides More Authentic Model of Tau Pathology

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 09:08 AM PST

Brain diseases associated with the misformed protein tau, including Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with tau pathologies, are characterized by neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) comprised of pathological tau filaments. Tau tangles are also found in progressive supranuclear palsy, cortical basal degeneration and other related tauopathies, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy due to repetitive traumatic brain injuries sustained in sports or on the battle field.

Mindfulness meditation may relieve chronic inflammation

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 08:13 AM PST

People suffering from chronic inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma - in which psychological stress plays a major role - may benefit from mindfulness meditation techniques, according to a study by University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientists with the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center.

Researchers Create Flexible, Nanoscale ‘Bed of Nails’ for Possible Drug Delivery

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 08:06 AM PST

Researchers at North Carolina State University have come up with a technique to embed needle-like carbon nanofibers in an elastic membrane, creating a flexible “bed of nails” on the nanoscale that opens the door to development of new drug-delivery systems.