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New MRI Technique May Predict Progress of Dementias
EKG Can Help Predict Heart Attacks in Healthy Elderly People
Pulse Pressure Elevation Could Presage Cerebrovascular Disease in Alzheimer’s Patients
Heart failure patients with diabetes may benefit from higher glucose levels
Artificial Kidney Project Tapped for Accelerated FDA Program
Early-stage lung cancer treatments evaluated in patients with breathing problems
What Triggers a Mass Extinction? Caltech researchers say habitat loss and tropical cooling were to blame for mass extinction
Greasing Molecular Machinery with Protons
Mothers and OCD children trapped in rituals have impaired relationships
Miniature Sandia sensors may advance climate studies
The green light gives the game away: New method for direct identification of antigens
Risk of Blood Loss in Childhood Back Surgery Varies with Cause of Spine Deformity
Researchers identified a protein useful in predicting the risk of pulmonary metastases in breast cancer patients
The Neurogenics of Niceness: Study finds peoples' relative niceness may reside in their genes

New MRI Technique May Predict Progress of Dementias

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 05:20 PM PDT

A new technique for analyzing brain images offers the possibility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict the rate of progression and physical path of many degenerative brain diseases, report scientists at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

EKG Can Help Predict Heart Attacks in Healthy Elderly People

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 05:15 PM PDT

Can a simple diagnostic test used to measure a heart’s electrical activity help predict heart attacks? And can that knowledge help doctors reroute their patients away from coronary heart disease?

These are the questions researchers at UCSF asked in a comprehensive eight-year study focused on senior citizens in the United States. Researchers found a higher risk of heart attack when abnormalities showed up on electrocardiogram (EKG) results of healthy elderly people.

Pulse Pressure Elevation Could Presage Cerebrovascular Disease in Alzheimer’s Patients

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 05:08 PM PDT

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System have shown that elevated pulse pressure may increase the risk of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Their study has been published in the early online edition of Journal of Alzheimer's Disease in advance of the June 5 print publication.

Heart failure patients with diabetes may benefit from higher glucose levels

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 05:04 PM PDT

Lowering glucose levels for people with diabetes is normally critical to improving health outcomes. But for diabetes patients with heart failure, that might not always be the case, say UCLA researchers.

A new study found that for advanced heart failure patients with diabetes, having higher blood glucose levels may actually help improve survival rates.

Artificial Kidney Project Tapped for Accelerated FDA Program

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 11:35 AM PDT

A UCSF-led effort to create an implantable artificial kidney for dialysis patients has been selected as one of the first projects to undergo more timely and collaborative review at the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA announced today (April 9) that it had chosen three renal device projects to pilot a new regulatory approval program called Innovation Pathway 2.0, intended to bring breakthrough medical device technologies to patients faster and more efficiently.

Early-stage lung cancer treatments evaluated in patients with breathing problems

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 11:29 AM PDT

The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is seeking patients for a clinical study to determine the best treatment for patients with early-stage lung cancer who also have breathing problems.

Many patients with early-stage lung cancer have emphysema, pulmonary hypertension or other breathing problems that limit their treatment options.

What Triggers a Mass Extinction? Caltech researchers say habitat loss and tropical cooling were to blame for mass extinction

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 10:23 AM PDT

The second-largest mass extinction in Earth's history coincided with a short but intense ice age during which enormous glaciers grew and sea levels dropped. Although it has long been agreed that the so-called Late Ordovician mass extinction—which occurred about 450 million years ago—was related to climate change, exactly how the climate change produced the extinction has not been known.

Greasing Molecular Machinery with Protons

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 10:11 AM PDT

When designing the tiniest of possible machines, scientists have had far more success in creating molecular-size brakes than accelerators. But a team at the University of South Carolina has figured out how to really hit the gas pedal.

Mothers and OCD children trapped in rituals have impaired relationships

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 09:54 AM PDT

A new study from Case Western Reserve University finds mothers tend to be more critical of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder than they are of other children in the family. And, that parental criticism is linked to poorer outcomes for the child after treatment.

Parent criticism has been associated with child anxiety in the past, however, researchers wanted to find out if this is a characteristic of the parent or something specific to the relationship between the anxious child and the parent.

Miniature Sandia sensors may advance climate studies

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 08:16 AM PDT

An air sampler the size of an ear plug is expected to cheaply and easily collect atmospheric samples to improve computer climate models.

“We now have an inexpensive tool for collecting pristine vapor samples in the field,” said Sandia National Laboratories researcher Ron Manginell, lead author of the cover story for the Review of Scientific Instruments, the often-cited journal of the American Institute of Physics.

The novel design employs a commonly used alloy to house an inexpensive microvalve situated above the sample chamber.

The green light gives the game away: New method for direct identification of antigens

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 08:07 AM PDT

The immune system is a vital part of our defenses against pathogens, but it can also attack host tissues, resulting in autoimmune disease. The antigens that induce destructive immune reactions can now be identified directly – without any prior knowledge of their possible structure.

Risk of Blood Loss in Childhood Back Surgery Varies with Cause of Spine Deformity

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 08:01 AM PDT

The relative risk of blood loss during corrective spine surgery in children appears linked to the underlying condition causing the spinal deformity, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

Results of the study, published online March 15 in the journal Spine, can help surgeons prepare, plan and safeguard against this common and serious complication, the investigators say. Blood loss during surgery can increase the length of hospital stay, lead to complications and portend worse overall outcomes.

Researchers identified a protein useful in predicting the risk of pulmonary metastases in breast cancer patients

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 07:39 AM PDT

Peroxiredoxin 2 protects tumor cells from oxidative stress and promotes their growth and proliferation in the lung.
Researchers from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have shown that breast cancer cells that metastasize to the lung express a higher level of the protein peroxiredoxin 2 (PRDX2). The study suggests that the modulation of the levels of this protein could be a new therapeutic strategy to prevent lung metastases. The study results have been advanced in the online edition of the journal Oncogene.

The Neurogenics of Niceness: Study finds peoples' relative niceness may reside in their genes

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 07:36 AM PDT

It turns out that the milk of human kindness is evoked by something besides mom's good example.

Research by psychologists at the University at Buffalo and the University of California, Irvine, has found that at least part of the reason some people are kind and generous is because their genes nudge them toward it.

Michel Poulin, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at UB, is the principal author of the study "The Neurogenics of Niceness," published in this month in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.