AGA journals publish important studies during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. In 2006, an estimated 148,610 people will be diagnosed with the disease and more than 55,000 are expected to die. However, colorectal cancer can be prevented with proper and timely screening and removal of potentially cancerous polyps. In efforts to promote screening for prevention and early detection of colorect
Whether salamanders transform into their terrestrial, adult form or retain their aquatic, juvenile form depends on the nature of the streambed where they develop. A study published today in the open access journal BMC Biology reveals that the Oklahoma salamander Eurycea tynerensis metamorphoses into a more terrestrial adult form in streambeds composed of fine, tightly packed gravel but retains its juvenile, or paedomorphic, form in streambeds made of large, loosely packed particles. This study hi
A reduction in tuberculosis (TB) incidence, prevalence and death rate can be achieved by 2015 in most parts of the world, with the greatest challenges occurring in Africa and Eastern Europe, according to a projection by the Stop TB Department of the World Health Organization.
This assessment appears in the first issue for March 2006 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
Tuberculosis is a contagious, potent
A new drug that enhances the activity of a key brain cell receptor involved in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) reverses learning and memory deficits in mice engineered to have pathological hallmarks of the disease. What’s more, the drug, called AF267B, reduces both of the pathologies–the brain-clogging buildup of protein “amyloid plaque” outside brain cells and the protein “neurofibrillary tangles” inside the cells.
In an article in the March 2, 2006, issue of Neuron, Dr. Frank La
C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker for inflammation in the blood, can help to identify individuals whose abnormal precancerous lesions will advance closer to invasive lung cancer.
The results appear in the first issue for March 2005 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
Stephen Lam, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., of the Lung Tumour Group, British Columbia Cancer Agency at the University of British Columbi
Tools allow better management of the human–predator–livestock relationship
Effective management of predation on livestock is essential to the conservation of large carnivores, because conflicts with human interests can be fatal to individual predators and may lead to the decline of populations of wolves, lions, leopards, cheetahs, coyotes, and spotted hyenas. New tools allow better management of the edges where carnivores, people, and livestock intersect, according to an article
Research validates decades of work, points to future avenues for understanding learning
Through a clever experimental design, Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientists have validated decades of experiments to show how learning and memory may be encoded in a living animal. The research, published in the March issue of Neuron, identifies for the first time the specific neural connections that strengthen as an animal’s brain responds to new experiences.
“We are ver
A new study of the Hadza population in Tanzania, forthcoming in the April 2006 issue of Current Anthropology, explores the role of hunting in human evolution. Among chimpanzees and most human populations that subsist on wild resources, hunting is a predominantly male activity, and researchers have long tried to locate the advantage that hunting, a dangerous and tiring activity, brings to men. Though some have argued that good hunters have longer-lasting ties to mates and better-fed offspring, oth
Scientists at Innsbruck Medical University have succeeded in demonstrating the anti-inflammatory effect of beer extracts. In vitro experiments conducted at the Division of Biological Chemistry at the Innsbruck Biocenter by Prof. Dietmar Fuchs and his team on peripheral mononuclear blood cells show that beer extracts block interferon-gamma-induced chemical processes.
Interferon-gamma is one of the most important messengers in inflammatory response and is mainly produced as part of the c
Ocean FOCUS began issuing forecasts on 16 February 2006 – just in time to warn oil production operators of a new warm eddy that has formed in the oil and gas-producing region of the Gulf of Mexico.
These eddies, similar to underwater hurricanes, spin off the Loop Current – an intrusion of warm surface water that flows northward from the Caribbean Sea through the Yucatan Strait – from the Gulf Stream and can cause extensive and costly damage to underwater equipment due to the extensive deep
Scientists from the universities of Leeds, Sheffield, East Anglia, Durham and Sussex are embarking on new science research projects worth over £1 million in the Peak District to understand what rural policy changes mean for the future of rural livelihoods and the countryside.
Much of Britain’s drinking water comes from uplands. They are important for tourism, farming and hunting, and are home to threatened plant and animal species. But the face of our uplands is changing. Fa
The University of Helsinki engages in international top-level research across a broad front. Nearly two-thirds of the 75 units engaged in research received the highest or second-highest grade on a scale of 1 to 7 when compared with other comparable European research institutions.
Peer reviews reveal the University of Helsinki’s research to be of even higher quality than in the first evaluation carried out in 1999. This was the conclusion of the international experts, who evaluat
Solar rather than nuclear energy should be the UK government’s priority in planning future energy production, according to scientists writing today in the journal Nature Materials.
Challenging advocates of the nuclear option, researchers from Imperial College London argue in their Commentary article that photovoltaics, the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity, could match and exceed the nuclear industry’s current output before any new reactor could begin opera
Every year at least six million people die from TB, malaria or HIV. Leeds researchers will play a major role in the fight against the world’s three biggest killers in a £5m programme spanning countries from China to Nepal and Bangladesh to Uganda.
The five-year project will help ensure that the best treatments reach those in most need as quickly as possible, and that effective healthcare systems are established to prevent the spread of disease.
“Our vision is to contribut
A new software system that enables faster and more comprehensive analysis of vast quantities of information is so effective that it not only creates order out of chaos and allows computers to perform tasks that before only people could perform, it is also creating new information from old data.
“Our greatest contribution was to create a framework for integrating structured and unstructured information,” says Dr Babis Theodoulidis, Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester’s Inst
Exposure to toxic elements leads to worrying health problems in many parts of the world, including Europe. A new, EU-funded research project, involving partners from all over the world, will study the health effects of long-term, low-level exposure to toxic metals. The research is clearly designed to make a difference as its results will be communicated to politicians, industry and other organisations involved in decision-making.
“We will assess the roles of the toxic metals as
Feedback
