Celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor with promising anti-cancer properties, has now been found to attack prostate cancer cells in a second way that differs from Vioxx (rofecoxib), another anti-inflammatory drug that also inhibits COX-2.
In studies published in the March 1 issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research, scientists at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University revealed that celecoxib, marketed under the name Celebrex, not only targets COX-2, but also reduces
It is the hugest superconducting solenoid in the world and it is able to generate a magnetic field 100.000 times stronger than the Earth’s one
The hugest superconducting solenoid ever built in the world is finally completed. It is formed by five huge modules connected each other and will generate a magnetic field of 4 Tesla, equal to 100.000 times the Earth magnetic field. This extraordinary system will be dedicated to Cms (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment at Lhc accelerator at
Lung cancer patients who have never smoked are more likely than smokers to harbor one of two genetic mutations that researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have now linked to the disease.
“This study describes the first known mutation to occur in lung cancer patients who have never smoked,” said Dr. Adi Gazdar, professor of pathology in the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research and senior author of the study in today’s issue of the Journal
Business scholars for more than 20 years have explored the concept of ’emotional labor,’ or the management of emotions to present a certain image in service workers. Now, researchers from the University of Washington Business School and Group Health Cooperative have teamed up to explore how the concept can be applied to the medical profession.
“We propose that the emotional labor of physicians is characterized by the display of empathy,” said Dr. Eric B. Larson, directo
In efforts to educate the body to fight off cancer, researchers have found that some immune cells are “smarter” than others. Working with collections of human cells, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists tested kill-rates of two kinds of T-cells “primed” to home in on myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. Those that live in the bone marrow outperformed their counterparts circulating in the blood by more than 90 percent.
“It is very difficult to design cancer therapies that
An anti-inflammatory therapy utilizing proteins called type 1 interferon IFN-alpha and IFN-beta (IFN-á/â) has been shown by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and their colleagues in Japan and Israel to offer relief in mouse models of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the two major forms of the painful, chronic condition called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that affects nearly 1 million Americans.
Published in the March
Nose cells provide a window into the brain
In the first study to examine living nerve cells from patients with psychiatric disease, scientists from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, the University of Pennsylvania, and collaborating institutions report altered nerve cell function in olfactory receptor neurons from patients with bipolar disorder. Like other psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, bipolar disorder affects nerve cells in the brain, making it difficult to study
New insight for officials setting ecosystem goals, rebuilding fishery remnant
Once a dominant species, the volume of cod on the Scotian Shelf has plunged 96% since the 1850s, according to landmark research published today. In fact, just 16 small schooners of the pre-Civil War era could hold all adult cod currently estimated in the once-rich Scotian Shelf.
Writing in today’s edition of Frontier’s in Ecology (www.frontiersinecology.org), Census of Marine Life researchers
Specific variants of genes involved in inflammation and blood vessel constriction are strongly associated with kidney damage in patients undergoing major heart surgery, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found.
While renal dysfunction after heart surgery is a common occurrence, until now researchers have been unable to predict with any certainty which patients – based on their personal and medical characteristics – are at the highest risk. The current analysis s
Hawaiian residents who live downwind from the long-active Kilauea volcano may have elevated risks of adverse health conditions because of high levels of sulfur dioxide and aerosol particulates that drift downwind, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon State University and Hawaii.
During a three-week period of average volcanic activity, the researchers measured the sulfur dioxide level in the Kau district south of Kilauea at 17.8 parts per billion – above the minimal ri
Sixty million people in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa are threatened daily by a deadly parasitic disease known as African sleeping sickness. The disease is caused by organisms called trypanosomes, which are spread by the tsetse fly. African sleeping sickness affects approximately 500,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa, a quarter of whom will die this year. Because the trypanosome has an exceptional genetic strategy for evading the human immune system and resisting treatment, the current treat
Study of South Africa’s proteas points to growing risks of extinction
Proteas–plants with large, colorful flowers that are important in the floral trade–are under threat from land-use change and climate change. A study based on a multispecies modeling effort for over 300 proteas of the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa suggests that the protected range of proteas is expected to decrease by 36 to 60 percent by 2050 as a result of climate change.
Proteas are
New keys to understanding the evolution of life on Earth may be found in the microbes and minerals vented from below the ocean floor, say scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The UCSB scientists are making new contributions to this field of inquiry in their studies of seafloor hydrothermal fluid discharge into the Earth’s oceans, which has been occurring ever since the oceans first formed four billion years ago. Conditions below the sea floor may most
Many implications seen for biomedical research
The human brain is estimated to contain 100 billion neurons (the number 1 followed by eleven zeros). Because a typical neuron forms ~1,000 synaptic connections to other neurons, the total number of synapses in the brain is estimated to be 100 trillion (the number 1 followed by 14 zeros). The thin projections from neurons that form connections with each other (axons and dendrites) can be thought of as the biological “wiring” of the br
Big advances in understanding microdeletions
A collaboration of European scientists has uncovered new insight into the most common chromosomal microdeletion syndrome in humans. The research group, headed by Dr. Lukas Sommer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, has identified a heretofore unknown role for the TGF cell-to-cell signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of DiGeorge syndrome. By elucidating the genetic mechanism that drives DiGeorge syndrome, Dr. Sommer and colle
Hormone now commercially available in small doses
A new study by MIT scientists and colleagues confirms that melatonin is an effective sleep aid for older insomniacs and others. Misuse of the hormone had led some to question its efficacy, but the latest work (published in the February issue of Sleep Medicine Reviews) could jump-start interest in the dietary supplement and help more people get a good night’s sleep.
In earlier research, scientists led by Professor R
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