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NSAID drug protects against intestinal tumors in mice, despite poor diet and gene losses

In mouse models of intestinal cancer, use of an anti-inflammatory drug eliminated all of the cancer-causing risks produced by a high-fat Western-style diet - even when several genetic brakes to cancer formation were missing in the animals, say researchers from the Albert Einstein Cancer Center. The investigators, who presented their findings at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Assoc...

New strategies to reduce hospital-aquired infections

The current goal to reduce sickness and death from infections that patients acquire in hospitals has created a renewed focus on identifying ways to reduce the problem at its source. Hospital water for drinking, bathing, showering, to make ice cubes or to rinse medical equipment is increasingly being recognized as a significant source of microbes that may contribute to many of these life-threateni...

B cells are required for development of epithelial cancer associated with chronic inflammation

Chronic inflammation is linked to the development of certain types of cancer, but mechanisms mediating inflammation during premalignancy are not well understood. A new research study published in the May issue of Cancer Cell identifies B lymphocytes as important regulators of premalignancy associated with chronic inflammation. The results suggest that drugs targeted against B lymphocytes or recru...

Roundup®highly lethal to amphibians, finds University of Pittsburgh researcher

The herbicide Roundup® is widely used to eradicate weeds. But a study published today by a University of Pittsburgh researcher finds that the chemical may be eradicating much more than that. Pitt assistant professor of biology Rick Relyea found that Roundup®, the second most commonly applied herbicide in the United States, is "extremely lethal" to amphibians. This field experiment is one o...

Fragile US vaccine system needs improvement despite dramatic gains in health over past century

A comprehensive system of vaccine development in the U.S. resulted in a reduction of 87 to more than 99 percent in illness from ten vaccine-preventable diseases during the twentieth century. These dramatic successes should not be taken for granted, however, as the vaccine system now faces numerous challenges in manufacturing and development, according to a review article in the May/June issue of...

Hospitalizations because of chicken pox down dramatically since implementation of vaccine

Since the introduction of the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine in 1995, hospitalizations and doctor visits because of chicken pox have dropped dramatically, according to a study in the August 17 issue of JAMA. Varicella vaccine is recommended for routine immunization of children aged 12 to 18 months and for older susceptible children and adults in the United States, according to background...

Bacteria can survive for weeks on hospital surfaces

A major cause of hospital-acquired infections can persist for days and even weeks on environmental surfaces found in healthcare settings, including bed linens, computer keyboard covers and acrylic fingernails, according to research presented today at the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of ho...

Genetic testing still smart choice, despite uncertainties

Screening embryos for genetic diseases during in vitro fertilization offers couples the best chance for a healthy child, but a genetic glitch could potentially cause doctors to misdiagnose a small fraction of them, University of Florida researchers say. Citing concerns about the accuracy of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, the method many practitioners use to pick the healthiest embryos...

Pitt professor's theory of evolution gets boost from cell research

An article by University of Pittsburgh Professor of Anthropology Jeffrey H. Schwartz and University of Salerno Professor of Biochemistry Bruno Maresca, published Jan. 30 in the New Anatomist journal, shows that the emerging understanding of cell structure lends strong support to Schwartz's theory of evolution, originally explained in his seminal work, Sudden Origins: Fossils, Genes, and the Emerg...

Carbon nanotubes that detect disease-causing mutations developed by Pitt researcher

University of Pittsburgh researcher Alexander Star and colleagues at California-based company Nanomix, Inc., have developed devices made of carbon nanotubes that can find mutations in genes causing hereditary diseases, they report in the Jan. 16 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. This method is less expensive and takes less time than conventional techniques....

Pittsburgh researchers discover that certain chemicals in the blood may indicate brain injury

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh have found that increased levels of certain proteins in the blood or spinal fluid may signal brain injury in infants with vomiting, fussiness and several other common symptoms. Infants with shaken baby syndrome (SBS) ?the most common cause of severe traumatic brain injuries in young children ?are often misdiagnosed because doctors rarely re...

Rhinos clinging to survival in the heart of Borneo, despite poaching

World Wildlife Fund today released the results of a field survey from the island of Borneo which found that poaching has significantly reduced Borneo's population of Sumatran rhinos, but a small group continues to survive in the "Heart of Borneo," a region covered with vast tracts of rain forest. The survey found evidence of at least 13 rhinos in the interior of the Malaysian state of Sab...

Cuttlefish masters of disguise despite colorblindness

Cuttlefish are wizards of camouflage. Adept at blending in with their surroundings, cuttlefish are known to have a diverse range of body patterns and can switch between them almost instantaneously. New research from MBL Marine Resources scientists, to appear in the May 2006 issue of the journal Vision Research, confirms that while these masters of disguise change their appearance based on visual...

One in 14 men having a heart attack drive themselves to hospital

Seven per cent of men having a heart attack drove themselves to hospital and only 60 per cent went by ambulance, according to research published in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing. The study, which looked at 890 heart attack patients admitted to six major teaching hospitals in Dublin, Southern Ireland, also found that it took women five times as long as men to go to casualty depar...

Chewing up a key regulator of fat synthesis keeps mice lean despite a high-fat diet

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a novel pathway that regulates the body's ability to store or burn fat, a discovery that suggests new ways to reduce obesity, diabetes and other fat-related human diseases. Genetically engineered mice, in which the pathway was constantly revved up, were protected from the ravages of a high-fat diet, the Salk team led...

Despite acidity, orange juice could still be a source of foodborne disease

Orange juice and other foods traditionally not associated with foodborne disease outbreaks can still be a source of disease, although rare. Public health officials should be aware of this possibility and on guard, say scientists presenting today at the 106th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) in Orlando, Florida. "The more we find out about the behavior of microorgani...

Beekeepers work hard for the honey, despite changing tupelo forest

Van Morrison sang about it, Peter Fonda starred in a movie about it, and people from all over the world will pay top dollar just to get some of it. Florida State University geography Professor J. Anthony Stallin...

Pitt phage hunter takes on tuberculosis

One third of the world's people are infected with tuberculosis, and someone new is infected every second. TB is notoriously hard to treat, requiring a course of multiple antibiotics over six to nine months. Many people don't complete the full course of treatment, which leads to increasing antibiotic resistance against the disease. More effective treatments could be on the way, however, wi...

Minorities, uninsured less likely to receive care at high-volume hospitals

Compared to white patients, black, Asian and Hispanic patients and those who are uninsured are less likely to undergo complex surgery at high-volume hospitals, which have been associated with better outcomes, according to a study in the October 25 issue of JAMA. Efforts to improve the quality of surgical care in the United States have led many organizations to advocate the use of high-vol...

On the golf tee or pitcher's mound, brain dooms motion to inconsistency

If you've ever wondered why your golf swings, fastballs or free throws don't quite turn out the same way each time, even after years of practice, there is now an answer: It's mostly in your head. That's the finding of new research published in the Dec. 21 issue of the journal Neuron by electrical engineers at Stanford University. "The main reason you can't move the same way each and every...

Hospital-acquired infections -- Inevitable?

In a press conference held earlier today at Washington D.C.'s The Press Club, David B. Nash, MD, editor of The American Journal of Medical Quality, addressed hospital-acquired infections and the widespread anchoring belief ?by both healthcare professionals and patients ?that acquiring infections in the hospital is unavoidable. This concern is addressed in a special supplement to the Novemb...

Funding to tackle hospital superbugs

A novel approach to treating infectious diseases is being developed by researchers at Cardiff University. A team in the School of Medicine's Institute of Nephrology has been awarded £800,000 by the W...

Controlling antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in hospitals

In one of the first national studies on guidelines that control antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in hospitals, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the Richard Roudebush Veterans Administration Medical Center report that hospitals that follow national guidelines on controlling antibiotic use have lower rates of antibiotic resistance....

Temple University Hospital investigates treatment for cervical dysplasia

Temple University Hospital's Center For Women's Health is participating in a national study to determine the safety and effectiveness of an investigational treatment for cervical dysplasia. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 500,000 women are diagnosed with high-grade cervical dysplasia each year, with roughly 10,000 cases progressing to cervical cancer. For numerous w...

Mosquito repellents that emit high-pitched sounds don't prevent bites

A Cochrane Systematic Review of the use of electronic mosquito repellents (EMRs) failed to find any evidence that they work. The researchers therefore say that there is no reason for recommending their use, and that there is no reason for even trying to do more research with the devices. Malaria is transmitted when a person is bitten by an infected female mosquito. Manufacturers of electro...

Study identifies risk factors for spread of respiratory infections in hospitals

The 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in China has lessons to teach hospitals on how to prevent the spread of other respiratory diseases, according to new research appearing in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online. Hospitals were epicenters of SARS transmission in Guangzhou province and Hong Kong in 2003. In hospitals with espe...

What's in the water? Estrogenic activity documented in fish caught in Pittsburgh's rivers

A new study from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Center for Environmental Oncology suggests that fish caught in Pittsburgh rivers contain substances that mimic the actions of estrogen, the female hormone. Since fish are sentinels of the environment, and can concentrate chemicals from their habitat within their bodies, these results suggest that feminizing chemicals may be making t...

Pitt study notes decline in male births in the US and Japan

A study published in this week’s online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives reports that during the past thirty years, the number of male births has decreased each year in the U.S. and Japan. In a review of all births in both countries, the University of Pittsburgh-led study found significantly fewer boys being born relative to girls in the U.S. and Japan, and that an increasing proporti...

The sturdier sex? -- Study by Pittsburgh scientists finds female stem cells work better

Female stem cells derived from muscle have a greater ability to regenerate skeletal muscle tissue than male cells, according to a study at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. This f...

Despite their heft, many dinosaurs had surprisingly tiny genomes

They might be giants, but many dinosaurs apparently had genomes no larger than that of a modern hummingbird. The researchers, at Harvard...

Male owls pitch their hoots to advertise body weight to competitors

Why do male owls hoot? Researchers from the Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (France) and the University of Sussex (UK) have studied the vocal communication of male European Scops owls, one of the smallest living species of nocturnal raptors. The study, published in the April issue of the American Naturalist, was conducted between June 2003 and June 2005 on the isle of Oléron, off the west co...

Simple home spit test to spot deadly pre-eclampsia

A simple spit test designed to detect pre-eclampsia in the early stages is being trialed in a UK hospital, reports Cath O'Driscoll in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI. The test, which is designed to be used at home, will allow mums-to-be to check for themselves whether they are at risk of the condition, which can be symptomless in the early stages but kills 1000 babies in the UK...

Master regulatory gene of epithelial stem cells identified

The skin’s ability to replace the tissue it sloughs off is controlled by a variety of genes. A new study from Harvard Medical School published in the May 4 issue of Cell, however, identifies a "master regulator" of this regeneration process not only for skin, but for many epithelial tissues including breast, prostate, and urogenital tract. This master regulator of epithelial stem cells turns out...

Restricting hospital-based services during SARS outbreak had modest impact

Restrictions on the non-urgent use of hospital-based services that were imposed when a provincial health emergency was declared during the 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in Toronto, Ontario, resulted in only modest reductions in overall admissions. In this study, Dr. Michael J. Schull and colleagues determined that restrictions on the non-urgent use of hospital-based se...

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers develop 'off-the-shelf' vascular grafts

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine investigators have engineered artificial blood vessels from muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) and a biodegradable polymer that exhibit extensive remodeling and remain free of blockages when grafted into rats. The results of their study, which is being presented at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) North A...