In the journal Cell Reports, published today online, the scientists describe how the powerful master regulatory transcription factor Bcl6 regulates the genome, ensuring that aggressive lymphomas survive and thrive. They also show how the Bcl6 inhibitor, developed at Weill Cornell, effectively gums up the protein, stopping it from working…
"I think that most organic chemists had considered ingenol beyond the reach of scalable chemical synthesis," said TSRI Professor Phil S. Baran. Baran and his laboratory report their achievement in this week’s issue of Science Express, the early online edition of the journal Science…
In addition to causing cervical, anal and genital cancers, HPV has more recently been found to cause some head and neck cancers. "One of the main issues is this form of esophageal cancer is usually diagnosed quite late and so has a very high mortality," says the first author of the paper, Dr Surabhi Liyanage, a PhD candidate with the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Medicine…
The study results appeared in the July issue of The Lancet. HPV infection is known to cause virtually all cervical cancers, most anal cancers and some genital cancers. It has recently been established as a cause of the majority of oropharyngeal cancers, a malignancy of the tonsils and base of tongue. HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer is rare, but rates have been increasing rapidly, especially among men…
source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/21/governments-weaken-eu-tobacco-curbs-to-secure-agreement/
Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers. The study adds to an intensifying public debate over the impact of genetically modified crops, which are widely used by U.S. and Latin American farmers and in many other countries around the world. The study was published in the June issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems by researchers from Australia who worked with two veterinarians and a farmer in Iowa to study the U.S. pigs. Lead researcher Judy Carman is an epidemiologist and biochemist and director of the Institute of Health and Environmental Research in Adelaide, Australia. The study was conducted over 22.7 weeks using 168 newly weaned pigs in a commercial U.S. piggery. One group of 84 ate a diet that incorporated genetically modified (GM) soy and corn, and the other group of 84 pigs ate an equivalent non-GM diet. The corn and soy feed was obtained from commercial suppliers, the study said, and the pigs were reared under identical housing and feeding conditions. The pigs were then slaughtered roughly five months later and autopsied by veterinarians who were not informed which pigs were fed on the GM diet and which were from the control group. Researchers said there were no differences seen between pigs fed the GM and non-GM diets for feed intake, weight gain, mortality, and routine blood biochemistry measurements. But those pigs that ate the GM diet had a higher rate of severe stomach inflammation - 32 percent of GM-fed pigs compared to 12 percent of non-GM-fed pigs. The inflammation was worse in GM-fed males compared to non-GM fed males by a factor of 4.0, and GM-fed females compared to non-GM-fed females by a factor of 2.2. As well, GM-fed pigs had uteri that were 25 percent heavier than non-GM fed pigs, the study said. The researchers said more long-term animal feeding studies need to be done. Biotech seeds are genetically altered to grow into plants that tolerate treatments of herbicide and resist pests, making producing crops easier for farmers. Some critics have argued for years that the DNA changes made to the transgenic plants engineer novel proteins that can be causing the digestive problems in animals and possibly in humans. The companies that develop these transgenic crops, using DNA from other bacteria and other species, assert they are more than proven safe over their use since 1996. CropLife International, a global federation representing the plant science industry, said more than 150 scientific studies have been done on animals fed biotech crops and to date, there is no scientific evidence of any detrimental impact.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/12/scientists-say-new-study-shows-pig-health-hurt-by-gmo-feed/
Published today in Science Translational Medicine, a study led by Monash University researchers has found prostate cancer cells that survive androgen withdrawal treatment. Previously unidentified, these cells are potential targets for future treatments. As they are present early in disease development, there is the possibility of therapy before the cancer reaches the aggressive, incurable stage. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men, with around 20,000 new cases diagnosed each year in Australia…
Chinese scientists have developed the first vaccine to protect children against a virus called enterovirus 71, or EV71, that causes the common and sometimes deadly hand, foot and mouth disease. The new inactivated EV71 vaccine, made by Beijing Vigoo Biological, was developed for use in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for most of the serious cases of the disease that can cause potentially fatal meningitis and encephalitis. Since its discovery in 1969, EV71 has caused major outbreaks of hand foot and mouth disease around the world, affecting mostly children. According to the World Health Organization, outbreaks of HFMD occur every few years in different parts of the world. But in recent years these have occurred more in Asia. Places with recent large increases in the number of reported cases include China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. A large outbreak of HFMD infected about 35,000 people and killed 17 in China's Hunan province in June 2012. Symptoms of the disease include mouth sores, skin rashes and fever. Until now, there have been no effective vaccines against EV71. But in trial data published in The Lancet medical journal on Tuesday, researchers said Beijing Vigoo's vaccine gave 90 percent protection against EV71-associated hand, food and mouth disease, with 80.4 percent protection for at least 12 months. The trial took place at four sites across China - three in Jiangsu province and one in Beijing. It involved 10,245 babies and children aged 6 to 35 months who were randomly assigned to get two doses of the vaccine, or two doses of a placebo. Commenting on the results, Nigel Crawford and Steve Graham from the University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia said “the gains made in (this) trial need to be shared internationally.” This should include an assessment of potential cross-protection for other types of EV71 prevalent in other epidemic countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, they added. The Chinese researchers, led by Feng-Cai Zhu of the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control, said the vaccine was safe and well-tolerated and side-effects were similar in both the vaccine and placebo groups. But they cautioned that there was no evidence the vaccine would cross-protect against another virus called coxsackievirus A 16, which is often found circulating with EV71 and also causes hand foot and mouth disease. This and several other viruses can cause hand foot and mouth disease, they added, so using a vaccine against only EV71, even if it is highly effective, may have only a minimal impact on reducing the overall number of cases of the disease.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/29/new-vaccine-protects-kids-against-hand-foot-and-mouth-disease/
Maintaining that delicate balance of eating enough to fuel your workouts and not overdoing it afterwards is a source of confusion for even the most educated exerciser. Sometimes, those post-workout hunger pangs hit, begging you to replace what you just burned off. Other times, your brain is telling you it's time to reward your hard work (with extra cheese). Related: Foods That Will Make You Look Younger Recent research from Australia has reopened the debate on this quandary: Is it possible to exercise and not eat more? While findings have been mixed, a review of studies published in the journal Appetite showed that exercise does not, in fact, lead to a significant increase in calorie consumption. Related: Stylish Male Athletes Who Became Models And calories might not matter much anyway, according to Equinox tier 4 coach Dr. Paul Spector.  “The goal of someone who says they want to lose weight is really to lose fat and gain muscle,” Spector said. “Therefore the real question with regard to exercise and nutrition is how to maximize the use of fat as a fuel source. It's about body composition, not weight.” More: The Worst Celebrity Eyebrows of All Time Want to train your body to burn more fat?
CT (computed tomography) scans have great medical benefits, but their increasing use since the 1980s has raised some concerns about possible cancer risks, particularly following exposures in childhood. Most previous studies have estimated risks indirectly, and some radiation experts have questioned the validity of these estimates. There is currently much uncertainty and as such, researchers from Australia and Europe carried out a study comparing cancer rates in patients exposed to CT scans at ages 0-19 years compared with unexposed persons of a similar age. All participants were born between 1985 and 2005 with total follow-up ending at the end of 2007. …