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Medicine/Health
Key: Meeting Journal Funder
Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Pediatric Research
Brain malformations significantly associated with preterm birth, Wake Forest research shows
New research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine provides for the first time a solid scientific answer for the long-standing question of whether there is an association between preterm birth and brain malformations.
National Institutes of Health, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, Pratt Family Foundation

Contact: Jessica Guenzel
jguenzel@wfubmc.edu
336-716-3487
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Applied Developmental Science
Overweight kids experience more loneliness, anxiety, MU study finds
As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, experts agree that more information is needed about the implications of being overweight as a step toward reversing current trends. Now, a new University of Missouri study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten.
US Department of Agriculture, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Programs

Contact: Emily Smith
SmithEA@missouri.edu
573-882-3346
University of Missouri-Columbia

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Genome Research
Ben-Gurion U. researchers reveal connection between cancer and human evolution
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer. The findings were recently the cover story in the journal Genome Research.

Contact: Andrew Lavin
andrewlavin@alavin.com
212-290-9540
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Academic Medicine
UT multimedia program increases middle school interest in science
Middle school students who were part of a unique science learning program developed by the University of Texas School of Public Health showed significant increases in interest and achievement scores compared to other students, a recent study found.

Contact: Jade Waddy
jade.waddy@uth.tmc.edu
713-500-3307
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Diabetes
Natural compound stops retinopathy
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to use a natural compound to stop one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States.
American Diabetes Association and the National Institutes of Health

Contact: Diane Clay
diane-clay@ouhsc.edu
405-271-2323
University of Oklahoma

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Lancet
Poor health among indigenous peoples a question of cultural loss as well as poverty
Health problems of Indigenous peoples around the world are intimately tied to a number of unique factors, such as colonization, globalization, migration, and loss of land, language and culture. These factors remain even after the "typical" social problems facing the poor, such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and low education levels are addressed, according to Dr. Malcolm King, lead author of a paper to be published tomorrow in The Lancet,.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Contact: David Coulombe
medialrelations@cihr.gc.ca
613-941-4563
Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
International Multisensory Research Forum
Children with autism need to be taught in smaller groups, pilot study confirms
Since the 1970s, there has been much debate surrounding the fact that individuals with autism have difficulty in understanding speech in situations where there is background speech or noise. Today, at the annual meeting of the International Multisensory Research Forum being held at the City College of New York, neuroscientists announced conclusive evidence to verify this fact.

Contact: Ellis Simon
esimon@ccny.cuny.edu
212-650-6460
City College of New York

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Deutsches Arzteblatt International
Visit to the doctor: The supply of additional private services is increasing
Panel physicians are increasingly offering individual health services to patients with statutory health insurance. This is documented by Susanne Richter et al. of the Department of Social Medicine, Lubeck University, in the new edition of Deutsches Arzteblatt. IHS include medical health services which are not reimbursed by the health insurance funds and which the patient has to pay for himself.

Contact: Dr. Stephan Mertens
mertens@aerzteblatt.de
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Sexist jokes favor the mental mechanisms that justify violence against women
These are the conclusions of research work carried out at the University of Granada in a sample of 109 18-26 year old university male students. The results of this work will be released July 2 in the framework of the International Summer School and Symposium on Humor and Laughter.

Contact: Mónica Romero Sánchez
monicaromero@ugr.es
34-699-876-200
University of Granada

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
World Conference of Science Journalists
Research output in developing countries reveals 194 percent increase in five years
The partners of Research4Life announced today at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2009 that a new research impact analysis has demonstrated a dramatic rise in research output by scientists in the developing world since 2002. By comparing absolute growth in published research before (1996 – 2002) and after (2002 - 2008) the advent of the Research4Life programs, the analysis has revealed a 194 percent or 6.4-fold increase in articles published in peer reviewed journals.

Contact: Shira Tabachnikoff
s.tabachnikoff@elsevier.com
31-204-852-736
Elsevier

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Cell Stem Cell
Bioethicists lead call for public debates on future uses of stem cells
More than 40 scientists, bioethicists, lawyers and science journal editors are calling on their colleagues, policy makers and the public to begin developing guidelines for the research and reproductive use of stem cell-derived eggs and sperm, even though such use may be a decade or more away.

Contact: Christen Brownlee
cbrownlee@jhmi.edu
410-955-7832
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Cell Death & Differentiation
Gene's novel role may provide key to treating liver and neurodegenerative diseases
Singapore scientists have made a novel discovery about how gene, "Fas-apoptosis inhibitory molecule", protects both immune and liver cells from programmed cell death. Their research is published in Cell Death and Differentiation.

Contact: Cathy Yarbrough
sciencematter@yahoo.com
858-243-1814
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Science
MIT and CDC discover why H1N1 flu spreads inefficiently
A team from MIT and the Centers for Disease Control has found a genetic explanation for why the new H1N1 "swine flu" virus has spread from person to person less effectively than other flu viruses.
Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Contact: Patti Richards
prichards@mit.edu
617-258-8923
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Journal of National Cancer Institute
JNCI news brief: Improving the biomarker pipeline for early cancer detection
Several statistical and biological issues need to be addressed in order to improve biomarker identification for early detection of cancer, according to a commentary published online July 2 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Contact: Steve Graff
jncimedia@oxfordjournals.org
301-841-1285
Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Journal of Nuclear Medicine
Study shows PET can measure effectiveness of novel breast cancer treatment
A new study published in the July issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography scans in mice can be used to determine whether a novel type of breast cancer treatment is working as intended.

Contact: Amy Shaw
ashaw@snm.org
703-652-6773
Society of Nuclear Medicine

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Journal of National Cancer Institute
JNCI news brief: Hepatitis B virus mutations may predict risk of liver cancer
Certain mutations in the DNA of the hepatitis B virus are associated with the development of liver cancer and may help predict which patients with HBV infections are at increased risk of the disease, according to a large meta-analysis in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online July 2.

Contact: Steve Graff
jncimedia@oxfordjournals.org
301-841-1285
Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Cardiovascular Ultrasound
A rush of blood to the head -- anger increases blood flow
Mental stress causes carotid artery dilation and increases brain blood flow. A series of ultrasound experiments, described in BioMed Central's open access journal Cardiovascular Ultrasound, also found that this dilatory reflex was absent in people with high blood pressure.

Contact: Graeme Baldwin
graeme.baldwin@biomedcentral.com
44-078-774-11853
BioMed Central

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Trials
Doubts cast on credibility of some published clinical trials
Randomized controlled trials are considered the "gold standard" research method for assessing new medical treatments. But research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Trials shows that the design of a remarkable 93 percent of 2235 so-called RCTs published in some Chinese medical journals during 1994 to 2005 was flawed, casting doubt on the reliability of research that is likely to influence medical decision-makers.
Chinese Medical Board of New York

Contact: Charlotte Webber
charlotte.webber@biomedcentral.com
44-078-253-17342
BioMed Central

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
PLoS Genetics
'Jumping gene' diminishes the effect of a new type 2 diabetes risk gene
Research has identified a new gene associated with diabetes, together with a mechanism that makes obese mice less susceptible to diabetes. A genomic fragment that occurs naturally in some mouse strains diminishes the activity of the risk gene Zfp69. The researchers also found that the corresponding human gene (ZNF642) is especially active in overweight individuals with diabetes. The results of the study are published July 3 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

Contact: Catriona Silvey
csilvey@plos.org
Public Library of Science

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Science
MIT researchers find new actions of neurochemicals
Although the tiny roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans has only 302 neurons in its entire nervous system, studies of this simple animal have significantly advanced our understanding of human brain function because it shares many genes and neurochemical signaling molecules with humans. Now MIT researchers have found novel C. elegans neurochemical receptors, the discovery of which could lead to new therapeutic targets for psychiatric disorders if similar receptors are found in humans.
National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Life Sciences Research Foundation, Medical Foundation

Contact: Elizabeth Thomson
thomson@mit.edu
617-258-5402
McGovern Institute for Brain Research

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
PLoS Computational Biology
Existing Parkinson's disease drug may fight drug-resistant TB
Existing drugs used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease could be repositioned for use in the treatment of extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis, which kills about 2 million people each year, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego. The rise of these strains of TB throughout the world, including industrialized countries, poses a great threat to human health.
National Institutes of Health

Contact: Debra Kain
ddkain@ucsd.edu
619-543-6163
University of California - San Diego

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Cell
Research reveals what drives lung cancer's spread
A new study by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reveals the genetic underpinnings of what causes lung cancer to quickly metastasize, or spread, to the brain and the bone -- the two most prominent sites of lung cancer relapse. The study will be published online in the journal Cell on July 2.
National Institutes of Health, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Hearst Foundation, Alan and Sandra Gerry Metastasis Research Initiative

Contact: Esther Napolitano
napolite@mskcc.org
646-227-3139
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Cell Stem Cell
New targeted therapy finds and eliminates deadly leukemia stem cells
New research describes a molecular tool that shows great promise as a therapeutic for human acute myeloid leukemia, a notoriously treatment-resistant blood cancer. The study, published by Cell Press in the July 2 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, describes exciting preclinical studies in which a new therapeutic approach selectively attacks human cancer cells grown in the lab and in animal models of leukemia.

Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press