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Study finds households prefer to self-segregate on the basis of both race and education

Using restricted-access Census data, a new study examines a quarter-million households on a block-by-block basis to yield new results about the correlation between household attributes and school quality.

30 Aug 2007

Protein on the surface of platelets plays a key role in cancer-induced platelet aggregation

Scientists have provided new details about how cancer cells spread by surrounding themselves with platelets – the blood cells needed for blood clotting.

30 Aug 2007

Researchers chart the level of gene expression in melanoma cell lines

Other than visually inspecting the disease, doctors have no genetic blueprint to classify melanomas, a lethal form of skin cancer.

30 Aug 2007

Improving diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

In the August issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, scientists provide the first large-scale identification of proteins that are overexpressed in chronic pancreatitis, an inflammatory condition of the pancreas that shares many features with pancreatic cancer.

30 Aug 2007

FDA approves Somatuline Depot to treat acromegaly

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Somatuline Depot (lanreotide acetate injection) for the treatment of acromegaly, a rare and potentially life threatening disease in adults caused by abnormal secretion of growth hormone (GH), commonly from a benign tumor located in the pituitary gland located in the brain.

30 Aug 2007

New anti-cancer drug made from corn lillies kills brain tumor stem cells

A drug that shuts down a critical cell-signaling pathway in the most common and aggressive type of adult brain cancer successfully kills cancer stem cells thought to fuel tumor growth and help cancers evade drug and radiation therapy, a Johns Hopkins study shows.

30 Aug 2007

Resistance to some diseases may be genetic

According to a study in Evolution, resistance to certain infectious diseases may be passed genetically from parent to child.

30 Aug 2007

Discovery may lead to new class of diabetes drugs

A multidisciplinary team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego has determined the structure of a protein found in cells that shows potential as a target for the development of new drugs to treat diabetes.

30 Aug 2007

COPD can no longer be judged as only a disease of the lungs

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) can no longer be judged as only a disease of the lungs, say authors of a Viewpoint in this week's COPD special edition of The Lancet.

30 Aug 2007

Contact disorder makes cancer cells mobile

The loss of the protein VMP1 in cancer cells increases their tendency to detach from the initial tumor - the first step towards metastasis.

30 Aug 2007

Children with autism don't adapt as readily to unfamiliar faces

The findings, from a study conducted by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Florence, and Western Australia, might help to explain some of the core social deficits associated with the disorder.

30 Aug 2007

Black legislators more active than white counterparts

In a behind-the-scenes analysis of the U.S. Congress, Brown University political scientist Katrina Gamble found that black representatives put more time and resources than white representatives into developing policies and advocating for legislation of interest to African Americans.

30 Aug 2007

Brain's impaired ability to sense glucose might play role in type 2 diabetes

New findings from studies in mice suggest that defects in the brain's ability to respond to glucose play a role in the development of non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes, and that a high-fat diet may contribute to impairing brain cells' ability to regulate glucose throughout the body.

30 Aug 2007

Binghamton University researchers investigate evolving malaria resistance

Funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, scientists at Binghamton University, State University of New York, hope to understand how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum evolved resistance to the once-effective medication chloroquine.

30 Aug 2007

New method for fighting skin wrinkles

A new method for fighting skin wrinkles has been developed at the Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences.

30 Aug 2007

Prevalence of algatoxin in the marine environment appears to be increasing

If ingested, for example in seafood, these toxins can lead to discomfort or even illness. The algatoxin yessotoxin (YTX), which is found in both mussels and scallops in Norway, may be a potential disease risk factor in the consumption of seafood. "We don't know the long-term effects of YTX on people", says Monica Suarez Korsnes of the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NVH).

30 Aug 2007

New understanding of malaria mosquito's olfactory system

By mapping a specialized sensory organ that the malaria mosquito uses to zero in on its human prey, an international team of researchers has taken an important step toward developing new and improved repellants and attractants that can be used to reduce the threat of malaria, generally considered the most prevalent life-threatening disease in the world.

30 Aug 2007