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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded approval on Oct. 24 for breakthrough drug pembrolizumab, a first-line treatment for certain patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Most people have referred to the “five-second rule” in order to save a tasty morsel that has fallen on the germ-covered ground. However, staunch believers of this popular rule may want to reconsider. Scientists from Rutgers University have conducted an experiment that disproves the widely accepted belief that food that was dropped on the ground is clean as long as it is picked up within five seconds.
Your dogs may understand more than you give them credit for. A study conducted by researchers from Hungary has found that dogs can understand the meaning and intonation of words using brain regions similar to those that humans use.
There is not much debate anymore about the effects of cigarette smoke on health — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. and causes at least 480,000 deaths per year.
Scientists have known for a while that male and female brains in many mammals differ in both form and function, but how they become that way is still a mystery. However, a new study published in Nature Neuroscience sheds some light on how gender may be determined in the brain.
The brains of individuals with autism may shed light onto the physiological nature of one of the most common and most deadly forms of brain cancer. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that both autism and glioblastoma seem to have malfunctioning of the same protein: NHE9. Typically, we do not associate autism with brain cancer – they are two different conditions that are not normally linked together. Autism spectrum disorder is a range of complex neurodevelopment issues that are characterized by communication difficulties and impaired social behavior. This psychological disorder is not fatal and is never the direct cause of death in an individual. Certain types of brain cancers, such as glioblastoma, on the other hand, are extremely dangerous and often fatal. Glioblastoma specifically has a notoriously low survival rate of 10 percent five years after being diagnosed. However, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered a link between these two seemingly unrelated diseases. In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, the authors describe their work on intracellular transportation. Originally, the researchers had been studying the activity of endosomes, the cell’s main method of transportation (think cargo shipping). All human and animal cells use endosomes to transport newly created proteins to specific destinations in the cell and old proteins to be destroyed and recycled. The speed at which the endosomes travel is regulated by the acidity of the fluids inside of the endosome’s membrane. This in turn is mediated by the activity of proton “pumps” that pull protons into the endosomes and proton “leaks” that push protons out of the membrane. There is a delicate balance of activities to keep the acidity inside of the endosome constant. NHE9, the protein that the researchers were interested in, is a proton leak. In autism, NHE9 proteins are defective and do not let the protons efficiently leak out — the mutated protein essentially acts like a plug. With the buildup of protons, the fluids inside the endosome become more acidic, making them race to transport and destroy proteins, causing premature cell protein death. The researchers searched through patient databases to learn more about NHE9, and they discovered data showing that elevated levels of the proton leak are associated with resistance to traditional cancer treatment methods, such as radiation and chemotherapy, in glioblastoma patients. By examining brain tumors from several patients, they were able to discover that cells with high levels of NHE9 grew faster than cells with a lower level. Furthermore, the researchers found that cells with a higher level of NHE9 could travel faster when placed on a surface similar to that of a brain, suggesting a higher possibility for metastasis. They confirmed this hypothesis by transplanting tumor cells with either high or low levels of NHE9 into the brains of mice.
Researchers from Oxitec, a British biotechnology company, have developed genetically-altered mosquitoes in an effort to quell mosquito populations and prevent the spread of diseases. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering releasing these genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys.
The performance of daily activities such as grocery shopping, daily household cleaning and meal preparation could be affected by breathing problems during sleep. A new study suggests that older women with sleep apnea are at a high risk for declining ability to perform such activities.
Warm fuzzy feelings are not the only things being shared when you kiss someone — a study published in science journal Microbiome reveals that a single, 10-second kiss can transfer as many as 80 million bacteria. The study also discovered that couples who kiss each other more than nine times a day share similar communities of oral bacteria.
At Hopkins, seeing students studying into the early hours of the morning isn’t uncommon, but it’s probably unhealthy. All organisms, from bacteria to humans, have internal clocks to help them synchronize their behaviors to the time of day. A study just recently published in Cell suggests that the biological clocks in gut microbes living in mice and humans are controlled by their host’s circadian rhythms, and when hosts disrupt their circadian rhythms it can lead to health problems like obesity.
Harry Potter fans, rejoice: Researchers from the University of Rochester have discovered an inexpensive way to recreate the fictional wizard’s famous invisibility cloak.
Sure, the new iPhone 6 is equipped with a new retina HD display, A8 chip for greater power and a better battery for more juice — all tucked into a thinner container. However, these are not new buzzwords that we are just hearing today. A prettier display, faster processor, and longer battery life has been a constantly renewed promise by manufacturers since the advent of cell phones. The iterative improvements in the resolution and chips have become a tad mundane for the itching consumer anticipating the unpredictable. Where has the novelty of touch screens and double-digit megapixel cameras gone?
For the past ten months, the Ebola virus has been ravaging West Africa. Healthcare workers are struggling to keep up with the rising numbers of infection and disease containment as well as a lack of funding and resources. Despite these obstacles, a light at the end of the tunnel may be emerging as researchers are brewing an experimental Ebola vaccine that could be the saving grace for the thousands of people at risk for contracting Ebola.
If you have been online any time this past week, you most likely know by now that Labor Day weekend was host to a massive leak of celebrity nudes that were stolen from iCloud accounts. Though clearly an illegal and immoral breach of privacy, events like this occur quite often. However, what made this one shake up the internet so badly was the sheer massiveness and breadth of the image cache — hundreds of nude, semi-nude and revealing photos of celebrities, ranging from actresses, to fashion models, to Olympians, were disclosed by an anonymous user and posted on the infamous web forum 4Chan.
There might be more advantages to being an early bird other than getting the worm — scientists have discovered that people exposed to bright light before noon had significantly lower body mass indexes (BMI) than people who get most of their light exposure later in the day.
Agricultural regulatory agencies, the governmental organizations that oversee food production and research, are regulated themselves by the red tape of bureaucracy. A study from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) discovered that, under current circumstances, industrial food animal production (IFAP) regulatory agencies are not able to do their jobs effectively.
Air pollution antagonizes the body. It can lead to asthma and in extreme cases, lung cancer. While we typically associate its detrimental effects with the respiratory system, air pollution may have even more grave consequences. A recent study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, suggests that unclean air may be just as toxic as cigarette smoke for pregnant women.
Could pumping 2,000 oranges’ worth of vitamin C into patients’ bloodstreams be the key to fighting cancer?
About 165 million years ago a pair of froghoppers’ mating ritual was rudely interrupted by a volcanic eruption. Fortunately the wind blew these two love bugs into a lake where time and the weight of sediment were able to preserve their passionate moment.