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New discovery provides insight into complex Rad50 molecular motor function

Over the last years, two teams of researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have steadily built a model of how a powerful DNA repair complex works. Now, their latest discovery provides revolutionary insights into the way the molecular motor inside the complex functions - findings they say may have implications for treatment of disorders ranging from cancer to cystic fibrosis.

28 Mar 2011

Research Roundup: Parents' knowledge of kids' coverage

Based on analyses of the Food Stamp Program and Oregon Health Plan (the state's combined Medicaid-CHIP program) databases and a statewide survey of families, the authors report that more than 20 percent of parents whose children were not enrolled reported that they were, while more than 11 percent who had children in the OHP program reported their kids were not covered:

25 Mar 2011

Emory plays key role in bringing advanced proton cancer therapy to Georgia

Emory Healthcare is a key player in plans to bring the world's most advanced radiation treatment for cancer patients to Georgia. In furtherance of that role, Emory Healthcare has signed a letter of intent with Advanced Particle Therapy, LLC, of Minden, Nevada, opening the door to a final exploratory phase for development of The Georgia Proton Treatment Center - Georgia's first proton therapy facility.

25 Mar 2011

Electromagnetic radiation from cellular phones may affect bone strength

Electromagnetic radiation from cellular phones may adversely affect bone strength, suggests a study in the March Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

25 Mar 2011

FDA clears MASEP Infini's gamma ray neurosurgery system

MASEP Infini, an innovator in global medical technology, today announced 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of its new Infini gamma ray neurosurgery system with patented Independent Beam Switch Control with Programmable Arcs, automated collimator exchange and three-dimensional patient positioning, and MASEP Infini's proven Rotary Focusing technology.

24 Mar 2011

SCCA, ProCure to open new proton therapy center for cancer treatment

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, together with ProCure Treatment Centers Inc., today held its ceremonial groundbreaking on a new proton therapy center in north Seattle that will provide a first-of-its-kind treatment option for cancer patients throughout the Northwest.

23 Mar 2011

Biologists decipher molecular code regulating availability of brain channel linked to neuronal excitability

A key question in protein biochemistry is how proteins recognize "correct" interaction partners in a sea of cellular factors. Nowhere is that more critical to know than in the brain, where interactions governing channel protein activity can alter an organism's behavior.

23 Mar 2011

WHO concerned about radiation levels in food near damaged Japanese nuclear plant

A WHO spokesperson "said on Monday that the detection of radiation in food after an earthquake damaged a Japanese nuclear plant was a more serious problem than had first expected," Reuters reports.

22 Mar 2011

Drug delivery breakthrough for Alzheimer’s disease

Till date all attempts to get drugs into the brain were countered by the blood-brain barrier - the natural defense against potentially harmful chemicals floating around the body. However this new finding from a team from University of Oxford shows that now scientists have successfully switched off a gene implicated in Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of mice by exploiting tiny particles naturally released by cells, called exosomes.

21 Mar 2011

Major clinical studies for heart disease, stroke fail to consider participant's ethnicity

Major clinical studies that evaluate prevention strategies for heart disease and stroke fail to consider a participant's ethnicity, a factor that can more than double the rate of death in some groups, according to research led by St. Michael's Dr. Joel Ray.

18 Mar 2011

Vitamin A may play key role in sperm cell formation and development of central nervous system

In a recently-published study mapping the structure and function of the so-called "orphan" nuclear receptor TR4, Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) investigators suggest that Vitamin A may play a more direct role than was previously known in certain physiological functions including sperm cell formation and the development of the central nervous system.

18 Mar 2011

Researchers find first-generation x-rays more effective than today's systems

Researchers recently tested first-generation x-ray equipment from 1896 and found that it produced radiation doses and exposure times that were vastly higher than those of today's systems, according a study published online and in the May print edition of Radiology.

16 Mar 2011

Two articles address long-term public health threats about airport security scanners

The Transportation Security Administration has begun to use whole-body imaging scanners as a primary screening measure on travelers passing through airport security checkpoints. One type of scanner employs millimeter wave technology, which delivers no ionizing radiation.

16 Mar 2011

ALMA receives ExxonMobil $250,000 grant to combat malaria

The African Leaders Malaria Alliance, an alliance of 39 African leaders, announced today that it has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation to help with its campaign to combat malaria.

16 Mar 2011

Human growth, height, size: Reasons to be small

Almost everybody these days thinks that it is best to be tall, meaning much taller than the average traditional height of Asian populations, and even taller than the current average height of populations in high-income countries. It is also often believed – though people might be shy to admit this – that tall people are intrinsically superior to short people. The expressions 'look up to' and 'look down on' are significant.

15 Mar 2011

Understand radiology benefits and risks before undergoing scans: ACR

As part of Patient Safety Awareness Week, the American College of Radiology (ACR) reminds patients that everyone should understand radiology benefits and risks before they or a loved one receives an X-ray, computed tomography (CT) scan or other medical imaging exam.

11 Mar 2011

New discovery: GPCR family of proteins can recognize and respond to wide array of signals

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have determined a new structure from a medically important superfamily of proteins. The structure should help instruct the design of a new kind of therapeutics for conditions ranging from Parkinson's disease to inflammation.

11 Mar 2011

CDH Proton Center expands treatment capacity

The CDH Proton Center, A ProCure Center, in suburban Chicago, is now able to treat a wider variety of cancer tumors with the opening of a treatment room with a gantry, a nearly 100-ton rotating steel wheel that allows the proton beam to be directed at the tumor from any angle.

10 Mar 2011

ADAM-12 gene can serve as treatment target for cancer, arthritis, cardiac hypertrophy

ADAM-12 is not only the name of a 1970's television police drama - it's also the gene that University of Missouri researchers believe could be an important element in the fight against cancer, arthritis, and cardiac hypertrophy, or thickening of the heart's walls.

9 Mar 2011

RadNet fourth quarter revenues increase 10.2% to $13.5 million

RadNet, a national leader in providing high-quality, cost-effective, fixed-site outpatient diagnostic imaging services through a network of 201 owned and/or operated outpatient imaging centers, today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2010.

8 Mar 2011