Researchers at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, formerly Children’s Memorial, are embarking on a pioneering study to understand the extent to which healing spaces promote health and healing during hospitalization. A major focal point of the study will be the Crown Sky Garden, a 5-thousand square foot garden on the 11th floor of the 23 story hospital. The garden, named in honor of Chicago’s philanthropic Crown family, includes dozens of bamboo trees, an interactive wall that changes colors as people walk by and carved benches made from trees planted by Frederick Law Olmsted (designer of the famed Central Park) for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
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A study conducted by researchers from the University of L’Aquila in Italy and Mars, Incorporated provides compelling new evidence that the regular consumption of dietary cocoa flavanols may improve cognitive function in elderly subjects with early memory decline. Just published online in the journal Hypertension, this current study significantly advances understanding of the benefits of flavanols by specifically exploring the impact of regular cocoa flavanol consumption on cognitive function in a population with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Previous research has suggested that the benefits of cocoa flavanols could extend to the brain. However, these studies were either only short-term or did not demonstrate a consistent cognitive benefit. This unique study addresses this gap and provides important insights into the possibility of slowing or even reversing cognitive declines associated with aging through consumption of these natural compounds.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/marsincorporated/56580/
Researchers studying the genetic roots of the most common malignant childhood brain tumor have discovered missteps in three of the four subtypes of the cancer that involve genes already targeted for drug development.
To speed progress against cancer and other diseases, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project today announced the largest-ever release of comprehensive human cancer genome data for free access by the global scientific community. The amount of information released more than doubles the volume of high-coverage, whole genome data currently available from all human genome sources combined. This information is valuable not just to cancer researchers, but also to scientists studying almost any disease.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52993-st-jude-childrens-research-hospital-comprehensive-human-cancer-genome-data
Researchers have identified the first gene mutation associated with a chronic and often fatal form of neuroblastoma that typically strikes adolescents and young adults. The finding provides the first clue about the genetic basis of the long-recognized but poorly understood link between treatment outcome and age at diagnosis.
The study involved 104 infants, children and young adults with advanced neuroblastoma, a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system. Investigators discovered the ATRX gene was mutated only in patients age 5 and older. The alterations occurred most often in patients age 12 and older. These older patients were also more likely than their younger counterparts to have a chronic form of neuroblastoma and die years after their disease is diagnosed.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52992-st-jude-pediatric-cancer-genome-project-neuroblastoma-research
After the overwhelming success and popularity of the sold-out 2010 inaugural conference, Food for your Whole Life is back this year with an exciting lineup of renowned researchers and experts who will provide attendees with inspiring, insightful ideas and current, necessary information on health. The 2012 Food for your Whole Life health symposium will emphasize the effects of foods and food-based dietary patterns on health for the general population and specific groups while sharing new research and theories on nutrition. Attendees will leave with a sense of empowerment that will enable them to create better environments all around them and ultimately make healthy choices more attainable.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54414-food-for-your-whole-life-health-symposium-new-york-city-2012
The bold and thrilling quest to finally understand the brain—and along with it our mental afflictions, from depression to autism—by a rising star in neuroscience
Sebastian Seung, a dynamic young professor at MIT, is at the forefront of a revolution in neuroscience. He believes that our identity lies not in our genes, but in the connections between our brain cells—our own particular wiring. Seung and a dedicated group of researchers are leading the effort to map these connections, neuron by neuron, synapse by synapse. It is a monumental effort—the scientific equivalent of climbing Mount Everest—but if they succeed, they will uncover the basis of personality, identity, intelligence, memory, and perhaps disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Seung explains how this new map of a human “connectome” might even enable us to “upload” our brains into a computer, making us effectively immortal.
Connectome is a mind-bending adventure story, told with great passion and authority. It presents a daring scientific and technological vision for at last understanding what makes us who we are, both as individuals and as a species. Find out more here, http://bit.ly/yEBoyq Non-Fiction
As the dust settles from the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV, technologists from around the world have gathered at the IEEE International Consumer Electronics Conference (ICCE) to discuss what’s next for consumer electronics. This annual event is one of the industry’s flagship conferences known for unveiling a plethora of impressive innovations and highlighting upcoming developments. These futuristic concepts are often brought to life within a few years of their debut at ICCE.
While researchers discuss new innovations and technologies for the consumer electronics industry, IEEE experts highlight the trends from CES 2012 that will dictate the product development cycles of companies all around the world.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54152-ieee-discusses-consumer-electronics-trends
Researchers have discovered that a subtype of leukemia characterized by a poor prognosis is fueled by mutations in pathways distinctly different from a seemingly similar leukemia associated with a much better outcome. The findings from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP) highlight a possible new strategy for treating patients with this more aggressive cancer.
The work provides the first details of the genetic alterations fueling a subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) known as early T-cell precursor ALL (ETP-ALL). The results suggest ETP-ALL has more in common with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) than with other subtypes of ALL. The study appears in the January 12 edition of the journal Nature.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/46768-st-jude-cancer-genome-sequencing-project-combat-aggressive-leukemia
Symptoms improved significantly in adults with the bleeding disorder hemophilia B following a single treatment with gene therapy developed by researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and demonstrated to be safe in a clinical trial conducted at the University College London (UCL) in the U.K.
The findings of the six-person study mark the first proof that gene therapy can reduce disabling, painful bleeding episodes in patients with the inherited blood disorder. Results of the Phase I study appear in the December 10 online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The research is also scheduled to be presented December 11 at the 53rd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/46766-st-jude-children-s-research-hospital-gene-therapy-bleeding-disorder
An international team of researchers led by Gerard D. Schellenberg, PhD, a member of the CurePSP Genetics Consortium and professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has identified three new genes that can increase the risk of people developing Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP).
PSP is a rare neurodegenerative brain disease, similar to Parkinson’s disease, which causes severe disability by destroying parts of cells that allow the brain to function normally. While PSP has underlying biological similarities to Alzheimer’s disease, a disease which primarily affects memory, PSP impacts a person’s physical movement and bodily functions. PSP leads to progressive decline in patients — there is no known cause or cure.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/psp/49958/
Medical researchers are making unprecedented progress into understanding why women suffer disproportionately from a number of diseases. Those insights are providing information to help develop medicines to attack diseases such as osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, depression, rheumatoid arthritis and age-related macular degeneration, all of which affect more women than men.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/phrma/50270/
