A convenient aggregation of breakthrough discoveries and research headlines from all CIC member universities.
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February 2, 2010
Northwestern University
Ballooning weight, irregular periods and trouble getting pregnant are red flags for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). It’s a serious metabolic disorder and one of the major causes of hormonally related infertility – affecting about 5 million women in the U.S. But the disorder remains largely undiagnosed and unknown. The complex genetic disease has long-term health risks throughout a woman's lifespan, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. New research shows men are also affected.
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more about: Doctors Miss Major Cause of Infertility and Obesity
Contact:
Marla Paul,
312-503-8928,
marla-paul@northwestern.edu
February 1, 2010
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pa. -- A common plant virus lures aphids to infected plants by making the plants more attractive, but when the insects taste the plant, they quickly leave for tastier, healthier ones. In the process, the insects rapidly transmit the disease, according to Penn State entomologists.
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more about: Virus pulls bait and switch on insect vectors
Contact:
A'ndrea Messer,
814-865-9481,
aem1@psu.edu
February 1, 2010
Northwestern University
Northwestern University researchers are the first to design a bioactive nanomaterial that promotes the growth of new cartilage in vivo and without the use of expensive growth factors. The therapy is minimally invasive, utilizes bone marrow stem cells and produces natural cartilage. Unlike bone, cartilage does not grow back, and it cannot effectively be replaced. Countless people learn this all too well when they bring their bad knees, shoulders and elbows to an orthopedic surgeon.
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more about: Growing Cartilage -- No Easy Task
Contact:
Wendy Leopold,
847-491-4890,
w-leopold@northwestern.edu
February 1, 2010
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health team has made a discovery important to the millions of people who are on common medications for heart and neurological diseases.
The discovery relates to ion channels, key molecular players that generate and control electrical signals critical for heart, brain and other types of cells to do their jobs. If anything goes wrong in the process, called excitability, potentially deadly heartbeat abnormalities and epilepsies may arise.
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more about: Study has implications for understanding ion channel defects
Contact:
Dian Land,
608-261-1034,
dj.land@hosp.wisc.edu
January 29, 2010
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Your facial expression may tell the world what you are thinking or feeling. But it also affects your ability to understand written language related to emotions, according to research that was presented today (Jan. 29) to the Society for Personal and Social Psychology in Las Vegas and that will be published in the journal Psychological Science. The new study reported on 40 people who were treated with botulinum toxin, or Botox. Tiny applications of this powerful nerve poison were used to deactivate muscles in the forehead that cause frowning. The interactions of facial expression, thoughts and emotions has intrigued scientists for more than a century, says the study's first author, University of Wisconsin-Madison psychology Ph.D. candidate David Havas.
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more about: Can blocking a frown keep bad feelings at bay?
Contact:
David Tenenbaum,
608-265-8549,
djtenenb@wisc.edu
January 28, 2010
Northwestern University
A Northwestern University scientist has invented a novel way to halt and even reverse rheumatoid arthritis. He developed an imitation of a suicide molecule that floats undetected into overactive immune cells responsible for the disease. Referred to as Casper the Ghost, the stealthy molecule causes the immune cells to self-destruct. The approach doesn’t carry the health risks of current treatments. The new therapy, tested on mice, stopped the disease cold in 75 percent of the animals.
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more about: New "Suicide" Molecule Halts Rheumatoid Arthritis
Contact:
Marla Paul,
312-503-8928,
marla-paul@northwestern.edu
January 27, 2010
University of Wisconsin-Madison
The brains of people under anesthesia respond to stimuli as they do in the deepest part of sleep - lending credence to a developing theory of consciousness and suggesting a new method to assess loss of consciousness in conditions such as coma. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, led by brain researcher Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD, reported their findings in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
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more about: Brain responses during anesthesia mimic those during natural deep sleep
Contact:
Susan Lampert Smith,
608-262-7335,
ssmith5@uwhealth.org
January 26, 2010
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pa.-- Improved delivery of end-of-life care in prison is the focus of a $1.27-million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research that has Penn State researchers working with employees from six Pennsylvania prisons and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
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more about: End-of-life care strategies examined in Pennsylvania prisons
Contact:
A'ndrea Messer,
814-865-9481,
aem1@psu.edu
January 25, 2010
University of Wisconsin-Madison
The same virus that causes relatively mild mononucleosis, the "kissing disease," can also cause severe mono as well as several potentially deadly kinds of cancer. Now researchers think they can kiss a stealthy form of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) goodbye - or at least shut it down enough to successfully treat several of the dangerous diseases it causes. Using a class of drugs being clinically tested to treat other kinds of cancer, researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found that the drugs were the first to stop the latent form of EBV infection from causing disease.
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more about: Drugs may shut down several Epstein-Barr virus-induced diseases
Contact:
Dian Land,
608-261-1034,
dj.land@hosp.wisc.edu
January 25, 2010
Northwestern University
Replacing confusing language and icons on standard warnings labels for prescription medicine and listing only the most important warnings could make a big difference in how well patients understand the instructions that are critical to their health, according to a new Northwestern University study. More than half of adults misunderstand common standard drug warnings. Researchers worked with patients and graphic designers to simplify and redesign the confusing language and icons of warning labels.
Read
more about: A Pregnant Woman Does Not Look Like an Olive
Contact:
Marla Paul,
312-503-8928,
marla-paul@northwestern.edu
January 25, 2010
Purdue University
A team of experts is returning to Haiti this week to investigate the cause of the Jan. 12 magnitude 7 earthquake and collect crucial data to assess whether it could trigger another major event to the east or west of Port-au-Prince. Eric Calais, a professor of geophysics at Purdue who leads the National Science Foundation-funded team, said most aftershocks occur within weeks of the initial quake and the team urgently needs to get to the site to make a detailed assessment before critical geological information disappears.
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more about: Purdue researchers returning to Haiti to examine possibility of another major earthquake
Contact:
Elizabeth Gardner,
765-494-2081,
ekgardner@purdue.edu
January 22, 2010
University of Wisconsin-Madison
The benefits of improved air quality resulting from climate change mitigation policies are likely to outweigh the near-term costs of implementing those policies, according to a new study.Coming on the heels of the international climate talks in Copenhagen and a proposal earlier this month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to tighten smog standards, new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that climate change policies should be assessed on the basis of potential benefits as well as initial costs.
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more about: Air-quality improvements offset climate policy costs
Contact:
Jill Sakai,
608-262-9772,
jasakai@wisc.edu
January 22, 2010
Michigan State University
Diverse biofuel plantings such as native prairie attract more beneficial insects than do single crops such as corn, Michigan State University scientists find. Therefore, biofuel policies should take such added value into account, they urge, based on their pioneering studies of beneficial insects in biofuel crops.
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more about: Biofuel crop diversity adds value, Michigan State researchers say
Contact:
Jamie M. DePolo,
609-702-7810,
depolo@msu.edu
January 21, 2010
Northwestern University
A sealant inspired by mussels’ ability to stick to surfaces under wet conditions has shown promise in the repair of defects in human fetal membranes, according to a Northwestern University study. During a pregnancy, such defects -- ruptures or holes -- can lead to the leakage of amniotic fluid, resulting in premature labor or termination of the pregnancy.
In tests, the Northwestern sealant was found to be biocompatible and effective at sealing the tiny holes
Read
more about: Mussel-Inspired "Glue" for Fetal Membrane Repair
Contact:
Megan Fellman,
847-491-3115,
fellman@northwestern.edu
January 21, 2010
Michigan State University
“Crazy” and “cool” are two of the words Michigan State University astronomer Megan Donahue uses to describe the two distinct “tails” found on a long tail of gas that is believed to be forming stars where few stars have been formed before. Donahue was part of an international team of astronomers that viewed the gas tail with a very long, new observation made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and detailed it in a paper published this month in the publication Astrophysical Journal.
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more about: MSU contributes to new research on star formation
Contact:
Tom Oswald,
517-432-0920,
Oswald@ur.msu.edu
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