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CCBAR Newsletter – June, 2007

Editors:  Natalia Gavrilova and Stacy Tessler Lindau

CCBAR News

The 5th Annual Interdisciplinary Biomeasures Workshop (and first-ever international gathering) will be held in Chicago, June 14-15, 2007.  For updated Workshop agenda please visit CCBAR website at: http://biomarkers.uchicago.edu/Agenda-2007.html.  Please contact Karl Mendoza: kmendoza@babies.bsd.uchicago.edu or 773-834-4832 for more information.

News From the Nature Journals, Science, BMJ and PNAS

Ageing: When less is more
Restricting dietary intake is one way to promote longevity. The identification of two genes that specifically mediate this effect in worms provides insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying ageing.

Evolutionary biology: Animal personalities
That different people differ in their readiness to take risks is an obvious feature of human personality. Theoretical advances now help in making sense of observations of analogous behaviour in animals.

Anticipation of monetary gain but not loss in healthy older adults

Stressing the role of FoxO proteins in lifespan and disease

[Anthropology-BS] From the Cover: The limited impact of kinship on cooperatio...
The complex cooperative behavior exhibited by wild chimpanzees generates considerable theoretical and empirical interest, yet we know very little about...

[Psychology-BS] Ape gestures and language evolution
The natural communication of apes may hold clues about language origins, especially because apes frequently gesture with limbs and hands,...

[EDITORIAL] Behavioral Science Comes of Age

[Neuroscience] Functional neuroimaging and behavioral correlates of capacity ...
Sleep deprivation (SD) impairs short-term memory, but it is unclear whether this is because of reduced storage capacity or processes...

[Physiology] Mismatched pre- and postnatal nutrition leads to cardiovascular ...
The early life environment has long-term implications for the risk of developing cardiovascular (CV) disease in adulthood. Fetal responses to...


Biomarkers and Aging in the News Media

A Little Alcohol May Help Aging Brains
Drinking alcohol in moderation may slow the progression to dementia in elderly people who already have mild mental declines, new research suggests.
Eating Fish May Preserve Eyesight
A new study shows people who eat at least two servings of fish per week are less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD) " a common cause of blindness among older people.
Fiber Might Fight Diabetes
Eating fiber-rich, whole-grain cereal may not only keep you regular, but it may also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Mens' minds decline more with age
Everyone becomes a little more forgetful as they get older, but men's minds decline more than women's, according to the results of a worldwide survey.
Gene links longevity and diet, scientists say
Roundworms may hold the key to the secret of longer human life.
Retinol May Smooth Aging Skin
Retinol lotion may ease the appearance of fine wrinkles in elderly skin, experts report in the Archives of Dermatology.
No Cancer Risk From Blood Transfusion
Blood transfusions containing blood from precancerous donors do not appear to increase the risk of cancer in the recipients, according to a study.
Tomatoes Don't Prevent Prostate Cancer
A study shows that lycopene -- found in tomatoes -- doesn't help cut the risk of getting prostate cancer.
New MRI Technology Enables Noninvasive Liver Diagnoses
Two recent studies have found that magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), a new imaging technique is an accurate tool for non-invasive diagnosis of liver diseases. The liver responds to many diseases that damage its cells by developing scar tissue or fibrosis. MRE uses a modified form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to accurately measure the hardness or elasticity of the liver.
Salt Increases Ulcer-bug Virulence
Scientists have identified yet another risk from a high-salt diet. High concentrations of salt in the stomach appear to induce gene activity in the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori, making it more virulent and increasing the likelihood of an infected person developing a severe gastric disease.
Folic acid 'reduces stroke risks'
Supplementing foods like bread with folic acid could cut the risks of a stroke by a fifth, a study suggests.
Researchers find big batch of breast cancer genes
A genetic mutation that raises the risk of breast cancer is found in up to 60 percent of U.S. women, making it the first truly common breast cancer susceptibility gene, researchers report.
Many sleep disorders can involve sexual behaviors
A wide range of sleep disorders carry some risk of inappropriate sexual behaviors during sleep, or even waking hours, according to a new report.
Racial disparities persist in preterm birth risk
Black infants are four times as likely to be born before 28 weeks gestation as white infants, an imbalance that hasn't changed in a decade, a new study shows.
Daily Aspirin May Reduce Colon Cancer Risk
A daily dose of 300 milligrams of aspirin taken for 10 years can cut colon cancer risk by as much as 74 percent, a new British study suggests.
Beyond survival: Focus in cancer care shifts to long term
The realization that cancer and its aftermath can go on for years has given rise to a medical specialty known as survivorship. At several major hospitals around the United States, survivor programs financed by the Lance Armstrong Foundation are focusing on life after cancer.
Anger Can Make You More Rational, Not Less, According To Recent Studies
Anger is appropriately blamed for flawed thinking since it tends to alter perception of risk, increase prejudice, and trigger aggression. But is anger always destructive? Three recent experiments suggest it's not.
Many Americans Fall Short on Vitamin D
Elderly at Risk for Muscle Weakness and Poor Physical Performance


NIH Press Releases

Gene Expression Profiling in Mice Can Predict Risk of Skin Lesions Progressin...
A new study has shown that microarray technology, which allows researchers to simultaneously compare the degree to which hundreds of genes are expressed (converted into proteins), now makes it possible to more definitively identify skin lesions in mice that are thought to be at high risk of progressing to a type of cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

NIH Study Tracks Brain Development in 500+ Children across U.S. - May 18, 2007
Investigators funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have released the first data from an effort to track normal brain development in hundreds of children growing up near six U.S. cities.

Can an Omega-3 Fatty Acid Slow the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease? - May ...
Nutritionists have long endorsed fish as part of a heart-healthy diet, and now some studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids found in the oil of certain fish may also benefit the brain by lowering the risk of Alzheimer's disease. In order to test whether an omega-3 fatty acid can impact the progression of Alzheimer's disease, researchers supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, will evaluate one in a clinical trial, the gold standard for medical research.


NIH Announcements

Bioengineering and Obesity (R01)
Genotype and Phenotype Data Now Available from dbGaP Database; Request Proces...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts

Administrative Supplements for Translational Aging Research leading to New In...
Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
Diet Composition and Energy Balance (R01)
Research on Ethical Issues in Human Subjects Research (R01)
Brain Disorders in the Developing World: Research Across the Lifespan (R01)
Research on the Economics of Diet, Activity, and Energy Balance (R01)
Research on Sleep and Sleep Disorders (R01)

Events

NIH webcast
Air date: 6/7/2007 12:00:00 PM Eastern Time
Integrative Health: A Pathway Approach
Annual Matilda White Riley NIH Lecture in the Behavioral and Social Sciences
Carol D. Ryff, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
Burton H. Singer, Ph.D., Princeton University
Drs. Ryff and Singer focus on positive health, operationalized with measures of well-being, as more than the absence of disease and illness. A variety of empirical studies show diverse combinations of conditions...

Alzheimer's Disease Biomarkers:
How Can Specific Population Groups Help Us Identify/Validate Biomarkers for Presymptomatic Diagnosis and Drug Development?
June 7th - 8th, 2007, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington D.C.

Biomarker Discovery Webinar
LIVE online seminar on June 20, 2007
Discovery of Autoantibody Biomarkers for Cancer and Autoimmune Disease

HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY: "HRS Workshop - ISR/SRC Summer Institute, June 2007,"
(June 18th - 22nd) of the Survey Research Center's Summer Institute. 

6th European Congress of Gerontology, 5 to 8 July 2007, St Petersburg, Russia

60th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Gerontological Society of America, November 16-20, San Francisco, United States

 
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This Newsletter  is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5 P30 AG012857)