The study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G James Cancer Hospital and Richard J Solove Research Institute OSUCCC – James found that when microRNA-3151 miR-3151 is overexpressed in CN-AML, the disease responds poorly to treatment and patients experience shorter remissions and survival periods This effect is independent of other gene mutations that may be present in the cells

Additionally, miR-3151 is encoded within a gene called BAALC, which itself is an independent marker of poor survival when overexpressed in CN-AML

The findings, published online in the journal Blood, provide new insights into the nature of AML and might in the future help determine the best therapy for individual patients and further personalize AML therapy

“Patients with high levels of both miR-3151 and BAALC had the poorest outcome compared with those showing high expression of either miR-3151 or BAALC alone, or those expressing low levels of both,” says principal investigator Dr Clara D Bloomfield, a Distinguished University Professor at Ohio State and cancer scholar and senior advisor to the OSUCCC – James “This suggests that miR-3151 and BAALC may act through different mechanisms to enhance poor outcome of CN-AML patients”

The study involved 179 patients aged 60 years or older with CN-AML who were treated on Cancer and Leukemia Group B CALGB clinical trials

MicroRNAs are small molecules that cells use to help regulate the kinds and amount of proteins they make About one-third of human microRNAs are encoded within host genes Specifically, they are located in the portions of genes called introns, short stretches of DNA that are not used when genetic information is translated to make a protein

“Very little is known about the regulation of microRNAs located within introns, and especially about their possible interactions with their host genes,” says first author Dr Ann-Kathrin Eisfeld, a post-doctoral researcher who works in the laboratory of study co-author Dr Albert de la Chapelle and Bloomfield

“This is the first description of interplay of an oncogene and its intronic, and possibly oncogenic, microRNA,” Eisfeld says “It may be the first of other important intronic microRNAs in leukemia and perhaps other malignancies”

Let me to introduce you to the Barnet Graph of Doom. It’s a PowerPoint slide showing that within 20 years, unless things change dramatically, the north London council will be unable to provide any services except adult social care and children’s services. No libraries, no parks, no leisure centres – not even bin collections.

As Nick Walkley, the council’s chief executive, puts it: “In five to seven years we get to the point where it starts to restrict our ability to do anything very much else. O

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WASHINGTON — Claims that Skechers’ fitness shoes can help shed pounds and tone muscles are sketchy at best, says the government — and they’re going to cost the company millions of dollars. The footwear company will pay $40 million to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that Skechers made unfounded claims that its Shape-ups shoes would help people lose weight and strengthen their butt, leg and stomach muscles.

More than 40 states, including Oregon and Washington, filed a lawsuit about the deceptive advertising claims.  The settlement sets aside $40 million for consumer rebates and $5 million to the participating states. Oregon will receive $89,752.

Washington state will receive $117,138.

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For this LAST POST I thought I might write, you know, a RETROSPECTIVE. It’s been a while, after all, I have 200% more children than I did when I started, and maybe I have learned a thing or two. So I looked back at my very first post and HOW IRONIC: it was a “wait – did the baby ACTUALLY sleep through the night?” post which is pretty much exactly the kind of post I wrote on my personal website today, only with more “HOW do we make it HAPPEN?”. Whi

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Associate Professor of  Medicine Associate Director of the Experiential Learning, Health & Society Pathway University of California, San Francisco

Noon – 2 pm Room 936, SPHPI 1603 W. Taylor

Register on your own computer at .

Why are white women more likely to develop breast cancer, yet African American, Latina and Samoan women are more likely to die from the disease?  Why do women of color tend to develop more aggressive breast cancers at earlier ages than white women? Why are we seeing the sharpest rise in breast cancer rates in Japanese women in Los Angeles?

Race and ethnicity play a huge role in the answers to these questions because so often where we live, work and play is tightly bound to our racial make-up. Thi

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Mention the word “lifevest” and most people think of boating safety. But a new device also called a LifeVest focuses on heart safety. As one local man found out, it meant he was in for the shock of his life — in a good way.

For more information, visit:

Have you ever noticed how the heat tends to bring out the not-so-best in people? I have, as recent as a subway ride earlier this week. Packed in like sardines in a tin can, I observed a car of New Yorkers impatiently grumble, jumble and let out sighs of misery, which if the collective train had a subtitle would have read, “Get me out. It’s @#$%* but, I opted for the yogin’s path instead practicing contentment. This was a long-awaited summer after all. I also began jotting down a list of things that help keep me keep me cool — in mind and body — amidst a hot mess of chaos.

…Despite heat, and even with the myriad of summer distractions.

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Status symbols used to be fairly straightforward things. Millionaire bankers had chauffeur-driven Bentleys with discreet numberplates. Company chairmen had gold Rolexes or Hermès handbags. Russian oligarchs had super-sized yachts, complete with helipads and polonium-laced sushi. Cabinet ministers had capacious garages stocked with jerry cans.

Yet I’ve noticed, of late, that the business of acquiring a status symbol has got more complex.

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Labor is lasting much longer for today’s moms, one study shows.

The National Institutes of Health made the discovery when comparing labor times from the 1960s to labor times 50 years later.

Researchers said it’s partly because women are much heavier and older when they get pregnant. Epidurals are also to blame, the study showed; they tend to slow down labor.

First, who do you buy for? One friend emailed me last week saying that all her friends were stressing over the gifts and she told me that she was getting something for her daughter’s three daycare teachers, swim teacher, music teacher, Gymboree teacher, and babysitter. Oy! That’s a lot of gifts. Fortunately my ki

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While the study uncovered an association between total sitting hours and death risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

The study was limited by the relatively short follow-up period of less than three years, experts said, which may have obscured undiagnosed health problems among participants that could have led to earlier death.

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The report also finds that the overall rate of new cancer diagnoses for men and women combined decreased an average of less than one percent per year from 1998 through 2006, with rates leveling off from 2006 through 2008 Edward J Benz, Jr, MD, president of Dana-Farber Cancer in Institute in Boston, called the news encouraging, but is disappointed that the overall rate of cancer deaths is not falling nearly enough

“The rate of cancer diagnoses and deaths across all racial and minority groups are slowly decreasing,” said Benz “But there are still gaps that must be addressed”

The report is co-authored by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Cancer Society It will be posted on the web site of the journal Cancer on March 28, 2012

Among children ages 19 years or younger, the report shows cancer incidence rates increased 06 percent per year from 2004 through 2008, while death rates decreased 13 percent per year during the same period

The authors also highlighted cancers associated with excess weight and lack of sufficient physical activity

“This report emphasizes that the growing obesity problem and decreased overall physical activity in our society compared to decades ago have a real impact on multiple diseases, including cancer,” said Jeffrey A Meyerhardt, MD, MPH, a colorectal cancer expert at Dana-Farber and author of several studies investigating the impact of exercise on survival rates for colorectal cancer patients “While we currently see declines in incidence of many cancers, if obesity continues at the current rates, I believe these improvements in incidences will reverse and increase over time” Benz added that the good news is that some of the cancer risks the report highlighted can be reduced by changes in lifestyle

“Many of the things that are still a problem in these statistics are modifiable,” said Benz “If you watch your diet, exercise, and manage your weight, you can not only prevent your risk of getting many lethal forms of cancer, you will also increase your chances of doing well, if you should get almost any form of cancer”

According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, fewer than two percent of Americans follow seven heart-healthy habits recommended by the American Medical Association. These include:

Adapting these clear heart-healthy habits pays off. Researchers say that people who met six of the seven goals have a 51 percent lower risk of death from any disease and a 76 percent lower risk of heart-related death.

The researchers found that younger people, women, whites and better-educated people were more likely to adapt these heart-healthy habits than others.

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Through electronic vaping, the heating of liquid nicotine will take place, causing it to vapourise. Such device is used as an option to conventional smoking. And these products are also known as e-cigs, personal vaporizer, electronic smoking devices, E-Fag, nicotine vaporizer, e-cigar and also e-pipe.

To ensure that this device will work perfectly, three major components will need to be looked into before your purchase. Read full post…