Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) researchers led by Lin He, Xingyue He, and Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Investigator (HHMI) Greg Hannon have identified a family of micro RNAs (miRNAs) that enable a critical tumor suppressor network, called the p53 pathway, to fight cancer growth. [click link for full article]

Divorce puts children at higher risk of Ritalin use compared to kids whose parents stay together, says new research by a University of Alberta sociologist, who cautions that this doesn’t necessarily mean that divorce is harmful to a child. The study appears in this week’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.Dr. [click link for full article]

Women on tamoxifen therapy who reported having hot flashes were less likely to develop recurrent breast cancer than those who did not report hot flashes, according to a study from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Moreover, hot flashes were a stronger predictor of outcome than age, hormone receptor status or even how advanced the breast cancer was at diagnosis. [click link for full article]

Cows’ milk allergy (CMA) has considerable negative effects on the family unit, as exposed by findings from an international survey. In addition to coping with the disturbing physical effects of the condition on the child (including vomiting, diarrhoea, failure to thrive and eczema), 70% of parents of children with CMA said that it makes them feel guilty and distressed and 82% said that it has caused them to lose sleep. [click link for full article]

Targeting the function of a protein known as beta1-integrin might represent a novel approach to cancer treatment, according to a paper published online in The EMBO Journal this week. Blocking the action of this protein could help to prevent the formation of metastases by reducing tumour cell proliferation and inducing cell senescence. [click link for full article]

A report that recommends steps to reduce hurricane damage in New Orleans has been released by an expert engineering panel of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).The 84-page report, “The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why,” targets the public and policymakers, and complements and synthesizes the thousands of pages released so far by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during their post-Katrina investigation.Dr. [click link for full article]

An apple a day keeps the doctor away” Or, what appears to be more accurate: An apple peel a day might help keep cancer at bay, according to a new Cornell study.Cornell researchers have identified a dozen compounds — triterpenoids — in apple peel that either inhibit or kill cancer cells in laboratory cultures. Three of the compounds have not previously been described in the literature. [click link for full article]

A study of 17 middle school students suggests that physical fitness gains made by obese children who participated in a lifestyle-focused physical education class during the school year were lost after the three-month summer break, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. [click link for full article]

“Babies are born to be breastfed.” That is the message that for three months, people living in Herkimer County in upstate New York saw on billboards, posters and public service announcements during breaks in such shows as “Deal or No Deal,” the “Today” show, the “Dr. Phil Show” and on Comedy Channel, Court TV, Nickelodeon and Soap TV. [click link for full article]

Recent dating violence among urban teen females and lifetime history of sexual assault among urban teen males may be associated with suicide attempts, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.”Suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents,” according to background information in the article. “In 2003, 6.5 per 100,000 U.S. teenagers aged 14 to 19 years committed suicide. [click link for full article]