Tag Archives: brown university

Brown University Oncology Research Group: Twenty years of cancer treatment trials

Since 1994 cancer doctors affiliated with the Alpert Medical School have had a place with funding, administrative, and collegial support to develop and test novel cancer treatments: The Brown University Oncology Research Group.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Too few cancer patients, especially those with pancreatic cancer, get to the point that Raymond Sabella reached in the spring of 2014. Ten months after he began his trek from the diagnosis of an inoperable tumor to experimental chemotherapy and then radiation, he reports feeling great. He’s gaining back some of the weight he lost, but not too much, and something else is back, too. (more…)

Read More

Guilty: Crabs are killing N.E. saltmarshes

Two newly published studies by a team of Brown University researchers provide ample new evidence that the reason coastal saltmarshes are dying from Long Island to Cape Cod is that hungry crabs, left unchecked by a lack of predators, are eating the cordgrass. (See sidebar on marsh die-off and greenhouse gasses.)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A marathon summer of field work by Mark Bertness, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and a squadron of students may finally help settle the heated debate about what’s killing the coastal saltmarshes of southern New England and Long Island. The group’s work has yielded two new papers that offer clear evidence of the cause. (more…)

Read More

It could also work for Mars

Impact glass stores biodata for millions of years

Bits of plant life encapsulated in molten glass by asteroid and comet impacts millions of years ago give geologists information about climate and life forms on the ancient Earth. Scientists exploring large fields of impact glass in Argentina suggest that what happened on Earth might well have happened on Mars millions of years ago. Martian impact glass could hold traces of organic compounds. (more…)

Read More

HIV+ women respond well to HPV vaccine

A three-nation clinical trial found that a vaccine can safely help the vast majority of HIV-positive women produce antibodies against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus, even if their immune system is weak and even if they’ve had some prior HPV exposure.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — HIV-positive women respond well to a vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV), even when their immune system is struggling, according to newly published results of an international clinical trial. The study’s findings counter doubts about whether the vaccine would be helpful, said the Brown University medical professor who led the study. Instead, the data support the World Health Organization’s recommendation to vaccinate women with HIV. (more…)

Read More

Heat of mantle sets height of mid-ocean ridges

By  analyzing the speed of seismic waves generated by earthquakes, scientists have shown that temperature differences deep within Earth’s mantle control the elevation and volcanic activity along mid-ocean ridges, the colossal mountain ranges that line the ocean floor. Recent research sheds new light on how temperature in the depths of the mantle influences the contours of the Earth’s crust.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Scientists have shown that temperature differences deep within Earth’s mantle control the elevation and volcanic activity along mid-ocean ridges, the colossal mountain ranges that line the ocean floor. The findings, published April 4 in the journal Science, shed new light on how temperature in the depths of the mantle influences the contours of the Earth’s crust. (more…)

Read More

Ancient volcanic explosions shed light on Mercury’s origins

Mercury was long thought to be lacking volatile compounds that cause explosive volcanism. That view started to change when the MESSENGER spacecraft returned pictures of pyroclastic deposits — the telltale signature of volcanic explosions. Now more detailed data from MESSENGER shows that volcanoes exploded on Mercury for a substantial portion of the planet’s history. The findings suggest Mercury not only had volatiles but held on to them for longer than scientists had expected.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The surface of Mercury crackled with volcanic explosions for extended periods of the planet’s history, according to a new analysis led by researchers at Brown University. The findings are surprising considering Mercury wasn’t supposed to have explosive volcanism in the first place, and they could have implications for understanding how Mercury formed. (more…)

Read More

Study proposes new ovarian cancer targets

Proteins called TAFs were once thought to be generic cogs in the machinery of gene expression, but in a new study Brown University scientists propose that they may be important suspects in the progression of ovarian cancer that should not continue to be overlooked.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In the complex genomic and molecular conspiracy that gives rise to ovarian cancer, what if researchers have been missing a whole set of suspects because they’ve been hiding in plain sight? That’s the argument made by Brown University biologists in a new paper that combines evidence from original research and prior studies to raise new suspicions about a set of proteins that assist in regulating gene expression. (more…)

Read More

‘Melbourne Shuffle’ secures cloud data

Encryption might not be enough for all that data stored in the cloud. An analysis of usage patterns — which files are accessed and when — can give away secrets as well. Computer scientists at Brown have developed an algorithm to sweep away those digital footprints. It’s a complicated series of dance-like moves they call the Melbourne Shuffle.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — To keep data safe in the cloud, a group of computer scientists suggests doing the Melbourne Shuffle. (more…)

Read More