Daily non-political popular news in brief.

Columbia study examines ADHD's role in smoking

11-15-2006 · EurekAlert!

Research has shown that most smoking in the US occurs among people who have psychiatric conditions, such as alcohol or drug abuse, major depression, anxiety and ADHD. Columbia University Medical Center researchers are recruiting smokers who have been diagnosed with ADHD to be part of a study that will help them quit smoking.

Keywords: columbia, study, examines, adhd, role, smoking, examine

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Study examines performance-based pay for teachers
09-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Teacher performance pay is a frequently discussed and controversial topic among kindergarten through 12th-grade educators. Recent findings by economics professors at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Vanderbilt University suggest that states and school districts in the United States begin developing programs that examine the effects of linking teacher pay to student achievement.
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Teachers play critical role in adolescent health promotion efforts
12-17-2007 · EurekAlert!
Teachers are among the most important influences in the lives of school-aged children, yet relatively little emphasis has been placed on examining the potential role general academic teachers may play in facilitating adolescent health promotion efforts, according to a study conducted by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
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Study examines correlation between race and police force size
10-01-2007 · EurekAlert!
Empirical studies have long shown that crime rate and budget alone do not account for the size of an area's police force. Police forces tend to be larger in areas where blacks comprise a larger percentage, and many sociologists have attributed this to racial attitudes, specifically the white population's perceptions of threat. A thought-provoking study is the first to empirically examine this premise.
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Study examines genetic factors associated with head and neck cancer
01-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
Preliminary research indicates that several specific genetic alterations are associated with the development of smoking-related head and neck skin cancers, according to a report in the Jan. 10 issue of JAMA.
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In utero exposure to smoking by mother can increase risk of ADHD
05-23-2007 · EurekAlert!
Women smokers who become pregnant have long been encouraged to reduce or eliminate their nicotine intake. A new study being published in the June 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry provides further reason to do so, as it presents new evidence that in utero exposure to smoking is associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems in genetically susceptible children.
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Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
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New study demonstrates nicotine's role in smoking behavior
02-27-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new study from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health and the National Institutes of Health reveals that nicotine use is highly addictive in primates.This study is the first of its kind to evaluate the motivational value of nicotine in experimentally naive monkeys. This study was conducted at NIH under the leadership of Dr. Bernard Le Foll, CAMH Scientist and Head of the Translational Addiction Research Laboratory and associate professor at the University of Toronto.
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Cigarette taxes do reduce smoking but can lead to bootlegging, says Mailman School of PH
06-28-2007 · EurekAlert!
Increasing cigarette taxes is an effective strategy for reducing tobacco use but there may be negative consequences especially in disadvantaged minority communities. According to a study conducted by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, a dramatic rise in illegal street sales of untaxed cigarettes was reported among minority low-income persons immediately after the price increase that reinforced smoking and undermined cessation efforts.
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Are you feeling lucky? How superstition impacts consumer choice
02-12-2008 · EurekAlert!
Despite their strong impact on the marketplace, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the how superstitious beliefs impact decision making. A groundbreaking new study from the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research examines the role of lucky and unlucky features and finds that consumers are more disappointed when a product that is supposedly "lucky" breaks. Additionally, even thinking about a "negative" superstition can make consumers more risk averse.
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Mailman School of Public Health researchers report blood DNA can be early predictor of liver cancer
04-15-2007 · EurekAlert!
Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health have discovered a means for early detection of liver cancer. Using DNA isolated from serum samples as a baseline biomarker, the scientists examined changes in certain tumor suppressor genes that have been associated with the development of liver carcinomas. This is the first study to prospectively examine potential biomarkers for early detection of liver cancer in high-risk populations.
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