Study could lead to better treatments for Alzheimer’s disease
A study by Johns Hopkins scientists has revealed that stimulating brain cell receptors for certain hormone-like chemicals in brain cells called prostaglandins can protect the cells from amyloid â-peptide 42 (Aâ1-42), a compound that has been linked to brain cell death and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is produced via the action of the COX-2 enzyme, which can contribute to brai
Nurses can play pivotal role in helping young families succeed
A new Saint Louis University study rebuts the assumption that all teenagers who have babies face a future of dismal failure.
“Earlier studies exaggerated the long-term negative consequences associated with teenage mothering,” says Lee SmithBattle, R.N., DNSc, professor of nursing at Saint Louis University Doisy College of Health Sciences and principal investigator of a qualitative study that analyzed the experie
Hosts can do their Thanksgiving guests a big favor by serving smaller portions using smaller utensils. That the word from psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania.
The findings, to be published in the journal Psychological Science, demonstrate the power of what the researchers have termed “unit bias”: the sense that a particular portion of food is appropriate. Unit bias provides the basis for understanding why portion size influences how much food you eat. Their work o
Twins, triplets and other multiples have a nearly 50 percent greater chance of being born with birth defects, and boys tend to be more at risk than girls, according to two population-based studies conducted at the University of Florida.
UF researchers who studied all Florida births from 1996 through 2000 found multiples have a higher risk than babies born singly of developing 23 of 40 birth defects, such as spina bifida, according to results recently published online in the Mater
The successful launch of Ariane 5 Flight 167 leaves the launch campaign of Europe’s newest meteorological satellite on track to meet its new target date of 21 December.
After 117 days of storage in French Guiana, work began on de-storing and preparing the second Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-2) spacecraft for flight on 31 October. MSG-2 launch campaign activities were officially re-started on 10 November.
MSG-2 had been shipped to Europe’s spaceport on 21 Jun
University of Pittsburgh researchers report a high level of effectiveness in re-opening completely blocked internal carotid arteries (ICA) as late as two to three days after acute stroke symptoms by using stents. The study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) Stroke Institute, is in the November issue of Stroke, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Heart Association.
“This re
A Queen’s University study of fruit flies that may revolutionize the way birth defects are studied has identified the genes affected by a widely prescribed drug known to cause birth defects.
Methotrexate (MTX), a popular cancer-fighting drug also used to treat psoriasis, ectopic pregnancies, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus, lasts a long time in the body and causes birth defects in children from women who have it in their systems. The study of the drug’s effect on fruit
No need to change career or educational plans to lower risk, however, researchers say
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that an individual’s educational and career paths impact Parkinson’s disease risk later in life. This report will appear in the Nov. 22 issue of the journal Neurology, http://www.aan.com/publications/journal/index.cfm.
The investigators, led by Walter Rocca, M.D., a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist, discovered the highest increase in Parkinson
New application of fMRI technique may help physicians better diagnose and treat the effects of stress
Using a novel application of an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) technique, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have, for the first time, visualized the effects of everyday psychological stress in a healthy human brain. Their work, performed at Penn’s Center for Functional Neuroimaging, provides a neuro-imaging marker of psychological s
Envisat ASAR Global Monitoring Mode rapid-revisit images employed as part of ESA’s Dragon Programme have charted the hydrological cycle of China’s largest freshwater body, Poyang Lake, whose area fluctuates more than threefold annually.
Poyang Lake is situated in Jiangxi Province, around 50 kilometres north of the city of Nanchang. The Lake’s basin is one of the People’s Republic of China’s most important rice-producing regions, but local inhabitants must
How do they do it? One of the best-kept secrets in the natural world may be about to be revealed.
Bats, porpoises and dolphins have biological sonar technology that is vastly superior to anything that man has yet devised. They use sonar to distinguish resolution and identify objects and their material characteristics for objects that are, to all extents and purposes, bewilderingly similar.
Now, researchers in the University of Leicester Department of Geology are playing
People will soon be able to find out how vulnerable their own local area is to global warming, thanks to new techniques developed by scientists.
The STARDEX project’s seven European research teams, led by the University of East Anglia, narrowed down evidence of changing weather patterns to predict the occurrence of floods, heat waves and drought on even smaller regions across the UK and Europe.
And the new method of analysis could help governments prepare for or even pr
The University of Arizona Steward Observatory has been given an advanced infrared telescope that is unique because it will be used primarily by students and amateurs enrolled in UA Astronomy Camps. The internationally acclaimed UA Astronomy Camps are popular with youngsters and adults who include Girl Scout leaders from around the nation. They will study the universe using a truly professional ’research class’ infrared telescope available to them for the first time on Moun
Since the creation of the first working laser – a ruby model made in 1960 – scientists have fashioned these light sources from substances ranging from neon to sapphire. Silicon, however, was not considered a candidate. Its structure would not allow for the proper line-up of electrons needed to get this semiconductor to emit light.
Now a trio of Brown University researchers, led by engineering and physics professor Jimmy Xu, has made the impossible possible. The team has created the firs
A recently opened pulp mill in Chile has devastated one of South America’s most biologically outstanding wetlands, decimating its famed population of black-necked swans, along with most other bird life, a WWF-led team of investigators said Monday.
“What was probably the largest population of black necked swans in South America has been wiped out in less than a year. It is an environmental catastrophe,” said Clifton Curtis, director of World Wildlife Fund’s Global Toxic Program. “
Findings signify need for patient education on complications of misusing painkillers
According to a study supported by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), over-the-counter and prescription painkillers are often used inappropriately and there is an alarming number of people who are ignorant to the potential side effects. Despite the widespread use of store-bought and prescription painkillers, also known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), this is
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