Planaria worms demonstrate how cells communicate and grow new tissues
Forsyth Institute research with the flatworm, planaria, offers new clues for understanding restoration of body structures. Researchers at The Forsyth Institute have discovered how the worm’s cells communicate to correctly repair and regenerate tissue. Forsyth scientists have found that gap-junction (microscopic tunnels directly linking neighboring cells) communication contributes to this signaling. This re
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that eating or drinking sweets may decrease the production of the stress-related hormone glucocorticoid–which has been linked to obesity and decreased immune response.
“Glucocorticoids are produced when psychological or physical stressors activate a part of the brain called the ’stress axis,’” said Yvonne Ulrich-Lai, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of psychiatry. “These hormones help an indiv
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers are encouraged by early results of a treatment vaccine for pancreatic cancer, a disease with few options and low odds for long-term survival. At about two years into a study of 60 patients, the researchers report that 88 percent survived one year and 76 percent are alive after two years.
“Even though our results are preliminary, the survival rates are an improvement over most published results of pancreatic cancer treatment studies,” s
New research shows that the special training of music conductors seems to enhance the way their senses work together – enabling them to quickly tell who played a wrong note, for example. Scientists hope the research will lead to new discoveries about how music training may change the brain.
“Studies have shown that while students who get music training may sometimes do better academically, no research has explored whether this training actually causes changes in the brain,” said
Northwestern University researchers have developed a novel, three-dimensional model that allows scientists to observe how interacting with the microenvironment of metastatic melanoma cells induces normal skin cells to become similar to aggressive cancer cells that migrate and spread throughout the body.
The model, developed by Mary J. C. Hendrix and colleagues at Children’s Memorial Research Center, consists of a three-dimensional collagen matrix preconditioned by malignan
Not all plaque – the fatty substance that builds up in arteries – is the same and some plaque types are more likely to rupture, which can trigger the formation of a blood clot and a blocked artery. An experimental spectroscopic/imaging technique can provide exact information about plaque components that can help guide treatment, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2005.
“Time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy or TR-LIFS can be u
Optical and structural properties of PbS nanoparticles produced in Zeolite Na-X
The study of semiconductor nanoparticles embedded in a matrix is currently a very active research area. These small particles have physicochemical properties quite different from those in the bulk material. A great variety of semiconductors nanoparticles have been synthesized in different matrix such as polymers, glasses and zeolites with the main purpose to modify their properties by controll
Chronic stress can induce rapid blocking of arteries after a balloon angioplasty procedure, according to research performed in animal studies at Georgetown University Medical Center. Blocked coronary arteries after angioplasty affect 41 percent of patients who undergo the procedure and can lead to death.
But the Georgetown scientists also demonstrated that this stress-induced atherosclerosis could be prevented by blocking a certain neuropeptide in blood vessels. They say the resu
Satellite images show that, after decades of stability, a major glacier draining the Greenland ice sheet has dramatically increased its speed and retreated nearly five miles in recent years. These changes could contribute to rapid melting of the Greenland ice sheet and cause the global sea level to rise faster than expected, according to researchers studying the glacier.
A paper describing these findings will be published this month in Geophysical Research Letters. The study focused
“Extraneous emotional effects” influence how you evaluate products
It’s a sun-drenched weekend afternoon. You’re at a music store listening to demo CDs and happily watching the world go by outside the store’s window. Consequently, you leave the store with a load of CDs. But did the music grab you? Or was it the weather? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests you are the proud owner of those CDs not because you fell in love with them as much as because you wer
The first nationwide study of pregnancy outcomes in women with rheumatic disease confirms that they experience greater pregnancy risks and longer hospital stays than the average pregnant woman. The findings from the Stanford University School of Medicine provide women who have these conditions with a better understanding of the risks they face if they become pregnant and underscores the need for physicians to monitor closely their care.
The author of the study, Eliza Chakravarty, MD, assis
Have you ever driven by one of those car lots where all of the cars facing the street are perpetually on sale? There’s always a “hot deal” to accompany those “low miles” or “one driver” lures. Alternatively, your favorite clothing store may almost never have sales. But when it does–between seasons perhaps–the prices plummet. Which product promotion better?
“One question facing managers who decide to promote a product periodically is whether to offer frequent but shallow or deep
In an article in the forthcoming December 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, researchers compare the focusing on the process of decision-making to focusing on the outcome of the decision. They found that feeling responsible for the outcome of a decision may drive people to a third choice – inaction.
“For many high stakes decisions, such as financial investments and healthcare choices, a focus on process or outcome may turn out to be a critical decision factor,” write
While our insatiable devotion to buying more stuff is no revelation, it is not completely understood where this materialistic mentality comes from. A forthcoming study from the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research seeks to better explain the cultivation of this rather unattractive, yet inimitably American trait, arguing that television plays a significant role in creating materialists.
“The more television individuals watch, the more materialistic they apparently become,
Imagine an evening out with friends. You’ve enjoyed a phenomenal dinner, and the night is going great. You’re now faced with deciding on a dessert. You’ve been to this restaurant before and know that the tiramisu is reliable, but the cheesecake can be sometimes exceptional but other times sub par. Which do you pick?
According to forthcoming study in the December 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, you will most likely go for the cheesecake. When things are
Ohio State University researchers have invented a new organic polymer tunnel diode – an electronic component that could one day lead to plastic computer memory and plastic logic circuits on computer chips. Today, computer chips use mainly inorganic silicon.
The diode transmits electrical current at room temperature, and its design lends itself to easy, inexpensive manufacturing for smart cards and other memory devices, said Paul Berger, a professor of electrical and computer engineer
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