Surgeons at Western Pennsylvania Hospital report that laparoscopic surgery for obesity, known as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, effectively improves unhealthy conditions associated with severe clinical obesity (or “morbid” obesity). The results, which were presented at the 69th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, reveal that after this surgery many patients are able to stop medications for a range of serious obesity-related health problems, including diabetes, sl
Mitochondrial remodeling in adipose tissue associated with obesity and treatment with rosiglitazone
Energy homeostasis is controlled by a complex series of cellular and hormonal interactions. White fat tissue has been shown by mouse-knockout studies and the identification of fat-specific secreted factors to be central to this process. Drugs for type 2 diabetes that enhance sensitivity to insulin, such as rosiglitazone, work through mechanisms that involve fat. Cell culture work
Genetic ablation of Nrf2 enhances susceptibility to cigarette smoke–induced emphysema in mice
Emphysema is a major manifestation of chronic obstructive lung disease, which affects more than 16 million Americans and is the fourth highest cause of death in the United States. This disease is primarily cigarette smoke induced, but oxidative stress, a harmful condition that occurs when there is an excess of free radicals, has recently been alleged to play an important role in lung susc
Researchers have found capsule endoscopies can be effective in detecting tumors in the small bowel that previously went undetected. According to a study released today at the 69th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, researchers from the Mt. Sinai Medical Center and the University of Miami School of Medicine found the capsule endosocopy detected tumors in the small bowel after patients had undergone an average of 4.6 negative evaluations. Of the tumors found, 65
Adults who dispense eye drops daily to correct a child’s “lazy eye” take note: a new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and 29 other centers across North America finds that giving the drops just twice during the weekend is just as effective as administering them every day of the week.
In what is believed to be the first clinical trial comparing treatment regimens of atropine sulfate eye drops for the treatment of amblyopia, the investigators co
Climate scientists agree that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has increased about 35 percent over the industrial period and that it will continue to rise so that CO2 will reach double its pre-industrial value well before the end of this century. How much this doubled CO2 concentration will raise Earth’s global mean temperature, however, remains quite uncertain and is the subject of intense research — and heated debate.
In a paper to be published in the November issue of the Jour
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) improves mood, quality of life and activities of daily living in patients with major depression, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, “Quality of life and function are improved in ECT patients as early as two weeks after the conclusion of ECT,” said Vaughn McCall, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and the lead author, writing in the November issue of the British Journal of
A malaria protein that traps infected cells in the placenta may provide a promising new target for a vaccine against pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM). Salanti and colleagues show that the malaria protein VAR2CSA is displayed on malaria-infected cells that bind to the placenta, as they report in the November 1 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine. This causes a dangerous infection, which puts both mother and developing child at risk.
Most adults living in malaria-endemi
Therapies for spinal cord injury may result
Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) have shown that stem cells found in adult skin retain their embryonic capability of making many types of cells. This discovery affirms the potential that stem cells derived from this non-controversial source possess for the development of possible therapies for spinal cord injury and nervous system disorders. This research is reported in the November issue of the scientific journal
It’s one of the defining tenets of modern biology: The characteristics of a living organism are coded into the organism’s DNA, and only information in the DNA can be passed to the organism’s offspring.
A new study by scientists at The Wistar Institute, however, suggests that this is not the full story. Instructions that control gene activity and are recorded solely in the molecular packaging of the DNA can also be passed to an organism’s progeny, according to th
At any given time, there are many cells in our body that are in the process of dividing, yet they almost never go out of control to give rise to cancers. Cell proliferation is normally kept in check by a group of gatekeeper genes called “tumor suppressors”. Of these, the Ink4a/ARF locus has been of considerable interest since this locus is inactivated in a majority of human cancers. This locus encodes two different proteins that act together to check uncontrolled tumor development.
A new company has been spun out of the University of Leeds to develop enabling technologies based on its innovative and world leading analytical science base.
Avacta Ltd has a strong background in the development of novel technologies applicable to the biomedical, materials and nanotechnology sectors and is focused on developing solutions to technology shortfalls in the biotech, pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.
Spun out by Techtran Group Ltd – the University’s co
Scientists at Imperial College London and Hammersmith Hospital are to help develop new vaccines in case of a terrorist release of biological agents such as anthrax.
The team has been awarded $4.5 million by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the US National Institute of Health (NIH) to develop new vaccines against a possible bio-terrorist attack, and new emerging infectious diseases.
Dr Danny Altmann, lead researcher at Imperia
When earthlings make their first attempt to land on Mars, E. Paul Larrat will be justified in thinking he played a small role in the 35-million-mile voyage.
Larrat, associate dean of the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy, spent much of the summer as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Faculty Fellow at the Advanced Life Support Center at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Larrat was one of 100 fellows chosen from a field of 700 nominees to
Russian researchers have developed a small, smart and tolerant to vibrations spectrometer, which is equally reliable in the outer space and in oceanic depths. The development was performed with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) and the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE). The unique device is based on a completely new principle: the light goes through an acoustooptical filter in the device.
Specialists of the Sci
Russian researchers have recorded the sounds audible only inside the right part of the dolphin’s nasal passage. Animals produce them during echolocation. This research can shed light on how the cetacea produce ultrasonic signals.
Researchers of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, have obtained the confirmation of the hypothesis that the cetacea, dolphins in particular, produce sounds with the help of some pneumatic mechanism, i.e
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