Duke University Medical Center researchers have shown that they can stimulate the body to produce its own naturally occurring growth factors to promote blood vessel growth into tissue damaged by peripheral arterial obstructive disease (PAOD). They said their finding could offer a new approach to treating the disease, which rivals coronary artery disease in its prevalence and health impact.
The researchers injected into rabbits with a version of PAOD a gene-carrying molecule, c
A University of Michigan influenza expert is beginning a three-year direct comparison of the effectiveness of flu shots versus nasal spray flu vaccine.
Flu shots have been around since World War II, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long recommended shots as a way to prevent influenza in the elderly. The approval of a new nasal spray vaccine begs the question whether those looking to stave off the flu should stick with the tried and true injection or s
University of California scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory have begun to analyze data from an instrument aboard the joint U.S.-European spacecraft Cassini. Although Cassini has only been orbiting the planet Saturn since July 1, data from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) has already begun to provide new information about the curious nature of Saturn’s space environment.
CAPS had been detecting advance readings for several days before Cassini finally
Experiment at NYU find neurological underpinnings of economic game theory
In article in today’s issue of the journal Neuron, two neuroscientists – Paul Glimcher of New York University and Michael Dorris, a former NYU colleague currently at Queens University, Canada – offer evidence for the neurological basis for the theories of John Nash, the Nobel-winning economist who pioneered game theory. The findings in the Neuron article are a major advancement in the increasingly promi
In two studies at McMaster University’s Department of Kinesiology, researchers demonstrated that doing isometric handgrip (IHG) contractions three times a week for eight weeks led to lower blood pressure in people who were already taking medication for high blood pressure (hypertension).
The studies looked at whether the flexibility of arteries and the function of blood vessels—both of which improve after IGH—were factors in reducing blood pressure in people taking anti-hypertensiv
From volcanic eruptions to ozone holes, a NASA instrument that monitors Earth’s upper atmosphere marks twenty years in orbit.
The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II) instrument was deployed October 5, 1984, from the Space Shuttle Challenger aboard the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS.) Originally scheduled for a two-year mission, SAGE II continues to give scientists a wealth of data on the chemistry and motions of the upper troposphere and stratospher
Blondes and redheads not only are more susceptible to skin cancer, but the source of their skin and hair pigmentation, melanin, actually magnifies the damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays, according to a study published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Melanin filters out UV radiation, but the melanin in hair follicles, particularly in light hair, actually increases the sun damaging effects of UV rays and causes cell death in the hair
Using a specially designed robotic microscope to study cultured cells, researchers have found evidence that abnormal protein clumps called inclusion bodies in neurons from people with Huntington’s disease (HD) prevent cell death. The finding helps to resolve a longstanding debate about the role of these inclusion bodies in HD and other disorders and may help investigators find effective treatments for these diseases. The study was funded primarily by the NIH’s National Institute of Ne
Researchers have identified a molecule that can transform the mechanical stimulus of a sound wave into an electrical signal recognizable by the brain. The protein forms an ion channel that opens in response to sound, causing electrical impulses that communicate the pitch, volume, and duration of a sound to the brain.
Scientists have long suspected that such a molecule must exist in the tiny cilia extending from receptor cells in the inner ear. Now, researchers led by Howard Hughes M
You and your fellow townspeople are hiding in a cellar from marauding soldiers. Your baby starts to cry, which would alert the soldiers to your presence. The only way to save yourself and the others is to smother your baby. What do you do?
Making such tough personal moral judgments involves not just abstract reasoning or emotion, as shown by the results of a new study by Joshua Greene and his colleagues. Rather, their brain scan studies of people making such judgments revealed th
A drug that jams a key enzyme regulating cholesterol drastically reduces the levels of brain-clogging amyloid plaque in mice engineered to have a human form of the amyloid protein. According to Dora Kovacs and her colleagues, the findings suggest that such inhibiting drugs could be used to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
CP-113,818 mimics a cholesterol molecule that the enzyme, called “acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase” (ACAT), converts into a form of
The preference for Coke versus Pepsi is not only a matter for the tongue to decide, Samuel McClure and his colleagues have found. Brain scans of people tasting the soft drinks reveal that knowing which drink they’re tasting affects their preference and activates memory-related brain regions that recall cultural influences. Thus, say the researchers, they have shown neurologically how a culturally based brand image influences a behavioral choice.
These choices are affected
Two groups of researchers have independently discovered the long sought dual body clocks in the brain of fruit flies that separately govern bursts of morning and evening activity.
Both research groups published their findings in the October 14, 2004, issue of the journal Nature. Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher Michael Rosbash at Brandeis University led one group; François Rouyer at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France led the second group. Grad
Researchers studying the evolutionary dynamics of bacteria and viruses in bubbling glass tubes have confirmed an evolutionary theory of central importance to ecologists studying more familiar flora and fauna in the wild. The theory predicts how the movement of individuals between different populations of a species influences evolutionary change in those populations, particularly with respect to coevolutionary interactions between species.
This is an important issue in understa
Life goals an important focus for successful treatment
Details from a large-scale survey focusing on treatment goals for schizophrenia shed new light on what physicians and people with schizophrenia feel is important for long-term quality care, according to Ronald J. Diamond, M.D., co-author of the study.
“When we treat people with any kind of chronic illness, especially schizophrenia, it’s important that we listen to their life goals, what they want out of treatment and wh
Scientists at the University of Virginia Health System have helped solve the mystery of how the human ear converts sound vibrations and balance stimuli into electrical impulses the brain can interpret. Their research is detailed in the October 13 advance online edition of the journal Nature, found at www.nature.com/nature .
Neuroscience researchers Jeffrey Holt and Gwenaëlle Géléoc, working in collaboration with scientists elsewhere, discovered a long-sought protein called TRP
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