High levels of a protein called cytokine in the brains of infants could hold a clue to the cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), according to a study in the November 11 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers studied the brains of 27 infants. Nineteen died from SIDS, and eight died from other conditions. The team compared the level of various cytokines (a class of proteins involved in regulating the immune system) in the brains of
A research team at Lund University in Sweden attracted international attention a year ago by showing that new nerve cells can be generated in the brain after a stroke. However, most of these new nerve cells die rather soon. The same research team has now been able to show that an inflammation can lie behind the death of these new nerve cells, which instills hope for improved treatments for various brain disorders.
The new growth of nerve cells following epilepsy or stroke has been shown in a
In the animal world, it’s common for females to mate with several males during one and the same reproductive period. This leads to sperm competition, that is, sperm from several different males compete to fertilize the egg at the same time.
The most common response to increased sperm competition is for males to increase the number of sperm cells to inseminate a female with. Since males’ sperm reserves are not unlimited, males should be economical in using their sperm resources. Therefore, a
Now patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be diagnosed considerably earlier, thereby increasing their chances of being treated successfully. This is a consequence of new findings by Professor Solbritt Rantapää-Dahlqvist’s research team at the Unit for Rheumology, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University in Sweden.
Rheumatoid arthritis, also known as arthritic rheumatism, is a severe disease where the body’s immune defense system attacks the body’s own joint ca
Survey of Public Awareness of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) shows limited awareness that this cancer is the most common cancer across Europe and is preventable.
Results of a new survey show that fewer than one in three Europeans recognise that colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the most common cancer among European men and women, ahead of both breast and lung cancer, demonstrating a severe lack of awareness and understanding of CRC.
The survey, Public Awareness of Colorectal Cancer i
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have broken their own record for the world’s fastest transistor. Their latest device, with a frequency of 509 gigahertz, is 57 gigahertz faster than their previous record holder and could find use in applications such as high-speed communications products, consumer electronics and electronic combat systems.
“The steady rise in the speed of bipolar transistors has relied largely on the vertical scaling of the epitaxial layer
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, have documented what they are calling possibly the most extreme case of animal structure elongation documented to date.
In a paper published in the November 6 issue of the journal Nature, Suzanne Dufour and Horst Felbeck show that a clam from a certain species can extend its foot (clams have only one foot) up to 30 times the length of its shell to reach chemicals in marine sediment necessary for th
For years, the origin of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), a rare cancer that sometimes afflicts those infected with HIV, the AIDS virus, has puzzled researchers. Now, pathologists at Jefferson Medical College may be uncovering some of its secrets.
George Murphy, M.D., professor of pathology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and Masatoshi Deguchi, M.D., visiting scientist from Tohuku University in Sendai, Japan, have created a mouse model that resembles an ea
The “dark matter” that comprises a still-undetected one-quarter of the universe is not a uniform cosmic fog, says a University of California, Berkeley, astrophysicist, but instead forms dense clumps that move about like dust motes dancing in a shaft of light.
In a paper submitted this week to Physical Review D, Chung-Pei Ma, an associate professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley, and Edmund Bertschinger of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), prove that the motion of dark matter clum
American Heart Association meeting report
A small device can give doctors the “big picture” of patients’ vital signs, researchers reported today during the Resuscitation Science Symposium at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2003.
The device, called “Vital Dust,” transmits patient data to a hospital or centralized location, allowing others to see the data and also gain a global view of all patients in the field who are being similarly monitored. I
People can easily be swayed into believing that they have seen something they never actually did see, say researchers at Ohio State University.
Participants in a study looked at a series of slides portraying geometric shapes. They were later shown a second set of test slides – two of the test slides contained images from the original group of slides, two contained images that were obviously not part of the original set, and one slide contained the lure image – a shape very similar to
At the annual meeting of the Americal Society for Human Genetics in Los Angeles, Hopkins researchers will reveal the existence of specific short repeats of particular genetic building blocks in the gene at the root of cystic fibrosis, an inherited and often fatal lung disease. The researchers will also show how the repetitious pattern may help predict the disease’s severity.
Cystic fibrosis, or CF, stems from mutations in a gene called CFTR, short for cystic fibrosis transmembrane cond
Scientists are closing in on genetic contributors to high blood pressure and other causes of heart and cardiovascular disease. At the American Society for Human Genetics annual meeting in Los Angeles, Hopkins research associate Yen-Pei Christy Chang, Ph.D., will present evidence that a region of chromosome 1 is involved in appropriately regulating blood pressure. Her talk is scheduled for 10:15 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 8.
The scientists conducted a genome-wide analysis of 1,875 people in 585 fa
Workouts may result in increased blood flow to the brain, allow a person to be more mentally engaged
Exercise appears to allow for better blood vessel development in the brain and allow a person to be more mentally engaged. Those are the conclusions of a study partially conducted by Oregon Health & Science University researchers. The results will be presented Saturday Nov. 8 at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans.
“While we already know that exercise i
Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine were able to enhance significantly the re-growth of damaged peripheral nerves in mice by treating them with enzymes that counteracted a growth-blocking mechanism. The research offers the potential for improving functional recovery after peripheral nerve injuries. The Emory scientists were led by Arthur English, PhD, professor of cell biology, with faculty colleagues Robert McKeon, PhD and Erica Werner, PhD and former Emory student M.L. Groves. Results
Pesticides attack same cellular targets as rotenone – already implicated in Parkinson’s disease
Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found in laboratory experiments that several commonly used pesticides are just as toxic or even more toxic to the mitochondria of cells than the pesticide rotenone, which already has been implicated in the development of Parkinson’s disease. The Emory neurologists, led by Tim Greenamyre, MD, PhD and Todd B. Sherer, PhD, will p
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