Interdisciplinary project targets disruptions of metal ion balance in human cells

For years, scientists have worked to pinpoint what causes the short-circuit of copper metabolism in human cells that leads to two deadly neurodegenerative disorders known as Wilson’s disease and Menkes disease.

Now, a research team led by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University is working full time at the molecular level of medicine to find out.

These “metallobiochemists

Becoming an adult takes longer today than in previous decades, with many not achieving all the traditional markers — starting a career, forming a new household, starting a family — until after age 30, according to a study by the Network on Transitions to Adulthood.

The Network, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, is directed by Frank Furstenberg, professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.

According to the study, a demographic shift has occurred, almost without no

General cognitive ability is related to success in multiple domains

Intelligence in the workplace is not that different from intelligence at school, according to the results of a meta-analysis of over one hundred studies involving more than 20,000 people. The findings contradict the popular notion that abilities required for success in the real world differ greatly from what is needed to achieve success in the classroom. The results are published in the January issue of the American

Salk study uncovers new information about organ placement

A Salk Institute team of biologists, mathematicians, and physicists has uncovered a novel paradigm for cell communication that provides new insights into the complex question of how the body determines where organs are placed.

The study focused on a fundamental question: how the body tells left from right. Although humans look fairly symmetric on the outside, their inner organs are placed quite asymmetrically; for exa

Long-lasting depot medication appears safe and effective for treatment of narcotic addiction

A study in the January issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence reports that a long-lasting depot medication appears safe and effective for treatment of narcotic addiction. In the study a single injection prevented withdrawal discomfort for 6 weeks in heroin-dependent patients, reduced the effects of injected opiates, and provided a comfortable detoxification as it gradually wore off.

Call centres are not the “satanic mills’’ they are often made out to be, although call handlers can suffer depression and low motivation if working conditions are not carefully managed.

These are the findings of a study carried out by Christine Sprigg and Phoebe Smith, with support from Professor Robert Jackson, at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Sheffield. Ms Sprigg, now of the University of Sheffield, presented their research today, Wednesday 7 January 2004, at the British Psychologica

Relationships with friends play a significant role in whether teenage girls think about suicide, but have little impact on suicidal thoughts among boys, according to a new nationwide study.

The research found that girls were nearly twice as likely to think about suicide if they had only a few friends and felt isolated from their peers. Girls were also more likely to consider suicide if their friends were not friends with each other.

These relationship factors had no significant eff

Effective team leadership may play an important part in reducing employee stress, while ineffective or ’laissez-faire’ leadership style may lead to increased depression in employees.

These are the findings of a study which was presented today, Wednesday 7 January at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology Annual Conference at The Stratford Moathouse Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon.

The study by Jonathon Bell and Dr Angela Carter of the Institute of Work

Aircraft could achieve an even higher level of safety if cockpit designers took more of the psychological characteristics of pilots into account, according to researchers.

Although the air accident rate has been constantly decreasing over the last decades, many modern aircraft have computerised controls systems which are so complex that they even over-tax the mental capabilities of fully-trained pilots, say the researchers.

The team, from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and

In a study of adolescents across 15 countries, adolescents in the United States had the highest prevalence of overweight, according to an article in the January issue of The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Overweight and obesity have increased worldwide among children, adolescents and adults, according to the article. The World Health Organization has designated obesity as one of the most important public health threats because of the signific

Results of a new study indicate that people who have recently stopped abusing the powerfully addictive drug methamphetamine may have brain abnormalities similar to those seen in people with mood disorders. The findings suggest practitioners could improve success rates for methamphetamine users receiving addiction treatment by also providing therapy for depression and anxiety in appropriate individuals. The study is published in the January 2004 issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

Scientists have identified a gene in the cerebral cortex that apparently controls the developmental clock of embryonic nerve cells, a finding that could open another door to tissue replacement therapy in the central nervous system. In a new study, the researchers found that they could rewind the clock in young cortical cells in mice by eliminating a gene called Foxg1. The finding could potentially form the basis of a new method to push progenitor cells in the brain to generate a far wider array of ti

Study in NEJM indicates dietary fatty acids may influence atherosclerosis in a segment of the population genetically at risk

Scientists have found the first strong link in humans between a common gene and risk for the disease that leads to most heart attacks and strokes, according to results of a study by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

People with a variant form of a gene ca

Drug-coated stents are safe and effective at preventing death, heart attack or repeat procedures in “real world” patients who are often sicker or older than those selected for clinical trials, according to a study in today’s rapid issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The drug-coated stents were more effective than uncoated stents, just as they had been in clinical trials, said lead investigator Patrick W. Serruys, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cardiology at Eras

After the twin Mars Exploration Rovers bounce onto the red planet and begin touring the Martian terrain in January, onboard spectrometers and cameras will gather data and images – and the rovers’ wheels will dig holes.

Working together, a Cornell University planetary geologist and a civil engineer have found a way to use the wheels to study the Martian soil by digging the dirt with a spinning wheel. “It’s nice to roll over geology, but every once in a while you have to pull out a

By the time you reach your 60th birthday, your heart could still be out performing the hearts of inactive 20-year-old whippersnappers, according to a study on cardiac output in healthy men carried out by Paul Chantler and his team from Liverpool John Moores Hospital. Unfortunately, you will have to be prepared to run nearly 30 miles a week for the 20 years preceding the celebration to achieve this.

The study’s findings, to be presented at this year’s Physiological Society conference on Frid