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• Alzheimer plaques in 3D
• New clues about the origin of cancer
• Between the Ear and Brain, an Orderly Orchestra of Synapses
• Study offers hope for more effective treatment of nearsightedness
• Higher Taxes, Smoke-Free Policies Are Reducing Smoking in Moms-to-Be
• Human diabetes has new research tool: Overfed fruit flies that develop insulin resistance
• Anxious girls' brains work harder
• Team determines how estrogens persist in dairy farm wastewater
• Analysis of Ike’s damage shows which bridges are most susceptible to a stronger hurricane
• The existence of an antitumor molecule that originates within an oncogene discovered

Alzheimer plaques in 3D Posted: 06 Jun 2012 07:08 AM PDT Swiss researchers succeeded in generating detailed three-dimensional images of the spatial distribution of amyloid plaques in the brains of mice afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. These plaques are accumulations of small pieces of protein in the brain and are a typical characteristic of Alzheimer’s. The new technique used in the investigations provides an extremely precise research tool for a better understanding of the disease. In the future, scientists hope that it will also provide the basis for a new and reliable diagnosis method. read more

New clues about the origin of cancer Posted: 06 Jun 2012 05:14 AM PDT A study by Travis H. Stracker, researcher at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), in collaboration with scientists at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, reveals new information about the origin of tumors. read more

Between the Ear and Brain, an Orderly Orchestra of Synapses Posted: 05 Jun 2012 03:48 PM PDT The brain receives information from the ear in a surprisingly orderly fashion, according to a University at Buffalo study scheduled to appear June 6 in the Journal of Neuroscience. The research focuses on a section of the brain called the cochlear nucleus, the first way-station in the brain for information coming from the ear. In particular, the study examined tiny biological structures called synapses that transmit signals from the auditory nerve to the cochlear nucleus. read more

Study offers hope for more effective treatment of nearsightedness Posted: 05 Jun 2012 03:35 PM PDT Research by an optometrist at the University of Houston (UH) supports the continued investigation of optical treatments that attempt to slow the progression of nearsightedness in children. read more

Higher Taxes, Smoke-Free Policies Are Reducing Smoking in Moms-to-Be Posted: 05 Jun 2012 01:51 PM PDT It’s estimated that almost 23% of women enter pregnancy as smokers and more than half continue to smoke during pregnancy, leading to excess healthcare costs at delivery and beyond.  In one of the first studies to assess smoking bans and taxes on cigarettes, along with the level of tobacco control spending, researchers have found that state tobacco control policies can be effective in curbing smoking during pregnancy, and in preventing a return to smoking within four months on average, after delivery.  The results were published online today in advance of the July iss read more

Human diabetes has new research tool: Overfed fruit flies that develop insulin resistance Posted: 05 Jun 2012 11:07 AM PDT Researchers find that fruit flies overloading on carbs and protein not only gain weight but have shortened life spans — and develop insulin resistance, a hallmark of Type 2 human diabetes With Type 2 human diabetes climbing at alarming rates in the United States, researchers are seeking treatments for the disease, which has been linked to obesity and poor diet. Now biologists at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, report they have developed a new tool that will help researchers better understand this deadly disease. read more

Anxious girls' brains work harder Posted: 05 Jun 2012 09:37 AM PDT In a discovery that could help in the identification and treatment of anxiety disorders, Michigan State University scientists say the brains of anxious girls work much harder than those of boys. The finding stems from an experiment in which college students performed a relatively simple task while their brain activity was measured by an electrode cap. Only girls who identified themselves as particularly anxious or big worriers recorded high brain activity when they made mistakes during the task. read more

Team determines how estrogens persist in dairy farm wastewater Posted: 05 Jun 2012 08:42 AM PDT Wastewater from large dairy farms contains significant concentrations of estrogenic hormones that can persist for months or even years, researchers report in a new study. In the absence of oxygen, the estrogens rapidly convert from one form to another; this stalls their biodegradation and complicates efforts to detect them, the researchers found. read more

Analysis of Ike’s damage shows which bridges are most susceptible to a stronger hurricane Posted: 05 Jun 2012 08:25 AM PDT Preliminary results from research at Rice University show more than a dozen Gulf Coast bridges on or near Galveston Island would likely suffer severe damage if subjected to a hurricane with a similar landfall as Hurricane Ike but with 30 percent stronger winds. An awareness of which bridges are most at risk of damage in a strong hurricane helps public safety officials, said Jamie Padgett, a Rice assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. read more

The existence of an antitumor molecule that originates within an oncogene discovered Posted: 05 Jun 2012 08:05 AM PDT A common point in all human tumors is that they produce an activation of oncogenes, genes that cause cancer and they also cause a loss of function of the protective genes, called anti-oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Normally both categories of anticancer and procancer genes are in different regions of our chromosomes. read more

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