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Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplants from Unrelated Donors Associated with Higher Rates of Chronic Graft-Versus-Host-Disease
Foster kids do equally well when adopted by gay, lesbian or heterosexual parents
Few teens undergo pregnancy testing in the emergency department
First micro-structure atlas of the human brain completed
Taking race out of the equation in measuring women's risk of osteoporosis and fractures
Caltech Modeling Feat Sheds Light on Protein Channel's Function
No Antibodies, No Problem
New Study Shows Reprogrammed Amniotic Fluid Cells Could Treat Vascular Diseases
New Research Identifies Association between Rare Neuromuscular Disorder and Loss of Smell
College students and credit card debt – parents at fault?
Preventing infection on long spaceflights

Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplants from Unrelated Donors Associated with Higher Rates of Chronic Graft-Versus-Host-Disease

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 07:04 AM PDT

Claudio Anasetti, M.D., chair of the Department of Blood & Marrow Transplant at Moffitt Cancer Center, and colleagues from 47 research sites in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network conducted a two-year clinical trial comparing two-year survival probabilities for patients transplanted with peripheral blood stem cells or bone marrow stem cells from unrelated donors. The goal was to determine whether graft source, peripheral blood stem cells or bone marrow, affects outcomes in unrelated donor transplants for patients with leukemia or other hematologic malignancies.

Foster kids do equally well when adopted by gay, lesbian or heterosexual parents

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 06:58 AM PDT

High-risk children adopted from foster care do equally well when placed with gay, lesbian or heterosexual parents, UCLA psychologists report in the first multi-year study of children adopted by these three groups of parents.

The psychologists looked at 82 high-risk children adopted from foster care in Los Angeles County. Of those children, 60 were placed with heterosexual parents and 22 were placed with gay or lesbian parents (15 with gay male parents and seven with lesbian parents).

Few teens undergo pregnancy testing in the emergency department

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 06:55 AM PDT

Few adolescent females undergo pregnancy testing in the hospital emergency department (ED), even when they complain of lower abdominal pain, or before they are exposed to radiation for tests or examinations, according to an abstract presented Friday, Oct. 19, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans.

First micro-structure atlas of the human brain completed

Posted: 19 Oct 2012 06:41 AM PDT

A European team of scientists have built the first atlas of white-matter microstructure in the human brain. The project’s final results have the potential to change the face of neuroscience and medicine over the coming decade.

Taking race out of the equation in measuring women's risk of osteoporosis and fractures

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 11:43 AM PDT

For women of mixed racial or ethnic backgrounds, a new method for measuring bone health may improve the odds of correctly diagnosing their risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures, according to a UCLA-led study.

Caltech Modeling Feat Sheds Light on Protein Channel's Function

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 11:16 AM PDT

Chemists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have managed, for the first time, to simulate the biological function of a channel called the Sec translocon, which allows specific proteins to pass through membranes. The feat required bridging timescales from the realm of nanoseconds all the way up to full minutes, exceeding the scope of earlier simulation efforts by more than six orders of magnitude. The result is a detailed molecular understanding of how the translocon works.

No Antibodies, No Problem

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 10:25 AM PDT

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have determined a new mechanism by which the mosquitoes’ immune system can respond with specificity to infections with various pathogens, including the parasite that causes malaria in humans, using one single gene. Unlike humans and other animals, insects do not make antibodies to target specific infections.

New Study Shows Reprogrammed Amniotic Fluid Cells Could Treat Vascular Diseases

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 10:19 AM PDT

A research team at Weill Cornell Medical College has discovered a way to utilize diagnostic prenatal amniocentesis cells, reprogramming them into abundant and stable endothelial cells capable of regenerating damaged blood vessels and repairing injured organs.

New Research Identifies Association between Rare Neuromuscular Disorder and Loss of Smell

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 10:10 AM PDT

Changes in the ability to smell and taste can be caused by a simple cold or upper respiratory tract infection, but they may also be among the first signs of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Now, new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has revealed an association between an impaired sense of smell and myasthenia gravis (MG), a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by fluctuating fatigue and muscle weakness. The findings are published in the latest edition of PLOS ONE.

College students and credit card debt – parents at fault?

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 10:05 AM PDT

Parents need to be good role models to help their children make sensible financial decisions, according to Adam Hancock and his team, from East Carolina University in the US. Their work highlights that parents who argue about finances contribute to increasing credit card debt among their children during their student years. Their work is published online in Springer’s Journal of Family and Economic Issues.

Preventing infection on long spaceflights

Posted: 18 Oct 2012 09:53 AM PDT

On a long spaceflight unique conditions including microgravity could give microbes the upper hand, but not if astronauts and their spacecrafts are properly prepared. In a new paper, infectious disease expert Dr. Leonard Mermel brings together a broad base of research to come up with specific recommendations for keeping astronauts safe in deep space.