science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Σάββατο 12 Οκτωβρίου 2013

Science News SciGuru.com

‘Brain Training’ May Boost Working Memory, But Not Intelligence
Cell Growth Discovery by UCSF Team Has Implications for Targeting Cancer
Compound in Grapes, Red Wine Could Help Treat Multiple Types of Cancer, Study Finds
Disrupting an antioxidant pathway prevents heart disease caused by reductive stress
Badgers ultimately responsible for around half of TB in cattle, study estimates
New study gets to heart of triglycerides’ role in coronary disease

‘Brain Training’ May Boost Working Memory, But Not Intelligence

Posted: 12 Oct 2013 04:21 AM PDT

Brain training games, apps and websites are popular, and it’s not hard to see why – who wouldn’t want to give their mental abilities a boost? New Georgia Tech research suggests that brain training programs might strengthen your ability to hold information in mind, but they won’t bring any benefits to the kind of intelligence that helps you reason and solve problems.

Cell Growth Discovery by UCSF Team Has Implications for Targeting Cancer

Posted: 12 Oct 2013 04:13 AM PDT

The way cells divide to form new cells — to support growth, to repair damaged tissues, or simply to maintain our healthy adult functioning — is controlled in previously unsuspected ways UC San Francisco researchers have discovered. The findings, they said, may lead to new ways to fight cancer.

Compound in Grapes, Red Wine Could Help Treat Multiple Types of Cancer, Study Finds

Posted: 11 Oct 2013 11:34 AM PDT

A recent study by a University of Missouri researcher shows that resveratrol, a compound found in grape skins and red wine, can make certain tumor cells more susceptible to radiation treatment. This research, which studied melanoma cells, follows a previous MU study that found similar results in the treatment of prostate cancer. The next step is for researchers to develop a successful method to deliver the compound to tumor sites and potentially treat many types of cancers.

Disrupting an antioxidant pathway prevents heart disease caused by reductive stress

Posted: 11 Oct 2013 10:38 AM PDT

University of Utah researchers have found that deficiency of an antioxidant response protein called nuclear erythroid-2 like factor-2 (Nrf2) delays or prevents hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a type of a heart failure in which the heart muscle grows abnormally thick.

This new finding, published in the Oct. 1, 2013, issue of Cardiovascular Research, suggests that restoring the normal balance of reduction-oxidation chemical reactions in the body could prevent heart disease and other conditions caused by reductive stress.

Badgers ultimately responsible for around half of TB in cattle, study estimates

Posted: 11 Oct 2013 08:06 AM PDT

Badgers are ultimately responsible for roughly half of tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in areas with high TB prevalence, according to new estimates.

However, only around six per cent of infected cattle catch TB from badgers, with onward transmission between cattle herds accounting for the remainder, the study suggests.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS Currents: Outbreaks.

The role of badgers in spreading bovine TB has been debated intensely as part of discussions about whether badgers should be culled to control the disease.

New study gets to heart of triglycerides’ role in coronary disease

Posted: 11 Oct 2013 07:51 AM PDT

A team led by Broad Institute researchers has found that triglycerides - the fats that our bodies burn for fuel - play a causal role in coronary artery disease (CAD), the most common form of heart disease and the leading cause of death in the United States. The study, which leverages new genetic data from a related genome-wide association study, suggests that lowering triglyceride levels through treatment may help reduce the risk of CAD. The findings appear this week in Nature Genetics.