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When Cats Bite: 1 in 3 Patients Bitten in Hand Hospitalized, Infections Common
Bipolar patients have high Rx burden
Diamond film possible without the pressure
Researchers discover new hormone receptors to target when treating breast cancer
Appearance of Lyme Disease Rash Can Help Predict How Bacteria Spreads Through Body
Brain development - the pivotal role of the stem cell environment
Materials database proves its mettle with new discoveries
Split Decision: Stem Cell Signal Linked With Cancer Growth
Hardships Explain Much of Hospital Asthma Readmissions Among Black Children and Teens
Beliefs about HPV Vaccine Do Not Lead to Initiation of Sex or Risky Sexual Behavior among Teen Girls and Young Women
Natural plant compound prevents Alzheimer's disease in mice
Invisible risk group among adolescents at risk of mental ill-health
Shivering Could Elicit Some of the Same Benefits as Exercise
Researchers find retrieval practice improves memory in severe traumatic brain injury
Precise Gene Editing in Monkeys Paves the Way for Valuable Human Disease Models
Brain Regions Thought To Be Uniquely Human Share Many Similarities with Monkeys
Study analyzes content of nightmares and bad dreams
Converting adult human cells to hair-follicle-generating stem cells
New catalytic converter could cut fuel consumption and car manufacturing costs
Successful Regeneration of Human Skeletal Muscle in Mice Enables Accelerated Research in Muscular Dystrophy

When Cats Bite: 1 in 3 Patients Bitten in Hand Hospitalized, Infections Common

Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:05 AM PST

Dogs aren’t the only pets who sometimes bite the hands that feed them. Cats do too, and when they strike a hand, can inject bacteria deep into joints and tissue, perfect breeding grounds for infection. Cat bites to the hand are so dangerous, 1 in 3 patients with such wounds had to be hospitalized, a Mayo Clinic study covering three years showed. Two-third of those hospitalized needed surgery. Middle-aged women were the most common bite victims, according to the research, published in the Journal of Hand Surgery.

Bipolar patients have high Rx burden

Posted: 05 Feb 2014 06:59 AM PST

A new study of patients with bipolar disorder finds that 36 percent of those who were admitted to a Rhode Island psychiatric hospital in 2010 were receiving “complex polypharmacy” — four or more psychotropic medications — from their community providers. The polypharmacy rate was significantly higher for women. Including prescriptions for other conditions the patients may have had, the average patient was on six medications.

Diamond film possible without the pressure

Posted: 05 Feb 2014 06:45 AM PST

Perfect sheets of diamond a few atoms thick appear to be possible even without the big squeeze that makes natural gems.

Scientists have speculated about it and a few labs have even seen signs of what they call diamane, an extremely thin film of diamond that has all of diamond’s superior semiconducting and thermal properties.

Researchers discover new hormone receptors to target when treating breast cancer

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:13 AM PST

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. For patients whose breast cancers are hormone-dependent, current treatment focuses on using drugs that block estrogen (a type of hormone) from attaching to estrogen receptors on tumor cells to prevent the cells from growing and spreading.

Appearance of Lyme Disease Rash Can Help Predict How Bacteria Spreads Through Body

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:05 AM PST

Lyme disease is often evident by a rash on the skin, but infections do not always produce similar rashes. This can make it difficult to detect the disease early, when antibiotic treatment is most effective. In the February 4th issue of the Biophysical Journal, published by Cell Press, researchers describe a new mathematical model that captures the interactions between disease-causing bacteria and the host immune response that affect the appearance of a rash and the spread of infection.

Brain development - the pivotal role of the stem cell environment

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:44 AM PST

Higher mammals, such as humans, have markedly larger brains than other mammals. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden recently discovered a new mechanism governing brain stem cell proliferation. It serves to boost the production of neurons during development, thus causing the enlargement of the cerebral cortex – the part of the brain that enables us humans to speak, think and dream.

Materials database proves its mettle with new discoveries

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:40 AM PST

Trying to find new materials, to improve the performance of anything from microchips to car bodies, has always been a process of trial and error. MIT materials scientist Gerbrand Ceder likens it to setting out from Boston for California, with neither a map nor a navigation system — and on foot.

Split Decision: Stem Cell Signal Linked With Cancer Growth

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 11:43 AM PST

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a protein critical to hematopoietic stem cell function and blood formation. The finding has potential as a new target for treating leukemia because cancer stem cells rely upon the same protein to regulate and sustain their growth.

Hardships Explain Much of Hospital Asthma Readmissions Among Black Children and Teens

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 05:15 AM PST

Black children are twice as likely as white children to be readmitted to the hospital for asthma – a disparity due in large part to a greater burden of financial and social hardships, according to a new study.

Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center found that 23 percent of black children were readmitted within a year, while 11 percent of other children in the study, most of whom were white, were readmitted within a year. Nearly 19 percent of all children were readmitted to the hospital within 12 months.

Beliefs about HPV Vaccine Do Not Lead to Initiation of Sex or Risky Sexual Behavior among Teen Girls and Young Women

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:47 AM PST

A new study may alleviate concerns that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine leads to either the initiation of sex or unsafe sexual behaviors among teenage girls and young women.

Natural plant compound prevents Alzheimer's disease in mice

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:23 AM PST

A chemical that's found in fruits and vegetables from strawberries to cucumbers appears to stop memory loss that accompanies Alzheimer's disease in mice, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered. In experiments on mice that normally develop Alzheimer's symptoms less than a year after birth, a daily dose of the compound—a flavonol called fisetin—prevented the progressive memory and learning impairments.

Invisible risk group among adolescents at risk of mental ill-health

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 04:10 AM PST

Adolescents with high media use, reduced sleep and low physical activity comprise an 'invisible-risk' group that has high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms, according to a large international study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The results of the study are published in the February issue of World Psychiatry.

Shivering Could Elicit Some of the Same Benefits as Exercise

Posted: 31 Jan 2014 08:56 AM PST

It's common knowledge that shivering in the cold is part of the body's attempt to stay warm. According to new research into the mechanisms involved, shivering releases a hormone that stimulates fat tissue to produce heat so that the body can maintain its core temperature. This hormone, irisin, is also produced by muscle during exercise. The findings, which are published in the February 4 issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism, demonstrates that the act of shivering produces calorie-burning brown fat and improves metabolism.

Researchers find retrieval practice improves memory in severe traumatic brain injury

Posted: 31 Jan 2014 08:45 AM PST

Researchers have shown that retrieval practice can improve memory in individuals with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). “Retrieval Practice Improves Memory in Survivors of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury,” was published as a brief report in the current issue of Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Volume 95, Issue 2 (390-396) February 2014. The article is authored by James Sumowski, PhD, Julia Coyne, PhD, Amanda Cohen, BA, and John DeLuca, PhD, of Kessler Foundation.

Precise Gene Editing in Monkeys Paves the Way for Valuable Human Disease Models

Posted: 30 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

Monkeys are important for modeling diseases because of their close similarities to humans, but past efforts to precisely modify genes in primates have failed. In a study published by Cell Press January 30th in the journal Cell, researchers achieved precise gene modification in monkeys for the first time using an efficient and reliable approach known as the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The study opens promising new avenues for the development of more effective treatments for a range of human diseases.

Brain Regions Thought To Be Uniquely Human Share Many Similarities with Monkeys

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

New research suggests a surprising degree of similarity in the organization of regions of the brain that control language and complex thought processes in humans and monkeys. The study, publishing online January 28 in the Cell Press journal Neuron, also revealed some key differences. The findings may provide valuable insights into the evolutionary processes that established our ties to other primates but also made us distinctly human.

Study analyzes content of nightmares and bad dreams

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:19 AM PST

According to a new study by researchers at the University of Montreal, nightmares have greater emotional impact than bad dreams do, and fear is not always a factor. In fact, it is mostly absent in bad dreams and in a third of nightmares. What is felt, instead, is sadness, confusion, guilt, disgust, etc. For their analysis of 253 nightmares and 431 bad dreams, researchers obtained the narratives of nearly 10,000 dreams. “Physical aggression is the most frequently reported theme in nightmares. Moreover, nightmares become so intense they will wake you up.

Converting adult human cells to hair-follicle-generating stem cells

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:09 AM PST

If the content of many a situation comedy, not to mention late-night TV advertisements, is to be believed, there's an epidemic of balding men, and an intense desire to fix their follicular deficiencies.

One potential approach to reversing hair loss uses stem cells to regenerate the missing or dying hair follicles. But it hasn't been possible to generate sufficient number of hair-follicle-generating stem cells – until now.

New catalytic converter could cut fuel consumption and car manufacturing costs

Posted: 27 Jan 2014 08:43 PM PST

A new catalytic converter that could cut fuel consumption and manufacturing costs has been designed by a scientist from Imperial College London.

A catalytic converter is the component in a vehicle’s exhaust system that eliminates harmful emissions. Tests suggest that the new prototype could reduce fuel consumption in a standard vehicle by up to three per cent. It could also deliver environmental benefits by reducing the amount of CO₂ that each vehicle emits.

Successful Regeneration of Human Skeletal Muscle in Mice Enables Accelerated Research in Muscular Dystrophy

Posted: 27 Jan 2014 11:03 AM PST

Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute recently announced study findings showing the successful development of a humanized preclinical model for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), providing scientists with a much needed tool to accelerate novel therapeutic research and development.