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Understanding a Protein’s Role in Familial Alzheimer’s Disease
Your Brain ‘Sees’ Things Even When You Don’t
New Approach Advances Wireless Power Transfer for Vehicles
Bariatric surgery can lead to premature birth
Are Probiotics a Promising Treatment Strategy for Depression?
Solution to Immune Mystery Could Lead to Better Therapies
Anthrax Toxin Can Lurk for Days in Cells as a Lingering Threat
Nicotine Withdrawal Traced to Very Specific Group of Brain Cells
Toxin Produced by Bacteria Could Serve as a Model for Next-Generation Antibiotics

Understanding a Protein’s Role in Familial Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 12:53 PM PST

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have used genetic engineering of human induced pluripotent stem cells to specifically and precisely parse the roles of a key mutated protein in causing familial Alzheimer’s disease (AD), discovering that simple loss-of-function does not contribute to the inherited form of the neurodegenerative disorder.

Your Brain ‘Sees’ Things Even When You Don’t

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 10:33 AM PST

The brain processes visual input to the level of understanding its meaning even if we never consciously perceive that input, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The research, led by Jay Sanguinetti of the University of Arizona, challenges currently accepted models about how the brain processes visual information.

New Approach Advances Wireless Power Transfer for Vehicles

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:36 AM PST

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed new technology and techniques for transmitting power wirelessly from a stationary source to a mobile receiver – moving engineers closer to their goal of creating highway “stations” that can recharge electric vehicles wirelessly as the vehicles drive by.

Bariatric surgery can lead to premature birth

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:23 AM PST

Babies born of women who have undergone bariatric (weight-loss) surgery are more likely to be premature and to be small for gestational age, according to a large registry study carried out at Karolinska Institutet, and published in the BMJ. The researchers believe that these pregnancies should be considered risk pregnancies and that prenatal care should monitor them extra carefully.

Are Probiotics a Promising Treatment Strategy for Depression?

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 08:50 AM PST

Probiotics are not new, but their status as a nutritional buzzword is. Most folks have now heard and seen the term countless times in commercials and advertisements, as yogurt, dietary supplement, natural food product, and even cosmetic companies promote their probiotic-containing products.

Solution to Immune Mystery Could Lead to Better Therapies

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 08:45 AM PST

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has solved a long-standing conundrum about the immune system and in so doing may have found a new way to boost or reduce immunity therapeutically.

Anthrax Toxin Can Lurk for Days in Cells as a Lingering Threat

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 08:00 AM PST

The deadly toxin produced by anthrax bacteria can hide out in human cells for days, invisible both to our immune systems and to the cellular machinery responsible for destroying proteins. The findings reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on November 14th explain why antibiotics aren't always enough to cure anthrax infections.

Nicotine Withdrawal Traced to Very Specific Group of Brain Cells

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 08:00 AM PST

Nicotine withdrawal might take over your body, but it doesn't take over your brain. The symptoms of nicotine withdrawal are driven by a very specific group of neurons within a very specific brain region, according to a report in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, on November 14. Although caution is warranted, the researchers say, the findings in mice suggest that therapies directed at this group of neurons might one day help people quit smoking.

Toxin Produced by Bacteria Could Serve as a Model for Next-Generation Antibiotics

Posted: 14 Nov 2013 08:00 AM PST

The recent rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a serious public health threat, and there is a need for new therapeutic strategies to combat these infections. A study published by Cell Press on November 14th in the journal Molecular Cell has revealed a new toxin that inhibits bacterial growth by blocking the DNA replication machinery, which is not targeted by currently available antibiotics. The findings open new therapeutic avenues for developing the next generation of antibiotics.