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Good number of natural bypass vessels an 'insurance policy' against blockage

When the arteries delivering oxygen to our vital organs are obstructed by atherosclerosis or clots, the result is almost always a stroke, heart attack or damage to a peripheral tissue such as the legs (peripheral artery disease). But the severity of tissue injury or destruction from a choked-off blood supply varies from person to person, and may depend in large part on whose circulatory system has the best back-up plan to provide alternate routes of circulation.

26 May 2010

Research findings on pediatric ILD published online in PED

An insightful and in-depth presentation of the most up-to-date clinical and research findings and historical perspectives on pediatric interstitial lung disease is presented in a special issue published online ahead of print in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

26 May 2010

QIAGEN acquires rights to 70 molecular food safety tests developed by Institute for Product Quality

QIAGEN today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the Institute for Product Quality (ifp), pursuant to which QIAGEN has acquired all rights to 70 molecular food safety tests developed by the Berlin-based specialized laboratory center for food analysis.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 26 May 2010

Researchers study how hematopoietic cells react when Epo levels increase

Our body reacts to blood loss by stimulating the production of red blood cells (erythrocytes). The cells of the hematopoietic (blood-forming) system in the bone marrow do so upon receipt of a signal by a hormone called erythropoietin, or Epo for short. This hormone is produced mainly by the kidney that increases the Epo level by up to a thousand-fold as a response to falling oxygen saturation of the blood.

25 May 2010

Living wills do not represent patients’ treatment preferences in end-of-life scenarios

Living wills often do not represent a patient's actual treatment preferences when faced with real end-of-life circumstances and should be redesigned to guide more realistic advance decision-making, according to a study published in Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

21 May 2010

Androgen receptors promote hepatitis B virus in growth and development of hepatoma cells

Dr. Ming-Heng Wu of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan, in collaboration with Prof. Chawnshang Chang's laboratory of University of Rochester (UR), United States, have discovered that androgen receptors (AR) can promote hepatitis B virus-induced hepatocarcinogenesis through modulation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA transcription.

20 May 2010

New study shows CDPK1 controls toxoplasma's ability to secrete microneme proteins

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a parasite protein that has all the makings of a microbial glass jaw: it's essential, it's vulnerable and humans have nothing like it, meaning scientists can take pharmacological swings at it with minimal fear of collateral damage.

20 May 2010

genOway and Griffith University sign research partnership and license for olfactory stem cells technology

genOway, the biotechnology company dedicated to the development of genetically modified animal models, today reports an agreement with the Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia) on a eight-months research partnership with its Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies focusing on autologous olfactory adult stem cells. This research program is coupled with a world wide exclusive license to genOway for the rodent transgenic business.

17 May 2010

Blood-flow fMRI to be used to study brain-wide impact of neural circuitry changes

Like a motorist who knows that the "check engine" light indicates something important but ill-defined is happening, neuroscientists have relied heavily on an incompletely understood technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging to show them what the brain is doing when people respond to different stimuli.

17 May 2010

Agronomic practices can increase cancer-preventive phytochemicals in broccoli and tomatoes

A University of Illinois study has demonstrated that agronomic practices can greatly increase the cancer-preventive phytochemicals in broccoli and tomatoes.

15 May 2010

HIV disease tends to progress at faster rate in infected individuals who consume more alcoholic drinks

HIV disease tends to progress at a faster rate in infected individuals who consume two or more alcoholic drinks a day, according to an important new paper in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

14 May 2010

Encouraging B. anthracis to unwittingly unmask itself will help eradicate the pathogen

Anthrax-causing bacteria can be engineered to shed their invisibility cloaks, making it easier for the immune system to eradicate it, according to a new study published in Microbiology. The work could lead to new measures to treat anthrax infection in the event of a biological warfare attack.

7 May 2010

Decisive impact of informatics on nanomedicine

According to what researchers from Facultad de Informática and other institutions have advanced in an article just published in the prestigious medical journal Pediatric Research (Vol.6, No. 5, 2010), nanoparticles are poised to play a key role in medical research in the coming decades, when nanomedicine will become part of medical practice.

5 May 2010

StemCells first-quarter total revenue up 307%

StemCells, Inc., a leading stem cell technology company with the dual focus of novel therapeutics and innovative research products, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 and recent business highlights.

5 May 2010

Neural stem cell transplantation promising for Batten disease

Neuronal Ceroid Liposfuscinosis (NCL), often referred to as Batten disease, is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts infants and young children. NCL is caused by a deficiency of a lysosomal enzyme, and is a relatively rare disease, affecting an estimated 2 to 4 of every 100,000 babies born in the U.S. Although NCLs are classified as rare diseases, they often affect more than one child in families that carry the defective gene, and tragically, are always fatal.

4 May 2010

Opinions: Sanitation and women, child health; GM in Global Food Security bill; U.S. malaria strategy; GHI on NTDs; Haiti recovery

"If Stephen Harper is serious about maternal health and child health [as suggested by his plans for the upcoming G8 and G20 summits], he needs to recognize that healthy mothers come from healthy communities," Maude Barlow and Meera Karunananthan of the Council of Canadians write in a Chronicle Herald opinion piece that examines the connections between the health of women and children and access to drinking water and sanitation.

30 Apr 2010

Opinions: G8 summit; World Malaria Day; Family planning; Global Food Security Act

As G8 development leaders gather in Halifax, Nova Scotia, this week to discuss priorities for the upcoming summit, Josette Sheeran, executive director of the WFP, calls for world leaders to focus on the nutritional needs of mothers and children in developing countries in a Toronto Star opinion piece.

27 Apr 2010

Myths and facts about pediatric cancer

"Your child has cancer." They are words every parent can't imagine hearing.

24 Apr 2010

Plant-based vaccine factory to produce vaccines and therapeutics within weeks of outbreaks

The Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology in Newark, Delaware, the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation in Boston, Massachusetts, the Boston University College of Engineering, and the biopharmaceutical company iBio, Inc. in Newark, Delaware, announced today that they have developed a fully automated, scalable "factory" that uses natural (non-genetically-modified) green plants to efficiently produce large quantities of vaccines and therapeutics within weeks.

23 Apr 2010

Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals announces new TGEM Rat Model product line

Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., based in Lexington, KY, has announced today that it has added 170 genetically modified rats and related biomaterials to its database of laboratory rats with a genetic modification that can mimic a human disease. These animals are used by academic, pharmaceutical, and biotech scientists for drug discovery and development research and will be sold under Transposagen's new TGEM(TM) Rat Models brand.