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Tracking retinal changes may help doctors to adjust schizophrenia treatment in the future

Schizophrenia is associated with structural and functional alterations of the visual system, including specific structural changes in the eye. Tracking such changes may provide new measures of risk for, and progression of the disease, according to a literature review published online in the journal Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, authored by researchers at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai and Rutgers University.

18 Aug 2015

Prion protein could play a role in depression

The discovery of antidepressant drugs in the 1950s led to the first biochemical hypothesis of depression, known as the monoamine hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that an imbalance of certain brain chemicals is the key cause of depression.

14 Aug 2015

Study suggests potential target for treating familial form of ALS

A healthy motor neuron needs to transport its damaged components from the nerve-muscle connection all the way back to the cell body in the spinal cord. If it cannot, the defective components pile up and the cell becomes sick and dies. Researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke have learned how a mutation in the gene for superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), which causes ALS, leads cells to accumulate damaged materials.

13 Aug 2015

Major gaps found in existing evidence for best practices for cleaning hospital room surfaces to prevent HAIs

Tray tables, bed rails, light switches, and toilets: All are common vectors for swapping germs between patients and health care workers. While a new systematic overview in this week's Annals of Internal Medicine points to several promising cleaning tactics of these "high-touch surfaces," there's a lack of evidence as to which is the most effective at reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

11 Aug 2015

Statistical models play key role in risk analysis, help mitigate effects of natural and man-made disasters

Statistical models are playing an increasingly important role in risk analysis and helping the United States and other countries around the globe mitigate the effects of natural and man-made disasters, said Siddhartha (Sid) Dalal during a presentation at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM 2015) yesterday in Seattle.

11 Aug 2015

Scientists develop biosensor to measure abnormal activity of cell 'fuel' carrier

To be able to function, cell mitochondria import "fuel" using a carrier, the Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier (MPC). In order to determine whether the MPC is still functional in malignant cells, the team of Professor Jean-Claude Martinou, at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has just developed a biosensor to measure its live activity.

7 Aug 2015

Researchers develop new technology to track DNA-protein binding in live cells

Researchers have developed a new technology that precisely marks where groups of regulatory proteins called transcription factors bind DNA in the nuclei of live cells.

7 Aug 2015

Modern living could lead to 'hidden' epidemic of neurological brain disease

Modern living could be responsible for an 'almost epidemic' increase in neurological brain disease, according to new research from Bournemouth University.

6 Aug 2015

New biosensors detect efficient microbial workers that produce chemical, pharmaceutical commodities

Super productive factories of the future could employ fleets of genetically engineered bacterial cells, such as common E. coli, to produce valuable chemical commodities in an environmentally friendly way.

5 Aug 2015

Sleeping in lateral position may effectively remove brain waste, say Stony Brook researchers

Sleeping in the lateral, or side position, as compared to sleeping on one's back or stomach, may more effectively remove brain waste and prove to be an important practice to help reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological diseases, according to researchers at Stony Brook University.

5 Aug 2015

Teen scientist finds solution to tackle water quality issues

For some of us it was an exciting time of creative experimentation. For others it was a time of botched and badly displayed data. For 16-year-old Maria Elena Grimmett, it's a blast. And she isn't peddling baking soda and vinegar volcanoes. Grimmett is tackling serious water quality issues that threaten the health of rivers, streams and groundwater. When she was just 14 years old, Grimmett was the youngest person published in the Journal of Environmental Quality.

31 Jul 2015

Researchers develop evidence-based model that can predict amount of nicotine released from e-cigarette

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers at the VCU Center for the Study of Tobacco Products (CSTP) have developed the first ever, evidence-based model that can predict with up to 90 percent accuracy the amount of nicotine emitted by an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette).

31 Jul 2015

Novel 3D human skin tissue model could help detect presence of known skin sensitizers in medical device extracts

New research shows that exposing a 3D human skin tissue model to extracts of medical device materials can detect the presence of sensitizers known to cause an allergic response on contact in some individuals. Conventional skin sensitization testing of medical devices relies on animal testing, whereas human skin models could replace animal methods, according to an article in the new journal Applied In Vitro Toxicology, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

30 Jul 2015

Smaller doses of resveratrol more effective at preventing bowel cancer

Resveratrol, a chemical found in red grapes, is more effective in smaller doses at preventing bowel cancer in mice than high doses, according to new research published today (Wednesday) in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

30 Jul 2015

Mice without specific brain chemical develop characteristics similar to bipolar disorder, shows study

Mice that have a particular brain chemical switched off become hyperactive and sleep for just 65 per cent of their normal time.

29 Jul 2015

Recycling older electronic devices increases exposure to lead, creates health concern

The disposal and recycling of electronic devices has increased exposure to lead and other toxicants and created "an emerging health concern," according to a pediatrician who directs the Environmental Health and Lead Clinic at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

29 Jul 2015

UMass Amherst toxicologist hopes US regulatory agency may acknowledge hormesis hypothesis soon

When environmental toxicologist Edward Calabrese in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst heard recently that the U.S. National Regulatory Commission has opened a new docket on proposed rule changes and standards for radiation protection, he felt it as "a vindication of my 30-year career, in many ways."

25 Jul 2015

BGU-UWA researchers develop new process to produce graphene for use in energy storage

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and University of Western Australia researchers have developed a new process to develop few-layer graphene for use in energy storage and other material applications that is faster, potentially scalable and surmounts some of the current graphene production limitations.

25 Jul 2015

Endocrine Society selects 18 endocrinologists as winners of 2016 Laureate Awards

The Endocrine Society today announced it has chosen 18 accomplished endocrinologists as winners of the organization's prestigious 2016 Laureate Awards.

24 Jul 2015

Brown University explores effect of chemical exposures on the brain and thyroid during pregnancy, childhood

Exposure to the endocrine disrupting chemicals bisphenol A, triclosan and phthalates is ubiquitous in the United States, raising concerns that they may affect health. With a new four-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Brown University epidemiologist Joseph Braun will try to close a gap in research: the effect of these exposures on the brain and thyroid during pregnancy and childhood.