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Researchers use unique computational approach to identify promising drug leads for heart diseases

Using a unique computational approach to rapidly sample, in millisecond time intervals, proteins in their natural state of gyrating, bobbing, and weaving, a research team from UC San Diego and Monash University in Australia has identified promising drug leads that may selectively combat heart disease, from arrhythmias to cardiac failure.

6 Sep 2016

Induced deliveries following rupture of amniotic sac pose no increased risk to health of mother and infants

A new Tel Aviv University study has determined that natural, spontaneous deliveries and induced deliveries following the rupture of the amniotic sac in the mother share similar neonatal outcomes, contradicting common wisdom.

1 Sep 2016

New study uses evolutionary theory to predict cancer risk in patients with Barrett's esophagus

A disorder known as Barrett's esophagus (BE) affects some 200,000 Americans each year. The condition, which is caused by stomach acid damaging the lining of the esophagus, can lead to the development of a serious, potentially fatal cancer of epithelial tissue, known as esophageal adenocarcinoma.

25 Aug 2016

UTMB researchers unlock clues to understand signals that trigger labor and delivery process

In a normal full-term pregnancy, signals from the mature organs of the fetus and the aging placental membranes and placenta prompt the uterus' muscular walls to begin the labor and delivery process. It's still unclear how these signals accomplish this goal or how they reach from the fetal side to the maternal side.

3 Aug 2016

Scientists capture new images of calcium-shuttling molecule linked to aggressive cancers

Scientists have captured new images of a calcium-shuttling molecule that has been linked to aggressive cancers. The three-dimensional structure could help researchers develop novel therapies and diagnostic tools for diseases that are caused by a malfunction in calcium adsorption.

18 Jul 2016

Exercise during pregnancy can have benefits for mom and baby

Researchers collected and re-examined clinical trial data on exercise during pregnancy and whether it plays a role in preterm birth, and found that exercise is safe and does not increase the risk of preterm birth.

7 Jul 2016

New electric mesh device wraps around the heart to deliver electrical impulses

A research team led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Seoul National University has developed a new electric mesh device that can be wrapped around the heart to deliver electrical impulses and thereby improve cardiac function in experimental models of heart failure, a major public health concern and leading cause of mortality and disability.

29 Jun 2016

Researchers identify new myosin kinase that could optimize heart contractions

The heart is the only muscle that contracts and relaxes continuously over a lifetime to pump oxygen-rich blood to the body's organs. Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center now have identified a previously unrecognized enzyme that could optimize contraction and lead to new strategies to treat heart failure.

21 Jun 2016

Cells grown from pluripotent stem cells can pair with heart muscle cells to stimulate contractions

Researchers at Johns Hopkins report that a type of lab-grown human nerve cells can partner with heart muscle cells to stimulate contractions.

17 Jun 2016

Loughborough research reveals most effective way of boosting muscle strength

Engaging in short, explosive leg contractions is the most effective way of strengthening muscles, Loughborough research reveals.

7 Jun 2016

Multiscale 3-D mathematical model of uterine contractions may aid in predicting preterm birth

Although researchers have been seeking the origins of preterm birth for many years, the causes are still relatively unknown. By studying the electrical activity that causes contractions, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and their collaborators have developed a multiscale model they believe may aid in predicting preterm birth.

1 Jun 2016

New research defies earlier belief that calcium channels function independently

Voltage-gated calcium channels open in unison, rather than independently, to allow calcium ions into and activate excitable cells such as neurons and muscle cells, researchers with UC Davis Health System and the University of Washington have found.

19 May 2016

Selenium deficiency could be possible risk factor for PPCM that affects pregnant women

Researchers have found a close link between selenium deficiency and Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a heart disease that affects pregnant women and recent mothers. The study of patients in Nigeria also showed that rural women were three times more likely to develop the disease, according to a doctoral dissertation at Umea University.

17 May 2016

Studies show how speaking French could significantly reduce symptoms of Benign Essential Blepharospasm

A fascinating new study published in the latest edition of Movements Disorders (Vol.00 No.00, 2016) presents two patient case studies that demonstrate how speaking French as a second language can significantly reduce the symptoms of a life-limiting eye condition, Benign Essential Blepharospasm (BEB).

17 May 2016

Novel iPad simulation app can instruct future nurses in monitoring babies and mothers during labor

Sheila Taylor leaned in to see the baby's heartbeat rhythm. She watched as the baby's heartbeat line fell without a corresponding spike showing the mother's uterus contracting down on it.

10 May 2016

SFU scientists aim to develop new control system for most advanced bionic hands

A Canadian athlete's dream to one day "move" his fingers again after losing an arm in a workplace accident is now within grasp, thanks to a robotic arm prosthesis being developed at Simon Fraser University.

5 May 2016

Little and often gives exercise benefits in Type 2 diabetes

Sedentary, overweight adults with Type 2 diabetes can improve their cardiometabolic profile by engaging in very brief but regular periods of light walking or resistance exercise, research suggests.

28 Apr 2016

Scientists find way to control behaviour of cardiomyocytes using laser radiation

Scientists from MIPT's Laboratory of the Biophysics of Excitable Systems have discovered how to control the behaviour of heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) using laser radiation; this study will help scientists to better understand the mechanisms of the heart and could ultimately provide a method of treating arrhythmia. The paper has been published in the journal PLOS ONE.

16 Apr 2016

Micra Transcatheter Pacing System approved to treat heart rhythm disorders

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first pacemaker that does not require the use of wired leads to provide an electrical connection between the pulse-generating device and the heart. While the Micra Transcatheter Pacing System works like other pacemakers to regulate heart rate, the self-contained, inch-long device is implanted directly in the right ventricle chamber of the heart.

7 Apr 2016

Transient contractions could be new target for therapeutic intervention in urinary bladder dysfunction

Researchers at the University of Vermont College of Medicine have made a discovery that helps explain how we know when to empty our bladders and may lead to new therapeutic interventions for bladder dysfunction.

28 Mar 2016