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Current scientific understanding of left and right-handedness

Left-handedness is sometimes the expression of a genetic defect or an early developmental disturbance. In this issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, Stefan Gutwinski and coauthors present the current scientific understanding of left- and right-handedness.

28 Dec 2011

Hard Candy Fitness Moscow Center opens for workouts

Madonna in partnership with her manager Guy Oseary and Mark Mastrov, Chairman of New Evolution Ventures (NeV), announced their second Hard Candy Fitness Center in Moscow is now open for workouts.

26 Dec 2011

Potential new strategy against bacteria with multi-drug resistant organisms

Vaccines with broader reach might be made by stimulating specialized immune cells to recognize foreign cell membrane proteins that are shared across bacterial species, say researchers from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in a report published online today in Immunity.

23 Dec 2011

LincRNAs play key roles during embryonic brain development

Whitehead Institute scientists have identified conserved, long intervening non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) that play key roles during embryonic brain development in zebrafish. They also show that the human versions of the lincRNAs can substitute for the zebrafish versions, which implies that the functions of these non-coding RNAs have been retained in humans as well as fish.

23 Dec 2011

Faulty lipid metabolism may cause MS, says forensic anthropologist

An article to be published in the December 2011 issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology argues that multiple sclerosis, long viewed as primarily an autoimmune disease, is not actually a disease of the immune system.

23 Dec 2011

Changes in social structure, cultural practices can contribute to human evolution

Changes in social structure and cultural practices can also contribute to human evolution, according to a study that has recently been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), contributed to by the lecturer Mireia Esparza and assistant Neus Martínez-Abadías, from the Anthropology Unit of the UB's Department of Animal Biology.

23 Dec 2011

Researchers identify previously unknown gene fusion event in lung cancer

Smoking is a well-known risk factor for lung cancer, but nearly 25% of all lung cancer patients have never smoked. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers have identified a previously unknown gene fusion event that could explain a significant proportion of lung cancer cases in never-smokers, and might serve as a target for new therapies.

23 Dec 2011

Researchers discover how normal cells in tumors can drive cancer growth

•A new study published in the journal Nature Cell Biology has discovered how normal cells in tumors can fuel tumor growth.

22 Dec 2011

Research into how flying fox spreads infectious diseases

The flying fox is an adorable doe-eyed bat with a dark side - it is the perfect vector for emerging infectious diseases from Asia. Susan Tsang, a PhD student in ecology and evolutionary biology at The City College of New York and the CUNY Graduate Center, turned to a revolutionary way to help fund her research into how this species spreads disease.

21 Dec 2011

Scientists identify why African naked mole-rat feels no pain when exposed to acid

British researchers of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have found out why the African naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), one of the world's most unusual mammals, feels no pain when exposed to acid.

21 Dec 2011

Study on how Antarctic worms survive current levels of ocean warming

Researchers at the University of Delaware are examining tiny worms that inhabit the frigid sea off Antarctica to learn not only how these organisms adapt to the severe cold, but how they will survive as ocean temperatures increase.

21 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: If not the health law, then what?; Shifting Medicare costs isn't enough

When President Barack Obama's health care reform was making its way through Congress, Republicans and other opponents registered plenty of criticisms: It was too generous, too inflexible and too centralized. But such concerns were brushed aside in the push to get a bill passed. Today, it's harder to ignore those flaws. Implementation of the program has brought tougher challenges than the administration led Americans to expect. So it has been obliged to make some major concessions to reality.

21 Dec 2011

Mazor Robotics announces purchase agreement with NSH Michigan

Mazor Robotics Ltd, the leader in innovative surgical robots and complementary products for spine surgery, announced a purchase agreement with NSH Michigan, Inc.

21 Dec 2011

Math model reveals that spatial tissue structure delays tumor formation

Cancer growth normally follows a lengthy period of development. Over the course of time, genetic mutations often accumulate in cells, leading first to pre-cancerous conditions and ultimately to tumour growth. Using a mathematical model, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in G-ttingen, University of Pennsylvania and University of California San Francisco, have now shown that spatial tissue structure, such as that found in the colon, slows down the accumulation of genetic mutations, thereby delaying the onset of cancer.

20 Dec 2011

Halcyon Healthcare acquires Compassionate Hospice and Altus Healthcare & Hospice

Halcyon Healthcare, a portfolio company of Health Evolution Partners, announced today the completion of two hospice acquisitions in central and northern Georgia. The acquired companies, Compassionate Hospice and Altus Healthcare & Hospice, mark the first two transactions for Halcyon. Halcyon was formed in 2010 by HEP, Dan Kohl and Jack Draughon to build a leading hospice and home health company in the Southeastern U.S.

19 Dec 2011

Six UNC faculty members named AAAC fellow

Six University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

16 Dec 2011

Lab results change in consistent ways during the course of Kawasaki disease

Children with Kawasaki disease show a pattern of changing laboratory test results as the disease runs its course, according to a study in the December issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

15 Dec 2011

First Total Artificial Heart implant performed at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia

Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed the first Total Artificial Heart implant in the New York City area to replace a patient's dying heart.

15 Dec 2011

Modern humans have a better sense of smell than Neanderthals

Compared to Neanderthals, modern humans have a better sense of smell. Differences in the temporal lobes and olfactory bulbs also suggest a combined use of brain functions related to cognition and olfaction. The increase of brain size is intimately linked to the evolution of humanity. Two different human species, Neanderthals and modern humans, have independently evolved brains of roughly the same size but with differing shapes. This could indicate a difference in the underlying brain organization.

15 Dec 2011

Mandatory vaccination policy increases healthcare worker flu vaccination rates

A California hospital raised its employee influenza vaccination rate above 90 percent by shifting from a voluntary vaccination program to one mandating all healthcare workers either get vaccinated or wear a mask at work for the entire flu season (December through March).

13 Dec 2011