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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Scientists receive over $3M to launch training and mentorship programs for promising young researchers

Scientists from the Universit- de Montr-al and its affiliated engineering school, -cole Polytechnique, have received major funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Over $3 million was awarded to enable both institutions to launch training and mentorship programs for promising young researchers.

17 Jun 2010

FDA approves clinical testing of SanBio's SB623 for stroke recovery

SanBio Inc. announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the clinical testing of their SB623 regenerative medicine product in patients suffering from disability caused by cerebral stroke. SB623 is derived from bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) isolated from healthy adult donors.

17 Jun 2010

CASMED completes $1.9M private placement of common stock

CAS Medical Systems, Inc. today announced that the Company has consummated a non-brokered private placement of its common stock with a limited group of accredited investors. The placement, for an aggregate consideration of $1,925,000, consists of 1,375,000 shares of common stock at a price of $1.40 per share.

17 Jun 2010

AGA Medical commences enrollment in AMPLATZER Cardiac Plug clinical trial

AGA Medical Holdings, Inc. today announced first patient enrollment in the feasibility phase of the prospective, multicenter, randomized AMPLATZER® Cardiac Plug clinical trial. Dr. William Nicholson, an interventional cardiologist and structural heart specialist at York Hospital in Pennsylvania, enrolled the first patient.

16 Jun 2010

Dietary guideline on sodium puts Americans at risk

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture may increase health risks, including obesity, by ignoring sound science as they announce recommendations to reduce sodium consumption to 1,500 mg per day, says the Salt Institute.

16 Jun 2010

Stress-related psychiatric disorders more common among women: Study

There may be a biological reason why depression and other stress-related psychiatric disorders are more common among women compared to men. Studying stress signaling systems in animal brains, neuroscience researchers found that females are more sensitive to low levels of an important stress hormone and less able to adapt to high levels than males.

16 Jun 2010

Covidien, Somanetics sign definitive merger agreement

Covidien plc and Somanetics Corporation today announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Covidien will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Somanetics Corporation for $25.00 per share in cash, for a total of $250 million, net of cash acquired.

16 Jun 2010

Taste is in tongue of beholder when it comes to vodka

A UC researcher proposes that taste is in the tongue of the beholder when it comes to vodka.

16 Jun 2010

Researchers study science and clinical treatment of FAS

It's long been known that alcohol use in pregnancy can lead to children with mental retardation and birth defects, but researchers who study fetal alcohol syndrome have not made definitive progress on preventing the disorder, detecting it early, or effectively treating it, say researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center.

16 Jun 2010

3 new genes in genetic research of suicidal behaviour

Three genes that have barely been studied to date have now provided fresh knowledge about patients with suicidal backgrounds. This is the result of a study by a team of Spanish researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital and Columbia University in the City of New York (United States), which found that several mutations are involved. This finding could help to develop future genetic tests to identify predisposition to suicide, without ignoring the importance of social and cultural factors.

16 Jun 2010

Many Huntington's disease patients suffer from weight loss, sleeping problems

An aggregating protein causes many of the symptoms of Huntington's disease, an incurable and frequently fatal brain disorder. Mosaic winner Ahmad Aziz discovered that the abnormal protein also aggregates in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system.

16 Jun 2010

Dutch researcher investigates causes and consequences of insomnia

The brains of older adults with chronic sleep problems look different from those of adults who have enjoyed enough sleep. Yet the older adults function well despite their lack of sleep. They switch to a continuous form of mild stress, as a result of which they sometimes even perform better than contemporaries who enjoy a good night's sleep says Dutch researcher Ellemarije Altena.

16 Jun 2010

Acclaimed virologist delivers the 2010 Leeuwenhoek prize lecture

Acclaimed virologist Robert Webster, Ph.D., of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, presented the 2010 Leeuwenhoek prize lecture today, a prestigious recognition awarded by the Royal Society in London.

16 Jun 2010

Clinical trial to examine use of biomarkers to advance treatment of malignant gliomas launched

The Brain Tumor Unit at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, is launching a clinical trial that will examine the use of biomarkers to advance the treatment of malignant gliomas, brain tumors that start in the brain or spinal cord tissue. Annually, about 17,000 Americans are diagnosed with gliomas, which are difficult to treat and often fatal.

16 Jun 2010

Study validates Grm1 protein as target for melanoma treatment

Research by investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) is showing new promise in the treatment of melanoma, the most serious of skin cancers. The findings, published in the May 27, 2010, online edition of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology further validate the team's clinical and pre-clinical findings that blocking the signaling normally activated by a receptor called Grm1 results in decreased cell growth and decreased migration of melanoma cells, confirming that Grm1 is a potential target for the treatment of melanoma.

16 Jun 2010

Florida State University researcher explores role of key protein in cell division

A Florida State University researcher has identified the important role that a key protein plays in cell division, and that discovery could lead to a greater understanding of stem cells.

16 Jun 2010

Elekta exercises share repurchase authorization

The Board of Directors of Elekta AB has decided to utilize the authorization received from the Annual General Meeting to repurchase shares in the company.

From Elekta 16 Jun 2010

European Commission grants Orphan Medicinal Product Designation for QPI-1002

Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a world leader in the discovery and development of RNAi-based therapeutics, today announced that the European Commission has granted Orphan Medicinal Product Designation for QPI-1002 (also referred to as "I5NP") for the prophylaxis of delayed graft function in kidney transplant patients.

16 Jun 2010

Disorder in degradation of proteins and other macromolecules in cells leads to serious diseases

The degradation of proteins and other macromolecules in cells is vital to survival. Disruption of this process can result in serious disease. The research group of Professor Thomas Jentsch (Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, FMP/ Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch) has now succeeded in identifying an essential cellular process necessary for the transport and degradation of macromolecules in endosomes and lysosomes, respectively.

16 Jun 2010

ISB, GIND collaborate on whole-genome sequencing to identify drug targets for Huntington's Disease

The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) of Seattle, WA, is collaborating with the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) and its Taube-Koret Center for Huntington's Disease Research to use whole-genome sequencing to identify genes and novel drug targets related to the onset and progression of Huntington's disease (HD). The research team, led by GIND associate director and senior investigator Steven Finkbeiner, MD, PhD, will also use induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from patients with HD to screen for drugs that might delay, prevent, or even reverse this devastating condition.

16 Jun 2010