Morphology News and Research

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CSHL professor identifies two proteins that control structure of chandelier cells

Chandelier cells are neurons that use their unique shape to act like master circuit breakers in the brain's cerebral cortex. These cells have dozens, often hundreds, of branching axonal projections - output channels from the cell body of the neuron - that lend the full structure of a chandelier-like appearance.

17 Jan 2014

Researchers discover key step to stem bleeding, reduce obstruction in blood flow during clot formation

Red blood cells are the body's true shape shifters, perhaps the most malleable of all cell types, transforming - among many other forms -- into compressed discs capable of going through capillaries with diameters smaller than the blood cell itself.

10 Jan 2014

Study: Diffusion tensor MRI-based tractography can be used to evaluate nerve root function

If bulging or protruding intervertebral discs occupies the intervertebral foramen, and nerve roots are compressed. The cross-sectional area of nerve root fibers is reduced, fiber bundles gathered together and interrupted at the affected side, with no branching.

3 Jan 2014

Aerobic glycolysis is a cause of malignancy, show Berkeley Lab researchers

Metabolism was lost in the shadows of cancer research for decades but has recently been reclaiming some of the spotlight. Now, Mina Bissell, Distinguished Scientist with Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division and a leading authority on breast cancer, has shown that aerobic glycolysis - glucose metabolism in the presence of oxygen - is not the consequence of the cancerous activity of malignant cells but is itself a cancerous event.

18 Dec 2013

Arizona scientists investigate intriguing effects of spaceflight on microbial pathogens

At Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, Cheryl Nickerson and her team have been investigating the intriguing effects of spaceflight on microbial pathogens.

17 Dec 2013

Pregnant women accurately judge space needed to accommodate their growing bodies

Despite their changed body size, pregnant women are just as good as other people at judging whether they are able to fit through openings, such as doorways, or not.

17 Dec 2013

Baicalin inhibits colistin sulfate-induced apoptosis of PC12 cells

Baicalin, a type of flavonoid extracted from the dried root of Scutellaria baicalensis georgi, has been shown to effectively inhibit cell apoptosis. Colistin sulfate, a cyclic cationic polypeptide antibiotic, has been shown to have renal and neurological side effects.

4 Dec 2013

Nearly 1% of all newborns in Switzerland diagnosed with congenital heart defect

Approximately one percent of all newborns in Switzerland are diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, roughly half of them require open heart surgery. Most children, including those with the most severe heart defects, survive because of the significant advancements in surgical techniques. Therefore, the current research focuses less on survival than on long-term consequences and quality of life of these children.

2 Dec 2013

New book presents latest findings on reconstructive surgery of microtia/atresia of EAC

Remarkable progress in the development of new concepts and techniques used in reconstructive surgery of microtia/atresia of the external auditory canal (EAC) has been made since the beginning of the 21st century.

19 Oct 2013

Parasites in patients who relapse after leishmaniasis treatment may have greater infectivity

Relapses after treatment for Leishmania infection may be due to a greater infectivity of the parasite rather than drug resistance, as has been previously thought, according to a study published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

8 Oct 2013

Study indicates that RNA translation is dictated by translational hotspots

Protein synthesis in the extensions of nerve cells, called dendrites, underlies long-term memory formation in the brain, among other functions. "Thousands of messenger RNAs reside in dendrites, yet the dynamics of how multiple dendrite messenger RNAs translate into their final proteins remain elusive," says James Eberwine, PhD, professor of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-director of the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute.

27 Sep 2013

Prefrontal glutamate abnormalities confined to established psychosis

Abnormalities in glutamate and glutamine levels in the prefrontal cortex are only present in patients with chronic schizophrenia, say researchers.

24 Sep 2013

Mild COPD phenotype discovery offers treatment hope

Research indicates that smokers with and without mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be classified into distinct phenotypes on the basis of computed tomography findings.

23 Sep 2013

Undersize school chairs, low desks and overweight backpacks contribute to chronic back pain in adolescents

Undersize school chairs, low desks and overweight backpacks are contributing to chronic back pain in adolescents, according to a study from researchers in Portugal to be published in the International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics.

23 Sep 2013

Golgi apparatus: New target for treatment of acute cerebral infarction

Expression of soluble CD40L has been shown to increase sig-nificantly in conditions such as stroke, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, high cholesterol, or other cardiovascular events. 95% of the circulating CD40L exists in activated platelets.

5 Sep 2013

Scientists provide insights into compound that may prevent noise-related damage

Your mother was right when she warned you that loud music could damage your hearing, but now scientists have discovered exactly what gets damaged and how. In a research report published in the September 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, scientists describe exactly what type of damage noise does to the inner ear, and provide insights into a compound that may prevent noise-related damage.

30 Aug 2013

Clinical trials shows CRT improves symptoms, reduces mortality in patients with heart failure

In a large population of Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure who underwent implantation of a cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator, patients who had the cardiac characteristics of left bundle-branch block and longer QRS duration had the lowest risks of death and all-cause, cardiovascular, and heart failure readmission, according to a study in the August 14 issue of JAMA

14 Aug 2013

Medicomp introduces wireless event monitor to offer beat-to-beat analysis of entire ECG

Medicomp, Inc., introduces the SAVI Air, the only Wireless Event Monitor to offer beat-to-beat analysis of the entire ECG, a patented feature previously unavailable to healthcare.

12 Aug 2013

ASU expert receives $1.6 million grant to advance microscopy imaging research

At Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, Nongjian (NJ) Tao has been designing advanced microscopy methods with the ambitious aim of capturing molecular-scale phenomena in living systems. The new techniques, which combine multiple imaging modalities, are poised to revolutionize the study of biology and the development of new drugs.

8 Aug 2013

Specific pattern in lung tumor pathology is strong predictor of recurrence, says study

A new study by thoracic surgeons and pathologists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center shows that a specific pattern found in the tumor pathology of some lung cancer patients is a strong predictor of recurrence.