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UT Southwestern teams up with seven universities to develop new technologies to improve memory function

UT Southwestern Medical Center has joined a consortium of seven leading universities to develop new technologies to improve memory in people with traumatic brain injury, mild cognitive impairment, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease.

3 Mar 2016

Differences in certain type of small protein may shed light on lung cancer risk in different races

Research from an investigator at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and colleagues from the National Cancer Institute and other facilities, shows differences in a certain type of small protein vary by race and may contribute differently to the development of lung cancer in African Americans and European Americans.

3 Mar 2016

New MyGene2 web tool may help find genes influencing Mendelian disorders

A new web tool, MyGene2, will enable patients and their families to join clinicians and scientists in the search for genes underlying rare disorders. The sharing of health information also will improve knowledge about how gene variants influence symptoms and other clinical features of Mendelian disorders.

3 Mar 2016

Cell-based immunotherapy may offer new hope in fight against brain cancer

High-grade glioma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Despite improvements in surgical procedures, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, this type of brain tumour is still notoriously hard to treat: less than 10% of patients survive beyond five years.

3 Mar 2016

New research sheds light on circadian rhythms

New research sheds light on how the rhythms of daily life are encoded in the brain. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that different groups of neurons, those charged with keeping time, become active at different times of day despite being on the same molecular clock.

3 Mar 2016

Platelet-rich plasma therapy may help improve tissue healing

Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant and A-Rod have all used it, but does platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) really work for the every-day active person? According to a University of Alberta Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic pilot study on patients with chronically sore shoulders published in PLOS ONE, preliminary findings say yes.

3 Mar 2016

Research: Nearly half of children in the U.S. live close to poverty line

Nearly half of children in the United States live dangerously close to the poverty line, according to new research from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

3 Mar 2016

Simple method could make early disease diagnosis much easier

Detecting diseases such as cancer in their earliest stages can make a huge difference in patient treatment, but it is often difficult to do. Now scientists report in the journal ACS Central Science a new, simple method that could make early disease diagnosis much easier.

3 Mar 2016

Children taught at home get more sleep than others

A new study published in Behavioral Sleep Medicine shows that children who are taught at home get more sleep than those who go to private and public schools. The findings provide additional evidence of teens' altered biological clocks and support an argument for starting traditional high school later in the morning.

3 Mar 2016

Geneticists explore evolution of musical aptitude

Geneticists at the University of Helsinki and the National University of Singapore have teamed up to explore the evolution of musical aptitude in the first-ever empirical study of the evolution of music.

3 Mar 2016

State laws increase vaccination rates among health care workers

State laws mandating influenza immunization for people who work in health care increase their vaccination rates, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

3 Mar 2016

Hydration levels play role in cardiovascular disease risk

Mild dehydration can impair vascular function nearly as much as smoking a cigarette, according to a new study in the European Journal of Nutrition.

3 Mar 2016

Researchers discover unexpected mechanism linked to aldosterone-induced heart damage

When the heart begins to fail, the body does everything in its power to fix the situation. But sometimes, those compensatory mechanisms ultimately do more harm than good. Such is the case with the adrenal hormone aldosterone, which stimulates the heart to pump harder, causing greater damage to the heart muscle.

3 Mar 2016

Preoperative hip and knee injections may increase risk for infection

Injections received in the months prior to total knee (TKR) or total hip replacement (THR) surgery may increase the risk for infection and related complications, according to two studies--among the largest conducted on this topic--presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

3 Mar 2016

Genetic errors may reduce heart attack risk, study finds

To reduce risk of heart attack, the benefits of a healthy lifestyle are clear. But genetics can still stack the deck. Some people's genes bestow a natural advantage — or disadvantage — in protecting against heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.

3 Mar 2016

Scientists solve first 3-D structure of DNAzyme

DNA does not always adopt the form of the double helix which is associated with the genetic code; it can also form intricate folds and act as an enzyme: a deoxyribozyme. A researcher from Spain and other scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Germany) have solved the first three-dimensional structure of this biomolecule that has proved much more flexible than previously thought.

3 Mar 2016

Study identifies gene linked to rare, complex diseases

IRB Barcelona identifies GEMC1 as a master gene for the generation of multiciliated cells—cells with fine filaments that move fluids and substances—which are found exclusively in the brain, respiratory tract, and reproductive system.Defects in multiciliated cells lead to ciliopathies—rare and complex diseases that are poorly understood and for which not all causative genes have been identified.

3 Mar 2016