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Researchers reveal how the brain makes sense of data from fingers

Northwestern University and Carnegie Mellon University researchers now report a fascinating discovery that provides insight into how the brain makes sense of data from fingers.

10 Feb 2015

Combination of coconut oil and exercise training can reduce blood pressure

Coconut oil is one of the few foods that can be classified as a "superfood." Its unique combination of fatty acids can have profound positive effects on health, including fat loss, better brain function and many other remarkable benefits.

10 Feb 2015

Study findings help improve lung cancer screening guidelines

A set of guidelines developed to help standardized lung cancer screening would have generated considerably fewer false-positives than the National Lung Screening Trial produced, according to a new retrospective study.

10 Feb 2015

Excluding cancer survivors from lung cancer clinical trials may not be justified, study finds

The common practice of excluding patients with a prior cancer diagnosis from lung cancer clinical trials may not be justified, according to a study by researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

10 Feb 2015

Mercury associated with autoimmunity among women of childbearing age

One of the greatest risk factors for autoimmunity among women of childbearing age may be associated with exposure to mercury such as through seafood, a new University of Michigan study says.

10 Feb 2015

University of Tokyo researchers reveal how TLR9 binds to pathogen DNA

University of Tokyo researchers have elucidated how Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) binds to pathogen DNA, activating the innate immune system. This discovery is vital for the design of new antiviral, antibacterial, allergy and other drugs targeting TLR9.

10 Feb 2015

HPV vaccine does not increase rates of STIs in adolescent females

Receiving the human papillomavirus vaccine does not increase rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in adolescent females. The vaccine, which can prevent cervical cancer in women, has had a low uptake, partly because of concerns about how it will affect adolescent sexual activity.

10 Feb 2015

Researchers identify axitinib as promising candidate to treat drug-resistant leukaemia

A study led by researchers at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM and Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University Central Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center, in close collaboration with researchers at Pfizer, has identified a previously unrecognized action of Pfizer's axitinib as a potent inhibitor of the dominant mutation that confers drug resistance to all well tolerated treatments in patients with certain types of leukemia.

10 Feb 2015

New analysis takes comprehensive look at how patients feel about doctors' attire

What should doctors wear? And how does something as simple as their choice of a suit, scrubs or slacks influence how patients view them?

10 Feb 2015

New NIH grant to help restore function after spinal cord injury

Restoring function after spinal cord injury, which damages the connections that carry messages from the brain to the body and back, depends on forming new connections between the surviving nerve cells. While there are some delicate surgical techniques that reconnect the nerves, researchers are also looking at ways to restore the connections themselves at a cellular level.

10 Feb 2015

Treadmill Desks Offer Limited Benefits, Pose Challenges In The Workplace, Study Shows

Treadmill desks can help overweight or obese office workers get out of their chairs and get moving, but a 12-week study by an Oregon State University researcher found that the increase in physical activity was small and did not help workers meet public health guidelines for daily exercise.

10 Feb 2015

New research provides hope for treating stroke using HUCBCs

Researchers have known that transplanted human umbilical cord cells (HUCBCs) can have a restorative effect on the brain and brain function following a stroke. However, just how the cells exert their therapeutic effects has not been clear. Now, a research team from the University of South Florida using animal models of stroke has found that the HUCBCs are most beneficial in preventing neuron loss when the Akt signaling pathway is activated by secretions from the HUCBCs and that Akt activation subsequently impacts a specific gene involved in reducing inflammation.

10 Feb 2015

Drug similar to Gleevec may help tame some brain cancers

The drug Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) is well known not only for its effectiveness against chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but also for the story behinds its development. The drug was specifically designed to target an abnormal molecule--a fusion of two normal cell proteins--that fueled a tumor's growth.

10 Feb 2015

Scientists find that collagen 'cross-links' can determine tumor's ability to grow and spread

When skyscrapers go up, contractors rely on an infrastructure of steel beams and braces. Some cancers grow the same way, using a biological matrix from which the tumor can thrive and spread.

10 Feb 2015

New model proposed for predicting outcomes more accurately in HPV-related throat cancer patients

Researchers at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre are proposing a new model to enable doctors to predict outcomes more accurately for patients with throat cancers specifically caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

10 Feb 2015

Radiation therapy more effective at preventing recurrence of ductal carcinoma in situ

In a surprising finding, a collaborative national clinical trials group (RTOG) including Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Alan Hartford, MD, PhD, discovered that radiation therapy in addition to chemotherapy was even more effective at preventing recurrence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) than previously thought.

10 Feb 2015

UB neurologist examines neurological disorders of U.S. presidents

Neurology and history may sound like two fields that don't often overlap, but they have, sometimes with extraordinary consequences, according to a University at Buffalo neurologist.

10 Feb 2015

Drugs designed to target NHE9 protein could help fight glioblastoma

Applying lessons learned from autism to brain cancer, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have discovered why elevated levels of the protein NHE9 add to the lethality of the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. Their discovery suggests that drugs designed to target NHE9 could help to successfully fight the deadly disease.

10 Feb 2015

Discovery leads to new understanding of cancer metastasis

In a breakthrough in the understanding of how cancer spreads, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have identified a substance secreted by lung cancer cells that enables them to metastasize, beginning their deadly march to other sites in the body.

10 Feb 2015

Mice genetically deficient in serotonin are more vulnerable to social stressors

Mice genetically deficient in serotonin -- a crucial brain chemical implicated in clinical depression -- are more vulnerable than their normal littermates to social stressors, according to a Duke study appearing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

10 Feb 2015