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'Housekeeping' gene may have a link to male infertility

Researchers at Iowa State University have found evidence that a "housekeeping" gene present in every cell of the body may have a link to male infertility.

3 Feb 2016

Prenatal stress affects babies' health in war-torn areas

Children from war-torn areas of the globe are affected by trauma even before they are born, according to a new University of Florida study.

3 Feb 2016

Seafood consumption may benefit older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease

New research published Feb. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that older adults with a major risk gene for Alzheimer's disease known as APOE?4 who ate at least one seafood serving per week showed fewer signs of Alzheimer's-related brain changes. In contrast, this association was not found in the brains of volunteers who ate fish weekly but did not carry the risk gene.

3 Feb 2016

Small minority of cancer cells contribute to growth and metastasis of tumours

New research shows that a small minority of cancer cells in neuroendocrine tumours of the pancreas contribute to the overall growth and metastasis of the tumour. This discovery was made by a research group at Lund University, in collaboration with researchers at Karolinska Institutet, in Sweden.

3 Feb 2016

Authors examine link between irrational thoughts and psychological distress

In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics the link between irrational thoughts and distress is critically examined. Since the cognitive revolution of the early 1950s, thoughts have been discussed as central components in the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses.

3 Feb 2016

Flexible duty hours safe for patients and beneficial for surgical residents

A new landmark national study led by Northwestern Medicine showed allowing surgical residents the flexibility to work longer hours in order to stay with their patients through the end of an operation or stabilize them during a critical event did not pose a greater risk to patients.

3 Feb 2016

Height affects risk of major non-communicable diseases

Height is largely genetically determined, but in recent decades the height of children and adults has steadily increased throughout the world: In adulthood the children are almost always significantly taller than their parents.

3 Feb 2016

Cistus extracts attack HIV and Ebola viruses

Scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München discover that extracts of the medicinal plant Cistus incanus (Ci) prevent human immunodeficiency viruses from infecting cells. Active antiviral ingredients in the extracts inhibit docking of viral proteins to cells. Antiviral activity of Cistus extracts also targets Ebola- and Marburg viruses.

3 Feb 2016

Research: Adenosine deaminase may help activate immune system against HIV

New research findings published in the February 2016 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, suggest that a new therapeutic strategy for HIV may already be available by repurposing an existing prescription drug.

3 Feb 2016

Study sheds light on mechanisms linked to formation of healthy egg cells in humans

Congenital disorders such as Down's syndrome could be better understood, following new insights into how healthy cells are formed.

3 Feb 2016

Researchers identify new targets that may help prevent and cure colon cancer

When the audio on your television set or smart phone is too loud, you simply turn down the volume. What if we could do the same for the signaling in our bodies that essentially causes normal cells to turn cancerous? New discoveries by researchers at the Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma may point to new ways to do just that.

3 Feb 2016

Combined MRI and ultramicroscopy toolkit could help study vessel growth in glioma models in more detail

Stopping the growth of blood vessels in tumours is a key target for glioblastoma therapies, and imaging methods are essential for initial diagnosis and monitoring the effects of treatments. While mapping vessels in tumours has proven a challenge, researchers have now developed a combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultramicroscopy 'toolkit' to study vessel growth in glioma models in more detail than previously possible.

3 Feb 2016

New study finds steep decline in basic science publications

A new study has found a steep decline in the number of scholarly papers about basic science published in leading medical journals in the last 20 years.

3 Feb 2016

Study finds no evidence of genetic overlap between schizophrenia risk and subcortical brain volumes

Over the last decade, important contributions to our understanding of schizophrenia have come from two different types of studies. Neuroimaging studies have found that certain parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala, are smaller in people with schizophrenia - a devastating psychiatric illness with high heritability.

3 Feb 2016

Pluripotent stem cells could serve as valuable model for understanding Andersen's syndrome

Successful reprogramming of muscle cells derived from biopsies of patients with Andersen's syndrome (AS) led to the formation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that can serve as a valuable model for understanding the cause of this rare disorder and discovering novel therapies.

3 Feb 2016

New approach to investigate how neurodevelopment influences diseases in adulthood

The Research Training Group, which builds on translational research training programmes and research structures such as the Molecular Medicine degree programme and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research, will work on areas where basic research and clinical practice overlap. It will bring together 20 doctoral candidates from the natural sciences and 28 from medicine.

3 Feb 2016

New analysis method may help categorise stroke patients with language problem

Brain researcher Karsten Specht has found a new method of analysis to distinguish between stroke patients with language problem. The result may be individualised treatment for each patient.

3 Feb 2016

Discovery could lead to new leukaemia therapies

Human blood cells have olfactory receptors that respond to Sandalore. This could provide a starting point for new leukaemia therapies, as researchers from Bochum report in in the journal "Cell Death Discovery".

3 Feb 2016

New gene cut-and-paste methods help correct disease-causing mutation in animal model

For the first time, researchers have treated an animal model of a genetic disorder using a viral vector to deliver genome-editing components in which the disease- causing mutation has been corrected.

3 Feb 2016

UAB research explores neurofibromatosis type 1

It is easy to tell a medical research story that has a simple and dramatic moment. But disease is often much more complex, and the work to understand it can be painstaking. A vivid example of that is seen in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Genomics Laboratory, headed by Ludwine Messiaen, Ph.D., professor of genetics. This lab offers clinical genetic testing for a broad array of common and rare genetic disorders.

3 Feb 2016