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New findings shed light on how brain wires itself during first few years of life

A new paper from MIT neuroscientists, in collaboration with Alvaro Pascual-Leone at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, offers evidence that it is easier to rewire the brain early in life. The researchers found that a small part of the brain's visual cortex that processes motion became reorganized only in the brains of subjects who had been born blind, not those who became blind later in life.

22 Oct 2010

Pinch of salt: How much is enough?

Salt restriction in the normal diet has come under debate. While scientists are questioning the complex role of sodium in the body and the need for salt restriction, surveys have found that dietary sodium has not gone down well in large populations despite awareness on the risks of too much salt intake.

21 Oct 2010

Oral cancer linked to oral sex: Study

Swedish researchers have found that the Human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer in women is also a risk factor for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) or oral and throat cancer in men even if they do not smoke or consume alcohol.

21 Oct 2010

Snoring may destroy grey matter

A new Australian study has found that snoring and troubled nights could be a warning of brain damage occurring while sleeping. The team looked at brain scans of 60 people, aged in their mid-40s and recently diagnosed with a common sleep disorder – obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea often affects overweight and the obese and leads to snoring. Results showed “decreased amount of grey matter” when compared to healthy sleepers.

21 Oct 2010

$1 million Pfizer Fellowship awarded for melanoma research at AusBiotech 2010

Dr Mark Shackleton was last night awarded the 2011 Pfizer Australia Senior Research Fellowship grant for his research proposal at the AusBiotech 2010 Conference Dinner. Professor John Funder, chair of the selection committee, announced this year’s winner, who will use the $1 million, five-year Fellowship for research into ‘Identifying determinants of human melanoma progression’.

21 Oct 2010

Australian stem cell line offers fresh approach to diabetes cure

Australian researchers have developed the country’s first diabetes specific stem cell line, a major advance for patients suffering from the chronic disease.

21 Oct 2010

Lodestone Clinical Trials Supply Management solution achieves 'Powered By SAP Netweaver' certification

Lodestone Management Consultants today announced the new software release 1.0 of its Clinical Trials Supply Management (CTSM) Add-On Suite®. The solution has achieved SAP certification as powered by the SAP NetWeaver® technology platform, providing more transparency and a reduction of overages in the complex and time-consuming clinical development process of which the clinical supply chain is a key component.

21 Oct 2010

Bruker installs BioSpec 170/25 system at CEA NeuroSpin research center

Bruker announced today that it has successfully installed its BioSpec® 170/25 system at the CEA NeuroSpin research center near Paris, France. The world's first horizontal ultra-high magnetic field 17.2 Tesla MRI system features a magnet bore diameter of 25 cm. It is equipped with a novel Bruker BGA-S™ gradient system with unsurpassed amplitude and slew rate specifications for cutting-edge preclinical in vivo imaging on small animals.

21 Oct 2010

Female sex hormones help women survive after trauma

Women who have been severely injured are 14 percent more likely to survive than similarly injured men, according to a new Johns Hopkins study, a difference researchers believe may be due to the negative impact of male sex hormones on a traumatized immune system.

21 Oct 2010

SFMU selects Springer to publish new French scientific research journal

La Soci-t- fran-aise de m-decine d'urgence (SFMU) has chosen Springer to publish its scientific research in a new French journal Annales fran-aises de m-decine d'urgence. Bruno Riou, Professor on the Pierre and Marie Curie Faculty of Medicine at the Sorbonne Universities is editor-in-chief of this official society journal.

21 Oct 2010

Protein IL-37 could help treat inflammatory diseases in adults and children

A husband and wife research team from Melbourne, Australia, have identified a protein that may be a key therapy for many inflammatory diseases, including those affecting premature babies.

21 Oct 2010

'Harm reduction cigarettes' more harmful

To reduce the toxicity of cigarette smoke, tobacco companies have introduced "harm reduction cigarettes," often marketed as safer than conventional brands.

21 Oct 2010

MAP Pharmaceuticals to present nine analyses on LEVADEX for migraine therapy at 2010 EHMTIC congress

MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Company will present nine analyses relating to its LEVADEX™ orally inhaled migraine therapy product candidate, including analysis from the FREEDOM-301 Phase 3 trial, at the 2010 European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress (EHMTIC) in Nice, France.

21 Oct 2010

Plant-derived compound for treatment of nicotine addiction also effective against alcoholism

South Dakota State University researchers have demonstrated for the first time that a plant-derived compound used to treat nicotine addiction also has significant effects against alcohol addiction.

21 Oct 2010

Research on Reaper protein provides new treatment strategies for cancer

Our cells live ever on the verge of suicide, requiring the close attention of a team of molecules to prevent the cells from pulling the trigger. This self-destructive tendency can be a very good thing, as when dangerous precancerous cells are permitted to kill themselves, but it can also go horribly wrong, destroying brain cells that store memories, for instance. Rockefeller University scientists are parsing this perilous arrangement in ever finer detail in hopes that understanding the basic mechanisms of programmed cell death, or apoptosis, will enable them eventually to manipulate the process to kill the cells we want to kill and protect the ones we don't.

21 Oct 2010

SciDev.Net examines plans for India-S. Africa HIV vaccine research project

SciDev.Net reports on an HIV vaccine research collaboration between researchers from India and South Africa to launch by the end of 2010.

21 Oct 2010

Researchers identify common link among malignant tumor types in all grades of cancer

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in collaboration with investigators of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) of France led by Nicolae Ghinea, PhD, have found a common link among several malignant tumor types in all grades of cancer. This breakthrough may ultimately provide a new diagnostic or therapeutic target to detect cancer early or stop tumor growth.

21 Oct 2010

Study on health effects of alcohol consumption with HIV

Living with HIV is difficult under the best of circumstances, but for people carrying the virus, alcohol consumption can become particularly perilous in intricate ways that are only beginning to be understood. At the Brown Alcohol Research Center on HIV (ARCH) funded by a new $7.5-million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, Brown University scientists will study the health effects of drinking with HIV and provide doctors and patients with the latest guidance their results suggest.

21 Oct 2010

Aqueous cream worsens eczema: Study

Researchers claim that a cream that is often used in a skin condition called eczema may actually make the condition worse. The research conducted at Bath University found that aqueous cream thinned the skin after a few weeks of use. They found that the cream contains a detergent rather than just moisturizers. The team also said that most GPs seemed unaware of official advice not to prescribe the cream as a moisturizer.

21 Oct 2010

Joint stem cell study to investigate multiple sclerosis

A $2.2 million project by Victorian and Californian researchers will assess whether stem cell therapies can be used to combat diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Type-1 diabetes, and help organ transplant recipients. Speaking at AusBiotech 2010 in Melbourne today, Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings said the Brumby Labor Government had contributed $575,505 to the project, the fifth to be funded through the $28 million Victoria–California Stem Cell Alliance which was established in 2008 under the Biotechnology Strategic Development Plan.

21 Oct 2010