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Researchers generate functional neurons from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells

In a new study, researchers were able to generate functionally mature motor neurons from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are engineered from adult somatic cells and can differentiate into most other cell types.

24 Feb 2009

Plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 -- a potential link between heart failure and diabetes

Researchers at the University of Vermont Cardiovascular Research Institute, Colchester, Vermont have found that increased expression in the heart of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) is profibrotic.

24 Feb 2009

Physical fitness improves spatial memory, increases size of hippocampi

When it comes to the hippocampus, a brain structure vital to certain types of memory, size matters.

24 Feb 2009

Investigational protein may reverse neurodegenerative diseases

An investigational protein that transformed normal laboratory mice into super-jocks holds great promise in developing new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), say researchers at the University of Virginia Health System.

24 Feb 2009

Exploring the roles of noise in the eukaryotic cell cycle

A single cell - whether a yeast cell or one of your cells - is exquisitely sensitive to its surroundings.

24 Feb 2009

Mental fatigue impairs physical performance in humans

When participants performed a mentally fatiguing task prior to a difficult exercise test, they reached exhaustion more quickly than when they did the same exercise when mentally rested, a new study finds.

24 Feb 2009

Guidelines for treating patients with cardiovascular disease often based on weaker evidence

An examination of clinical practice guidelines for treating cardiovascular disease finds that current recommendations are largely based on lower levels of evidence or expert opinion, according to a study in the February 25 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

24 Feb 2009

Determining risk for pancreatic cancer

In the latest clinical trial for a technique to detect pancreatic cancer, researchers found they could differentiate cells that are cancerous from those that are benign, pre-cancerous, or even early stage indicators called mucinous cystic lesions.

24 Feb 2009

Inexpensive depression screening tool works in resource poor countries

A study published in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine reports that a highly reliable depression screening tool known as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) used across the United States and Europe can be effectively administered in resource poor Africa to HIV/AID patients, a population whose mental health needs have been underserved.

24 Feb 2009

Sexual lyrics in pop music linked to early sexual experiences

With sexual activity among adolescents in the United States resulting in over 750,000 teenage pregnancies each year and reports of up to 25 percent of all female adolescents in the US having sexually transmitted infections, researchers and public health officials are looking for those factors that might increase sexual activity in teens.

24 Feb 2009

Researchers block immune cell rush behind deadly sepsis

Researchers have found a way to block the ability of white blood cells to sprint toward the sites of infection when such speed worsens the damage done by sepsis, the often fatal, whole-body bacterial infection, according to a study published today in the journal Blood.

24 Feb 2009

Updated formula measures kidney function more accurately

Measuring kidney function in children can be expensive, time-consuming for clinicians, and tedious for children, who may be exposed to radioactivity and subjected to a large number of blood draws.

24 Feb 2009

Vitamin D may help fight common colds

Vitamin D may be an important way to arm the immune system against disorders like the common cold, report investigators from the University of Colorado Denver (UC Denver) School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Children's Hospital Boston.

23 Feb 2009

Breakthrough in human papillomavirus research

UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) researchers have developed a new, inexpensive and efficient method for producing and studying a type of human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer.

23 Feb 2009

Hormone disorder drug cabergoline could help drinkers stay sober

A drug prescribed for male and female infertility and menstrual disorders could hold the key to a more effective treatment for alcoholism, according to a study by researchers at the UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center.

23 Feb 2009

Take 2: What protein and where it is located are important for drug design

Drugs that target a single signaling pathway that drives tumor development and/or progression have been developed successfully to treat a few forms of cancer.

23 Feb 2009

Internet addiction linked to aggression in teenagers

Armed with the findings of a new study, Taiwanese researchers suggest parents and educators pay more attention to children's online habits because Internet-addicted teens seem more prone to aggression.

23 Feb 2009

SYNTAX defines borders between CABG and PCI with TAXUS drug-eluting stents

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) should remain the "standard of care" for patients with complex coronary artery disease, concludes the SYNTAX study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (online February 18, 2009, Print edition March 5).

23 Feb 2009

Scientists identify lab-made proteins that neutralize a broad range of influenza A viruses

Scientists have identified a small family of lab-made proteins that neutralize a broad range of influenza A viruses, including the H5N1 avian virus, the 1918 pandemic influenza virus and seasonal H1N1 flu viruses.

23 Feb 2009