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Sleep may serve as a marker of Alzheimer’s disease risk and progression

What would you do if you knew how long you had until Alzheimer's disease set in? Don't despair. New research from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests one defense against this virulent form of dementia -- for which no treatment currently exists -- is deep, restorative sleep, and plenty of it.

3 Sep 2020

Study finds link between vitamin D deficiency and risk of COVID-19 infection

In a retrospective study of patients tested for COVID-19, researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine found an association between vitamin D deficiency and the likelihood of becoming infected with the coronavirus.

3 Sep 2020

Study shows what happens in the fetal brain affected by congenital Zika syndrome

Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause severe abnormalities in the fetus, including malformations such as microcephaly.

3 Sep 2020

IMT School researcher awarded ERC grant to study mechanisms that regulate sleep and dreams

A researcher at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Giulio Bernardi, has been awarded a European Research Council Starting grant, a competitive source of financing attributed to young researchers who pursue innovative research ideas.

3 Sep 2020

Obesity may cause irregular immune responses to COVID-19

Obesity may cause a hyperactive immune system response to COVID-19 infection that makes it difficult to fight off the virus, according to a new manuscript published in the Endocrine Society's journal, Endocrinology.

3 Sep 2020

Researcher wins $1.8 million grant to advance formulation technology for water-insoluble drugs

Xiaowei Dong, Associate Professor and P1 Curriculum Director at HSC College of Pharmacy, was recently awarded the Maximizing Investigators' Resource Award (MIRA-R35) to continue her research into technologies that improve the effectiveness of oral drugs.

3 Sep 2020

New technology predicts allosteric sites in proteins

A new technology that uses a protein's structure to predict the inner wiring that controls the protein's function and dynamics is now available for scientists to utilize. The tool, developed by researchers at Penn State, may be useful for protein engineering and drug design.

3 Sep 2020

Tiny hydrogel capsule delivers anti-rejection drug to area surrounding a grafted heart

For patients who receive a heart transplant in the near future, the old adage, "Good things come in small packages," may become words to live by.

3 Sep 2020

Stroking skin activates anti-itch pathway in the spinal cord

Stop scratching: rubbing skin activates an anti-itch pathway in the spinal cord, according to research in mice recently published in JNeurosci.

3 Sep 2020

Researchers propose unified nomenclature of neurons to cure brain disease

The human brain has about 100 billion neurons, linked in intricate ways, that the Spanish neuroanatomist Ramón y Cajal compared to "the impenetrable jungles where many investigators have lost themselves."

3 Sep 2020

Bioengineering technique that boosts protein production could lead to effective COVID-19 vaccine

A bioengineering technique to boost production of specific proteins could be the basis of an effective vaccine against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, new research suggests.

3 Sep 2020

New approach can make immunotherapy effective against cancers

If cancer is a series of puzzles, a new study pieces together how several of those puzzles connect to form a bigger picture.

3 Sep 2020

Magnetic resonance elastography can improve the detection of epilepsy

A new study uses magnetic resonance elastography to compare the stiffness of the hippocampus in patients who have epilepsy with healthy individuals. The technique can improve the detection and characterization of the disease.

2 Sep 2020

Combined point-of-care nucleic acid and antibody testing increases COVID-19 detection

A Cambridge hospital has piloted the use of combined rapid point-of-care nucleic acid and antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection after researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that this approach was superior to virus detection alone for diagnosing COVID-19 disease.

2 Sep 2020

Tattoo ink could be the key to improving cancer detection

The humble ink in a tattoo artist's needle could be the key to improving the detection of cancer, thanks to new research from the USC Viterbi Department of Biomedical Engineering.

2 Sep 2020

Study provides direct link between inflammation and Alzheimer’s plaque development

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative condition that is characterized by the buildup of clumps of beta-amyloid protein in the brain.

2 Sep 2020

Bilingual children may reach adulthood with more grey matter

Children and adolescents who speak more than one language may reach adulthood with more grey matter, according to a new study.

2 Sep 2020

Scientists identify key driver in BRAF inhibitor resistant melanoma

Targeted therapy with BRAF-MEK inhibitors is an effective treatment for patients with advanced melanoma that cannot be surgically removed or has spread to other areas of the body.

2 Sep 2020

Study shows how auditory perception and motor processes work together

How do people coordinate their actions with the sounds they hear? This basic ability, which allows people to cross the street safely while hearing oncoming traffic, dance to new music or perform team events such as rowing, has puzzled cognitive neuroscientists for years.

2 Sep 2020

Study offers a possible explanation for prevalence of autism spectrum disorder

Recent estimates indicate a prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States of 1 in 59 children with a well-established 4:1 male predominance.

2 Sep 2020