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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

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

Highlights of Frontiers in Optics 2010/Laser Science XXVI Meeting

Scientists and engineers from around the world will gather on the shores of Lake Ontario in Rochester, N.Y. next week to discuss some of the latest breakthroughs in lasers and optics and their applications to cutting-edge science, the development of new materials, and medicine.

21 Oct 2010

Research identifies key regulators that control transmission of malaria parasite

Scientists at The University of Nottingham and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge have pin-pointed the 72 molecular switches that control the three key stages in the life cycle of the malaria parasite and have discovered that over a third of these switches can be disrupted in some way.

21 Oct 2010

Study demonstrates anti-prostate cancer properties of Modified Citrus Pectin

Researchers at Columbia University recently analyzed the positive effects of Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP) on human and mouse prostate cancer cell lines. The results, as reported by lead researcher Dr. Aaron Katz in the publication of Integrative Cancer Therapies, show that MCP inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis (programmed cell death) in both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent cancer cells in a time and dose-dependent manner.

21 Oct 2010

Motherhood may cause brain to grow

Motherhood may actually cause the brain to grow, not turn it into mush, as some have claimed. Exploratory research published by the American Psychological Association found that the brains of new mothers bulked up in areas linked to motivation and behavior, and that mothers who gushed the most about their babies showed the greatest growth in key parts of the mid-brain.

21 Oct 2010

Lubricin reduces wear to bone cartilage

A team of researchers in North Carolina has discovered that lubricin, a synovial fluid glycoprotein, reduces wear to bone cartilage. This result, which has implications for the treatment of sufferers of osteoarthritis, will be presented today at the AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition, taking place this week at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico.

21 Oct 2010

Scientists suggest enzyme that modifies 4-quinolones can reduce microbial infection

So disease-causing bacteria in the body finally have multiplied to the point where their numbers are large enough to cause illness. What's next? They get out their "smart phones" and whisper "Let's roll!" That's how an article in ACS' monthly Chemical Reviews describes the substances "smart phones of the microbial world" that bacteria use to transmit chemical signals that launch infections and monitor their environment.

21 Oct 2010

Automatic behaviors are stored in frontal cortex

Some people may excel at riding a bike, tying a tie, or playing the piano, but those same people may find it difficult to explain or teach those skills to someone else. These motor skills are learned in one part of the brain, whereas classroom instruction and information read in a book are acquired in another area of the brain, explained F. Gregory Ashby, professor and chair of UC Santa Barbara's Department of Psychology. This second area of learning is the frontal cortex the area immediately behind the forehead -- where executive function is located.

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

Researcher hopes to provide effective medication for Parkinson's disease

The side effects of the standard medication for Parkinson's disease have long been a preoccupation of brain researchers. Now Daniella Rylander has presented new findings in a recently defended PhD thesis at Lund University that provide hope of more effective medication for those who suffer from the nerve cell disease.

21 Oct 2010

Researcher identifies two risk markers for Alzheimer's disease

Risk markers could play an important role in this. These are substances linked to Alzheimer's that are found in unusually high or unusually low quantities in patients who go on to develop the disease.

21 Oct 2010

Researchers discover link between hereditary and sporadic ALS

For the first time, researchers have discovered a disease mechanism that links hereditary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to the more common "sporadic" form of ALS and points to a possible therapeutic target.

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

European FP7 research project to develop environment-friendly pest control products

Tecnalia, through its Construction Unit, is participating in and coordinating a European FP7 research project for SMEs, called Bimosyn. The aim is to develop pest control products with lower concentrations of biocides and, thereby, be more environmentally friendly and less damaging for human health.

21 Oct 2010

Eating whole grains and limiting refined grains reduce body fat

People who consume several servings of whole grains per day while limiting daily intake of refined grains appear to have less of a type of fat tissue thought to play a key role in triggering cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Researcher Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University observed lower volumes of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in people who chose to eat mostly whole grains instead of refined grains.

21 Oct 2010

New mechanism controlling transmission of abnormal signal at origin of several cancers identified

Researchers at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Universit- de Montr-al have identified a new mechanism controlling the transmission of an abnormal signal at the origin of several cancers. In an article published in the journal Cell, Marc Therrien's team explains the recent discovery of a protein complex that controls the RAS/MAPK signalling pathway, responsible for some of the deadliest cancers, including pancreatic, colon and lung cancers, and melanomas.

21 Oct 2010

Study investigates efficacy of blood analysis with cognitive testing for early diagnosis of AD

One key problem with treating people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the fact that it is often very difficult to detect the disease when it is in the early stages of progression. A team of researchers from the University of the West of England are about to embark on a preliminary study to investigate the efficacy of combining biomarkers in blood with cognitive testing as a way of screening for AD early on so that appropriate treatments can be offered to patients sooner.

21 Oct 2010

New immunoSEQ bioinformatics software platform helps monitor adaptive immune system

Adaptive TCR Technologies, a biotech firm based in Seattle, WA, announced today the release of its immunoSEQ profiling service and immunoSEQ Analyzer bioinformatics software platform. Together, these tools provide researchers and clinicians the ability to profile and monitor the adaptive immune system at a level of detail that has never before been possible.

21 Oct 2010