Baltimore, Md. - May 10, 2016 - For years, physicians have told patients that HDL (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) helps protect them from cardiovascular disease (CVD). And the higher the number, the more the protection. HDL, often considered an independent predictor of heart disease, has been dubbed the "good" cholesterol, thanks to its protective effects. But a new study shows for the first time that HDL's protection depends on the levels of two other blood fats or lipids associated with heart disease.
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For the first time, researchers have devised a method to selectively deliver drugs to a pregnant woman's placenta without harming the foetus, in a development which could help prevent some premature births and treat conditions such as pre-eclampsia.
Photosynthetic bacteria that have lived on Earth for 2.7 billion years are the source of a new and valuable biological regulatory tool being developed by Rice University bioengineers.
Synechocystis bacteria produce a protein pathway that senses the presence of UV-violet light and activates a motor protein that moves the single-cell organism into safer surroundings.
An emerging strain of tuberculosis (TB), closely related to human TB, has been killing banded mongoose in Northern Botswana in significant numbers.
This novel pathogen, Mycobacterium mungi, did not infect mongoose through a primary airborne or oral route as normally seen in TB disease in humans and animals. The mechanism of transmission, however, was unknown.
Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (MNI) have identified novel gene mutations that cause hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), a step forward in efforts to treat this debilitating disease.
It is estimated that between two and 10 people per 100,000 in the general population have HSP, a disease characterized by weakness or spasticity in the lower limbs. HSP is caused by mutations inherited from one or both parents.
Severe oxygen drops in the water can leave trails of fish kills in their wakes, but scientists thought adult fish would be more resilient to the second major threat in coastal waters: acidification. A new study published Tuesday from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) shows that is not entirely true--where fish are concerned, acidification can make low oxygen even more deadly.
Australian archaeologists have discovered a piece of the world's oldest axe in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The axe fragment is about the size of a thumbnail and dates back to a Stone Age period of 45,000 to 49,000 years ago - at, or very soon after, the time humans arrived on the continent, and more than ten millennia earlier than any previous ground-edge axe discoveries.
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (May 10, 2016) -- Researchers at Tufts University have stabilized blood samples for long periods of time without refrigeration and at high temperatures by encapsulating them in air-dried silk protein. The technique, which is published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has broad applications for clinical care and research that rely on accurate analysis of blood and other biofluids.
One of the most complex human organs is the digestive tract: Here, the body comes into contact with all manner of diet-derived compounds and with countless bacteria. Scientists from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg in collaboration with colleagues at the Luxembourg Institute of Health and the University of Arizona in the United States have now proven that a model of the human gut they have developed and patented - HuMiX - is representative of the actual conditions and processes that occur within our intestines.
Although ski season is behind us, serious skiers are already looking ahead to next season and searching for ways to shave split-seconds off their race times. Now scientists may have a new way to help -- perhaps in time for the next Winter Olympics. One team has determined how the microscopic texture of the bottoms of skis could affect their speed, depending on snow temperature. Their study appears in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Treating a disease without causing side effects is one of the big promises of nanoparticle technology. But fulfilling it remains a challenge. One of the obstacles is that researchers have a hard time seeing where nanoparticles go once they're inside various parts of the body. But now one team has developed a way to help overcome this problem -- by making tissues and organs clearer in the lab. Their study on mice appears in the journal ACS Nano.
If claims on cosmetic products' labels are to be believed, users would all look 10 years younger and have luscious, frizz-proof hair. But advertising and truth aren't always aligned. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called out some companies for promoting products using spurious claims. To avoid such charges, many cosmetic companies are looking to science, reports Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.
Reston, Va. - A recent study reported in the May issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine demonstrates that Ga-68 DOTATATE PET/CT scans are superior to In-111 pentetreotide scans, the current imaging standard in the United States for detecting neuroendocrine tumors (NETS), and could significantly impact treatment management.
May 9, 2016 - Mothers of new babies should undergo screening for postpartum depression--preferably across healthcare locations and at multiple times up to one year after delivery, according to a research review in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
A new study on the epigenetics of lactose intolerance may provide an approach to understanding schizophrenia and other complex, serious illnesses.
Both lactose intolerance and schizophrenia are inherited. In addition, neither condition emerges in the first years of life, but rather both appear years or even decades later, says senior author Dr. Arturas Petronis, head of the Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory in the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).