A medication that boosts the body's own cannabis-like substances, endocannabinoids, shows promise to help the brain un-learn fear memories when these are no longer meaningful. These results, obtained in an early-stage, experimental study on healthy volunteers at Linköping University in Sweden, give hope that a new treatment can be developed for post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. The study has been published in the scientific journal Biological Psychiatry.
East Hanover, NJ. August 29, 2019. A recent study by Kessler Foundation researchers linked the deficits in social cognition in multiple sclerosis with symptoms in other domains. The article, "Relationship between social cognition and fatigue, depressive symptoms, and anxiety in multiple sclerosis," was epublished on June 1, 2019 by the Journal of Neuropsychology.
University of Alberta researchers have identified a unique biological marker that can be used to identify the presence of the rare autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis, predict the course of the disease and identify new, personalized treatments.
LA JOLLA--(August 29, 2019) Iron is essential for plant growth, but with heavy rainfall and poor aeration, many acidic soils become toxic with excess iron. In countries with dramatic flood seasons, such as in West Africa and tropical Asia, toxic iron levels can have dire consequences on the availability of staple foods, such as rice.
NEW YORK AND SEVILLE, SPAIN -- Every animal, from an ant to a human, contains in their genome pieces of DNA called Hox genes. Architects of the body, these genes are keepers of the body's blueprints; they dictate how embryos grown into adults, including where a developing animal puts its head, legs and other body parts.
Scientists have long searched for ways to decipher how Hox genes create this body map; a key to decoding how we build our bodies.
Tiny nanobots flowing through the body to repair damaged cells. Once supposed to be considered as science fiction, these microrobots are becoming a reality with a slew of experimental trials. It is generally thought that nanoparticles are so tiny that they can roam freely all over the body after administration. However, this is only partly true. In a tumor, nanoparticles can make inroads into tumors only as deep as 100 μm from the vessels.
Low-cost, active teaching techniques--particularly group work and worksheets--substantially improve learning in university science classes, according to a new study involving 3,700 University of British Columbia (UBC) biology students.
"Many university STEM classes continue to rely on conventional lectures, despite substantial research that suggests active teaching techniques like peer instruction and group discussion are more effective," said UBC researcher Patricia Schulte, senior author of the study, published this week in PLOS ONE.
CHICAGO - The August issue of Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association includes a new perspective from the National Institute on Aging on "paradoxical lucidity," or moments of stunning clarity, in dementia. The commentary is in response to a previously published online paper that is also included in the print issue of the journal and explores the phenomenon of unexpected cognitive lucidity and communication in patients with severe dementias, especially near the time of death.
A newly published series of dates of grape harvest covering the past 664 years is the latest line of evidence confirming how unusual the climate of the past 30 years has been. The record shows wine grapes in Burgundy, eastern France, have been picked 13 days earlier on average since 1988 than they were in the previous six centuries, pointing to the region's hotter and drier climate in recent years. The results are now published in the European Geosciences Union (EGU) journal Climate of the Past.
Okazaki, Japan - Epithelia are cell sheets that act as a barrier to protect our body from the external environment. Epithelial barrier is critical to maintain our body homeostasis, and its disruption has been linked to various diseases including atopic dermatitis and inflammatory bowel diseases. In order to maintain the epithelial barrier, it is important to completely seal the space between cells to restrict the movement of substances across the epithelial sheet - and that is the task that tight junctions fulfill.