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The study, which focuses on the process by which these cells renew and increase in number, could help research to find new treatments. Researchers have found that a protein, which switches on genes to allow embryonic stem cells to self-renew, works better when the natural occurring level of the protein is reduced. It was previously thought that once levels of this protein - called Oct 4 - were reduced the numbers of new stem cells being produced would also fall...

The body's brown fat cells play a key role in the development of obesity and diabetes. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have now discovered that we humans have two different kinds of brown fat cells and not one kind as previously thought. This discovery, now published in Nature Medicine, opens up new opportunities for future medicines that exploit the brown fat cells' ability to consume calories...

Children admitted to UK intensive care units in out-of-hours emergencies are at no greater risk of dying than children arriving during normal working hours, according to new research. However, mortality rates are significantly higher in the winter, even after taking into account added health risks for children in the colder months. The study, published by researchers at the University of Leeds and the University of Leicester in the Journal of Pediatrics, is the first large-scale analysis of the influence of admission times on deaths in paediatric intensive care units...

Athletes in combat sports often try to shed body weight in order to compete against lighter and smaller opponents. A new doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, points to the human body's limited ability to quickly recover following extensive short-term weight loss. Almost half of the studied athletes were severely dehydrated on the morning of their matches. Nevertheless, the athletes seem to focus on the mental advantages of the method. Stefan Pettersson has studied the very best Swedish athletes in wrestling, taekwondo, judo and boxing...

Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch, who helped transform the study of genetics by creating the first transgenic mouse in 1974, is again revolutionizing how genetically altered animal models are created and perhaps even redefining what species may serve as models. "This new method is a game changer," says Jaenisch, who is also a professor of biology at MIT. "We can now make a mouse with five mutations in just three to four weeks, whereas the conventional way would take three to four years. And it's rather straightforward, probably even easier than the conventional way...

People have long taken for granted that glasses and contact lenses improve vision for nearsightedness, but the genetic factors behind the common condition have remained blurry. Now researchers at Duke Medicine are closer to clearing this up. Mutations in a gene that helps regulate copper and oxygen levels in eye tissue are associated with a severe form of nearsightedness, according to a study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. Nearsightedness - also known as myopia - is the most common human eye disease in the world...

The ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) Score quantifies the risk of ipsilateral breast event (IBE) and invasive IBE risk, complements both traditional clinical and pathologic factors, and helps provide a new clinical tool to improve the process of selecting individualized treatment for women with DCIS who meet the criteria, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Most women with newly diagnosed cases of DCIS are eligible for breast conservation surgery, either with radiation treatment or without...

Many of today's school teachers opt for dustless chalk to keep hands and classrooms clean. But according to a study published in the May issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), this choice in chalk may cause allergy and asthma symptoms in students that have a milk allergy. Casein, a milk protein, is often used in low-powder chalk. When milk allergic children inhale chalk particles containing casein, life-threatening asthma attacks and other respiratory issues can occur...

The story is a familiar one: most people are able to lose weight while dieting but once the diet is over, the weight comes back. Many of us can personally attest that caloric deprivation weight loss diets typically do not produce lasting weight loss. Oregon Research Institute (ORI) senior scientist Eric Stice, Ph.D., and colleagues provide results in a recent issue of NeuroImage that further our understanding of how and why most weight loss diets fail and provide a more comprehensive description of the impact of caloric restriction...

Researchers at the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology Program at IDIBELL led by Manel Esteller, ICREA researcher and professor of genetics at the University of Barcelona, have described alterations in noncoding long chain RNA sequences (lncRNA) in Rett syndrome. These molecules act as supervisor agents responsible of 'switch on' or 'switch off' other genes in our genome that regulate the activity of neurons. The work has been published in the last issue of the journal RNA Biology. Dark genome Only 5% of our genetic material are genes that encode proteins...

Prompt use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED, can greatly increase the survival rates of people who suffer a cardiac arrest. And MIE Professor Tim Chan, working with Dr. Laurie Morrison at St. Michael's Hospital, has developed a formula to determine where best to place these costly but life-saving devices. In a paper published in Circulation, Chan and Morrison note that publicly registered AEDs in Toronto are not in the best locations to help victims of cardiac arrest...

Medical researchers have manipulated human stem cells into producing types of brain cells known to play important roles in neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and autism. The new model cell system allows neuroscientists to investigate normal brain development, as well as to identify specific disruptions in biological signals that may contribute to neuropsychiatric diseases...

Restoring hair growth on the bald patches of patients' heads by injecting them with platelet-rich plasma is possible, Italian and Israeli scientists reported in the British Journal of Dermatology, May 2013 issue. Coined "the vampire treatment", blood is taken from the patients and processed in a machine that removes platelet-rich plasma (PRP). The PRP is then injected back into the bald patches. Dr Fabio Rinaldi and colleagues believe the PRP solution stimulates new stem cells under the skin, which help hair regrowth...

Scientists at Princeton University used off-the-shelf printing tools to create a functional ear that can "hear" radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability. The researchers' primary purpose was to explore an efficient and versatile means to merge electronics with tissue. The scientists used 3D printing of cells and nanoparticles followed by cell culture to combine a small coil antenna with cartilage, creating what they term a bionic ear...

Abuse during childhood is different. A study of adult civilians with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) has shown that individuals with a history of childhood abuse have distinct, profound changes in gene activity patterns, compared to adults with PTSD but without a history of child abuse. A team of researchers from Atlanta and Munich probed blood samples from 169 participants in the Grady Trauma Project, a study of more than 5000 Atlanta residents with high levels of exposure to violence, physical and sexual abuse and with high risk for civilian PTSD...

An experimental drug has shown promise in treating influenza, preventing lung injury and death from the virus in preclinical studies, according to University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers publishing in the journal Nature. The scientists found that a drug called Eritoran can protect mice from death after they have been infected with a lethal dose of influenza virus. The potential value of this drug as single therapy or in combination with antivirals is further supported by previous research that found that it is safe for use in humans...

A growing number of college students are abusing the ADHD medication Adderall to give them an academic edge, and they're tweeting about it. Thanks to Twitter, tracking roughly when and where Adderall use happens is now possible. So a group of BYU health science and computer science researchers did just that. Their six-month study, appearing in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, produced two major revelations about Adderall: It is mentioned most heavily among students in the northeast and south regions of the U.S...

In Kenya, women face a cervical cancer mortality rate that is approximately 10 times as high as in the United States. A study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that training women to self-collect genital samples to test for human papillomavirus (HPV), the causative agent of cervical cancer, can increase the coverage rates of cervical cancer screening. Higher screening coverage helps increase rates of detection of cervical lesions and ultimately treatment of the disease...

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health tested 32 different lipsticks and lip glosses commonly found in drugstores and department stores. They detected lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals, some of which were found at levels that could raise potential health concerns. Their findings were published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives...

A new analysis has provided a comprehensive comparison of scores designed to predict which women with oestrogen-receptor positive breast cancer are at high risk of recurrence beyond five years after diagnosis, and may benefit from prolonged endocrine treatment. The promising new findings will likely benefit the many women with oestrogen-receptor positive breast cancer whose cancer recurs more than five years after diagnosis, researchers told the 5th IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium...