RefBan

Referral Banners

Saturday, May 10, 2014

ScienceDaily: Top Health News

ScienceDaily: Top Health News


Toxicologists outline key health and environmental concerns associated with hydraulic fracturing

Posted: 09 May 2014 02:25 PM PDT

Since the rise in the use of hydraulic fracturing of shale to produce natural gas and oil, many have debated the merits and detractions of the practice. Scientists outline how toxicological sciences can be used to determine what risks may or may not be associated with fracking.

Longevity gene may boost brain power: Researchers discover the gene may enhance cognitive abilities

Posted: 09 May 2014 12:08 PM PDT

Scientists showed that people who have a variant of a longevity gene, called KLOTHO, have improved brain skills such as thinking, learning and memory regardless of their age, sex, or whether they have a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Increasing KLOTHO gene levels in mice made them smarter, possibly by increasing the strength of connections between nerve cells in the brain.

Conducting polymer films decorated with biomolecules for cell research use

Posted: 09 May 2014 11:03 AM PDT

The ability to create conducting polymer films in a variety of shapes, thicknesses and surface properties rapidly and inexpensively will make growing and testing cells easier and more flexible, according to a team of bioengineers. The researchers create their hydrogel stamps from agarose -- a sugar extracted from seaweed -- poured into molds.

Study validates air sampling techniques to fight bioterrorism

Posted: 09 May 2014 10:16 AM PDT

Air and surface sampling techniques currently used by the US government are effective in fighting bioterrorism and potentially saving lives, a former Department of Homeland Security medical officer finds. Air sampling has been readily accepted for similar uses such as measuring for particulate matter, however using it to detect bacteria in biological terrorism was a new concept instituted after the 9/11 attacks.

The promise of purple for enhanced bioimaging

Posted: 09 May 2014 10:16 AM PDT

Newly detected 'energy-clustering' structures inside rare-earth nanoparticles generate intense violet light, which is ideal for studying photon-induced transformations. Labeling biomolecules with light-emitting nanoparticles is a powerful technique for observing cell movement and signaling under realistic, in vivo conditions. The small size of these probes, however, often limits their optical capabilities. In particular, many nanoparticles have trouble producing high-energy light with wavelengths in the violet to ultraviolet range, which can trigger critical biological reactions.

Intestinal enzyme maintains microbial balance: Study shows how

Posted: 09 May 2014 10:00 AM PDT

The mechanism by which an enzyme produced in the intestinal lining helps to maintain a healthy population of gastrointestinal microbes has been identified by researchers. The research team describes finding that intestinal alkaline phosphatase promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria by blocking the growth-inhibiting action of adenosine triphosphate -- an action first described in this paper -- within the intestine.

Epigenetic mechanisms distinguishing stem cell function, blood cancer decoded

Posted: 09 May 2014 10:00 AM PDT

A new mechanism that distinguishes normal blood stem cells from blood cancers has been developed by researchers. "These findings constitute a significant advance toward the goal of killing leukemia cells without harming the body's normal blood stem cells which are often damaged by chemotherapy," said a principle investigator.

Larger percentage of Texas Hispanics have enrolled in Health Insurance Marketplace plans

Posted: 09 May 2014 10:00 AM PDT

Texas Hispanics were more than twice as likely as whites to have enrolled in health insurance plans offered through the Affordable Care Act's Health Insurance Marketplace between September 2013 and March 2014, according to a report. The report also found that Hispanic adults in Texas experience more difficulty in affording health services than white adults and are three times as likely to be uninsured.

Sneaking drugs into cancer cells before triggering release

Posted: 09 May 2014 08:07 AM PDT

Biomedical engineering researchers have developed an anti-cancer drug delivery method that essentially smuggles the drug into a cancer cell before triggering its release. The method can be likened to keeping a cancer-killing bomb and its detonator separate until they are inside a cancer cell, where they then combine to destroy the cell.

Tracking the Source of 'Selective Attention' Problems in Brain-Injured Vets

Posted: 09 May 2014 08:01 AM PDT

The obvious cognitive symptoms of minor traumatic brain injury can dissipate within a few days, but blast-exposed veterans may continue to have problems focusing attention on one sound source and ignoring others, an ability known as "selective auditory attention." According to a new study, such apparent "hearing" problems actually may be caused by diffuse injury to the brain's prefrontal lobe.

Frequently Reassigning Teachers Limits Their Improvement

Posted: 09 May 2014 08:00 AM PDT

Experienced teachers make a difference in student performance, but their experience matters most if they have continued to teach the same grade, according to a new study. Students whose teachers have not switched grades show greater improvement in test scores than students in similar classrooms with equally experienced teachers who switched grades frequently.

Athletes respond better to female psychologists

Posted: 09 May 2014 04:42 AM PDT

When listening to the voices of a sport psychologist, both male and female athletes rate women psychologists more positively than male ones. "These findings challenge the historically prevalent view that male psychologists are more successful and show that gender equality has made progress in sport," said the researcher.

Experiencing letters as colors: New insights into synesthesia

Posted: 09 May 2014 04:41 AM PDT

Scientists studying the bizarre phenomenon of synasthesia – best described as a "union of the senses" whereby two or more of the five senses that are normally experienced separately are involuntarily and automatically joined together – have made a new breakthrough in their attempts to understand the condition.

Love makes you strong: Romantic relationships help neurotic people stabilize their personality

Posted: 09 May 2014 04:41 AM PDT

It is springtime and they are everywhere: Newly enamored couples walking through the city hand in hand, floating on cloud nine. Yet a few weeks later the initial rush of romance will have dissolved and the world will not appear as rosy anymore. Nevertheless, love and romance have long lasting effects.

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita may have caused up to half of recorded stillbirths in worst hit areas

Posted: 08 May 2014 04:25 PM PDT

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita may have been responsible for up to half of all recorded stillbirths in the worst hit areas, suggests research. Calculations indicate that the risk of a pregnancy ending in a stillbirth was 40% higher in parishes where 10-50% of housing stock had been damaged, and more than twice as high in areas where over 50% of the housing stock had taken a hit. After taking account of known risk factors, every 1% increase in the extent of damage to housing stock was associated with a corresponding 7% rise in the number of stillbirths.

From age 30 onwards, inactivity has greatest impact on women's lifetime heart disease risk

Posted: 08 May 2014 04:25 PM PDT

From the age of 30 onwards, physical inactivity exerts a greater impact on a woman's lifetime risk of developing heart disease than the other well-known risk factors, suggests research. This includes overweight, the finding show, prompting the researchers to suggest that greater effort needs to be made to promote exercise.

Exact outline of melanoma could lead to new diagnostic tools, therapies

Posted: 08 May 2014 02:22 PM PDT

A specific biochemical process that can cause normal and healthy skin cells to transform into cancerous melanoma cells has been found by researchers, which should help predict melanoma vulnerability and could also lead to future therapies. They discovered in this situation that the immune system is getting thrown into reverse, helping to cause cancer instead of preventing it.

Partisan media driving a wedge between citizens

Posted: 08 May 2014 05:43 AM PDT

Viewing partisan news reports from both the conservative and liberal viewpoints doesn't make people more accepting of citizens on the other side of the political fence, research shows. A study of people in the United States and Israel examined citizens' media consumption: specifically, how often they viewed liberal and conservative news outlets and how often they viewed mainstream, relatively neutral news sites.

No comments: