| Nursing home residents at heightened risk of falling in the days following start of new antidepressant prescription or dose increase Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:32 PM PDT Nursing home residents taking certain antidepressant medications are at an increased risk of falling in the days following the start of a new prescription or a dose increase of their current drug, according to a new study.  |
| Discovery opens new options for improving transfusions Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:32 PM PDT Donated red blood cells lose a key feature that diminishes their lifesaving power the longer they have been stored, according to researchers. The finding details how banked blood undergoes a change during storage that decreases its ability to transport oxygen.  |
| Adolescent binge drinking can damage spatial working memory Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:32 PM PDT Binge drinking is prevalent during adolescence. Adolescence is also a crucial developmental time for cognitive functioning, including spatial working memory. A new study has found the female may be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of binge drinking.  |
| Stress and alcohol 'feed' each other Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:32 PM PDT Acute stress is thought to precipitate alcohol drinking. Yet the ways that acute stress can increase alcohol consumption are unclear. A new study investigated whether different phases of response to an acute stressor can alter the subjective effects of alcohol. Findings indicate bi-directional relationships between alcohol and stress.  |
| Low amounts of alcohol have different effects on left and right ventricles of the heart Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:32 PM PDT Few studies have examined the acute effects of alcohol on myocardial or heart function. While moderate-to-high blood concentrations of alcohol acutely impair conventional echocardiographic measures of left ventricular (LV) performance, the effects of low concentrations are unclear. An examination of the acute effects of low blood concentrations of alcohol on the left and right ventricles, which collectively pump blood to the entire body, has found that low doses of alcohol can have very different effects on LV and right ventricular (RV) function.  |
| Response to alcohol, peers, expectancies, and coping all contribute to adolescent drinking Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:32 PM PDT A low level of response (LR) to alcohol is one of several genetically influenced characteristics that may increase an individual's risk for heavy drinking and alcohol problems. A new study has examined the LR model of risk among adolescents in the United Kingdom. Findings indicate that a low LR is related to more adverse alcohol outcomes through partial mediation by peer substance use, positive expectancies of the effects of alcohol, and using alcohol to cope with stress.  |
| Improved hybrid solar collector has higher efficiency, longer lifespan Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:31 PM PDT A researcher in the Netherlands has developed a new type of hybrid solar collector with a higher efficiency and a longer lifespan than the current hybrid systems. Hybrid solar collectors combine photovoltaic solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity with a solar heater that provides warm water.  |
| Children with public health insurance less likely to receive comprehensive primary care Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:51 PM PDT Children with public insurance are 22 percent less likely to receive comprehensive primary care than those with private insurance, according to new research.  |
| US Health care: Massachusetts health-care reform increased access to care, particularly among disadvantaged Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:51 PM PDT Researchers have found that Massachusetts health reform has effectively increased access to health care and reduced disparities.  |
| Precision gene targeting in stem cells corrects disease-causing mutations Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:56 AM PDT Using two distinct methods, researchers have successfully and consistently manipulated targeted genes in both human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (adult cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell-like state). In one case, scientists employed proteins known as zinc finger nucleases to change a single base pair in the genome, allowing them either to insert or remove mutations known to cause early-onset Parkinson's disease.  |
| Stem cells: Nearing goal of using patient's own cells to make stem cells to replace lost or diseased tissue Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:55 AM PDT Scientists have developed an improved technique for generating large numbers of blood cells from a patient's own cells. The new technique will be immediately useful in further stem cell studies, and when perfected, could be used in stem cell therapies for a wide variety of conditions including cancers and immune ailments.  |
| New hope for treatment of cocaine addiction Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:53 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that a common beta blocker, used to treat people with hypertension, has shown to be effective in preventing the brain from retrieving memories associated with cocaine use in animal-addiction models. Cocaine is one of the worst drug addictions to kick, with about 80 percent of those trying to quit experiencing a relapse within six months.  |
| Informed-consent forms should be shortened, simplified, bioethicists say Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:53 AM PDT An in-depth review of consent forms provided to volunteers for HIV/AIDS research in the United States and abroad about study procedures, risks and benefits has found that the forms were extremely long and used wording that may have been complex enough to hinder full understanding, according to bioethicists.  |
| Conducting energy on a nano scale: Are 'doped' nanocrystals the future of technology? Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:51 AM PDT Scientists have succeeded in making delicate and sensitive nanocrystals susceptible to the engineering techniques that would make them practical semi-conductors. The new method of "doping" these crystals may lead to advances in solar panels, cell phones and cameras.  |
| New understanding of biomarkers could lead to earlier diagnosis of fatal diseases Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:51 AM PDT A new research paper sheds light on the way antibodies distinguish between different but closely related "biomarkers" -- proteins which reveal information about the condition of the human body. This new understanding could enable pharmaceutical companies to develop new technologies for quickly diagnosing and treating fatal diseases.  |
| Telomere length linked to emphysema risk Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:51 AM PDT Telomeres, the body's own cellular clocks, may be a crucial factor underlying the development of emphysema, according to new research.  |
| Ready, go! Super Elongation Complex pinpointed as a major regulator in coordinated expression of early developmental genes Posted: 14 Jul 2011 04:14 PM PDT Just like orchestra musicians waiting for their cue, RNA polymerase II molecules are poised at the start site of many developmentally controlled genes, waiting for the "Go!" signal to read their part of the genomic symphony. An assembly of transcription elongation factors known as Super Elongation Complex, or SEC for short, helps paused RNA polymerases to come online and start transcribing the gene ahead, researchers have now found.  |
