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Income, race and ethnic origin may play more potent roles in asthma risk

Challenging the long-standing belief that city dwellers suffer disproportionately from asthma, the results of a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study of more than 23,000 U.S. children reveal that income, race and ethnic origin may play far more potent roles in asthma risk than kids' physical surroundings.

20 Jan 2015

Researchers explore how M6P deficiency affects different kinds of immune cells

A group of white blood cells known as B cells, which play a key role in the human immune response, need a protein-targeting signal called mannose 6-phosphate (M6P) in order to proliferate, differentiate, and present immune cell-activating antigens, according to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology.

20 Jan 2015

UPM researchers study stability of arsenic species in edible marine algae

Researchers at UPM have studied the stability of diverse arsenic species found in edible marine algae and have established the best conditions for their storage and preservation.

20 Jan 2015

Effective vaccine booster schedules needed to fight against whooping cough resurgence

A key to victory in battle, according to Chinese general and military strategist Sun Tzu, is to know your enemy. In the current fight against whooping cough resurgence, perhaps the biggest obstacle is an incomplete understanding of its underlying causes, according to a University of Michigan population ecologist.

20 Jan 2015

QMUL researchers develop new 'microcapsule' method to treat osteoarthritis

A new 'microcapsule' treatment delivery method developed by researchers at Queen Mary University of London could reduce inflammation in cartilage affected by osteoarthritis and reverse damage to tissue. The research was funded by Arthritis Research UK and the AO Foundation.

20 Jan 2015

Researchers turn clinical experience in multiple myeloma treatment into instructive review for physicians

Multiple myeloma is a malignant disease characterised by proliferation of clonal plasma cells in the bone marrow and typically accompanied by the secretion of monoclonal immunoglobulins that are detectable in the serum or urine. Increased understanding of the microenvironmental interactions between malignant plasma cells and the bone marrow niche, and their role in disease progression and acquisition of therapy resistance, has helped the development of novel therapeutic drugs for use in combination with cytostatic therapy.

20 Jan 2015

Joining a walking group helps boost overall health

Joining a walking group is one of the best and easiest ways to boost overall health, with virtually no side effects, suggests an analysis of the available evidence, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

20 Jan 2015

Study: Iodine deficiency during pregnancy can impair child's intellectual development

Pregnant women in Austria commonly suffer from an iodine deficiency. This may have a negative impact on the development of their unborn child's brain. These are the key findings of a joint study by the Endocrinology and Metabolism Unit at the University Department of Internal Medicine III together with the University Department of Gynaecology at the MedUni Vienna and AGES, which have now been published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

20 Jan 2015

Controlling acute and chronic pain in women

Despite the variety of effective treatments, and physicians who specialize in treating pain, women often suffer unnecessarily from conditions ranging from backaches to pain after cancer surgery, and also treat their pain with medications that may be ineffective and possibly harmful, according to a review of research related to women and pain by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

20 Jan 2015

Researchers identify novel life-preserving circuit responsible for recognizing threats

Our existence depends on a bit of evolutionary genius aptly nicknamed "fight or flight." But where in our brain does the alarm first go off, and what other parts of the brain are mobilized to express fear and remember to avoid danger in the future?

20 Jan 2015

Research opens door to potential new cancer biomarkers

A new analysis opens the door to discovery of thousands of potential new cancer biomarkers.

20 Jan 2015

Combining insecticide-treated bed nets and vaccines may worsen malaria

Combining insecticide-treated bed nets with vaccines and other control measures may provide the best chance at eliminating malaria, which killed nearly 600,000 people worldwide in 2013, most of them African children.

20 Jan 2015

Researchers identify novel signaling pathway that triggers allergic asthma response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with collaborators in Korea and Scotland, have identified a novel signaling pathway critical to the immune response of cells associated with the initiation of allergic asthma.

20 Jan 2015

Prolonged sitting associated with higher risk of disease, death

The amount of time a person sits during the day is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and death, regardless of regular exercise—according to a review study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

20 Jan 2015

Couples who decide to get healthy together have more successful outcomes

People are more successful in taking up healthy habits if their partner makes positive changes too, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine today (Monday).

20 Jan 2015

CUMC researcher develops new 3D microscope that can help view living things at very high speeds

Opening new doors for biomedical and neuroscience research, Elizabeth Hillman, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering and of radiology at Columbia University Medical Center, has developed a new microscope that can image living things in 3D at very high speeds.

20 Jan 2015

Brains of individuals with ASD display unique synchronization patterns

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been studied for many years, but there are still many more questions than answers. For example, some research into the brain functions of individuals with autism spectrum have found a lack of synchronization ('connectivity') between different parts of the brain that normally work in tandem.

20 Jan 2015

Brain uses separate pathway to recall old fear memories

People with anxiety disorders, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), often experience prolonged and exaggerated fearfulness. Now, an animal study suggests that this might involve disruption of a gradual shifting of brain circuitry for retrieving fear memories. Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered in rats that an old fear memory is recalled by a separate brain pathway from the one originally used to recall it when it was fresh.

20 Jan 2015

Researchers find genetic mutation that causes glycogen storage disease type IIIa in Inuit

A team of Canadian and Japanese researchers has identified the genetic mutation responsible for glycogen storage disease type IIIa in Inuit in northern Quebec, Canada, in a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

20 Jan 2015

Study suggests that common gut microbe may control risk of developing MS

A common gut microbe might curb the risk of developing multiple sclerosis--at least in women--suggests the largest study of its kind published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

20 Jan 2015