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European project to look at the wiring of the brain during growth

One of the great questions of neurobiology, how the brain is built up during embryonic development, could be resolved by a young French scientist in an award winning project organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Heads of Research Councils (EuroHORCS).

24 Sep 2007

Diet and lifestyle offers significant benefits to people with chronic kidney disease

"People who suffer severe chronic kidney disease clearly need support with their diets," she said. "When their kidneys function at less than 30 per cent they often lose their appetites, which can lead to malnutrition and compound their health problems."

24 Sep 2007

Sensitivity of brain center for 'sound space' defined

While the visual regions of the brain have been intensively mapped, many important regions for auditory processing remain “uncharted territory.”

21 Sep 2007

Scientists decipher mechanism behind antimicrobial 'hole punchers'

In the battle against bacteria, researchers have scored a direct hit.

21 Sep 2007

Repeat steroids to premature infants linked to cerebral palsy

Repeated courses of a drug that is used to improve the survival of unborn premature babies also may increase the risk of cerebral palsy in those children, according to results from a multi-center study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by Ronald Wapner, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Columbia University Medical Center and attending obstetrician and gynecologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

21 Sep 2007

New discovery on blood doping and anemia

A stunning discovery by German scientists may make blood doping and the treatment of severe anemia as easy as washing your hair.

21 Sep 2007

Modulating fat levels essential for successful pregnancy

New data, generated in mice by Richard Proia and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, provides a potential reason for early pregnancy loss in humans.

21 Sep 2007

Air pollutants and blood clotting link

Air pollution is caused by any particulate matter, chemical, or biological agent that changes the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.

21 Sep 2007

Legal proceedings can be calming and supportive

It may seem that therapy and law do not share a common bond, but one University of Arizona law professor is making that connection by developing a body of knowledge to prove that legal proceedings can be calming and supportive.

21 Sep 2007

Genes for osteoporosis

Researchers at Hebrew SeniorLife's Institute for Aging Research (IFAR) have examined close to 100,000 genetic markers for low bone mass and aging to help determine which genes are responsible for the development of osteoporosis and longevity.

21 Sep 2007

Heat shock proteins are co-opted for cancer

A Jekyll-Hyde mechanism that both protects healthy cells and enables cancer cells could be the basis for new cancer-fighting drugs.

21 Sep 2007

Genetic variation affects smoking cessation treatment

Mark Twain boasted that it was easy to quit smoking because he did it every day.

21 Sep 2007

Controlling for size may also prevent cancer

Scientists at Johns Hopkins recently discovered that a chemical chain reaction that controls organ size in animals ranging from insects to humans could mean the difference between normal growth and cancer.

21 Sep 2007

Cell-surface sugar defects may trigger nerve damage in multiple sclerosis patients

Defects on cell-surface sugars may promote the short-term inflammation and long-term neurodegeneration that occurs in the central nervous system of multiple sclerosis patients, according to University of California, Irvine researchers.

21 Sep 2007

Brain controls the way fat is stored and metabolized

A system in the brain already known to regulate food intake also serves as a direct "remote control" for the way fat is stored and metabolized in the body, say University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers.

21 Sep 2007

Ancient mechanism for coping with stresses also gives cancer a boost

An ancient mechanism for coping with environmental stresses, including heat and toxic exposures, also helps cancerous tumors survive, reveals a new report in the Sept. 21, 2007, issue of Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

21 Sep 2007

Modelling data reveals cost effectiveness of HPV vaccine

New modelling research presented at the Health Protection Agency's annual conference will show that up to 70% of cases of cervical cancer and 95% of cases of genital warts in men and women could be prevented by the introduction of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination into the UK 's national immunisation programme. This is in addition to the cancer cases already prevented by the NHS cervical screening programme.

20 Sep 2007

Heat shock proteins are co-opted for cancer

A Jekyll-Hyde mechanism that both protects healthy cells and enables cancer cells could be the basis for new cancer-fighting drugs.

20 Sep 2007

Some cancer cells mimic stem cells to evade chemotherapy

Anti-cancer treatments often effectively shrink the size of tumors, but some might have an opposite effect, actually expanding the small population of cancer stem cells believed to drive the disease, according to findings presented in Atlanta, Georgia at the American Association for Cancer Research's second International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development.

20 Sep 2007