Tag: Medical Topics

Occurrence of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) has often been linked with El Niño rainfall. To curb future outbreaks of RVF, M. Kariuki Njenga and colleagues carried out enhanced syndromic surveillance of 22 high-risk RVF Kenyan counties to collect data on RVF-associated syndromes and risk factors in livestock from November 2015 through February 2016. Their research,

Boston University researchers, Thomas Kepler, professor of microbiology; Stephanie Pavlovich, an MD/PhD student; and Elke Mühlberger, director, Biomolecule Production Core, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL); in collaboration with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Viral Special Pathogens Branch, today released

Donor age does not appear to influence the functionality of stem cells derived from adult body tissues, concludes a new review. The analysis of research on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) finds that not only are typical signs of aging reversed in iPSCs, but cells derived from both older and younger donors show the same

An international team of scientists including the University of Adelaide has discovered a new complex carbohydrate in moss that could possibly be exploited for health or other uses. The scientists, from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls and University of Rhode Island, in the US, say the polysaccharide looks a bit like

A team of scientists, led by academics from King’s College London and Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, have discovered 124 genes that play a major role in determining human hair colour variation. The discovery sheds new light on our understanding of the genetic complexity underpinning variations in human pigmentation, and could advance our knowledge

Probably the last place anyone would want to find airborne polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) is in the kitchen, yet that’s exactly where scientists detected their presence, according to a new report in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology. They say that the PCBs, which are widely considered carcinogenic, are unwanted byproducts of sealant breakdown in

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a haematological malignancy that originates in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow and spreads to other organs through the bloodstream. When infiltrating tissues, CLL cells come in contact with healthy cells, including immune cells. To ensure their survival and growth, CLL cells are able to establish a microenvironment in

Giving opioids to animals to quell pain after surgery prolongs pain for more than three weeks and primes specialized immune cells in the spinal cord to be more reactive to pain, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder. The authors say the paradoxical findings, if replicated in humans, could have far-reaching

A team from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has determined for the first time the high-resolution structure of a complex (R2TP) involved in key processes for cell survival and in diseases such as cancer. This achievement has been made possible by using high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy, a technique brought to the CNIO thanks to

Spine deformities, such as idiopathic scoliosis and kyphosis (also known as “hunchback”), are characterized by an abnormal curvature in the spine. The children with these spinal deformities are typically advised to wear a brace that fits around the torso and hips to correct the abnormal curve. Bracing has been shown to prevent progression of the

For hospitalized patients, pain is an all-too-common part of the experience. Even among U.S. patients who have not undergone surgery, more than half receive at least one dose of an opioid for acute pain during their stay. Even as current research demonstrates that hospitalized patients’ exposure to opioids has contributed to the nationwide addiction epidemic,

The genetic basis of lifespan determination is poorly understood. Most research has been done on short-lived animals, and it is unclear if these insights can be transferred to long-lived mammals like humans. By comparing genes of long- and short-lived rodents, researchers from Leibniz Institute on Aging (FLI) in Jena/Germany now identified in a collaborative project

A comprehensive review of scientific literature surrounding the psychology of vaccinations has shown that shaping behavior rather than trying to change minds is far more effective at persuading people to get immunized. “There is very little evidence to suggest that we can change people’s beliefs or knowledge in a way that will lead to increased

The longevity and health improvements seen in animals on sulfur amino acid-restricted diets could translate to people, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who recently conducted a review of published studies. More research is needed to confirm the benefits in people, the scientists said. Amino acids are the building blocks of all proteins