Activity in Biological News

Health benefits of physical activity more pronounced in women

Many experimental studies have found that physical exercise can improve cholesterol levels and subsequently decrease the risks of cardiovascular disease; however, few of these studies have included enough participant diversity to provide ethnic breakdowns. Now, a long-term study of over 8,700 midd...

A 'heart healthy' diet and ongoing, moderate physical activity may protect against cognitive decline

Vienna, July 14, 2009 Eating a "heart healthy" diet and maintaining or increasing participation in moderate physical activity may help preserve our memory and thinking abilities as we age, according to new research reported today at the Alzheimer's Association 2009 International Conference on Alz...

Nanocrystals reveal activity within cells

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have created bright, stable and bio-friendly nanocrystals that act as individual investigators of activity within a cell. These ideal light emitting probes represent a significant step in scrutinizing th...

Gene activity reveals dynamic stroma microenvironment in prostate cancer

HOUSTON -- (June 9, 2009) As stroma the supportive framework of the prostate gland react to prostate cancer, changes in the expression of genes occur that induce the formation of new structures such as blood vessels, nerves and parts of nerves, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in ...

Caltech scientists reveal how neuronal activity is timed in brain's memory-making circuits

PASADENA, Calif.Theta oscillations are a type of prominent brain rhythm that orchestrates neuronal activity in the hippocampus, a brain area critical for the formation of new memories. For several decades these oscillations were believed to be "in sync" across the hippocampus, timing the firing of...

Study finds children's activity levels not influenced by more PE time in school

Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Scheduling more physical education time in schools does not mean children will increase their activity levels, suggests new research that discovered those who got lots of timetabled exercise at school compensated by doing less at home while those who got little at schoo...

Early brain activity sheds new light on the neural basis of reading

Most people are expert readers, but it is something of an enigma that our brain can achieve expertise in such a recent cultural invention, which lies at the interface between vision and language. Given that the first alphabetic scripts are thought to have been invented only around four to five tho...

Physical activity may strengthen children's ability to pay attention

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. As school districts across the nation revamped curricula to meet requirements of the federal "No Child Left Behind" Act, opportunities for children to be physically active during the school day diminished significantly. Future mandates, however, might be better served by takin...

Pulmonary hypertension in children may result from reduced activity of gene regulator

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Too little activity by gene regulators called PPARs appears to be a major player in the irreversible lung damage that can occur in children with heart defects, researchers say. If they are right, drugs already under study to boost PPAR signaling in adults with lung injuries, may ...

Researchers capture wave of brain activity linked to anticipation

WASHINGTON, D.C. Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have, for the first time, shown what brain activity looks like when someone anticipates an action or sensory input which soon follows. In the February 25 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience , they say this neural clairv...

Physical activity may not be key to obesity epidemic

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- A recent international study fails to support the common belief that the number of calories burned in physical activity is a key factor in rising rates of obesity. Researchers from Loyola University Health System and other centers compared African American women in metropolitan...

Physical activity and health: Finding the right prescription

This release is available in French . Saskatoon (November 3, 2008) We all know physical activity is good for you. But why exactly is it good for you? What effect does exercise have on the cells and tissues of the body? What do we need to know so that we can use physical activity more effe...

Earthworm activity can alter forests' carbon-carrying capabilities

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Earthworms can change the chemical nature of the carbon in North American forest litter and soils, potentially affecting the amount of carbon stored in forests, according to Purdue University researchers. The Purdue scientists, along with collaborators from the Smithsonia...

How neuronal activity leads to Alzheimer's protein cleavage

Amyloid precursor protein (APP), whose cleavage product, amyloid-b (Ab), builds up into fibrous plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, jumps from one specialized membrane microdomain to another to be cleaved, report Sakurai et al. Although there is no definitive evidence that Ab ...

Guidelines urge physical activity during pregnancy

EAST LANSING, Mich. Moderate physical activity during pregnancy does not contribute to low birth weight, premature birth or miscarriage and may actually reduce the risk of complications, according to a Michigan State University professor who contributed to the U.S. government's first-ever guideli...

PTC124 shows activity in cystic fibrosis; Phase 2 proof-of-concept data published in Lancet

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ August 20, 2008 New phase 2 data published today in The Lancet show that the investigational oral drug PTC124 demonstrates activity in nonsense-mutation cystic fibrosis (CF). The data show that treatment with PTC124 results in statistically significant improvements in the...

Study finds connections between genetics, brain activity and preference

A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has used brain imaging, genetics and experimental psychology techniques to identify a connection between brain reward circuitry, a behavioral measurement of preference and a gene variant that appears to influence both. The report in ...

Eribulin mesylate demonstrated anti-tumor activity in patients with advanced breast cancer

Woodcliff Lake, N.J., May 15, 2008The investigational chemotherapeutic agent eribulin mesylate (E7389) demonstrated activity in a heavily pretreated population of women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, according to results of a multi-center Phase II clinical trial. The study als...

Blood pressure drug telmisartan shows powerful activity against stroke

NEW YORK (Dec. 12, 2007) -- Telmisartan, a drug widely used to help control blood pressure, may have uniquely potent activity in preventing stroke, according to a new study conducted in an animal model. Whether they used the drug alone or in combination with a different type of antihypertensive...

Researcher finds Girl Scout meetings provide an opportunity to increase girls' physical activity

Girls typically are less physically active than boys, but a Kansas State University researcher has found that organizations like Girl Scouts provide an ideal setting to get girls moving early in life and to develop lifelong healthy habits. Richard Rosenkranz, assistant professor in human nutrit...

Pitt receives $2.5 million to simulate and analyze brain, immune system activity

PITTSBURGHIn an effort to promote the application of mathematics to medical treatment, researchers in the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Mathematics will undertake a $2.5 million project to create models of how the brain and immune system function and change over time in response to cert...

UM coral scientist Peter Glynn wins award for scholarly activity

VIRGINIA KEY, FLA. Dr. Peter Glynn, a professor at the University of Miamis Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has been selected to receive the 2007-2008 Provosts Award for Scholarly Activity. The award recognizes extraordinary research and scholarly pursuits, and provides the r...

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols highlights a method that captures cell growth and activity

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (Thurs., Nov. 1, 2007) This months issue of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols ( www.cshprotocols.org ) features a cutting-edge method that provides a snapshot of growth and activity patterns in mixed populations of cells. The protocol is freely accessible online ( http://...

Chronic fatigue syndrome impairs a person's slow wave activity during sleep

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been associated with altered amounts of slow wave sleep, which could reflect reduced electroencephalograph (EEG) activity and impaired sleep regulation. A study published in the May 1st issue of the journal SLEEP finds that CFS is also associated with a blunted s...

Individuals and populations differ in gene activity levels, not just genes

Much like how a person's genetic code differs from other individuals, the level at which those genes are activated in the body differs from one person to another, scientists have learned. And though some of those differences in gene activity are seen between different populations ?Asians versus Eur...

Brain's reward circuit activity ebbs and flows with a woman's hormonal cycle

Fluctuations in sex hormone levels during women's menstrual cycles affect the responsiveness of their brains' reward circuitry, an imaging study at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has revealed. While women were winning rewards,...

Enhancing activity of marijuana-like chemicals in brain helps treat

Marijuana-like chemicals in the brain may point to a treatment for the debilitating condition of Parkinson's disease. In a study to be published in the Feb. 8 issue of Nature, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine report that endocannabinoids, naturally occurring chemicals...

Scientists find hormone activity explains adolescent mood swings

The "raging hormones" of puberty are known to produce mood swings and stress for most teenagers, making it difficult to cope with this period of life. Until now, the specific causes of pubertal anxiety have not been identified, making it harder to understand and treat adolescent angst. In the cu...

What's in the water? Estrogenic activity documented in fish caught in Pittsburgh's rivers

A new study from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Center for Environmental Oncology suggests that fish caught in Pittsburgh rivers contain substances that mimic the actions of estrogen, the female hormone. Since fish are sentinels of the environment, and can concentrate chemicals fro...

Intravenous nanoparticle gene therapy shows activity in stage IV lung cancer

A cancer-suppressing gene has been successfully delivered into the tumors of stage 4 lung cancer patients via an intravenously administered lipid nanoparticle in a phase I clinical trial at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The gene, FUS1, also was found to be active in the ...

Innovative movies show real-time immune-cell activity within tumors

Using advanced new microscopy techniques in concert with sophisticated transgenic technologies, scientists at The Wistar Institute have for the first time created three-dimensional, time-lapse movies showing immune cells targeting cancer cells in live tumor tissues. In recorded experiments, immune ...

Stem cell activity deciphered in the aging brain

Neurobiologists have discovered why the aging brain produces progressively fewer new nerve cells in its learning and memory center. The scientists said the finding, made in rodents, refutes current ideas on how long crucial "progenitor" stem cells persist in the aging brain. The finding also sugg...

Hopkins researchers develop new tool to watch real-time chemical activity in cells

Attempts to identify potential drugs that interfere with the action of one particular enzyme linked to heart disease and similar health problems led scientists at Johns Hopkins to create a new tool and new experimental approach that allow them to see multiple, real-time chemical reactions in livin...

Inflammation and drugs to control this activity studied in a variety of tumors sites

Inflammation cuts both ways. When invaded by an infectious agent, for example, the body calls on the forces of inflammation to fight and defeat the intruder. But when the biochemical processes of the immune system are either misdirected or chronically turned on, inflammation can lead to adversity, ...

Markers of gene, protein, or micro-RNA activity predict outcome in prostate and colorectal cancers

Cancer researchers are working toward a future in which each patient's tumor will act like a crystal ball, revealing how oncologists should treat the cancer to obtain the best outcome. Currently, physicians cannot predict which patients with prostate cancer should receive extra therapy after sur...

Brain activity related to processing faces is similar in people with, without autism

New brain imaging research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicates that when people with autism look at a face, activity in the brain area that responds is similar to that of people without autism. The finding is surprising, as it is widely known that autistic individuals ten...

Natural compound from 'pond scum' shows potential activity against Alzheimer's

A compound isolated from a cyanobacterium, a type of blue-green algae known as Nostoc, shows promise of becoming a natural drug candidate for fighting Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to an in vitro study by researchers in Switzerland. It is believed to be the first time ...

Promiscuous Catalytic Activity Possessed by Novel Enzyme Structure

Nature is a seemingly endless storehouse of interesting ?and potentially life-saving ?biological molecules. But tracking down and harvesting those chemicals in their natural form can be time-consuming, expensive and unreliable. Now Salk scientists have discovered a new way of bringing “bio-prosp...

Exercise training in ordinary people affects the activity of 500 genes

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm shows that hundreds of genes in the thigh muscle are activated in regular cycle training. The study also reveals that great differences in training response may be due to the ability in some people to activate their genes much more forcefully. The...

Weizmann Institute scientists develop a general 'control switch' for protein activity

Our bodies could not maintain their existence without thousands of proteins performing myriad vital tasks within cells. Since malfunctioning proteins can cause disease, the study of protein structure and function can lead to the development of drugs and treatments for numerous disorders. For examp...