Following in Biological News

Researchers block damage to fetal brain following maternal alcohol consumption

BETHESDA, Md. (August 11, 2008) − In a study on fetal alcohol syndrome, researchers were able to prevent the damage that alcohol causes to cells in a key area of the fetal brain by blocking acid sensitive potassium channels and preventing the acidic environment that alcohol produces. The cer...

When following the leader can lead into the jaws of death

For animals that live in social groups, and that includes humans, blindly following a leader could place them in danger. To avoid this, animals have developed simple but effective behaviour to follow where at least a few of them dare to tread rather than follow a single group member. This ...

MNI researchers locate neurological basis of depression following sports concussion

This release is also available in French . Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University have identified the neurological basis of depression in male athletes with persisting post-concussion symptoms. The study, published in this weeks issue of Archives of General P...

Researchers take first steps towards spinal cord reconstruction following injury

This release is also available in French . Montreal, November 12, 2007 - A new study has identified what may be a pivotal first step towards the regeneration of nerve cells following spinal cord injury, using the bodys own stem cells. This seminal study, published in this weeks Procee...

Ecologist finds dire devastation of snake species following floods of '93, '95

In science, its best to be good, but sometimes its better to be lucky. Ecologist Owen Sexton, professor emeritus of biology at Washington University in St. Louis, had just completed a census of snakes at a conservation preserve northwest of St. Louis, when the great flood of 1993 deluged the ar...

Genetic factors are linked to fever following smallpox vaccination

New evidence supports the link between genetic factors and certain adverse events related to smallpox vaccination. The study, published in the July 15th issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online, may have implications for predicting adverse events from other live vaccines....

Palau's coral reefs show differential habitat recovery following the 1998 bleaching event

Coral reef bleaching, believed to be one of the detrimental effects of climate change, may receive a welcomed "buffer" through effective local management, according to new research by a team of scientists recording the long-term recovery of coral reefs in Palau and elsewhere. "It appears that cor...

PNAS study reveals why organs fail following massive trauma

Massive trauma, say from a sabertooth tiger attack, meant immediate death for the primitive human. Modern man is more likely to survive severe injury caused by a car crash, gunshot or fall thanks to high-tech emergency medicine. Unfortunately, the body does not know what to do when it survives an ...

High levels of blindness in southern Sudan following years of war

Surveys conducted in southern Sudan, after conflict there ended in 2004, found much higher levels of blindness than anticipated. The results, published in PLoS Medicine, have major implications for the provision of health services in the region. Sudan is the largest country in Africa and one of t...

Cell death following blood 'reflow' injury tracked to natural toxin

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered what they believe is the "smoking gun" responsible for most tissue and organ damage after a period of blood oxygen loss followed by a sudden restoration of blood oxygen flow. Working with mice, the Hopkins team found that the sudden oxygen bath trigg...

Use of amino acid supplement following a heart attack provides no benefit, may be harmful

Use of the amino acid supplement L-arginine following a heart attack does not improve certain cardiac functions and measurements and may be associated with an increased risk of death, according to a study in the January 4 issue of JAMA. L-arginine is a widely available dietary supplement and is p...

AIDS Public Awareness Campaign Expands Following Report Of Rapidly Progressive HIV

State Health Commissioner Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., today announced the expansion of New York State's HIV/AIDS Public Awareness and Education campaign to help combat the potential spread of HIV and further protect New Yorkers from the virus that causes AIDS. Dr. Novello said, "I...

EMBO pioneers pension plan for internationally mobile postdoctoral researchers

...nsion Scheme Division at MLP. "It allows them to make early pension provisions without having to make any concessions in terms of their mobility." following completion of PhD studies, many young researchers often take up post-doctoral research positions in laboratories outside their home countries. It's no...

Bladder cells feel stretch

...cial apparatus to measure cell responses upon stretch stimulation, which mimics bladder distension. Upon stretch stimulation, robust Ca2+ influx and following ATP release were observed in urothelial cells. These phenomena were almost completely attributed to TRPV4 activation, since such responses were elimin...

AGU journal highlights -- Aug. 6, 2009

... The following highlights summarize research papers that have been published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospher...

UBC researchers find first-ever 'wanderlust gene' in tiny bony fish

...itish Columbia study. Measuring three to 10 centimetres, stickleback fish originated in the ocean but began populating freshwater lakes and streams following the last ice age. Over the past 15,000 years, freshwater sticklebacks have lost their bony lateral plates, or "armour," in these new environments. Sci...

Sustainable agriculture at the ESA Annual Meeting

...m, in which crop plants live one year, are harvested, and are replanted the following year. These systems are notorious, however, for stripping organic nutrient...nce the bacteria are already there?" The researchers will present in the following sessions at the Albuquerque Convention Center (ACC): Jerry Glover: Symp...

Holding breath for several minutes elevates marker for brain damage

...e artery that runs through the wrist. They took samples before the breath hold, at the end of the breath hold and at fixed intervals for the two hours following the end of the breath hold. The researchers also measured arterial blood gases. They did the same measurements on the individuals in the control group...

Stem cell 'daughters' lead to breast cancer

...r, one of the biggest causes of premature death in women. "BRCA1 women have approximately a 65 per cent lifetime chance of developing breast cancer. following surgery, treatment options available to these women are often limited to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, so identifying new treatment and prevention st...

August 2009 Geology and GSA Today media highlights

...cal systems. Their findings indicate that the long-held hypothesis that the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone has migrated southward during the Holocene following precessional variations in summer insolation cannot be applied to southern Africa. The implications of this in terms of understanding regional- to glo...

Antibody targeting of glioblastoma shows promise in preclinical tests, say Lombardi researchers

...hould be administered. Because it may not pass through the blood-brain barrier, it could possibly be delivered through a viral vector, or administered following brain surgery. While antibodies are used to treat a variety of cancers, such as Herceptin for breast cancer, no antibody treatment has yet been appro...

Opening a new window on daylight

...or east-facing windows and horizontal canopies for south-facing windows to reduce heating effects. Daylighting and shading effects can be optimized by following their formula and choosing appropriate windows size and positioning as well as other parameters, such as glazing transmittance. ...

E-Noses: Testing their mettle against fly noses

... as discriminating as biological noses," according to CSIRO scientist, Dr Stephen Trowell. "Our efforts to improve e-noses recently received a boost following our development of a new system which enables us to compare technical sensors with biological sensors. "We looked at how the most common type of e-n...

Experimental treatment halts hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in newborns

...s powerful strategy for brain protection." Earlier studies have pointed to the role certain brain proteases, or enzymes, play in adult brain injury following stroke, but very little has been known about what these enzymes do in neonatal cerebral hypoxic-ischemia, according to the researchers. The enzyme in ...

Study shows cancer vaccines led to long-term survival for patients with metastatic melanoma

... follow up of 4.5 years (range 2.4 to 7.4) for the 30 surviving patients. Although not a direct comparison, the results are superior to those observed following vaccination with irradiated tumor cells in 48 melanoma patients in a previous trial (64 vs. 31 months, p=.016). Eight patients in the dendritic cell v...

Improved air quality during Beijing Olympics could inform pollution-curbing policies

...uipment installed at two elevations on a building in the heart of Beijing. They also tracked emissions from vehicles in different areas of the city by following randomly selected cars and trucks in a minivan equipped with sensitive instruments for detecting carbon particles, including carbon monoxide, carbon d...

Scientists discover gene mutation responsible for hereditary neuroendocrine tumor

...e, in order to study mitochondrial functions before going back to humans and determining whether what we learned in yeast was also relevant to humans. following this strategy, we first characterized a mitochondrial protein called Sdh5 in yeast and then moved on to study its potential role in human disease." ...

Scripps-led study shows ocean health plays vital role in coral reef recovery

...global climate change increases ocean temperatures worldwide. The new findings, published in the July 22 issue of the journal PLoS ONE , show that following a major bleaching event Mountainous star coral ( Montastraea faveolata ) on various reefs in Honduras and Belize was able to recover and grow normally...

Genetic tests advertised directly to the consumer

...s of the tests and work closely with those who are considering taking further action in response to an advertisement of genetic testing, providing the following cautionary advice: Verify with a professional, the information presented in advertisements of genetic testing Seek advice from a genetic clinici...

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis may pose neurological risks

... control groups, which is consistent with results found in humans. However, following implantation, successful births from biopsied embryos were significantly lower than in controls. following birth, the authors tracked many physical and behavioral properties; the two...

Skin-like tissue developed from human embryonic stem cells

...tion forms the surface layer (ectodermal, the precursor to epithelial tissue), while the second is found beneath the surface layer (mesenchymal). following the isolation and characterization of these cell populations, the researchers incorporated them into an engineered, three-dimensional tissue system wh...

Ethiopian government celebrates rinderpest eradication

...mptoms and patterns of transmission. Their ability to monitor for flare-ups following the vaccinations was crucial to conquering rinderpest. Similar tactics w...ine commonly known as the Plowright vaccine could have wiped out rinderpest following its development in the 1960s. Yet, without constant refrigeration at freezi...

Penn-Wistar team gains insight into HIV vaccine failure

...isting neutralizing antibodies correlated with numbers of activated CD4 T-cells to Ad5, which could have provided additional targets for HIV infection following subsequent exposure." Seeking to understand the relationship between previous neutralizing antibodies to Ad5 and Ad5-specific T-cell responses, th...

UK bioscience sparkles with new Diamond fellowship

... UK bioscience has received a major boost following the announcement of 16 new fellowships by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) including the first ever Diamond Fellowsh...

Frost & Sullivan: North American Government Biometrics Markets Thrive With Active R&D Thrust

...ty Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: world biometrics market, world silicon chip fingerprints market, w... detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Frost & Sulliva...

Surviving mass extinction by leading a double life

...nic and benthic domains. Such ecologically-flexible species are eminently suited to the recolonisation of the extinction-susceptible planktonic domain following mass extinctions events, such as the end-Cretaceous event." It had been thought that all modern planktic foraminifers were descended from the few l...

Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology increases impact, international reach

...cians and researchers in more than 30 countries. Of the international manuscripts submitted over the past two years, the greatest numbers are from the following areas/countries: Europe, Japan, Korea, China and Canada. The number of JVIR international reviewers has grown as well in the past two years, with a nu...

Alzheimer's disease drug treats traumatic brain injury, report GUMC researchers

... Vienna, Austria The destructive cellular pathways activated in Alzheimer's disease are also triggered following traumatic brain injury, say researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC). They say this finding suggests that novel therapy might succ...

Growing Demand for Rapid Screening and Detection Systems Pushes the European Maritime Security Market, Finds Frost & Sullivan

... 2015. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts examine the following markets: screening and detection systems, access control and surveillance s... Growth Partnership Services programme, which also includes research in the following markets: European Border Security Market, European Sea Port Security Market...

New Report Just Published: World Solid-State, Fiber, Gas and Dye Lasers Market Report

...nalytics for global and regional markets in this report are analyzed by the following Technology Types: Solid-State Lasers, Fiber Lasers, Gas Lasers, and Dye Lasers. Further, the global market is also analyzed by the following end-use markets: Industrial Material Processing, Medical, Instrumentation, ...