Cyclists who died of a head injury were three times as likely to not be wearing a helmet compared with those who died of other injuries, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "We saw an association between dying as a result of sustaining head injury and not wearing a helmet," states Dr. Navindra Persaud, Keenan Research Centre and the Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, with coauthors. "These results are consistent with a protective effect of helmets on cycling deaths." There is scant evidence ...

A technique called the "mother's kiss" for removing foreign objects from the nasal passages of young children appears to be a safe and effective approach, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). "The mother's kiss appears to be a safe and effective technique for first-line treatment in the removal of a foreign body from the nasal cavity," writes Dr. Stephanie Cook, Buxted Medical Centre, Buxted, United Kingdom, with coauthors. "In addition, it may prevent the need for general anesthesia in some cases." The technique, known since the ...

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that affects approximately 2% of the world's population. A group of inflammatory molecules known as interleukins activate an immune response that causes itchy skin, but it is unclear how the skin cells and immune cells communicate. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Manfred Kopf at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland found that mice lacking interleukin-36 (IL-36) were protected from immune-mediated skin inflammation. These results indicate that IL-36 ...

Scratching the surface of psoriasis Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that affects approximately 2% of the world's population. A group of inflammatory molecules known as interleukins activate an immune response that causes itchy skin, but it is unclear how the skin cells and immune cells communicate. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Manfred Kopf at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland found that mice lacking interleukin-36 (IL-36) were protected from immune-mediated skin inflammation. ...

A molecule involved in asthma and allergies has now been shown to make mice resistant to skin cancer, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The molecule, called TSLP (thymic stromal lymphopoietin), is produced by damaged skin and activates the immune system. Chronic low levels of TSLP are suspected in making the immune system oversensitive to what should be a harmless environment, leading to the skin rashes and overproduction of mucus common in allergies and asthma. "But at extremely high levels, TSLP appears to train the ...

"Addiction is a brain disease" was the title of an editorial in the renowned journal "Science" 15 years ago. The author argued that recognising addiction as a disorder of the brain can impact society´s overall health and social policy strategies and help diminish the health and social costs associated with drug abuse and addiction (Leshner, 1997). Such a presentation of the complex concept of addiction was revolutionary, as social and psychological aspects were largely considered as the most important, although not the only ones involved. Some years later, clinicians ...

A study by researchers from Emory University and Indiana University found that the beneficial effects daily exercise can have on the regeneration of nerves also require androgens such as testosterone in both males and females. It is the first report of both androgen-dependence of exercise on nerve regeneration and of an androgenic effect of exercise in females. "The findings will provide a basis for the development of future treatment strategies for patients suffering peripheral nerve injuries," said Dale Sengelaub, professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain ...

Three years ago University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers helped to discover water on the surface of the moon. Now, they are piecing together the origin of that water: solar wind. A new study confirms solar wind as a source for water embedded in the lunar surface. Solar wind is the continuous flow of charged particles from the sun. Scientists have speculated it to be responsible for water on the surface of the moon. Last year Larry Taylor, distinguished professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, confirmed comets as the source for water ...

LOS ANGELES (Oct. 15, 2012) – Currently, there are approximately 25 million people in the United States who suffer from the lifelong effects of asthma – wheezing, breathlessness, tightness in the chest, coughing – and the numbers are rising each year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of people in the United States diagnosed with asthma grew by 4.3 million from 2001 to 2009. Approximately 1 in 10 children and 1 in 12 adults suffer from asthma; the numbers are even higher among racial/ethnic groups, with 1 in 6 children in the ...

Contact: Coimbra Sirica csirica@burnesscommunications.com 44-743-538-4915 Burness Communications Annmarie Leadman aleadman@aeras.org 301-332-8252 Aeras Urgent need for tuberculosis vaccines; experts report progress, obstacles in growing drug resistance As World Health Organization prepares to release report on global TB incidence, researchers say UK at forefront of efforts to develop critical medical tools London (October 15, 2012) – Drawing on recent findings of a significant rise in cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis in the UK and globally, top TB researchers ...

Bochum biophysicists in collaboration with the MPI Dortmund have for the first time measured the orientation of the Ras protein bound to the cell membrane. The RUB team combined the use of three biophysical methods - infrared spectroscopy, computer simulations and fluorescence measurements - and came to the surprising conclusion that two Ras molecules form a pair to take an upright position on the membrane. It was previously assumed, based on computer simulations, that the protein is located horizontally on the membrane as single molecule. Ras is the central "switch" for ...

Researchers from the University of Seville (Spain) have used mathematical tools to assess what has been known for centuries: the temperature inside the typical Mediterranean courtyard is cooler than that of the street. Though seemingly common sense, understanding such information in detail helps to save energy and money, which is the objective of eco-efficient buildings. The inhabitants of Mediterranean regions have known for centuries that during the summer their courtyards are cooler than the street. "Why then put air conditioning extractor units on rooftops or outer ...

An experiment carried out on rodents exposed to fuel similar to that of the Prestige tanker oil spill – which took place nearly a decade ago – shows that inhalation of the fuel causes damage to genetic material. According to the study, led by the University of A Coruña, the results could be used in relation to people who carry out the industrial cleaning of coasts. On 19 November, it will be ten years since the sinking of the Prestige, which caused one of Spain's largest ecological disasters. The oil spill reached the coasts of Galicia and the rest of the Cantabrian coast, ...

Philadelphia, PA, October 15, 2012 – One of the biggest challenges in psychiatric genetics has been to replicate findings across large studies. Scientists at King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry have now performed one of the largest ever genetic replication studies of bipolar affective disorder, with 28,000 subjects recruited from 36 different research centers. Their findings provide compelling evidence that the chromosome 3p21.1 locus contains a common genetic risk for bipolar disorder, the PBRM1 gene. The locus at 3p21.1 has also been previously associated ...

Playing soccer (football) could be the best way for people with high blood pressure, known as hypertension, to improve their fitness, normalise their blood pressure and reduce their risk of stroke. Research from Universities of Exeter and Copenhagen, and Gentofte University Hospital in Denmark, published today (Monday 15 October 2012) in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, suggests that soccer training prevents cardiovascular disease in middle-aged men with hypertension and is more effective than healthy lifestyle advice currently prescribed by GPs. After ...

Philadelphia, Pa. (October 15, 2012) – State physician health programs (PHPs) play a key role in helping doctors with substance abuse problems. But the current PHP system is inconsistent and prone to potential conflicts of interest and ethical issues, according to a review available as publish ahead of print content from the December 2012 issue of Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part ofWolters Kluwer Health. In the article, Drs J. Wesley Boyd ...

A film historian at Queen Mary, University of London has been uncovering the secret past of British cinema in a private collection of production records for thousands of films, including such iconic titles as Dr No, The African Queen, and Zulu. The unique production archive is owned by Film Finances Ltd, underwriters of many major British films made since the 1950s. The company has kept complete documentation for every production it has guaranteed, including letters, telegrams, shooting schedules, scripts, storyboards and even doctors' certificates. In 2009, Film Finances ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed new techniques for stretching carbon nanotubes (CNT) and using them to create carbon composites that can be used as stronger, lighter materials in everything from airplanes to bicycles. By stretching the CNT material before incorporating it into a composite for use in finished products, the researchers straighten the CNTs in the material, which significantly improves its tensile strength – and enhances the stiffness of the composite material and its electrical and thermal conductivity. State-of-the-art ...

Many diseases are caused by proteins losing their natural three-dimensional structure and thus their function. In most cases, the damaged proteins are degraded by different systems in the cells, but in some cases, the proteins begin to aggregate and form very well-organised rope-like structures called fibrils. These structures have now been linked to many different diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes and corneal dystrophies (opaqueness in the cornea). It has long been known that corneal dystrophy is caused by a mutation of a protein called TGFBIp ...

This press release is available in Spanish.This line of research, coordinated by Luz Neira, who is a professor in the Department of Humanities: History, Geography and Art, as well as a researcher in UC3M's Institute for Culture and Technology (Instituto de Cultura y Tecnología), continues on the path established by previous studies that examined the images of women and certain legends in Roman mosaics. "We had previously shown the memory and conscious, self-interested reuse of myths, but this new volume also examines the possibility that there is a subliminal message regarding ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Georgia Health Sciences University researchers have developed a mouse that errs on the side of making bone rather than fat, which could eventually lead to better drugs to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Drugs commonly used to treat those types of conditions – called glucocorticoids – work by turning down the body's anti-inflammatory response, but simultaneously turn on other pathways that lead to bone loss. The result can lead to osteoporosis and an accumulation of marrow fat, says Dr. Xingming Shi, bone biologist at the GHSU ...

Researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, spend August in Sisimiut on the west coast of Greenland studying the prevalence of antibiotic resistance and the effects of antibiotic emissions on communities of bacteria living in marine sediments. More specifically, they were investigating how communities of bacteria in sediment and clay on the seabed are affected by exposure to antibiotics. "We know very little about what happens to antibiotics that end up in the ocean, but several substances can accumulate in sediments where biodegradation occurs extremely slowly," ...

ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan and 20 other U.S. and Canadian universities will join forces to propose a set of long-term research and policy priorities to help protect and restore the Great Lakes and to train the next generation of scientists, attorneys, planners and policy specialists who will study them. The Great Lakes Futures Project of the Transborder Research University Network will use a cross-disciplinary, cross-sector approach to outlining alternative Great Lakes futures through science-based scenario analysis. "With the recent release of the revised ...

New research findings recently published in The FASEB Journal, show that immune system development is affected by gravity changes, as reported by researchers from the University of Lorraine and University of Luxembourg. Astronauts are exposed to stresses, during launch and landing, which disrupts their body's natural defenses against infection. Changes to the immune system need to be investigated before astronauts undergo longer space missions. Researchers looked at how antibody production is affected when animal development occurs onboard a space station and which ...

After leukaemia and brain tumours, neuroblastoma is the most common form of cancer to affect children. A thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has studied a DNA method which is now used for all cases of neuroblastoma in Sweden, and which has led to more effective treatment at individual level. Neuroblastoma affects around 20 children each year, most of them under the age of two. This form of cancer, which affects the peripheral nervous system, is particularly unusual: some tumours can regress spontaneously without treatment, while others ...