When Geoffrey Murphy, Ph.D., talks about plastic structures, he's not talking about the same thing as Mr. McGuire in The Graduate. To Murphy, an associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology at the University of Michigan Medical School, plasticity refers to the brain's ability to change as we learn. Murphy's lab, in collaboration with U-M's Neurodevelopment and Regeneration Laboratory run by Jack Parent, M.D., recently showed how the plasticity of the brain allowed mice to restore critical functions related to learning and memory after the scientists suppressed ...

Berkeley — A major milestone in microfluidics could soon lead to stand-alone, self-powered chips that can diagnose diseases within minutes. The device, developed by an international team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, Dublin City University in Ireland and Universidad de Valparaíso Chile, is able to process whole blood samples without the use of external tubing and extra components. The researchers have dubbed the device SIMBAS, which stands for Self-powered Integrated Microfluidic Blood Analysis System. SIMBAS appeared as the cover story ...

There are potential legal ramifications for physicians of patients who drive with cognitive impairment, according to a study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. Between 20 and 60 percent of patients with cirrhosis (a condition in which the liver is permanently scarred or injured by chronic conditions and diseases) are affected by a peculiar kind of cognitive impairment, also known as hepatic encephalopathy (HE), which can range from mild to overt. This impairment can include ...

MADISON, WI MARCH 17, 2011 – Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas and a precursor to compounds that contribute to the destruction of the ozone. Intensively managed, grazed pastures are responsible for an increase in nitrous oxide emissions from grazing animals' excrement. Biochar is potentially a mitigation option for reducing the world's elevated carbon dioxide emissions, since the embodied carbon can be sequestered in the soil. Biochar also has the potential to beneficially alter soil nitrogen transformations. Laboratory tests have indicated that adding biochar ...

The team of Prof. Dr. Stefan Herlitze, the Chair of the Department of Zoology and Neurobiology at RUB, showed that the diseases broke out in mice if, a week after birth, they eliminated a particular protein in the cerebellum which regulates the influx of ions into nerve cells. "It's the first time that we have gained an insight into the origin of these diseases" said Prof. Herlitze. "We can now start conducting research to develop new therapeutic approaches." Defective calcium channels as a cause of disease Various forms of epilepsy, coordination disturbances (ataxias) ...

VIDEO: Scientists of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck, Austria, have reached a milestone in the exploration of quantum gas mixtures. In an international first, the... Click here for more information. Scientists of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck, Austria, have reached a milestone in the exploration of quantum gas mixtures. In an international first, the research group led by Rudolf ...

The downtown free bingo site has been bringing in themed promotions throughout the week and today's offers may boost players' balances significantly. City Bingo started the week with 'Irish Luck', a bingo bonus deal that gives the three biggest spenders at the site a cash reward. GBP100, GBP50 and GBP25 will be paid out until the end of the week to the three players depositing the largest amount of funds. These prizes could well be in addition to any bingo wins that users have enjoyed. Today represents perhaps the best opportunity for City Bingo players to win big ...

DNA contains all of the genetic instructions that make us who we are, and maintaining the integrity of our DNA over the course of a lifetime is a critical, yet complex part of the aging process. In an important, albeit early step forward, scientists have discovered how DNA maintenance is regulated, opening the door to interventions that may enhance the body's natural preservation of genetic information. The new findings may help researchers delay the onset of aging and aging-related diseases by curbing the loss or damage of our genetic makeup, which makes us more susceptible ...

Clostridium difficile is a health problem that affects hundreds of thousands of patients and costs $10 billion to $20 billion every year in North America. Researchers from the University of Calgary and the National Research Council of Canada say they are gaining a deeper understanding of this disease and are closer to developing a novel treatment using antibodies from llamas. "We have found that relatively simple antibodies can interfere with the disease-causing toxins from C. difficile," says paper co-author Dr. Kenneth Ng, an associate professor of biological sciences ...

INDIANAPOLIS – A new study, conducted by researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and the schools of medicine at Indiana University and Moi University, is one of the first to explore and demonstrate the impact of electronic record systems on quality of medical care in a developing country. In a paper published in the March 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Martin Chieng Were, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute investigator, and colleagues report that computer-generated ...

March 18, 2011, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — Canada is delivering on its commitment to help the world's most vulnerable, thanks to new developments which will provide an affordable, reliable, and stable treatment for malaria that will save millions of lives, especially those of women and children in Africa. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, along with Mr. Brad Trost, Member of Parliament for Saskatoon–Humboldt, announced the breakthrough today and highlighted the Government's research support. "Our government is committed to improving ...

While most bacteria are beneficial to our health -- helping us digest food or fight diseases -- there are a few bacteria, if left untreated, that can be extremely harmful to humans, even to the point of causing death. Bacteria are living single-celled organisms that have the ability to reproduce very quickly and are generally treated easily with antibiotics. Therefore, it is imperative to treat a bacterial infection right away. Delayed diagnosis of a bacterial infection may have damaging consequences on your health; this is especially true with particularly potent bacteria ...

Scientists have discovered a protein secreted by tuberculosis (TB) bacteria that could be a promising new vaccine candidate, they report today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The protein could also be used to improve diagnosis of TB. TB is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), which infects the lungs and spreads through the air as a result of coughing. There are 9 million new cases of TB each year, killing 4,700 people a day worldwide. BCG is the only available vaccine but it is of limited effectiveness in protecting against TB. ...

Lund researchers Kristina Karlsson Green and Josefin Madjidian have studied and measured how male and female traits and behaviour in animals' and plants' sexual conflicts are described in academic literature and also what parameters are incorporated for each sex in mathematical models of sexual conflict. "We have found evidence of choices and interpretations that may build on researchers' own, possibly subconscious, perception of male and female. We have now identified and quantified terms used to describe male and female in sexual conflict research and seen that different ...

"There is of course a very close relationship between the moment at which pollen is released by plants and the data gathered by the traps used to measure these grains, but this is not always the case", Rafael Tormo, a botanist from the University of Extremadura and co-author of the paper, tells SINC. His team found delays or advances of up to a week between the time when the pollen of allergenic grass species (from genuses such as Poa, Agrostis, Bromus and Avena) and cupressaceae (cypresses and Arizona pine) are present in the air and their flowering period. According ...

Las Vegas residents are frequently the unfortunate victims of dog attacks. Most, if not all, of these incidents are avoidable yet the problem continues to affect families in Clark County. These attacks range from minor cuts and scratches to serious lacerations, nerve and tissue damage, or even death. One in Five Victims Must Seek Medical Treatment for Their Wounds While some breeds - like rottweilers, pit bulls and German shepherds - have a reputation for being particularly vicious and attacking people, every dog has the potential to bite. Tragically, children are ...

(Boston) – Paul Duprex, PhD, and Elke Mühlberger, PhD, both associate professors of microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), recently co-authored a commentary about viruses for Microbiology Today, the monthly publication of the Society of General Microbiology, which is the largest microbiological society in Europe. The article focuses on the history of viruses and vaccines and gives their perspective on what is necessary to evolve to the next era of virology research. The ability to grow cells from humans and other animals in the laboratory helped ...

People with repeated exposure to asbestos are at risk for serious health problems, including lung cancer and mesothelioma. In New Jersey, a "two-disease" state, someone who develops an asbestos-related disease and files a personal injury lawsuit also may file a second lawsuit if he or she later develops another, separate asbestos-related disease. Product Liability and Personal-Injury Lawsuits In general, all makers and suppliers of goods are required to provide products that are reasonably safe and to warn consumers of products' potential dangers. This requirement ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Since the passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has met the ambitious implementation deadlines set forth in the law, the agency said Wednesday at a congressional briefing hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research. Lawrence Deyton, M.S.P.H., M.D., director of FDA Center for Tobacco Products, reviewed the many important steps the FDA has taken so far that have significantly expanded the agency's ability to protect the public from tobacco products. These steps ...

"The nation that controls magnetism will control the universe," famed fictional detective Dick Tracy predicted back in 1935. Probably an overstatement, but there's little doubt the nation that leads the development of advanced magnetoelectronic or "spintronic" devices is going to have a serious leg-up on its Information Age competition. A smaller, faster and cheaper way to store and transfer information is the spintronic grand prize and a key to winning this prize is understanding and controlling a multiferroic property known as "spontaneous magnetization." Now, researchers ...

If you think your spouse is cheating, you may want to think twice before checking his or her personal e-mail for evidence of the infidelity. In an upcoming Michigan case, a husband from Rochester Hills was charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison for doing just that. In 2008, Leon Walker suspected that his soon to be ex-wife, Clara Walker, was having an affair with one of her former husbands. Using his wife's password, Walker logged on to a laptop computer they shared and checked her personal e-mail account where he found communications confirming ...

A team of scientists from the University of Oxford, U.K. have taken lessons from Adam Smith and Charles Darwin to devise a new strategy that could one day slow, possibly even prevent, the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. In a new research report published in the March 2011 issue of GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org), the scientists show that bacterial gene mutations that lead to drug resistance come at a biological cost not borne by nonresistant strains. They speculate that by altering the bacterial environment in such a way to make these costs too great to bear, drug-resistant ...

Man Facing Prison Time for Reading Wife's Email Have you checked your spouse's e-mail account lately? If you have, you may have committed a crime, or at least you may have if you live in Michigan. In a case generating national attention, Michigan resident Leon Walker was charged under the state's anti-hacking law for checking his wife's email without permission, a crime normally reserved for charging those who have committed identity theft or stolen trade secrets. If convicted, Walker may be sentenced up to five years in prison. Walker and his wife were in the ...

There's nothing like the sheer delight of sun and snow on a skiing trip. But a momentary lapse of concentration can have nasty consequences. Taking a tumble on the slopes often causes injuries – most commonly to the knee. Weeks can go by before knees regain their full function, and patients are obliged to re-learn how to walk. The time it takes for the knee to heal is directly related to how well it reacts to the chosen treatment. But how is an orthopedic doctor to evaluate the healing process? And how are patients to know what progress they are making? Currently, doctors ...

(Garrison, NY) When presented with different terms to describe a clinical trial, parents were far more likely to consent to enroll their child if it was called a "research study" than if it was called a "medical experiment" or a "research project," in large part because they perceived the former as safer, even though that was not necessarily the case, according to a report in IRB: Ethics & Human Research. Terms such as these are typically used interchangeably in informed consent forms and by researchers describing trials to potential participants and their parents, on ...