The raptor-like Archaeopteryx has long been viewed as the archetypal first bird, but new research reveals that it was actually a lot less “bird-like” than scientists had believed.
Patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can benefit from triple therapy that includes a long-acting β-agonist (LABA), an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and an anti-muscarinic agent, according to researchers in Germany.
A new National Cancer Institute-funded translational grant will focus on next-generation human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for the prevention of cervical cancer. It also will test therapeutic agents that have shown promise in preventing, slowing or effectively treating existing cancers of the cervix. The $11.5 million S.P.O.R.E. is a partnership with UAB, Hopkins and Colorado.
A Florida State University College of Medicine researcher has solved a century-old mystery about proteins that play a vital role in the transfer of the human genetic code from one cell to another. The discovery could lead to finding new ways to help the body fight a variety of diseases, including cancer.
Just in time for October's Cyber Security Awareness Month, NIST has published a guide to help small businesses and organizations understand how to provide basic security for their information, systems and networks.
Gasoline-powered, portable generators can be a lifeline during weather emergencies, but they emit poisonous carbon monoxide. New research from NIST shows that to prevent potentially dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, users may need to keep generators farther from the house than previously believed - perhaps as much as 25 feet.
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) communication studies Professor Larry Powell, Ph.D., has published a new book, Black Barons of Birmingham, that tells the story of the professional Negro League baseball team whose legendary members included Leroy “Satchel” Paige and Willie Mays.
Carol Greider, Ph.D., 48, one of the world’s pioneering researchers on the structure of chromosome ends known as telomeres, today was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Academy recognized her for her 1984 discovery of telomerase (ta-LAW-mer-ace), an enzyme that maintains the length and integrity of chromosome ends and is critical for the health and survival of all living cells and organisms.
UVA professor of neurosurgery Neal Kassell believes that MRgFUS - the technological marriage of magnetic resonance imaging and focused ultrasound - may be the most important therapeutic development since the scalpel. That notion will soon be explored by dozens of his colleagues from nine specialties who will engage in a robust program of research projects and clinical trials at UVA's new Focused Ultrasound Center, which was dedicated on September 14.
This study suggests that a single gene, called GSK-3, controls the signals that determine how many neurons actually end up composing the brain. This has important implications for patients with neuropsychiatric illness, as links have recently been drawn between GSK-3 and schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder.
University of Maryland biologists have genetically mapped the sex chromosomes of several species of cichlid (pronounced "sick-lid") fish from Lake Malawi, East Africa, and identified a mechanism by which new sex chromosomes may evolve.
The brain’s neural mechanisms keep straight which color belongs to what object, so one doesn’t mistakenly see a blue flamingo in a pink lake. But what happens when a color loses the object to which it is linked? Research shows for the first time, that instead of disappearing along with the lost object, the color latches onto a region of some other object in view.
Treating pregnant women for mild gestational diabetes resulted in fewer cesarean sections and other serious birthing problems associated with larger than average babies, according to a study conducted in part at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Associate Professor Lee Meadows, Ph.D., is author of a new book , "The Missing Link: An Inquiry Approach for Teaching All Students About Evolution," that claims it’s possible to teach evolution without offending students who have strong religious convictions against the theory.
“The center of the protection bull’s-eye should be children,” says one of the four U.S. physicians serving on the federal Safety Monitoring Committee reviewing trials of H1N1 vaccines. The reasoning behind making children the highest priority comes from decades of experience with flu transmission, prevention strategies, infection monitoring and many other factors.
African-American men are more likely to have had a digital rectal exam in the past year to screen for prostate cancer if they engage in religious behaviors, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) study published in the American Journal of Men's Health.
A Johns Hopkins scientist who proposes to manipulate forces to activate enzymes in live cells, and a second researcher who has developed a way to hunt down tuberculosis germs with real-time imaging have received a total of $4 million in special awards from the National Institutes of Health.
The results of a new clinical study demonstrate that the plaque and gingivitis germ-killing action of LISTERINE® Antiseptic significantly reduces the amount of germs that travel from the mouth to the bloodstream in people with mild to moderate gingivitis. These findings are significant, as emerging science suggests that gingivitis, if left untreated and allowed to progress to advanced gum disease, could contribute to broader health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and pneumonia.
The University of Chicago will host a conference celebrating the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species and the 50th anniversary of the scientifically influential 1959 Darwin conference at Chicago, from Thursday, Oct. 29 to Saturday, Oct. 31.
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers exploring strategies for conserving the Diamondback Terrapin along Alabama’s Dauphin Island coastline are working to keep the once-celebrated turtle off the endangered species list.
The Diamondback Terrapin has been a national delicacy, a source of state taxes and a casualty of commercial development and victim of new predators.
H1N1 influenza could slow growth in key industries and stall already-weak GDP growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2009, says a health economist in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Business.
Inventing a useful new tool for creating chemical reactions between single molecules, scientists at NIST have employed microfluidics to make microdroplets that each contain single molecules of interest. By combining this new microfluidic with techniques to merge multiple droplets, the research may ultimately lead to new information on the structure and function of important organic materials such as proteins, enzymes, and DNA.
Childbearing is associated directly with future development of the metabolic syndrome - abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, insulin resistance and other cardiovascular disease risk factors - and for women who have had gestational diabetes, the risk is more than twice greater.
Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research have identified novel cleavage sites for the enzyme caspase-3 (an enzyme that proteolytically cleaves target proteins). Using an advanced proteomic technique called N-terminomics, researchers determined the cleavage sites on target proteins and found, contrary to previous understanding, that caspase-3 targets α-helices as well as unstructured loops.
An innovative drug-delivery system – nanoparticles encapsulating nitric oxide or prescription drugs – shows promise for topical treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a new study by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
Computers help us in so many ways – from getting our
office work done to brewing a pot of coffee. In the medical community, computers have helped doctors for years. Now, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston are working to see if computers can help patients physically and emotionally during treatment.
Wash your hands! Sounds simple, but that advice can make all the difference when it comes to avoiding the flu and colds...if you teach children the right way when they are young. LifeBridge Health has produced a public service announcement for children of all ages about hand washing.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Sociology and Social Work will use a five-year, $1.9 million National Institute on Aging grant to study the ability of computer use and social media networking to enhance the quality of life of elderly adults through online social connections and easier access to health information.
A new collaborative research program that will use the power of metabolomic profiling to help advance the concept of personalized medicine was announced September 17, 2009 by the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center at Duke University Medical Center.
Remain calm and use common sense when reacting to the swine flu, advises the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. UAB’s Richard Whitley, M.D., is a member of the 2009-H1N1 influenza working group of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He says the swine-flu pandemic is not expected to turn into a worst-case scenario and that hospitals are prepared
Using yeast genetics and a novel scheme to selectively remove a single protein from the cell division process called meiosis, a cell biologist at The Florida State University found that when a key molecular player known as Pds5 goes missing, chromosomes fail to segregate and pair up properly, and birth defects such as Down syndrome can result.
A group of ambitious Rensselaer students will soon sail up the Hudson River, propelled by pollution-free hydrogen fuel cells and a clear vision for a cleaner, greener future.
The findings, published in the Sept. 15 issue of the journal Developmental Cell, could give important insights into the formation of the vasculature needed to feed new tumors.
The fight to keep evolution in the public school curriculum is well known. But a quieter fight is being waged on college campuses, where evolution is taught primarily as a biological topic and avoided in human social sciences and humanities. That is now changing, thanks to a course and multicourse curriculum developed at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
The recent report out of the Annals of Internal Medicine profiling President John F. Kennedy’s autoimmune disease surprised many Americans due to his appearance throughout his presidency of health and vitality. However, those who study autoimmune diseases know that the outward manifestation of many autoimmune diseases can often lead the public to believe that the person suffering is perfectly healthy. It is this outward appearance of health that is one of the major barriers for patients who suffer from autoimmune diseases to obtain a proper diagnosis.
There are steps you can take to reduce anxiety and improve your psychological and physical health during the H1N1 swine flu outbreak, says a certified disaster mental health specialist and associate professor at UAB. Keeping a cool head and maintaining perspective are top of the list for coping guidance.
UVA's Dr. David Burt has developed and refined project UPSTART , which combines medical best practices with the principles of systems engineering and crisis management. The program, which Burt is sharing with other hospitals at no cost, is now helping ER staffs around the country optimize their processes for diagnosing and treating patients who are having a STEMI.
C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health finds few parents would grade schools with an "A" for school bullying and violence prevention programs.
Every moment, millions of a body’s cells flawlessly divvy up their genes and pinch perfectly in half to form two identical progeny for the replenishment of tissues and organs — even as they collide, get stuck, and squeeze through infinitesimally small spaces that distort their shapes.
Every 16 minutes, an American commits suicide. It’s the 11th leading cause of death in this country, a fact being widely noted during National Suicide Prevention Week Sept. 6-12. And now researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) are looking deep inside the brain for ways to determine the reasons people commit suicide – and identify those most likely to attempt it.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, ready to uncover new worlds, peer ever deeper into space, and even map the invisible backbone of the universe. The first snapshots from the refurbished Hubble showcase the 19-year-old telescope's new vision.
After suffering from Parkinson's disease for more than 26 years, a 67-year-old man from Germany has become the first person to be implanted with the world's smallest deep brain stimulator.
Tornadoes that occur from hurricanes moving inland from the Gulf Coast are increasing in frequency, according to researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This increase seems to reflect the increase in size and frequency among large hurricanes that make landfall from the Gulf of Mexico.
New research hints that the common belief that kids who go to daycare have lower rates of asthma and allergy later in life might be nothing more than wishful thinking. While young children in daycare definitely do get more illnesses and experience more respiratory symptoms as a result, any perceived protection these exposures afford against asthma and allergy seem to disappear by the time the child hits the age of eight.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have now discovered that establishing the neural wiring necessary to function normally depends on the ability of neurons to make finger-like projections of their membrane called filopodia.
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified two small protein fragments that could be developed into an anthrax vaccine that may cause fewer side effects than the current vaccine.
Care instructions may include a prescription for one of the antiviral drugs, Tamiflu® or Relenza®, soon after flu symptoms appear, and avoiding doctors’ waiting areas and hospital emergency departments, where H1N1 could cause more illness, says one antiviral expert. John Gnann Jr., M.D., oversees all adult studies conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Collaborative Antiviral Study Group.