http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- A research team led by Nancy Speck, PhD, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has identified the location and developmental timeline in which a majority of bone marrow stem cells form in the mouse embryo. The findings, appearing online this week in the journal Nature, highlight critical steps in the origin of hematopoietic (or blood) stem cells (HSCs), says senior author Speck, who is also an Investigator with the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at Penn. http://www.physorg.com/news150731605.html Biology Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:53:25 EST news150731605 A new study sheds light on a little understood biological process called quiescence, which enables blood-forming stem cells to exist in a dormant or inactive state in which they are not growing or dividing. According to the study's findings, researchers identified the genetic pathway used to maintain a cell's quiescence, a state that allows bone marrow cells to escape the lethal effects of standard cancer treatments. http://www.physorg.com/news150726406.html Biology Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:26:46 EST news150726406 (PhysOrg.com) -- A fruit fly's immune system can tell time -and how hard it punches back against infections depends on whether the fly is snoozing or cruising. The discovery by medical school researchers could have implications for human health, too. http://www.physorg.com/news150651380.html Biology Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:36:20 EST news150651380 New research published in the international journal Neurobiology of Aging by Marc Poulin, PhD, DPhil, finds that being physically fit helps the brain function at the top of its game. An Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholar, Poulin finds that physical activity benefits blood flow in the brain, and, as a result, cognitive abilities. http://www.physorg.com/news150645185.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:53:05 EST news150645185 Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have metabolic syndrome than veterans without PTSD, according to a study led by Pia Heppner, Ph.D., psychologist with the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs of San Diego, VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health (CESAMH). The study will be published online January 8 by the journal BMC Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news150614020.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:13:40 EST news150614020 The lowest ever levels of oxygen in humans have been reported in climbers on an expedition led by UCL (University College London) doctors. The world-first measurements of blood oxygen levels in climbers near the top of Mount Everest, published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), could eventually help critical care doctors to re-evaluate treatment strategies in some long-term patients with similarly low levels of blood oxygen. http://www.physorg.com/news150571554.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:25:54 EST news150571554 Scientists have identified mutations in a gene that predict a high likelihood of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Although the researchers caution that further research is needed to determine how changes in the gene, called IKZF1 or IKAROS, lead to leukemia relapse, the findings are likely to provide the basis for future diagnostic tests to assess the risk of treatment failure. By using a molecular test to identify this genetic marker in ALL patients, physicians should be better able to assign patients to appropriate therapies. http://www.physorg.com/news150571442.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:24:02 EST news150571442 Mice exposed to low temperatures develop more blood vessels in their adipose tissue and metabolise body fat more quickly, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet. Scientists now hope to learn how to control blood vessel development in humans in order to combat obesity and diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news150543426.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:37:06 EST news150543426 When babies develop a fever high enough or abrupt enough to cause a seizure, frightened parents often rush them to the emergency room, where their workup frequently includes a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to rule out bacterial meningitis. Now, in the largest study to date, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston find that this uncomfortable procedure is probably not necessary in well-appearing children who have had a simple febrile seizure. Findings are published in the January issue of Pediatrics. http://www.physorg.com/news150483552.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:59:12 EST news150483552 Researchers at North Carolina State University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have produced the first link between a species of bacteria most commonly found in sheep and human illness. http://www.physorg.com/news150473724.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:15:24 EST news150473724 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have been puzzled in recent years by observations that drug-releasing stents (mesh-like tubes implanted to hold patients' coronary arteries open) can increase the likelihood of blood clots and heart attacks. Now, a mathematical model developed by MIT engineers can predict whether particular types of stents are likely to cause life-threatening side effects. http://www.physorg.com/news150473094.html Other Sciences Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:04:54 EST news150473094 Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain's ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself, according to a new study published by The American Physiological Society. The findings may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep. http://www.physorg.com/news150461826.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:57:06 EST news150461826 Johns Hopkins and other researchers report what is believed to be the first direct evidence in lab animals that the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil amplifies the effects of a heart-protective protein. http://www.physorg.com/news150398115.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:15:15 EST news150398115 In a six-month comparison of low-carb diets, one that encourages eating carbohydrates with the lowest-possible rating on the glycemic index leads to greater improvement in blood sugar control, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news150397364.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:02:44 EST news150397364 (PhysOrg.com) -- High blood pressure can be a trial of patience for doctors and for sufferers, whose blood pressure often has to be monitored over a long time until it can be regulated. This will now be made easier by a pressure sensor that is inserted in the femoral artery. http://www.physorg.com/news150393796.html Technology Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:03:16 EST news150393796 (PhysOrg.com) -- When there is a threat of disease during pregnancy, mothers produce less aggressive sons with more efficient immune systems, researchers at The University of Nottingham have discovered. http://www.physorg.com/news150373790.html Biology Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:29:50 EST news150373790 A new study shows that people who are smokers and have a family history of brain aneurysm appear to be significantly more likely to suffer a stroke from a brain aneurysm themselves. The research is published in the December 31, 2008, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology and will appear in the January 6, 2009, print issue of Neurology. http://www.physorg.com/news150023581.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:13:01 EST news150023581 (PhysOrg.com) -- Vampires aren't usually cast in the role of saviors, but stroke experts are hoping a blood thinner that mimics a chemical in vampire saliva will help save brain cells in stroke patients. http://www.physorg.com/news149871922.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:05:22 EST news149871922 "New blood" can revitalize a company or a sports team. Recent research by Tel Aviv University finds that young blood does a body good as well, especially when it comes to fighting cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news149852946.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:49:06 EST news149852946 Maintaining blood sugar levels, even in the absence of disease, may be an important strategy for preserving cognitive health, suggests a study published by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). The study appeared in the December issue of Annals of Neurology. http://www.physorg.com/news149838363.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:46:03 EST news149838363 Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a common gene variant that appears to influence people's risk of developing high blood pressure, according to the results of a study being published online Dec. 29, 2008 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://www.physorg.com/news149793600.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:20:00 EST news149793600 (PhysOrg.com) -- When there is a threat of disease during pregnancy, mothers produce less aggressive sons with more efficient immune systems, researchers at The University of Nottingham have discovered. http://www.physorg.com/news149347543.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:25:43 EST news149347543 One extra hour of sleep per night appears to decrease the risk of coronary artery calcification, an early step down the path to cardiovascular disease, a research team based at the University of Chicago Medical Center reports in the Dec. 24/31 issue of JAMA. The benefit of one hour of additional sleep was comparable to the gains from lowering systolic blood pressure by 17 mm Hg. http://www.physorg.com/news149271975.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:26:15 EST news149271975 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new barcode chip developed by a multi-institutional team of investigators promises to revolutionize diagnostic medical testing. In less than 10 minutes and using just a pinprick`s worth of blood, the chip can measure the concentrations of dozens of proteins, including those that herald the presence of diseases such as cancer and heart disease. http://www.physorg.com/news149265224.html Nanotechnology Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:33:44 EST news149265224 (PhysOrg.com) -- Genes talk to themselves and to each other to control how a given cell manufactures proteins. But variation in the control of the same gene in two different tissues may contribute to certain human traits, including the likelihood of getting a disease, said a team of geneticists and neuroscientists at Duke University Medical Center. http://www.physorg.com/news149264483.html Biology Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:21:23 EST news149264483 It might be possible to grow human blood platelets in the laboratory for transfusion, according to a new study at The Ohio State University Medical Center. http://www.physorg.com/news149248914.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:01:54 EST news149248914 Researchers have found that two proteins which work in tandem in the brain's blood vessels present a double whammy in Alzheimer's disease. Not only do the proteins lessen blood flow in the brain, but they also reduce the rate at which the brain is able to remove amyloid beta, the protein that builds up in toxic quantities in the brains of patients with the disease. http://www.physorg.com/news149090408.html Biology Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:00:08 EST news149090408 Scientists have found that genetic variation at the hexokinase-1 gene is linked to variation in the blood concentration of glycated hemoglobin, an index of long-term blood glucose concentration widely used in the follow-up of diabetes patients. The study, conducted by researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, USA, is published December 19 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. http://www.physorg.com/news148885518.html Medicine & Health Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:05:18 EST news148885518 Testing patient's blood for two proteins or biomarkers that occur when inflammation is present could help doctors identify which patients are more likely to have a stroke, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report that appears online in the journal Stroke. http://www.physorg.com/news148844312.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:38:32 EST news148844312 Learning how leukemia takes over privileged "niches" within the bone marrow is helping researchers develop treatment strategies that could protect healthy blood-forming stem cells and improve the outcomes of bone marrow transplantation for leukemia and other types of cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news148832246.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:17:26 EST news148832246