Health News

Ultrasound can identify pregnant woman with preeclampsia at risk for respiratory failure, study says

Date: Mar-20-2014
An ultrasound of the lungs could help doctors quickly determine if a pregnant woman with preeclampsia is at risk for respiratory failure, suggests preliminary research published in the April issue of Anesthesiology.About 60,000 women worldwide die as a result of preeclampsia, which causes severely high blood pressure. Potential complications include stroke, bleeding and excess fluid in the lungs - called pulmonary edema - which can lead to respiratory failure.

Pathogenic interactions between platelets and neutrophils are mediated by AKT2

Date: Mar-20-2014
Pathological interactions between blood cells promote thrombo-inflammatory disease and result in complications such as vaso-occlusion during atherothrombosis, inflammation, and ischemia. Activated platelets, leukocytes and endothelial cells all contribute to the development of vaso-occlusion: though how interactions between these cell types are regulated is poorly understood.

Study fingers chickens, quail, in spread of H7N9 influenza virus

Date: Mar-20-2014
Among the copious species of poultry in China, quail and chickens are the likely sources of infection of H7N9 influenza virus to humans, according to a paper published ahead of print in the Journal of Virology."Knowing the likely poultry species lets us target our interventions better to prevent human infections," says corresponding author David Suarez, of the United States Department of Agriculture.The H7N9 avian influenza virus was first reported in humans in March 2013 in China. Since then over 375 human cases have been confirmed and over 100 have died.

Using big data to identify triple-negative breast, oropharyngeal, and lung cancers

Date: Mar-20-2014
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and colleagues used "big data" analytics to predict if a patient is suffering from aggressive triple-negative breast cancer, slower-moving cancers or non-cancerous lesions with 95 percent accuracy.If the tiny patterns they found in magnetic resonance images prove consistent in further studies, the technique may enable doctors to use an MRI scan to diagnose more aggressive cancers earlier and fast track these patients for therapy. Their work is published online in the journal Radiology1.

Stanford researchers survey protein family that helps the brain form synapses

Date: Mar-20-2014
Groundbreaking study finds hundreds of variants of neurexin proteins, offering new evidence linking these differences to complex brain functions and disorders like autismNeuroscientists and bioengineers at Stanford are working together to solve a mystery: how does nature construct the different types of synapses that connect neurons - the brain cells that monitor nerve impulses, control muscles and form thoughts.In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Thomas C. Südhof, M.D., a professor of molecular and cellular physiology, and Stephen R.

Effect of receptor activity-modifying protein-1 on vascular smooth muscle cells

Date: Mar-20-2014
Bei Shi, Xianping Long, Ranzun Zhao, Zhijiang Liu, Dongmei Wang and Guanxue Xu, researchers at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical College within the Guizhou Province of China, have reported an approach for improving the use of stem cells for improvement of infarcted heart function and damage to the arteries in the March 2013 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine.

Rice study: Simple changes to homework improved student learning

Date: Mar-20-2014
A new study offers evidence that simple and inexpensive changes to existing courses can help students learn more effectively.The study from Rice University and Duke University found that making a few changes to homework assignments in an upper-level undergraduate engineering course at Rice led to improved scores on exams. The study appears this week in the journal Educational Psychology Review.

Cardiac conduction altered by intragenic enhancer

Date: Mar-20-2014
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have determined a surprising link between dysfunctional cardiac conduction and variants within SCN10A, which encodes nociceptor-associated sodium-gated ion channel subunit NaV1.8. Follow-up functional studies targeting NaV1.8 revealed only a minor contribution to cardiac physiology; therefore, it was unclear how SCN10A mutations promoted the development of cardiac conduction disease.

Early detection of childhood eye cancer doesn't always improve survival, prevent eye loss

Date: Mar-20-2014
For the most common form of childhood eye cancer, unilateral retinoblastoma, shortening the time from the first appearance of symptoms to diagnosis of disease has no bearing on survival or stage of the disease, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in partnership with the Hospital Infantil de Mexico. The results appear online in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Kids of authoritarian parents 'more likely to be obese'

Date: Mar-20-2014
Every parent has their own sense of what is best for raising their child. But a new study, presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014 meeting, suggests that kids whose parents are strict but not emotionally receptive are more likely to be obese, compared with kids whose parents set boundaries but are affectionate.According to the American Heart Association (AHA), over one third of children in the US are overweight or obese.