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Amunix to Present XTEN Half-life Extension Technology

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Unpublished data from its XTEN half-life extension technology development programs during two sessions will be presented by Amunix Operating Inc.. Amunix is a biotechnology company developing hydrophilic, unstructured polypeptides which can be recombinantly fused or chemically conjugated to other peptides, proteins and small molecules. Vladimir N. Podust, PhD, Director of Analytical Chemistry, Amunix Operating Inc., will present "Extension of in vivo Half-Life ...

Researchers Identify Prostate Cancer Biomarkers in Seminal Fluid

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Researchers at the University of Adelaide have discovered that seminal fluid contains biomarkers for prostate cancer. Results of a study now published in the journal Endocrine-Related Cancer/i/a have shown that the presence of certain molecules in seminal fluid indicates not only whether a man has prostate cancer, but also the severity of the cancer. Speaking in the lead-up to Men's Health Week/a (9-15 June), University of Adelaide research fellow ...

Sheep Genome Sequenced, Secrets of Unique Digestive and Metabolic Systems Revealed

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The first ever sequence of the sheep genome has been completed by scientists, which has shed new information on the species' unique and specialized digestive and metabolic systems. Sheep, a major source of meat, milk, and fiber in the form of wool, are important to the agriculture industry. This exploration of sheep genetic characteristics found features that comprise their specialized digestive systems including the rumen (the first chamber of their stomach which ...

Scientists Discover On-off Switch to Burning Stored Fat

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A molecular pathway that controls the conversion of unhealthy fat to beige fat, which may increase energy expenditure and reduce obesity has been found by a team of scientists. The team, led by researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also found that a protein, Grb10, serves as the on-off switch for mTORC1 signaling and the "beigeing" of fat. The finding could inform development of novel diabetes and ...

Deadly Complications of Liver Disease can be Prevented by Probiotics

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New research suggests that probiotics are effective in preventing hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis of the liver. The study appears in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology/i, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Hepatic encephalopathy is a deterioration of brain function that is a serious complication of liver disease. "This rigorous new research finds that probiotics modify the ...

Plant Sex Mystery Solved in Landmark Study

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A mystery surrounding how plants have sex has been solved by a team of biologists from the University of Leicester. The researchers have discovered a pair of proteins made by flowering plants that are vital for the production of the sperm present within each pollen grain. Scientists already knew that flowering plants, in contrast to animals, require not one, but two sperm cells for successful fertilisation: one to join with the egg cell to produce the ...

Microbes in Infants' Homes may Reduce Risk of Asthma

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A new study has suggested that the risk of childhood asthma is less in infants who are exposed to a diverse range of bacterial species in house dust during the first year of life. The study is published online on June 6, 2014, in the iJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology/i. Children who were neither allergic nor prone to wheezing as three-year-olds were the most likely to have been exposed to high levels of bacteria, and paradoxically, to high levels of ...

Long-sought Molecular Map of Critical Genetic Machinery Generated

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Advanced electron microscopy techniques have been used to determine the accurate structural map of Mediator, one of the largest and most complex "molecular machines" in cells by a team of researchers. Mediator is crucial for the regulation of most genes' activity and works in the cells of all plants and animals. The mapping of its structure-which includes more than two dozen unique protein subunits-represents a significant advance in basic cell biology and should ...

Transplanted Fetal Cells in Parkinson's Patients Shows Promising Treatment Opportunity

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Fetal dopamine cells transplanted into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease were able to stay healthy for upto 14 years, a team of researchers have found. The discovery, reported in the June 5, 2014 issue of the journal iCell Reports/i, could pave the way for researchers to begin transplanting dopamine neurons taken from stem cells grown in laboratories, a way to get treatments to many more patients in an easier fashion. "We have shown ...

Veterans Return to the Beaches to Mark D-Day

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In an emotional return to mark 70 years since the launch of the biggest amphibious invasion in military history, D-Day veterans marched back to Normandy's beaches and villages. Royals, top brass and some 20 world leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin, will attend the main D-Day ceremony on Friday, with the diplomatic wrangling over the Ukraine crisis acting as an awkward undercurrent to proceedings. But on the eve of ...

Brain Circuit Problem Spurs 'voices' That are Symptom of Schizophrenia

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Problems in a connection between brain structures that predispose individuals to hearing 'voices' that is a symptom of schizophrenia has now been identified by a team of scientists. The work appears in the June 6 issue of the journal iScience/i. Researchers linked the problem to a gene deletion. This leads to changes in brain chemistry that reduce the flow of information between two brain structures involved in processing auditory information. The ...

Neurons Transplanted into Brains of Parkinson's Disease Patients can Remain Healthy for Years

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Dopamine neurons derived from fetal tissue, that are transplanted into the midbrains of adult patients with Parkinson's disease can remain healthy for years. The findings reported in the Cell Press journal iCell Reports/i on June 5th suggest that transplanted neurons don't degenerate over time as some had suggested and feared they would, which provides further rationale for pursuing stem cells as a source for transplant-ready dopamine neurons, according to the researchers. ...

Better Blood Glucose Control can Help Prevent Kidney Complications

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Improving the control of blood glucose levels over a long term can help people with type 1 diabetes who have developed kidney complications. This finding, which may change clinical practice at many institutions for this population, was drawn from a long-term observational study led by Andrzej Krolewski, M.D., Ph.D., head of Joslin Diabetes Center's Section on Genetics and Epidemiology. Running for almost 20 years, the study showed that "you have to improve ...

How Obesity Leads to Type 2 Diabetes, Cancer

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Findings about the biological links between obesity, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance may also shed light on the connection between cancer and obesity, a researcher says. In a study published online June 5 in the journal iCell/i, UT Dallas' Dr. Jung-whan (Jay) Kim and colleagues at the University of California, San Diego found that a protein called HIF-1 alpha plays a key role in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in obese mice. ...

Immune System Molecules Promote Weight Loss, Study Finds

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A new study has found that calorie-burning that is triggered by cold temperatures can be achieved biochemically without the chill, which is raising hopes for weight loss focused on the immune system. The team determined that two signaling molecules secreted by cells of the immune system trigger the conversion of fat-storing white fat cells to fat-burning beige fat cells. Ajay Chawla, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine at the UCSF Cardiovascular Research ...

New Robot Called 'Pepper' can Analyze Gestures and Voice Tones

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A human-like robot called Pepper has now been unveiled by Japanese telecommunications and Internet Corporation which can analyze gestures, voice tones and expressions. The robot uses an 'emotional engine' and a cloud-based artificial intelligence system and people can communicate with it just like they would with friends and family. Softbank says it plans to launch the robot commercially in Japan next year, The BBC reported. The futuristic robot will ...

Liver Regeneration Gets a New Model

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New evidence has been found by a team of researchers that it may be possible to repair a chronically diseased liver by forcing a mature liver stem cell-like state. The researchers, led by Fernando Camargo, PhD, happened upon this discovery while investigating whether a biochemical cascade called Hippo, which controls how big the liver grows, also affects cell fate. The unexpected answer, published in the journal iCell/i, is that switching off the Hippo-signaling ...

Study Finds Ability to Identify the Source of Pain Varies Across the Body

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"Where does it hurt?" is probably the first question asked to anyone affected by pain. A new UCL study defines for the first time how our ability to identify where it hurts, called "spatial acuity", varies across the body, being most sensitive at the forehead and fingertips. Using lasers to cause pain to 26 healthy volunteers without any touch, the researchers produced the first systematic map of how acuity for pain is distributed across the body. The ...

Scientists Map the Transmission Network of HIV

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The transmission network of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been mapped by a team of researchers from University of California. The mapping of HIV infections, which used genetic sequencing, allowed researchers to predictively model the likelihood of new HIV transmissions and identify persons at greatest risk for transmitting the virus. The findings are published online in the June 5 issue of the journal iPLOS ONE/i. "The more we understand ...

Biology of Rare Childhood Disorders Now Understood

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Researchers have now developed an expertise in understanding the biology of rare childhood disorders through a research project. The first public commentary of this nationwide study is available today in the iAmerican Journal of Human Genetics/i. "When we launched this project, we predicted we might explain, or solve, 50 disorders; we've almost tripled that goal," said Dr. Kym Boycott, lead investigator of FORGE and clinician scientist at the Children's ...

Legal and Ethical Gray Area for People With Dementia

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(Garrison, NY) Many of the legal and ethical options for refusing unwanted interventions are not available to people with dementia because they lack decision-making capacity. But one way for these people to ensure that they do not live for years with severe dementia is to use an advance directive to instruct caregivers to stop giving them food and water by mouth. This is an ethical and legal gray area explored in commentaries and a case study in the iHastings Center Report/i. ...

Scientists Discover Off-On Switch to Burn Fat

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A molecular pathway has been detected by researchers that controls the conversion of unhealthy white fat to beige fat, which targets energy expenditure and reduces obesity. The team, led by researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also found that a protein, Grb10, serves as the on-off switch for mTORC1 signaling and the "beigeing" of fat. Senior author Feng Liu, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology ...

Making Artificial Vision Look Natural

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Researchers have electrically stimulated retinal cells to produce patterns of activity that occur when the retina sees a moving objects. Although more work remains, this is a step toward restoring natural, high-fidelity vision to blind people, the researchers say. The work was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. Just 20 years ago, bionic vision was more a science fiction cliche than a realistic medical goal. But in the past few years, the first ...

Saving Trees in the Tropics can Help Reduce CO2 Levels in Atmosphere by 20 Percent

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The total amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere can be cut down by a fifth by reducing deforestation in the tropics, a new study reveals. In the first study of its kind, scientists have calculated that the tropical forests absorb almost two billion ton of carbon each year in their bark, leaves and soil and the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions created by loss of trees, as a result of human activity. Researchers have stated that carbon ...

Handshake can Provide a Sign of a Person's Ability to Overcome Severe Illnesses

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A simple handshake could be enough to determine how likely is it that a person is able to survive severe illness such as cancer, a new study reveals. All it requires is minimal equipment called dynamometer and the method of evaluation is both portable and practical, the Daily Express reported. Professor Robert Kilgour, of Concordia, said that this measure is one of several to categorize patients according to the severity of their disease and it can help ...

Researchers Identify Bacterial Infection in Malaria-Transmitting Mosquito

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The first evidence of an intercellular bacterial infection in natural populations of two species of Anopheles mosquitoes has been found by researchers. The infection, called Wolbachia, has been shown in labs to reduce the incidence of pathogen infections in mosquitoes and has the potential to be used in controlling malaria-transmitting mosquito populations. "Wolbachia is an interesting bacterium that seems perfectly suited for mosquito control. However, ...

AIDS Body in Uganda Terms New HIV Bill 'Nonsensical'

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Stating that the new HIV bill passed by Uganda's parliament was 'nonsensical', the country's AIDS commission has urged the president not to sign it into law. "My advice to the president is not to sign the bill," Vinand Nantulya, who chairs the Uganda AIDS Commission -- a government-run body, told reporters. Uganda's parliament passed new legislation criminalising the deliberate transmission of HIV -- the virus that can lead to AIDS -- in May. MPs ...

Just One in Five Health Policy Researchers Use Social Media for Communication

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A new study conducted by researchers from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that health policy researchers are increasingly uncomfortable in using social media for communicating their findings, with just 14 percent using Twitter while around 20 percent using blogs and Facebook. In contrast, sixty-five percent used traditional media channels, such as press releases or media interviews. While participants believed that social ...

Swift and Severe Punishment Key to Deterring Risky Driving Among Young Male Drivers

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Canadian researchers have found that implementing swift and severe penalties has led to a drastic reduction in casualties among young male drivers in the country. "What we found was a substantial reduction in the number of convictions for extreme speeding for males, and no change for females because they were pretty low any way. And importantly, we found a significant decrease in the number of motor vehicle casualties of males 16 to 24 -quite a significant reduction," ...

Oxygen Sensor Attached to Endoscope can Detect Pancreatic Cancer

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Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found that attaching an optical blood oxygen sensor to an endoscope can detect pancreatic cancer through a simple endoscopic procedure. The study, published in GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy/a/i, shows that the device, which acts like the well-known clothespin-type finger clip used to measure blood oxygen in patients, has a sensitivity of 92 percent and a specificity of 86 percent. MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Video and audio ...

Environmental Achievements Bring Honor for UCLA Health System Hospitals

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The 2014 Partner for Change awards by Practice Greenhealth have been conferred on both Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica. The former is a nonprofit organization that works with the health care community to increase efficiencies and environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care through the use of best practices and new tools and knowledge. "The UCLA Health System has worked tirelessly to protect ...

Vanderbilt University Researchers Identify Bromine as Essential Element for Human Life

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A naturally occurring chemical element called bromine has been found to be the 28th element essential for the development of tissues in all animal life, right from primitive sea creatures to humans, researchers at Vanderbilt University reveals. "Without bromine, there are no animals. That's the discovery," Billy Hudson, Ph.D., the paper's senior author and Elliott V. Newman Professor of Medicine said. The researchers, led by co-first authors Scott McCall, ...

New Screening Technique for TB Will Prevent Unnecessary Treatments

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Researchers who are using a new technique of screening for tuberculosis (TB) infections in Canadian prisons reveal that avoidance of false positives means more than half of those screened will not have to undergo unnecessary treatments. According to research by Wendy Wobeser and medical resident Ilan Schwartz, a test for TB using interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA) will detect a pre-existing TB infection, or latent TB, that might not present itself for many years, ...

Research Finds YbeY is Essential for Fitness and Virulence of V. Cholerae

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The function of YbeY in the cholera bacterium is examined in a new study published on June 5th in PLOS Pathogens. The study reveals critical role of YbeY in RNA metabolism in this and other pathogenic bacteria. Graham Walker, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and colleagues previously studied iE. coli/i YbeY and found that it acts as an "RNase"-a protein that deliberately and specifically cuts RNA molecules and thereby regulates their availability ...

Stimulating Protein can Help Improve Symptoms Associated With Chronic Inflammatory Skin Diseases

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A new study published in the journal Immunity reveals that a protein called as aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is able to suppress the severity of inflammation associated with psoriasis, a skin disease that causes itchy or sore patches of thick, red skin with silvery scales. The study reveals that stimulation of this protein could present a new strategy for treating such chronic inflammatory skin disorders. Although many genetic factors underlying psoriasis have ...

Canadian Researchers Identify Key Players in Development of Epilepsy and Schizophrenia

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Researchers at University of Toronto revealed that they have identified key proteins that play an important role in neurological disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia and hope that their findings can lead to development of new and improved treatment for the conditions. "Neurons in the brain communicate with other neurons through synapses, communication that can either excite or inhibit other neurons," said Professor Melanie Woodin in the Department of Cell ...

Good Sleep After Learning Helps Transfer of Information Between Brain Cells

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The brain has been known to process new information when a person sleeps and now researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found that sleeping after learning helps the growth of dendritic spines, which connect different brain cells, and allow the transfer of information along the synapses, a new study published in Science reveals. The findings, in mice, provide important physical evidence in support of the hypothesis that sleep helps consolidate and strengthen ...

Pioneering Method of Studying Protein Networks Identifies Single Protein Interaction Key to Embryonic Stem Cells Changing into Other Cell Types

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Researchers at University of Chicago have designed synthetic proteins that can only interact with a pre-determined partner and have identified that a single protein interaction is key for regulating the ability of embryonic stem cells to change into other cell types, a new study published in the journal Molecular Cell reveals. "Our work suggests that the apparent complexity of protein networks is deceiving, and that a circuit involving a small number of proteins ...

Research Sheds Light on Unmasking Viral Invaders

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Research indicates that cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is perhaps one of the biggest pathogens both proportionately and epidemiologically that most people have not heard of. It contains approximately 200 genes, compared to HIV's paltry 18, and it's everywhere. You can catch it as a preschooler salivating over blocks, or as a teenager experiencing your first kiss. Once you have it, you have it for life. Good news: If you're healthy, it's harmless. Your T ...

China Accuses Microsoft, Google of Stealing State Secrets

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Ramping up the tensions against United States, China has accused American companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Yahoo of working in collusion with the US government and spying and stealing its state secrets. Chinese media criticized Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Cisco Systems for cooperating with the National Security Agency's Prism program to monitor China, CNET reported. Whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the Prism ...

Possession of Child Pornography to be Banned in Japan

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The Japanese government is on the verge of passing a new law that will ban the possession of child pornography in the country, though pedophilia portrayed in manga and anime has been excluded. Japan is the last major developed country to address the possession of child porn. Under current law, only production and distribution are banned, a situation that activists say is damaging to children. The Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee discussed a bill ...

Researchers Discover a Hybrid Star First Proposed Nearly Four Decades Ago

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American physicist Kip Thorne and astronomer Anna Zytkow first proposed a new class of hybrid stars back in 1975 and researchers revealed that they have finally discovered the first of the "theoretical" class of stars. Thorne-Zytkow objects (TZOs) are hybrids of red supergiant and neutron stars that superficially resemble normal red supergiants, such as Betelguese in the constellation Orion. They differ, however, in their distinct chemical signatures ...

Energy Released by Individual Stars Influences Location of Mass in Galaxies

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Researchers led by those at California Institute of Technology have run a new set of simulations and found that the location of matter in a galaxy is influenced by the energy released by individual stars within galaxies. The Feedback in Realistic Environments, or FIRE, project is the culmination of a multiyear, multiuniversity effort that-for the first time-simulates the evolution of galaxies from shortly after the Big Bang through today. The first ...

Exposure to Certain Bacteria may Protect Toddlers from Wheezing and Allergic Reactions

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Exposure to certain combination of allergens and bacteria within the first year of life may protect the child from wheezing and other allergic diseases, a new research has found. These observations come from the Urban Environment and Childhood Asthma (URECA) study, which aims to identify factors responsible for asthma development in children from inner-city settings, where the disease is more prevalent and severe. Since 2005, the URECA study has enrolled 560 children ...

Study Finds Couples Sleep in Sync When the Wife is Satisfied With the Marriage

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Couples are more likely to sleep in sync when the wife is more satisfied in the marriage, a new study has found. Results show that overall synchrony in sleep-wake schedules among couples was high, as those who slept in the same bed were awake or asleep at the same time about 75 percent of the time. When the wife reported higher marital satisfaction, the percent of time the couple was awake or asleep at the same time was greater. "Most of what is known ...

Activation of the Immune System Could Treat Obesity and Diabetes

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The rise in rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease has been linked to obesity, and there is lack of effective drug treatments for these conditions. Two unrelated studies published by Cell Press June 5th in the journal iCell/i reveal an important role for immune pathways in activating good types body fat, called brown and beige fat, which burn stored calories, reduce weight, and improve metabolic health. The findings could pave the way for much-needed treatments for ...

Glaucoma a Brain Disease?

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A new study has found that the brain, not the eye, is responsible for controlling the cellular process that leads to glaucoma. The results may help develop treatments for one of the world's leading causes of irreversible blindness, as well as contribute to the development of future therapies for preserving brain function in other age-related disorders like Alzheimer's. In the iTVST/i paper, Refined Data Analysis Provides Clinical Evidence for Central Nervous ...