A research team led by Monica Bettencourt Dias, from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC, Portugal), discovered important features of cancer cells that may help clinicians fighting cancer. The researchers observed that the number and size of tiny structures that exist inside cells, called centrioles, are increased in the most aggressive sub-types of cancer. This study...
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Diagnostic odyssey of patients with mitochondrial disease Results of a survey
Abstract Objective To document the complex “diagnostic odyssey” of patients with mitochondrial disease. Methods We analyzed data from 210 Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network Contact Registry participants who were patients with a biochemical deficiency or self-reported diagnosis of mitochondrial disease, or their caregivers. Results Participants saw an average of 8.19 clinicians (SD 8.0, median 5). The first clinician...
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Repurposing existing FDA-approved inhibitors may provide new treatment approach for ovarian cancer
Wistar researchers have found rationale for repurposing a class of antitumor compounds called HDAC inhibitors, already approved by the FDA for the treatment of diseases such as leukemia, as a new therapeutic option for ovarian cancer with mutations in the ARID1A gene. Study results were published online in Cell Reports. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal...
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Complete genome sequence can be ID’d from amniotic fluid
(HealthDay)—The complete genome sequence of fetuses can be elucidated from amniotic fluid, according to a study published online March 15 in Clinical Chemistry. Qing Mao, from Complete Genomics Inc., in San Jose, Calif., and colleagues isolated cellular DNA and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from the cell pellet of 31 amniocenteses and conducted sequencing to approximately 50× genome...
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How to activate your brain’s ability to learn
In music, you have scales. In Jiu Jitsu, it’s drilling. Most of us just call it practice. Whatever you label it, many believe that greatness, heck even mere competency, requires training a skill well past proficiency. It’s continuing to practice your free throw even after you’ve nailed every shot. It’s playing through that song one...
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Study overturns age-old theory of brain learning
For decades, scientists thought that learning occurs in synapses, or the numerous junctions between brain cells. But now, a new study proposes that learning occurs in a few dendrites, the branches that feed inputs to the brain cell, or neuron. The results of a new study offer a brand new insight into brain learning. In...
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MELISA utilizes a smartphone for biomedical testing
In order to get bloodwork or urinalysis done, samples obtained from patients are typically sent off to a lab. Thanks to a new device that’s being developed at the University of South Florida, however, it may soon be possible to perform such analyses right in a doctor’s office. Presently, if a physician wants to test...
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Anti-Alzheimer’s antibodies clean out brain plaques in mice
Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine have tested a new weapon in the fight against Alzheimer’s. In mice tests, the team has demonstrated an antibody that can clear away the disease’s characteristic build-up of proteins in the brain, which may lead to an early-stage treatment to prevent symptoms from occurring. Fragments of a...
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Accurately identifying aggressive head and neck cancers
The Case Western Reserve-led research team will analyze computerized images of tissue samples for patterns which could become “biomarkers,” or predictors, for determining relative risk for recurrence in one particularly common type of head and neck cancers. Those tumors, known as oropharyngeal cancers, occur primarily at the base of the tongue and in the tonsils....
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Neural fingerprints of altruism
There are two war veterans, both with penetrating traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a gunshot. One of them tends to donate his own money to societal entities he believes in, and the other one punishes institutions that don’t represent him. The answer for these behavioral differences rely on brain areas, which, after being damaged...