CHINESE ASSOCIATION OF AUTOMATION arkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that manifests through symptoms such as tremor, slow movements, limb rigidity and gait and balance problems. As such, nearly all diagnostic testing revolves around how a patient moves and requires the patient to walk for extensive distances and amounts of time. The discomfort caused to...
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Hematopoietic stem cell marker: A key player in the ontogeny of hematopoiesis
OSAKA UNIVERSITY A group of researchers at Osaka University revealed that ESAM (Endothelial cell-selective adhesion molecule), a surface marker for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and vascular endothelial cells (ECs), played an important role in the ontogeny of hematopoiesis in mice, particularly in the development of adult-type erythropoiesis. Their research results were published in Stem Cell...
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New cancer scan that predicts brain tumour growth will save children from ‘toxic’ effects of aggressive treatment
By TERRI-ANN WILLIAMS FOR MAILONLINE New scan will be able to predict how aggressive the brain tumour can become Will also give patients a ‘better quality of life’ as treatments will be ‘less toxic’ Development has been hailed as a ‘huge step’ towards personalised treatment A new cancer scan which can predict how rapidly tumours...
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2019 in medical research: What were the top findings?
Another busy year for clinical research has come and gone. What are the most important findings from 2019? Here is our overview of some of the most noteworthy studies of the year. What happened in medical research in 2019? In this special feature, we summarize this year’s top findings. “Medicine is of all the Arts...
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How do fruit and veg reduce colorectal cancer risk?
A study initially investigating aspirin as a preventive treatment for colorectal cancer coincidentally uncovered a mechanism that might explain how fruit and vegetables reduce the risk of developing this disease. A recent study delves into flavonoids, which occur in a range of fruit and veg. Worldwide, more than 1 million people receive a diagnosis of...
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GDF15 mediates the effects of metformin on body weight and energy balance
Anthony P. Coll, Michael Chen, Stephen O’Rahilly Nature (2019) , Cite this article, 53 Altmetric, Metrics details AbstractMetformin, the world’s most prescribed anti-diabetic drug, is also effective in preventing type 2 diabetes in people at high risk1,2. Over 60% of this effect is attributable to the ability of metformin to lower body weight in a...
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Measuring Mutations in Sperm May Reveal Risk for Autism in Future Children
This news or article is intended for readers with certain scientific or professional knowledge in the field. Spontaneous mutations in paternal sperm are linked to autism spectrum disorder; researchers have developed way to quantify those mutations and assess chances the mutations will cause disease. The causes of autism spectrum disorder or ASD are not fully...
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For CRISPR, tweaking DNA fragments before inserting yields highest efficiency rates yet
University of Illinois researchers achieved the highest reported rates of inserting genes into human cells with the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, a necessary step for harnessing CRISPR for clinical gene-therapy applications. By chemically tweaking the ends of the DNA to be inserted, the new technique is up to five times more efficient than current approaches. The...
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Bacteria can ‘outsmart’ programmed cell death
UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE Certain bacteria can override a defence mechanism of the immune system, so called programmed cell death, through inhibition of death effector molecules by their outer membranes components. Shigella bacteria, which cause diarrhoea, use lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on their surface to block the effector caspases. Lipopolysaccharides are a component of the bacterial outer membrane....
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Inputs to the motor cortex make dexterous movements possible in mice
HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE In a sleepy haze, reaching out and grabbing the coffee cup in front of you seems to happen on autopilot. But your caffeine-deprived brain is working hard. It’s collecting sensory information and other kinds of feedback – clues about where your arm is in space relative to the mug – and...