Laboratory Medicine This is an OPML file. It can be used to export all the MedWorm RSS feeds on this topic into your personal RSS reader (usually you have to save this file to your own computer before clicking on an Import OPML command in your own feed reader to upload the file which will then import all the feeds) or it can be used by webmasters to integrate MedWorm feeds with their own website. This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader, such as GoogleReader, or to display this data on your own website or blog. Subscribe to this data using MyMedWorm.Subscribe to this data using GoogleReader.Subscribe to this data using Bloglines.Subscribe to this data using MyYahoo.

This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory. This is page number 24.

Systematic screening with information and home sampling for genital Chlamydia trachomatis infections in young men and women in Norway: a randomized controlled trial
Conclusion: In Norway, systematic screening with information and home sampling results in more young people being tested, diagnosed and treated for chlamydia in the three months following the intervention than the current strategy of testing in the health care system. However, the study has not established that the intervention will reduce the chlamydia prevalence or the risk of complications from chlamydia.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov IDNCT00283127
Source: BMC Infectious Diseases - January 23, 2013 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Hilde KløvstadOlav NatåsAage TverdalPreben Aavitsland Source Type: research

Researchers design a new imaging technique for identifying the age and sex of a corpse
(University of Granada) A new technique is based on a computing system designed by researchers at the Forensic Anthropology Laboratory of the University of Granada. This system is based on free software and has a reliability of 95 percent.
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - January 23, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Release Of Process Pulse Multivariate Process Monitoring Software
CAMO Software, leaders in multivariate data analysis solutions, today announced the release of a new version of the Unscrambler® X Process Pulse software for process monitoring. The software is designed to be used by laboratory staff, technical services, engineering, R&D or production departments. It is suitable for developing control and monitoring strategies for unit operations in pharmaceutical or biotech manufacturing, test beds in pilot laboratories, proof of concept for scale up/down, or run-time applications involving spectroscopic analyzers.
Source: Pharmaceutical Online News - January 22, 2013 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

A Second CHANCE
How do you change the way science is taught? You might start by giving teachers a second chance—or CHANCE, in this instance. Jacqueline McLaughlin, assistant professor of biology at Penn State University, is doing just that through an innovative professional development program called CHANCE, or Connecting Humans and Nature through Conservation Experiences. CHANCE exposes participants—in-service and preservice high school teachers—to the way scientists think and work by involving them in research projects in the field. The program’s two weeks of fieldwork, carried out in Costa Rica, coupled with the cre...
Source: Eye on Education - January 22, 2013 Category: Biology Authors: Samantha J. Katz Source Type: news

DNA Barcoding Investigations Bring Biology to Life
When Sophia Cuprillnilson walked into her undergraduate genetics class in the fall of 2008, little did she realize that her perception of biology would be transformed forever. "I thought I was going to be learning about Mendel and peas," she said. Instead, Cuprillnilson and her classmates became DNA detectives, sent out in pairs to collect samples of fish from local restaurants. Back in the lab at Nova Southeastern University's Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences in Florida, they extracted DNA, created primers, and analyzed the sequences to determine whether consumers were really getting the species described on the menu...
Source: Eye on Education - January 22, 2013 Category: Biology Authors: Susan Musante Source Type: news

Motivating Tomorrow's Biologists
"How do you make the biology we teach as exciting as the biology that we do?" was the challenging question posed by V. Celeste Carter to participants at the National Academy of Sciences convocation, "Thinking Evolutionarily: Evolution Education across the Life Sciences," held in October. Carter, program director at the National Science Foundation, and others at the convocation discussed the converging efforts to improve biology education, to better motivate students, and to integrate evolution across learning experiences. Simply regurgitating the biological knowledge generated by the scientific community or conducting "coo...
Source: Eye on Education - January 22, 2013 Category: Biology Authors: Susan Musante Source Type: news

Community Colleges Giving Students a Framework for STEM Careers
Over the coming decade, our country will need one million more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals than was originally projected. That is the conclusion of a February 2012 report, Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-engage-to-excel-final_2-25-12.pdf), presented to President Obama by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The report stresses the importance of exciting early on students who are potenti...
Source: Eye on Education - January 22, 2013 Category: Biology Authors: Susan Musante Source Type: news

Collaborations Grow through the Introductory Biology Project
When Elena Bray-Speth, assistant professor of biology at Saint Louis University, presented her case study on the evolution of fur color in mice, little did she know that someone in the audience had developed a case on the very same topic. That person was Jim Smith, principal investigator (PI) of Evo-Ed (http://lbc.msu.edu/evo-ed), a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project that currently houses four evolutionbased case studies. "Elena and I met just after her session and I showed her our cases," said Smith, who is a professor in the Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University....
Source: Eye on Education - January 22, 2013 Category: Biology Authors: Susan Musante Source Type: news

Call for Applications: 2011 BiosciEdNet (BEN) Scholars Program
The National STEM Education Distributed Learning (NSDL) Biological Sciences Pathway, BiosciEdNet (BEN), invites undergraduate biology faculty to apply to become BEN Scholars. The BEN Scholars Program is one of the grassroots outreach activities of the BEN Collaborative, which includes more than 20 life sciences professional societies. The goal of the BEN Scholars Program is to promote the use of digital library resources and student-centered teaching and learning methods in higher education, specifically in biological sciences lecture and laboratory courses, and in research training programs. BEN Scholars will receive rec...
Source: Education Reports - January 22, 2013 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Tags: July/August Source Type: news

Upcoming Biology Education Conferences
[Association for Biology Laboratory Education:](http://www.ableweb.org/conf/able2012/) ABLE. June 19-22, 2012, Chapel Hill, NC. [Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research:](http://saber-biologyeducationresearch.wikispaces.com/National+meeting+2012) SABER. July 12-15, 2012, Minneapolis, MN. [ACUBE: Association of College Undergraduate Biology Educators](http://www.acube.org/meetings/). October 19th-20th, 2012 at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, WI [National Association of Biology Teachers](http://www.nabt.org/websites/institution/index.php?p=10). October 30-November 3, 2012, Dallas, TX.
Source: Education Reports - January 22, 2013 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Tags: May/June Source Type: news

Laboratory Evolution of Enantiocomplementary Candida antarctica Lipase B Mutants with Broad Substrate Scope
Journal of the American Chemical SocietyDOI: 10.1021/ja310455t
Source: Journal of the American Chemical Society - January 22, 2013 Category: Chemistry Authors: Qi Wu, Pankaj Soni and Manfred T. Reetz Source Type: research

NASA to test Bigelow expandable module on space station
NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver announced Jan. 16 a newly planned addition to the International Space Station that will use the orbiting laboratory to test expandable space habitat technology. NASA has awarded a $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace to provide a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is scheduled to arrive at the space station in 2015 for a two-year technology demonstration.
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - January 22, 2013 Category: Science Source Type: news

Bubbling up organics in an ocean vent simulator
Fizzy ocean water and the alkaline fluid that bubbles up from deep ocean vents are coursing through a structure at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. that is reminiscent of the pillared Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. Scientists with the NASA Astrobiology Institute's JPL Icy Worlds team have built this series of glass tubes, thin barrels and valves with a laser and a detector system. The set-up mimics the conditions at hydrothermal vents at the bottom of Earth's ocean and also detects compounds coming out of it. They want to see if sending these two liquids through a sample of rock that simulates ancien...
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - January 22, 2013 Category: Science Source Type: news

Assessment of metolachlor and diuron leaching in a tropical soil using undisturbed soil columns under laboratory conditions.
Abstract In the present study, diuron [3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea] and metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-metoxi-1-methylethyl)acetamide] leaching was studied in undisturbed soil columns collected in a cotton crop area in Mato Grosso State, Brazil. The pesticides were applied to the soil surface in dosages similar to those used in a cotton plantation. To assess the leaching process, soil columns were submitted to simulated rain under laboratory conditions at 25 ± 3°C, in the absence of wind and direct solar radiation. During the rain simulations, leachate solutions were collected a...
Source: Journal of Environmental Science and Health. Part. B, Pesticides, Food Contaminants, and Agricultural Wastes - January 22, 2013 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Dores EF, De Souza L, Villa RD, Pinto AA Tags: J Environ Sci Health B Source Type: research

Zambia: Initiative to Resolve CD4 Reagent On
[Times of Zambia]THE Ministry of Health (MoH) has put in place a laboratory commodities management information system to order CD4 reagents and consumables from Medical Stores Limited.
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - January 22, 2013 Category: African Health Source Type: news

Evaluation of marginal and internal fit of ceramic crown copings
Abstract: Objectives: (1) To measure the marginal and internal adaptation of different prosthetic crowns infrastructures (IS); (2) to analyze two types of methodologies (replica and weight technique) used to evaluate the adaptation of indirect restorations.Methods: Ceramic IS were fabricated using CAD/CAM technology and slip-casting technique, and metal IS were produced by casting (n=10). For each experimental group, the adaptation was evaluated with the replica (RT) and the weight technique (WT), using an impression material (low viscosity silicon) to simulate the luting agent. Cross-sectional images of the silicon replic...
Source: Dental Materials - January 22, 2013 Category: Materials Science Authors: Juliana Tereza Colpani, Márcia Borba, Álvaro Della Bona Tags: Original articles Source Type: research

Re: Redefining Abnormal Follicle-Stimulating Hormone in the Male Infertility Population
J. Gordetsky, E. van Wijngaarden and J. O'Brien Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York
Source: The Journal of Urology - January 22, 2013 Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Craig Niederberger Tags: Male Infertility Source Type: research

Gender Specific Effect of Psychological Stress and Cortisol Reactivity on Adolescent Risk Taking.
Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate how psychological stress, gender and cortisol response to stress relate to risk behavior among 132 14-18 year old adolescents. Participants completed a laboratory based risk task prior to and immediately after a computerized psychological stress task, and salivary cortisol was collected from pre-stress to 60 min following initial stress exposure. Results indicate that adolescent boys (n = 59) and girls (n = 73) demonstrate different patterns of risk taking (RT) in response to stress, such that boys evidenced an increase in RT following stress exposure, wh...
Source: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology - January 22, 2013 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Daughters SB, Gorka SM, Matusiewicz A, Anderson K Tags: J Abnorm Child Psychol Source Type: research

[Iron deficiency anaemia - interpretation of biochemical and haematological findings].
Abstract BACKGROUND Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia are frequent problems in both the primary and the specialist health services. It is important to detect iron deficiency and to determine the causal relationship because iron deficiency may be secondary to a serious disease. The diagnosis of iron deficiency is largely based on biochemical and haematological laboratory findings, but there is no standardisation or consensus on the interpretation of these findings.METHOD Non-systematic search in the PubMed database with a discretionary selection of articles, based on the authors' knowledge of the field.RES...
Source: Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening - January 22, 2013 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Hagve TA, Lilleholt K, Svendsen M Tags: Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen Source Type: research

Association of cortisol with neuropsychological assessment in older adults with generalized anxiety disorder.
Conclusions: Our results revealed that participating in a neuropsychological assessment was associated with reduced cortisol in GAD participants, suggesting that refocusing attention such as engaging in cognitive tasks had a cortisol-lowering effect. Further, a higher cortisol level appears to have a detrimental effect on cognitive performance for individuals with GAD, but not psychiatrically healthy comparison participants. The methodological and treatment implications of these findings are discussed. PMID: 23336532 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Aging and Mental Health - January 22, 2013 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Rosnick CB, Rawson KS, Butters MA, Lenze EJ Tags: Aging Ment Health Source Type: research

Not all stressors are equal: Early social enrichment favors resilience to social but not physical stress in male mice.
Abstract Early experiences profoundly affect the adult coping response to stress and, consequently, adult vulnerability to psychopathologies triggered by stressing conditions, such as major depression. Though studies in animal models have demonstrated that individuals reared in different conditions are differently vulnerable to a stressor of a specific quality, no information is available as to whether such vulnerability differs when facing stressors of different qualities. To this purpose, we reared C57BL/6 male mice either in standard laboratory rearing condition (SN) or in Communal Nest (CN) condition, the latte...
Source: Hormones and Behavior - January 22, 2013 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Branchi I, Santarelli S, D'Andrea I, Alleva E Tags: Horm Behav Source Type: research

Testicular ischemia-reperfusion may alter micro-rheological parameters in laboratory rats.
In this study 14 Sprague-Dawley rats were involved. In the ischemia-reperfusion group under general anaesthesia the left testis was explored by opening the scrotum then the deferent duct and vasculature were clamped for 30 minutes. Testicular microcirculation was monitored by laser Doppler flowmetry. The right testis was untouched. In the control group: only anaesthesia was induced. Blood sampling occurred before and after ischemia, at the 60th minute of reperfusion and on the 1st postoperative day for determining hematological parameters (microcell-counter), erythrocyte deformability (slit-flow ektacytometer) and erythroc...
Source: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation - January 22, 2013 Category: Hematology Authors: Nemeth N, Kiss F, Klarik Z, Peto K, Vanyolos E, Toth L, Furka I, Miko I Tags: Clin Hemorheol Microcirc Source Type: research

Hemorheological changes in ischemia-reperfusion: An overview on our experimental surgical data.
Abstract Blood vessel occlusions of various origins, depending on the duration and extension, result in tissue damage, causing ischemic or ischemia-reperfusion injuries. Necessary surgical clamping of vessels in vascular-, gastrointestinal or parenchymal organ surgery, flap preparation-transplantation in reconstructive surgery, as well as traumatological vascular occlusions, all present special aspects. Ischemia and reperfusion have effects on hemorheological state by numerous ways: besides the local metabolic and micro-environmental changes, by hemodynamic alterations, free-radical and inflammatory pathways, acute...
Source: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation - January 22, 2013 Category: Hematology Authors: Nemeth N, Furka I, Miko I Tags: Clin Hemorheol Microcirc Source Type: research

Feasibility of spray drying bacteriophages into respirable powders to combat pulmonary bacterial infections.
In this study, we analyze the potential of processing bacteriophages in a dry powder formulation, using a laboratory spray dryer. The phages were dried in the presence of lactose, trehalose or dextran 35, serving as an excipient to give the resulting powder the necessary bulk mass and offer protection to the delicate phage structure. Out of the three excipients tested, trehalose was found to be the most efficient in protecting the phages from temperature and shear stress throughout the spray-drying process. A low inlet air temperature and atomizing force appeared to be the best parameter conditions for phage survival. Pseu...
Source: European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics - January 22, 2013 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Vandenheuvel D, Singh A, Vandersteegen K, Klumpp J, Lavigne R, Mooter GV Tags: Eur J Pharm Biopharm Source Type: research

Hemophilia clinical gene therapy-brief review.
Abstract Genetic correction of hemophilia A and B was long considered amenable to the available gene transfer technologies. This assumption has come to fruition with the recent results of a phase I/II trial for hemophilia B. Here we review the clinical application of gene therapy for the hemophilia's as a paradigm of the evolution of gene transfer science and technology. This review is not intended as comprehensive but rather to highlight current clinical developments of gene therapy for the hemophilias. PMID: 23352600 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Translational Research : the journal of laboratory and clinical medicine - January 22, 2013 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Walsh CE, Batt KM Tags: Transl Res Source Type: research

From laboratory to pilot plant E. coli fed-batch cultures: optimizing the cellular environment for protein maximization.
Abstract For recombinant protein production in E. coli fed-batch cultures, post-induction conditions have great influence in the quantity and quality of the product. The present paper covers the effect of different factors affecting the cellular environment in recombinant aldolase (rhamnulose-1-phosphate aldolase, RhuA) production. An operational mode employing an exponential addition profile for constant specific growth rate has been analyzed, in order to understand and define possible modifications with influence on post-induction cellular behavior. A constant addition profile has been demonstrated to render high...
Source: Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology - January 22, 2013 Category: Microbiology Authors: Ruiz J, Fernández-Castané A, de Mas C, González G, López-Santín J Tags: J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol Source Type: research

Characteristics of elderly hepatitis C virus‐associated hepatocellular carcinoma patients
ConclusionElderly HCV‐positive patients (≥ 65 years old) with low ALT values developed HCC regardless of their platelet counts. These findings should be taken into account when designing the most suitable HCC surveillance protocol for this population.
Source: Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology - January 22, 2013 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Takashi Kumada, Hidenori Toyoda, Seiki Kiriyama, Makoto Tanikawa, Yasuhiro Hisanaga, Akira Kanamori, Toshifumi Tada, Junko Tanaka Tags: Hepatology Source Type: research

Lung Inflammatory Effects, Tumorigenesis, and Emphysema Development in a Long-Term Inhalation Study with Cigarette Mainstream Smoke in Mice
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, yet there is little mechanistic information available in the literature. To improve this, laboratory models for cigarette mainstream smoke (MS) inhalation–induced chronic disease development are needed. The current study investigated the effects of exposing male A/J mice to MS (6h/day, 5 days/week at 150 and 300mg total particulate matter per cubic meter) for 2.5, 5, 10, and 18 months in selected combinations with postinhalation periods of 0, 4, 8, and 13 months. Histopathological examination of step-serial sections of th...
Source: Toxicological Sciences - January 22, 2013 Category: Toxicology Authors: Stinn, W., Buettner, A., Weiler, H., Friedrichs, B., Luetjen, S., van Overveld, F., Meurrens, K., Janssens, K., Gebel, S., Stabbert, R., Haussmann, H.-J. Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Do our ears help us cross streets safely?
Thanks very much to Richard Lichenstein et al for their report on the frequency of pedestrian injuries and deaths to victims using headphones.1 Combined with recent experimental data from our laboratory that listening to music via headphones may be even more dangerous to pedestrians than distraction from talking on the phone or text-messaging,2 we have accumulated data suggesting pedestrians may rely on auditory cues for safety much more than previously recognised, as well as much more than automobile drivers. This possibility is supported also by early work on the development of auditory perception in child pedestrians3 a...
Source: Injury Prevention - January 22, 2013 Category: Occupational Health Authors: Schwebel, D. C. Tags: PostScript Source Type: research

Physiologic and laboratory correlates of depression, anxiety, and poor sleep in liver cirrhosis
Conclusions: Increased serum AST and abnormal autonomic nervous activities by HRV analysis were associated with psychological distress in cirrhosis. Because AST is an important mediator of inflammatory process, further research is needed to delineate the role of inflammation in the cirrhosis comorbid with depression.
Source: BMC Gastroenterology - January 22, 2013 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Fang-Yuan KoAlbert YangShih-Jen TsaiYang ZhouLie-Ming Xu Source Type: research

Exploring the association between geneticvariation in the SUMO isopeptidase gene USPL1 and breast cancer through integration of data from the population‐based GENICA study and external genetic databases
We report here on the first exploratory study investigating the relationship betweengenetic variability inUSPL1andbreast cancer. Three potentially functional non‐synonymouscoding SNPs (rs3742303, rs17609459, rs7984952) were genotyped in 1,021 breast cancer cases and 1,015 controls from the population based GENICA study. We took advantage of multiple genotype imputation based on HapMapand the 1000 Genomes Project data to refine the association screening in the investigated region. Public genetic databases were also used to investigate the relationship with USPL1 expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines and breast tissue.Wo...
Source: International Journal of Cancer - January 22, 2013 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Justo Lorenzo Bermejo, Maria Kabisch, Thomas Dünnebier, Sven Schnaidt, Frauke Melchior, Hans‐Peter Fischer, Volker Harth, Sylvia Rabstein, Beate Pesch, Thomas Brüning, Christina Justenhoven, Hiltrud Brauch, Christian Baisch, Yon‐Dschun Ko, Ute Haman Tags: Cancer Genetics Source Type: research

CAP Supports National Survey on Health Information Exchange
During the week of Jan. 20, 2013, 14,000 labs will receive a survey supported by the CAP and CHIME and sponsored by the ONC to assess their electronic laboratory exchange activities and capabilities.
Source: CAP Important Announcements and News - January 21, 2013 Category: Pathology Source Type: news

New handheld mobile device performs laboratory-quality HIV testing
New research shows that a handheld mobile device can check patients' HIV status with just a finger prick, and synchronize the results in real time with electronic health records. Destination HIMSS13 News read more
Source: Healthcare IT News - January 21, 2013 Category: Information Technology Authors: Diana Manos Tags: Online Only AIDS Clinical Chemistry disease epidemic HIV Industry News mobile device south Asia Southeast Asia sub-Saharan Africa Hospitals & IDNs Physician Practices Ambulatory Care Electronic Health Records Mobile/Wirel Source Type: news

Freda Collier obituary
My aunt, Freda Collier, who has died aged 97, became well-known in the early 1950s as part of the core team of Maurice Wilkins, John Randall and Rosalind Franklin (plus Franklin's PhD student, Raymond Gosling) working at King's College London on the structure of DNA. Freda was Franklin's x-ray photographer and headed the photographic laboratory at King's that produced the famous "photo 51" seen by James Watson from Cambridge University. Watson immediately realised that the molecule revealed was a double helix.As Watson described later in his book The Double Helix (1968): "The instant I saw the picture my mouth fell open an...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - January 21, 2013 Category: Science Tags: People in science Obituaries Biology guardian.co.uk Medical research Nobel prizes Science prizes Source Type: news

Tommys Clinical Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh, UK
Added via www.clinicalacademicjobs.org. Based in the University of Edinburgh MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at Little France and clinical sites, a position exists for a full-time clinical research fellow. The post will be of three years duration and will involve work on obesity and stress hormones in pregnancy. The project is funded by Tommy’s. The clinical research fellow will investigate the factors that regulate maternal/placental glucocorticoid metabolism and action and will investigate the role of glucocorticoids in the pathogenesis of obese-pregnancy related disorders including delayed labour and stillbirth...
Source: Society for Endocrinology - January 21, 2013 Category: Endocrinology Source Type: news

Is Viagra a new wonder diet pill?
Conclusion This study found that short-term treatment with sildenafil caused white fat tissue to look more like brown fat tissue. This "browning" of fat could lead to increased energy expenditure and weight loss, as instead of storing fat, the fat is burnt to produce heat. Although these results seem promising, all of the results so far have been obtained in mice. Further research is required to determine whether Viagra has any effect on fat tissue in humans, or if it could actually lead to weight loss. Importantly, the effective dose given to mice was higher than the dose used to treat erectile dysfunction in m...
Source: NHS News Feed - January 21, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news

Supreme Court Agrees to Consider Myriad Case Involving Human Gene Patents
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will likely learn next year whether Myriad’s gene patents will stand In the ongoing debate about gene patents, the nation’s highest legal authority is about to weigh in on the question. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Myriad Genetics patent case in the upcoming term. The case turns [...]
Source: Dark Daily - January 21, 2013 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: admin Tags: Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice Digital Pathology Laboratory News Laboratory Pathology ACLU American Civil Liberties Union American College of Medical Genetics amicus brief Association for Molecular Pathology blawg Bloomberg BRCA1 Source Type: news

African scientists and engineers look to Rise to help them shine
Pan-African science education initiative supports students in effort to boost postgraduate degrees and reverse brain drainWhen John Mwero looks at charred sugar cane ash, he sees sturdy bridges, soaring skyscrapers and stable roads. He is convinced that bagasse ash – the residue left after processors suck out the sugar and burn the cane – has the potential to make cement stronger and cheaper.To test his hunch, Mwero is conducting research towards his PhD – and confronting multiple challenges. After two degrees at the University of Nairobi and several stints with consultants and contractors, he knew civil engineering ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - January 21, 2013 Category: Science Tags: Access to university World news guardian.co.uk Students Higher education Engineering general Features Africa Science Global development Source Type: news

Exercise-Loving Mice Have Larger Midbrains
Is athleticism linked to brain size? To find out, researchers at the University of California, Riverside performed laboratory experiments on house mice and found that mice that have been bred for dozens of generations to be more exercise-loving have larger midbrains than those that have not been selectively bred this way. Theodore Garland's lab measured the brain mass of these uniquely athletic house mice, bred for high voluntary wheel-running, and analyzed their high-resolution brain images...
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - January 21, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Sports Medicine / Fitness Source Type: news

How Immune Cells Navigate Through The Skin By Sensing Graded Patterns Of Immobilized Directional Cues
Immune cells constantly patrol our body to check for foreign invaders, such as bacteria or viruses. To do so they leave the blood stream, actively crawl through tissues and finally re-enter the circulation via lymphatic vessels. Research from the laboratory of Michael Sixt elucidates how the cells are guided through tissues like the skin. It is thought that cells either sense their environment by 'touching' or 'smelling': They adhere to structural molecules like connective tissue proteins using adhesion receptors. Or they 'smell' soluble signal molecules with specialized surface receptors...
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - January 21, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Immune System / Vaccines Source Type: news

Clinical and molecular study of a new form of hereditary myotonia in Murrah water buffalo
We described a new form of hereditary myotonia in water buffalo. ► Myotonic buffalo showed muscle hypertrophy, stiffness and myotonic discharges. ► The CLCN1 cDNA from myotonic buffalo lacked 43 nucleotides at the 3′-end of exon-3. ► This form of hereditary myotonia in buffalo was caused by CLCN1 aberrant splicing. ► The aberrant splicing was associated with the presence of a SNP in exon-3 (c.396C>T).Abstract: Hereditary myotonia caused by mutations in CLCN1 has been previously described in humans, goats, dogs, mice and horses. The goal of this study was to characterize the clinical, morphological and genetic fea...
Source: Neuromuscular Disorders - January 21, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Alexandre S. Borges, José D. Barbosa, Luiz Antônio L. Resende, Lígia S.L.S. Mota, Rogério M. Amorim, Thaís L. Carvalho, José F. Garcia, José P. Oliveira-Filho, Carlos M.C. Oliveira, Jorge Estefano S. Souza, Nena J. Winand Tags: Research papers Source Type: research

A Rare Pancreatic Tumor in a 52-Year-Old Chinese Woman
Question: A 52-year-old Chinese woman without any significant past medical history presented with 1 month of postmenopausal bleeding without abdominal pain, fever, jaundice, weight loss, or other symptoms. General physical examination did not reveal any abnormality. Abdominal examination showed a large (10 cm), firm, fixed mass with well-defined borders in the suprapubic area. Routine laboratory tests and tumor markers including CA 19-9 and CA-125 were within normal range. Computed tomography (CT) showed an approximately 10 × 10-cm hysteromyoma arising from the anterior wall of uterus and the other mass of 4 cm in diamete...
Source: Gastroenterology - January 21, 2013 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Chong-Yi Jiang, Wei Wang, Zu-Rong Yuan Tags: Clinical Challenges and Images in GI Source Type: research

An Uncommon Cause of a Focal Liver Lesion
Question: A 62-year-old man with a chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis Child A was referred for abdominal computed tomography (CT) after a nodular liver lesion in segment V was found on ultrasonography. His medical history included esophageal varices grade I, reflux esophagitis grade III, and a posttraumatic splenectomy 50 years ago. The physical examination was unremarkable and the laboratory values were normal (alpha-fetoprotein, 1.9 µg/L). Abdominal CT scan revealed a homogenous, smoothly outlined, round lesion measuring 15 × 18 mm located between the gallbladder and the liver (segment V). During the arterial phas...
Source: Gastroenterology - January 21, 2013 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Mareike Röther, Jean-Francois Dufour, Beat Schnüriger Tags: Clinical Challenges and Images in GI Source Type: research

A Naturopathic Cause of Portal Venous Gas Embolism
Question: A 49-year-old man presented with severe epigastric pain and nonbloody emesis after ingestion of a naturopathic treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus. He denied recent ingestion of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and a prior history of chronic liver disease. In the emergency department, he was alert and orientated with a blood pressure of 140/84, a pulse rate of 80 beats per minute, and O2 saturation of 97% on room air. On physical examination, he had moderate epigastric tenderness but without rebound, no abdominal distention, and normal bowel sounds. There were no localizing neurologic findings. Laboratory ...
Source: Gastroenterology - January 21, 2013 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Mark C. Fok, Charles Zwirewich, Baljinder S. Salh Tags: Clinical Challenges and Images in GI Source Type: research

Atherosclerosis prevention by nutritional factors: A meta-analysis in small animal models
Conclusion: Nutritional addition of selected compounds significantly prevents experimental atheromatosis, but the reproduction of positive effects observed in humans was very limited. These analyses reinforce the need for adequate standardization of atherosclerosis studies in preclinical models and for human intervention trials.
Source: Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases : NMCD - January 21, 2013 Category: Nutrition Authors: M. Jové, R. Pamplona, J. Prat, L. Arola, M. Portero-Otín Tags: Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Source Type: research

Qualitative autoradiography with polycarbonate foils enables histological and track analyses on the same section.
Abstract Neutron autoradiography is an imaging methodology that enables analysis of the spatial distribution of heavy ion emitters in a given material. In particular, it allows localization of (10)B in a tissue section put in contact with a nuclear track detector. Boron imaging is essential when considering boron neutron capture therapy as an option for treating cancerous tumors. A description of the autoradiography method is presented together with specific characteristics and technical details developed in our laboratory. We propose a new mounting technique to compare autoradiography images with the same section ...
Source: Biotechnic and Histochemistry - January 21, 2013 Category: Research Authors: Portu A, Carpano M, Dagrosa A, Cabrini R, Martin GS Tags: Biotech Histochem Source Type: research