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"Estimates have shown that approximately 6,300 horses globally work in therapeutic horseback riding programs at more than 800 centers," said Rebecca Johnson, a professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Millsap Professor of Gerontological Nursing in the Sinclair School of Nursing. "While there is a growing body of literature demonstrating the beneficial outcomes from THR programs for people with developmental, cognitive and psychosocial disabilities, such as veterans with PTSD ; it is imperative that we consider horse stress levels to ensure their health and welfare. Our study was designed to assess the differences in both physiological stress levels and behavioral stress responses while being ridden by veterans in these programs or by experienced riders." Two groups were recruited for the study: veterans who were diagnosed with PTSD and healthy, experienced riders. Each individual horse was ridden in accordance with an approved program for app...

The researchers discovered that when the ERAD course of labored usually, AVP hormone folding and secretion went nicely (blue). However after they turned off a key ERAD element, misfolded copies of AVP's precursor clumped with regular copies, and hormone secretion was disrupted. Credit score: College of Michigan, Qi lab The invention of a puddle of mouse urine looks like an odd scientific "eureka" second. Nonetheless, for one staff of researchers, that is precisely what led to a brand new discovery. The researchers' findings might improve understanding of how our our bodies stability water content material -- 50 to 60 % of our weight. It might additionally result in higher understanding of hormone-related illnesses may cause circumstanc...

Duke College researchers have developed a prototype machine that makes use of sound waves to separate tiny particles known as exosomes from blood samples. Cells produce exosomes to speak with each other and will play a big position in future diagnostics and therapeutics. Credit score: Kara Manke, Duke College A prototype machine developed by a global staff of engineers can sift exceedingly tiny particles from blood samples with out having to ship samples off to a lab. The machine, which mixes acoustic cell-sorting and microfluidic applied sciences, could possibly be a boon to each scientific analysis and medical functions. The system is optimized to type out "exosomes," organic nanoparticles launched from each sort of cell within the physique. Th...

The findings, which appear in the  Journal of Clinical Investigation , may lead to new, non-traditional approaches in the fight against pneumonia and chronic lung diseases. There are two classifications of cells in the human body: germ cells that are used to make sperm and eggs and somatic cells that make up every other cell in the body including lung cells. There are widespread differences between germ cells and somatic cells underscoring their markedly different roles in human biology. It was previously thought that the MIWI2 gene was only expressed in male germ cells as part of a family of genes that ensure the proper development of sperm. However, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that not only is the same gene expressed in somatic cells in the body, but also marks a distinct population of multi-ciliated cells that line the upper airways of the lung. "These ciliated cells have hair-like projections that function to sweep mucous an...

In findings published today in the  International Journal for Obesity , School of Health Sciences researchers showed in a randomised controlled trial, that taking a two-week break during dieting may improve weight loss. The study, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council ( NHMRC ) of Australia, investigated the body's 'famine reaction' to continued dieting and its impact on weight loss in men with obesity. During the study, two groups of participants took part in a 16-week diet which cut calorie intake by one third. One group maintained the diet continuously for 16 weeks while the other maintained the diet for two weeks, then broke from the diet for two weeks eating simply to keep their weight stable, and repeated this cycle for 30 weeks in total to ensure 16 weeks of dieting. Those in the intermittent diet group not only lost more weight, but also gained less weight after the trial finished. The intermittent diet group maintained an average we...

All three were in pain and had blurred vision. And they all had internal bleeding in the eye (hyphema). One of the three patients was a child, who had also developed swelling of the outer layer of the eye (cornea), and the inner layer of the eye ( retina ), from the force and speed of the bullet fired by the gun. The patients were given eye drops , and when they went for their check-ups their sight had returned completely and the bleeding had stopped. These types of injuries can have a serious impact, say the authors. A projectile travelling at high speed can cause irreversible vision loss. Children should protect their eyes when playing with these guns, they advise. "Sports in which the risk of [eye] trauma is relatively high, such as squash ball, have seen an introduction of protective eyewear in the UK," write the authors. "This case series emphasises the seriousness of [eye injury] from Nerf gun projectiles and calls into consideration the need for prot...