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Muthiah Kumaraswami, Ph.D., an infectious diseases researcher at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, is the corresponding author and principal investigator on an article describing his team's findings. The paper will appear the week of Sept. 18 in the early edition of the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) , one of the world's most cited and comprehensive multidisciplinary scientific journals. "Group A streptococcus infections are pretty widespread. Not only do they cause several million cases of strep throat every year, but also can lead to more severe infections, such as flesh-eating disease and acute rheumatic heart disease," Kumaraswami said. "If you don't treat strep throat in children, for instance, recurring infections can lead to those more serious diseases and are very difficult to treat. We don't have a vaccine, so basic research is geared toward finding targets for vaccine development." In this paper, Kuma...

"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...

This 'caregiver burden' may also lead to increased veterinarian stress, say the authors. Research on human caregiving describes ' caregiver burden ' as a response to problems and challenges encountered while providing informal care for a sick family member. But little is known about the impact of caregiver burden on owners of animals with chronic or terminal diseases -- and the veterinarians who care for them. So a team of researchers, led by Mary Beth Spitznagel at Kent State University in Ohio, set out to assess caregiver burden and psychosocial function in 238 owners of a dog or cat. They compared 119 owners of an animal diagnosed with a chronic or terminal disease with 119 healthy controls blindly matched for owner age and sex and animal species. Symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression were measured using recognised scales, and quality of life was assessed by questionnaire. Owners' demographic information was also recorded. Results showed greater ...

UCLA most cancers researcher Dr. Roger Lo. Credit score: UCLA's Jonsson Complete Most cancers Heart A UCLA examine has uncovered the mechanisms by which treatment-resistant melanoma turn out to be weak to a drug vacation of a category of medication referred to as MAP kinase (MAPK)-targeted inhibitors. By figuring out these mechanisms, the scientists found that therapeutic advantages for sufferers may derive from a one-two punch of cessation of MAPK inhibitors adopted by a category of medication referred to as DNA restore inhibitors. The findings, which had been demonstrated in a number of main subtypes of melanoma tumors (together with BRAF and NRAS melanoma), may result in drug improvement methods that suppress the event of drug resistance. Background ...

The research was published in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Researchers identified a cytokine, called macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), along with its related protein, D-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT), which are associated with progressive MS. These cytokines worsen the disease by increasing inflammation within the central nervous system. The researchers also linked enhanced expression of MIF with a gene variant that occurred more frequently in MS patients with progressive disease -- particularly in men. These findings suggest that a simple genetic test could be used to identify MS patients at risk of developing the more severe form of the disease. As medications to halt the disease are under development, the researchers say that such a therapy could be used as part of a precision medicine approach that would be most effective in patients who have the MIF genetic susceptibility. "The value of this discovery to patients is that there are...