16 Jul, 2011
Sleep Sleep Apnea
New research that was presented Saturday, June 11, at the 20th Anniversary Meeting of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM) in Minneapolis, Minn., quantified the efficacy of mandibular advancement splints (MAS) using a self-administered, at-home device to monitor snoring and sleep-disordered breathing. Clinical assessment of MAS efficacy in the treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is based predominantly on subjective reports by the patient and partner, and less commonly, on the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), which is the average number of pauses in breathing that occur per hour of sleep. The current study used the Sonomat, a portable, unobtrusive device that has sensors contained within a mattress overlay. Read more…
14 Jul, 2011
Art Art Pregnant
Starting ART at least 13 weeks before giving birth provides the greatest benefits in prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), Carla J. Chibwesha and colleagues reported in a retrospective cohort analysis of pregnant HIV-infected women attending public antenatal care clinics in Lusaka, Zambia published in the advance online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
Women who got ART for a month or less before giving birth had more than a five-fold increased risk of transmitting HIV to their infants compared to women on ART for at least 13 weeks (95% CI: 2.5-11).
The findings underline the importance of HIV counselling and testing at the earliest opportunity after a woman becomes pregnat, and the importance of minimising the delay between testing positive and starting antiretroviral treatment.
Read more…
13 Jul, 2011
Hepatitis Hepatitis C
CDC and the state Department of Health Services are working with health officials in six central and northern Wisconsin counties to determine why new hepatitis C virus infections are increasing among those under age 30. In Wood, Portage, Marathon, Langlade, Lincoln, and Oneida counties, new HCV cases in young people have more than doubled, said Joanie Kuennen, Wood County public health nurse. In 2009-10, the six-county area averaged 27 cases annually, up from 12.2 annually during 2004-2008. The state and federal agencies provided county health officials a survey to help the investigation identify any commonalities among the cases, Kuennen said. “It’s happening nationwide; it’s not just Wisconsin, or the northern region,” she said. One pot Read more…
13 Jul, 2011
Demonstrates Regenerating Functional
Donor organ transplantation is currently an essential therapeutic approach to the replacement of a dysfunctional organ as a result of disease, injury or aging in vivo. Recent progress in the area of regenerative therapy has the potential to lead to bioengineered mature organ replacement in the future. A research group led by Professor Takashi Tsuji (Professor in the Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, and Director of Organ Technologies Inc.) has provided a proof-of-concept for bioengineered mature organ replacement as a future regenerative therapy. The research group, M. Read more…
13 Jul, 2011
Human Skin Human Skin Cells Neurons Skin Cells
Scientists have been able to convert human skin cells directly into neurons by using microRNAs – short chains of genetic material best known for their ability to bind to specific genetic transcripts to turn off their activity.
The addition of two particular gene snippets to a skin cell’s usual genetic material is enough to turn that cell into a fully functional neuron, said researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The new capability to essentially grow neurons from scratch is a big step for neuroscience research, which has been stymied by the lack of human neurons for study.
“A major problem in neurobiology has been the lack of a good human model,” senior author Gerald Crabtree, MD, professor of pathology and of developmental biology, said.
“Neurons aren’t like blood. They’re not
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