Body

Maintaining good oral health may help older adults prevent a variety of health problems and disabilities. However, the effect of tooth loss on physical or cognitive health and well-being is unknown.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers explored this connection. To do so, they examined information from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) project.

Daniel Drucker's unofficial laboratory slogan is "I'd rather be third and right, than first and wrong." As a clinician-scientist who has spent 30 years developing new drugs for diabetes, gastrointestinal disease, and obesity, he has seen high-profile journal article after article proclaim the beginning of the end for these diseases, only for the findings to never be discussed again.

PHILADELPHIA--(Sept. 13, 2016)-- Few effective treatments have been approved to treat ovarian cancer, the deadliest of all cancers affecting the female reproductive system. Now, new research from The Wistar Institute demonstrates how a drug already in clinical trials could be used to boost anti-tumor immunity and cause T-cells to target the cancer directly while minimizing side effects. The results were published in the journal Cell Reports.

A novel strategy to screen pregnant women for malaria with rapid diagnostic tests and treat the test-positive women with effective antimalarials does not lower the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes compared with treating all pregnant women with the malaria preventive sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) in sub-Saharan Africa, according to an open label randomized trial published this week in PLOS Medicine by Feiko ter Kuile, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and colleagues.

Postpartum depression is the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth, affecting up to 15 percent of all women within the first three months following delivery. Research has shown that mothers of infants born prematurely have almost double the rates of postpartum depression, particularly during their time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Could dragon trees serve as a source of inspiration for innovations in lightweight construction? A team of researchers at the University of Freiburg and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has laid the groundwork for designing technical fiber-reinforced lightweight ramifications modeled on branch-stem attachments. With the help of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging techniques, the scientists succeeded in observing how the tissue of a living dragon tree is displaced when subjected to a load.

The brains of millions of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease are slowly and inescapably being depleted of neurons. However, the cause of neuronal death is still unknown. Several studies propose that the interaction of the amyloid-beta protein with the neuronal membrane causes neurotoxicity.

BOSTON - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators report they have discovered a type of immune antibody that can rapidly evolve to neutralize a wide array of influenza virus strains - including those the body hasn't yet encountered.

The body's ability to make the adaptable antibody suggests potential strategies for creating improved or even "universal" influenza vaccines, according to a team led by Wayne A. Marasco, MD, PhD, a cancer immunologist and virologist at Dana-Farber, reporting in the journal Nature Communications.

Scientists from the University of Stirling have discovered a link between childhood self-control and smoking habits across life.

Behavioural Scientist Dr Michael Daly and his team examined 21,000 people from the UK tracked over four decades. The researchers found children with low self-control by age 10/11 were more likely to take up smoking in adolescence and had substantially higher rates of smoking as adults, even decades later aged 55.

New insights into the potential for new classes of HIF inhibitors to restore control of the hypoxia response--representing the potential foundation of a new cancer-fighting strategy--are the focus of recently published articles in Nature and Structure featuring work by Kevin Gardner of the City University of New York's Advanced Science Research Center (CUNY ASRC).

When it comes to water, some materials have a split personality - and some of these materials could hold the key to new ways of harnessing solar energy.

These small assemblies of organic molecules have parts that are hydrophobic, or water-fearing, while other parts are hydrophilic, or water-loving. Because of their schizoid nature, micelles organize themselves into spheres that have their hydrophilic parts turned out while their hydrophobic parts are shielded inside.

A new scientific study reveals one way to stop proteins from triggering an energy failure inside nerve cells during Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is an inherited genetic disorder caused by mutations in the gene that encodes huntingtin protein. Approximately 30,000 Americans have mutant huntingtin protein which can impair energy-producing parts of nerve cells called mitochondria. The mutant protein destroys nerve cells and slowly chips away at a person's ability to walk, speak, and control their behavior.

Tumours are an accumulation of cells that divide without control, accumulating hundreds of chromosomal alterations and mutations in their DNA. These alterations are triggered in part by a type of damage to the DNA known as replicative stress. To survive in the face of this chaos, tumour cells need the intervention of the damage response protein ATR, known for its role as guardian of genome integrity, to which they become addicted.

PHILADELPHIA - With over 120,000 patients in the United States waiting for a kidney transplant, scientists and physicians are constantly looking to expand the pool of available organs through increasing donation and optimizing allocation. Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University analyzed data from thousands of transplants and developed a scoring system for donor kidneys that they hope might expand the pool of available organs in two ways.

Depleting chemical GM3 prevented type-2 diabetic mice from experiencing pain, neuropathy in feet 'Pain is a debilitating affliction and one of the worst complications of diabetes' Ongoing research is testing whether ointment that depletes GM3 and improves healing of wounds in diabetic mice is preventing or reversing neuropathy