Body

Scientists at King's College London have, for the first time, identified the unique properties of two different types of cells, known as fibroblasts, in the skin – one required for hair growth and the other responsible for repairing skin wounds. The research could pave the way for treatments aimed at repairing injured skin and reducing the impact of ageing on skin function.

The intestine is bustling with billions of intestinal bacteria that aid digestion and keep it healthy. A vast array of microorganisms (microbiota) colonise the intestine so densely that pathogens do not usually stand a chance of multiplying. However, some pathogens, such as the diarrhoea-causing bacterium Salmonella Typhimurium, still manage to invade this densely populated ecosystem. Researchers at ETH Zurich are a step closer to finding out how they do this trick and discovered where the pathogen obtains the energy from for its attack.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Say "malaria" and most people think "mosquito," but the buzzing, biting insect is merely the messenger, delivering the Plasmodium parasites that sickened more than 200 million people globally in 2010 and killed about 660,000. Worse, the parasite is showing resistance to artemisinin, the most effective drug for treating infected people.

A team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified variations in a gene that doubles a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life.

The research is published online Dec. 11 in the journal Nature.

Over the past two decades, scientists have discovered a number of common genetic variants linked to early-onset (which strikes before age 65) and the more common late-onset forms of Alzheimer's disease. But those variants account for only a fraction of Alzheimer's cases.

SAN FRANCISCO--It's official: East Antarctica is pushing West Antarctica around.

Now that West Antarctica is losing weight--that is, billions of tons of ice per year--its softer mantle rock is being nudged westward by the harder mantle beneath East Antarctica.

Philadelphia, PA, December 11, 2013 – Heart failure in children is an important cause of childhood health problems and death. The Children's Heart Failure Study Group of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, in collaboration with the Canadian Pediatric Cardiology Association, has developed new guidelines to assist practitioners in primary care and emergency departments to recognize and successfully manage heart failure in children with undiagnosed heart disease and symptoms of possible heart failure.

The prestigious journal Nature Medicine has taken a look at the year and chosen one of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre's (CNIO) studies as the most important in the stem cell category for its special December edition. The edition highlights eight categories, including, as well as stem cells, immunology, cardiovascular disease or neuroscience.

Adult humans get weaker as they age and then die, but that's not the typical pattern across species. Some organisms don't appear to show signs of aging at all.

These are among the findings in a first-of-its-kind study published in the journal Nature this week. The study compares the aging patterns of humans and 45 other species.

Huntington's disease is a devastating, incurable disorder that results from the death of certain neurons in the brain. Its symptoms show as progressive changes in behavior and movements.

Most major newspapers publish daily horoscopes, and for good reason—even when we deny being superstitious, human nature drives us to believe in our own fate. According to a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers who believe their fate can change are more likely to exhibit impulsive or indulgent behavior after reading a negative horoscope.

When do you complain about a faulty product or a bad shopping experience? Do you tell your friends or does a total stranger hear the brunt of your rant? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, it turns out that men and women engage in negative word-of-mouth advertising in very different ways.

Ranked lists are everywhere. If you want to pick out a college, restaurant, hotel, or doctor, chances are there's a Top 10 list that can tell you which ones are the best. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, moving a mere two spots up or down a ranked list can greatly impact consumer perception.

After a traumatic experience, the details we remember surrounding the event are sometimes foggy. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers remember the least when they feel the most threatened.

"We are looking to identify the factors that contribute to memory impairment," write authors Amy N. Dalton (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) and Li Huang (University of South Carolina). "In response to threats against their social identity, people will try to preserve or protect the group they identify with."

When natural disasters occur, news reports can tug on our hearts and influence how we react to relief efforts. According to a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers are more likely to make a financial donation when there is a sense of immediate urgency and when the act of donating makes them feel good.

(Lebanon, NH, 12/9/13)—There may be a better way to analyze the genetic causes of cutaneous melanoma (CM) according to a study published in Human Genetics conducted by researchers Yale and Dartmouth. A statistical analysis using the natural and orthogonal interaction (NOIA) model showed increased power over existing approaches for detecting genetic effects and interactions when applied to the genome-wide melanoma dataset.