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168,132 articles from ScienceDaily

Specialized yoga program could help women with urinary incontinence

An ancient form of meditation and exercise could help women who suffer from urinary incontinence, according to a new study. researchers discovered that a yoga training program, designed to improve pelvic health, can help women gain more control over their urination and avoid accidental urine leakage. Men were not included in this study because urinary incontinence in men is often related to...


FRIDAY 25. APRIL 2014


Key regulator in pacemakers of our brain, heart discovered

Biologists have discovered how an outer shield over T-type channels change the electrochemical signaling of heart and brain cells. Understanding how these shields work will help researchers eventually develop a new class of drugs for treating epilepsy, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The researchers discovered T-type channels in the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, can shift from using calcium...

Critical end-stage liver disease discovery made

The discovery of an unknown cellular pathway has helped scientists and physicians better understand end-stage liver disease and offers a potential target for new therapeutics that could slow or even reverse the disease's progression. Although cirrhosis of the liver is most commonly associated with alcohol or drug abuse, the condition -- marked by scar tissue replacing healthy liver tissue -- also...

Revolutionary 'metamaterial' has potential to reshape neurosurgery

The development of graphene -— a highly advanced metamaterial with many unique and varied properties -— may lead to exciting new applications in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases, according to a report. The authors write, "As a surgical specialty that heavily relies on technological innovations, it is expected that neurosurgery will significantly benefit from several...

Attacking cancer indirectly: Generating immunity against tumor vessel protein in mouse study

A novel DNA vaccine is being trialed to kill cancer, not by attacking tumor cells, but targeting the blood vessels that keep them alive. The vaccine also indirectly creates an immune response to the tumor itself, amplifying the attack by a phenomenon called epitope spreading. The team injected mice with a DNA fusion vaccine. In mouse models of three cancer types, tumor formation was delayed or...

'Beneficial inflammation' may promote healing in pulmonary fibrosis

Inflammation has long been considered an integral part of the biological process that leads to deadly scarring in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. New research, however, suggests that a little inflammation may also be crucial to the healing and repair processes in the lungs. "The role of inflammation in the development of scarring has been hotly debated in recent years," said one researcher. "Our...

Genome regions once mislabeled 'junk' linked to heart failure

Large sections of the genome that were once referred to as 'junk' DNA have been linked to human heart failure, according to research. So-called junk DNA was long thought to have no important role in heredity or disease because it doesn't code for proteins. But emerging research in recent years has revealed that many of these sections of the genome produce RNA molecules that, despite not being...

Aging linked to cellular interactions that occur across generations

By studying the reproductive cells of nematodes -- tiny worms found in soil and compost bins -- a researcher identified the Piwi/piRNA genome silencing pathway, the loss of which results in infertility after many generations. This study also found a signaling pathway -- a series of molecular interactions inside cells -- that could be tweaked to overcome infertility while also causing the worms to...

Almost half of homeless men had traumatic brain injury in their lifetime

Almost half of all homeless men who took part in a study had suffered at least one traumatic brain injury in their life and 87 percent of those injuries occurred before the men lost their homes. While assaults were a major cause of those traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, (60 per cent) many were caused by potentially non-violent mechanisms such as sports and recreation (44 per cent) and motor...

Function found for mysterious heart disease gene

A mysterious gene that likely influences cardiovascular health has become a little more understood, thanks to recent research. After five years, researchers now know how one genetic variant works and suspect that it contributes to the development of heart disease through processes that promote chronic inflammation and cell...

Know your enemy: Deciphering oligomers' role in Parkinson's

The most detailed 'image of the enemy' to date has been developed of one of the body's most important players in the development of Parkinson's disease. This provides much greater understanding of the battle taking place when the disease occurs -- knowledge that is necessary if we are to understand and treat the disease. Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurological...

Not all wedded bliss: Marital stress linked to depression

Marital stress may make people more vulnerable to depression, according to a recent study. The long-term study shows that people who experience chronic marital stress are less able to savor positive experiences, a hallmark of depression. They are also more likely to report other depressive symptoms. Married people are, in general, happier and healthier than single people, according to numerous...

Soy-dairy protein blend increases muscle mass, study shows

Additional benefits of consuming a blend of soy and dairy proteins after resistance exercise for building muscle mass has been uncovered by researchers who found that using a protein blend of soy, casein and whey post-workout prolongs the delivery of select amino acids to the muscle for an hour longer than using whey...

Climate change: Don't wait until you can feel it

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence for the impending dangers of human-made climate change, policy decisions leading to substantial emissions reduction have been slow. New research shows that even as extreme weather events influence those who experience them to support policy to address climate change, waiting for the majority of people to live through such conditions firsthand could delay...

Civil war inside our cells: Scientists show how our bodies fight off 'jumping genes'

There’s a civil war going on inside every one of the 37 trillion cells in your body. Now, scientists have uncovered how your cells keep this war from causing too much collateral damage. On one side of the battle: your “regular” DNA, which provides the day-to-day instructions for life. On the other side: tiny bits of rogue DNA that hide like spies between genes in your own DNA. From time to...

Gene mutation, key symptoms of autism appear to be linked

Abnormal brain growth is associated with autism spectrum disorder -- this scientists know. However, the relationship between the two has not been well understood. Now, research has shown that mutations in a specific gene that is disrupted in some individuals with autism results in too much growth throughout the brain, and yet surprisingly specific problems in social interactions, at least in mouse...

Couples need just one conversation to decide not to have children

Many couples agree not to have children after only one discussion, and sometimes none at all. "Not having children is obviously a very important decision, and what was interesting from the research was the negligible amount of discussion that couples engaged in -- many are agreeing not to have children in one conversation, or in an unspoken way," a researcher on the study noted. "One possible...

Reconstructed ancient ocean reveals secrets about the origin of life

Researchers have published details about how the first organisms on Earth could have become metabolically active. The results permit scientists to speculate how primitive cells learned to synthesize their organic components -- the molecules that form RNA, lipids and amino acids. The findings also suggest an order for the sequence of events that led to the origin of...

Small-scale, urban allotments yield food, healthy soil, study finds

Soils under Britain's allotments are significantly healthier than intensively farmed soils, researchers have found. This is the first study to show that by growing at small-scale in urban areas, it is possible to produce food sustainably without damaging the soil. As a result of the findings, planners and policy makers should increase the number of allotments available, the authors...

Two breath compounds could be associated with larynx cancer

Volatile substances exhaled by eleven people with cancer of larynx have been compared with those of another twenty healthy people. The results show that the concentrations of certain molecules, mainly ethanol and 2-butanone, are higher in individuals with carcinoma, therefore they act as potential markers of the disease. Human breath contains thousands of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and some...