Medical News Observer

Parental sleep behavior affects children’s sleep

A new study indicates that children’s sleep duration may be influenced by parental sleep duration and confidence, which suggests that efforts to address insufficient sleep among children may require family-based interventions. Results of a parental survey show that higher parent confidence in the ability to help children get enough sleep was significantly associated with an…
New bright-red fluorescent protein mScarlet to help with cellular staining

After years of trying, biologists have succeeded in creating an extremely bright red fluorescent protein in the lab. This is good news for researchers, including cancer and stem cell researchers, who use fluorescent proteins to track essential cellular processes. The researchers at the University of Amsterdam, the Institut de Biologie structurale and the European Synchrotron…
New technology using gold wires on flexible plastic for wearable electronic devices

Researchers from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has come up with a way to build safe, nontoxic gold wires onto flexible, thin plastic film. Their demonstration potentially clears the path for a host of wearable electronic devices that monitor our health. NIST research has found that the flexible plastic membrane on which wearables would…
Understanding how Zika virus interacts with human antibody C10 paves way for new therapeutic target

As Zika virus spreads throughout the world, the call for rapid development of therapeutics to treat Zika virus rings loud and clear. Taking a step further in identifying a possible therapeutic candidate, a team of researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS), in collaboration with scientists from the University of North Carolina, have discovered the mechanism…
Post-traumatic stress disorder treatment with Individual cognitive processing therapy found effective

Individual sessions of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) – a trauma-focused treatment that teaches patients more balanced thinking about traumatic events – were better at reducing the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in active-duty military members, although group sessions also were effective, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)…
Wearable biosensor to test sweat

Researchers has developed soft, flexible microfluidic device that easily adheres to the skin and measures the wearer’s sweat to show how his or her body is responding to exercise. A little larger than a quarter and about the same thickness, the simple, low-cost device analyzes pH and concentrations of glucose, chloride and lactate. Credit: John…
Computer models to analyze Huntington disease pathology

Rice University scientists have uncovered new details about how a repeating nucleotide sequence in the gene for a mutant protein may trigger Huntington’s and other neurological diseases. Researchers used computer models to analyze proteins suspected of misfolding and forming plaques in the brains of patients with neurological diseases. Their simulations confirmed experimental results by other…
Combating Aging by removing damaged mitochondrial DNA

Researchers from UCLA and Caltech have made discoveries that might help slow and potentially reverse the process of aging in cells. They generated new methods that allow identification of factors that selectively remove damaged mitochondrial DNA, which will affect the process of aging at the cellular level. Aging is, in part, due to changes in…
Research shows meninges contain neural progenitor stem cells

In a cross-domain study directed by professor Peter Carmeliet, researchers discovered unexpected cells in the protective membranes that enclose the brain, the so-called meninges. These ‘neural progenitors’ – or stem cells that differentiate into different kinds of neurons – are produced during embryonic development. These findings show that the neural progenitors found in the meninges…
Pediatric Hypertension underdiagnosed and undertreated

Hypertension and prehypertension in children often go undiagnosed, according to a new study published today in Pediatrics. The study focused on children with abnormal blood pressures across the United States, and is the first to show a widespread underdiagnosis of these conditions by pediatricians in children ages 3 to 18. Researchers analyzed the electronic health…