Futurity.org » Emory University

Parasitic wasps suck calcium out of flies

Carol Clark-Emory — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:48:06 +0000

EMORY (US) — By draining calcium from the blood cells of fruit flies, parasitic wasps are able to switch off the flies’ immune system, new research shows.

The finding could offer new insight into how pathogens break through a host’s defenses, scientists say.

Cells in hydrogel reverse diabetes in mice

Liz Klipp-Georgia Tech — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:54:46 +0000

GEORGIA TECH / EMORY (US) — Scientists reversed Type 1 diabetes in mice in as little as 10 days using a new technique to transplant cells.

The research team engineered a biomaterial to protect the cluster of insulin-producing cells—donor pancreatic islets—during injection. The material also contains proteins to foster blood vessel formation that allow the cells to successfully graft, survive and function within the body.

‘Touchy’ robot arm reaches past clutter

Liz Klipp-Georgia Tech — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:10:09 +0000

GEORGIA TECH (US) — Thanks to a robot with a flexible arm covered with tactile sensors, a man with quadriplegia was able to pull a blanket over himself and grab a cloth to wipe his face.

Whether reaching for a book out of a cluttered cabinet or pruning a bush in the backyard, people’s arms frequently makes contact with objects during everyday tasks. Animals do it too, when foraging for food, for example.

Diabetes care improves, but costly gaps remain

Melva Robertson-Emory — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:43:37 +0000

EMORY (US) — People with diabetes are getting better control of the disease, but a new study suggests that other health issues that can complicate the condition are not as well tended to.

According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Americans with diabetes had increasingly better control of their blood sugar and cholesterol levels and attended more preventive check-ups from 1999 to 2010.

However, one in five Americans with diabetes still smokes and approximately 40 percent don’t receive education at diagnosis, annual vaccinations, or annual checks for diabetes complications.

To harness HIV, make it get ‘naked’

Quinn Eastmann-Emory — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:58:56 +0000

EMORY (US) — A new understanding of how HIV “gets dressed” in the human cells it has taken over could lead to new antiretroviral drugs, researchers say.

Without its clothes—the envelope proteins that appear on the surface of the viral particle—the virus can’t spread from one cell to another.

Immune system ‘trainer’ cells don’t quit

Quinn Eastmann-Emory — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:47:24 +0000

EMORY (US) — Follicular helper T cells, which are important for generating potent antibodies, stick around even after a viral infection is over, new research shows.

Understanding how follicular helper T cells form and are maintained could improve the design of vaccines against a wide variety of viruses, such as HIV or influenza. The results were published this week in the journal Immunity.

Animal ‘pharmacists’ treat the family, too

Jim Erickson-Michigan — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:33:26 +0000

U. MICHIGAN / EMORY (US) — Self-medication among animals goes beyond chimpanzees and woolly bears, report researchers.

Animals use medications to treat various ailments through both learned and innate behaviors.

To heal heart, treat depression, too

Wilson Valentin-Columbia — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:25:14 +0000

COLUMBIA U. (US) —Treating people for depression after a heart attack could reduce the risk of death or another attack, new research shows.

Researchers completed a randomized controlled trial with 150 patients with elevated depressive symptoms two to six months after hospitalization for heart disease.

Stress events add up to greater stillbirth odds

Melva Robertson-Emory — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:23:38 +0000

EMORY (US) — Major stress events are linked to an increase in stillbirths among all women, according to new research that finds even higher risk for African Americans.

The study indicates that stillbirths—fetal deaths that occur at 20 weeks of gestation or greater—are now nearly equal in number to infant deaths in the US, and twice as likely among African-American women. The complete study is featured in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Led by Carol J. Hogue, Professor of Maternal and Child Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, the study measured the impact of 13 significant life events on women who experienced stillbirths and live births.

Late preterm birth may affect early testing

Melva Robertson-Emory — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:42:10 +0000

EMORY (US) — A new study shows that children born a few weeks early or whose mothers completed less schooling are at higher risk of failing first grade standardized tests.

In a study published in Pediatrics, researchers suggest that late preterm birth and maternal education have a relative impact on standardized test performance—the most common measure of academic performance and principal determinant of grade retention in public schools.

Bryan Williams, lead researcher and associate professor at Emory Univesity’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, and his team monitored live births to Georgia-resident mothers ages 11-53 and the test results for all three components of the Criterion-referenced Competency Test for first graders in Georgia public schools.