A protein long known to be involved in protecting cells from genetic damage has been found to play an even more important role in protecting the cell's offspring. New research by a team of scientists at Rockefeller University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Cancer Institute shows that the protein, known as ATM, is not only vital for helping repair double-stranded breaks in DNA of immune cells, but is also part of a system that prevents genetic damage from being passed on when the cells divide.
Early in the life of B lymphocytes -- the immune cells responsible for hunting down foreign invaders and labeling them for destruction -- they rearrange their DNA to create various surface receptors that can accurately identify different intruders, a process called V(D)J recombination. Now, in an study published online today in the journal Cell, Rockefeller University Professor Michel Nussenzweig, in collaboration with his brother André Nussenzweig at NCI and their colleagues, shows that when the ATM protein is absent, chromosomal breaks created during V(D)J recombination go unrepaired, and checkpoints that normally prevent the damaged cell from replicating are lost.
Health & Wellness
Children who were taught a curriculum that focused on self-control and awareness of their own and others' emotions were found to exhibit greater social competence and fewer behavioral and emotional problems. According to a recent study in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, when teachers taught a particular curriculum to students for 20-30 minutes-per-day, three times-per-week over a six-month period, lower rates of aggression and anxiety/sadness were seen when evaluated a year later compared to children randomized to normal classroom procedures.
"Several complex cognitive processes, such as the ability to cope in stressful situations, are related to the development of the prefrontal areas of the brain starting in the preschool years," says study author Mark Greenberg. "We know that deficiencies in the function of these lobes are linked to problems like aggression, depression and attention disorders." Therefore, the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum, which stimulates cognitive and emotional skills, enhances the child's ability to cope with stress and make good choices.
"Several complex cognitive processes, such as the ability to cope in stressful situations, are related to the development of the prefrontal areas of the brain starting in the preschool years," says study author Mark Greenberg. "We know that deficiencies in the function of these lobes are linked to problems like aggression, depression and attention disorders." Therefore, the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum, which stimulates cognitive and emotional skills, enhances the child's ability to cope with stress and make good choices.
While it's not likely to do you any harm, there is also no compelling evidence that meditation has therapeutic value
"There is an enormous amount of interest in using meditation as a form of therapy to cope with a variety of modern-day health problems, especially hypertension, stress and chronic pain, but the majority of evidence that seems to support this notion is anecdotal, or it comes from poor quality studies," say Maria Ospina and Kenneth Bond, researchers at the University of Alberta/Capital Health Evidence-based Practice Center in Edmonton, Canada.
In compiling their report, Ospina, Bond and their fellow researchers analyzed a mountain of medical and psychological literature - 813 studies in all - looking at the impact of meditation on conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and substance abuse.
They found some evidence that certain types of meditation reduce blood pressure and stress in clinical populations. Among healthy individuals, practices such as Yoga seemed to increase verbal creativity and reduce heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol. However, Ospina says no firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in health care can be drawn based on the available evidence because the existing scientific research is characterized by poor methodological quality and does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective.
"Future research on meditation practices must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies and in the analysis and reporting of results," Ospina explains.
"There is an enormous amount of interest in using meditation as a form of therapy to cope with a variety of modern-day health problems, especially hypertension, stress and chronic pain, but the majority of evidence that seems to support this notion is anecdotal, or it comes from poor quality studies," say Maria Ospina and Kenneth Bond, researchers at the University of Alberta/Capital Health Evidence-based Practice Center in Edmonton, Canada.
In compiling their report, Ospina, Bond and their fellow researchers analyzed a mountain of medical and psychological literature - 813 studies in all - looking at the impact of meditation on conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and substance abuse.
They found some evidence that certain types of meditation reduce blood pressure and stress in clinical populations. Among healthy individuals, practices such as Yoga seemed to increase verbal creativity and reduce heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol. However, Ospina says no firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in health care can be drawn based on the available evidence because the existing scientific research is characterized by poor methodological quality and does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective.
"Future research on meditation practices must be more rigorous in the design and execution of studies and in the analysis and reporting of results," Ospina explains.
CHICAGO - The American Medical Association on Wednesday backed off calling excessive video-game playing a formal psychiatric addiction, saying instead that more research is needed.
LAS VEGAS - A doctor and his wife are accused of injecting patients with an unapproved botulism toxin instead of Botox, authorities said.
Exercise stimulates the growth of new brain cells, a new study on rats finds. The new cells could be the key to why working out relieves depression.
Previous research showed physical exercise can have antidepressant effects, but until now scientists didn't fully understand how it worked.
Previous research showed physical exercise can have antidepressant effects, but until now scientists didn't fully understand how it worked.
After federal health officials discovered last month that tainted Chinese toothpaste had entered the United States, they warned that it would most likely be found in discount stores.
In fact, the toothpaste has been distributed much more widely. Roughly 900,000 tubes containing a poison used in some antifreeze products have turned up in hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, juvenile detention centers and even some hospitals serving the general population.
In fact, the toothpaste has been distributed much more widely. Roughly 900,000 tubes containing a poison used in some antifreeze products have turned up in hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, juvenile detention centers and even some hospitals serving the general population.
A new, privately funded survey finds vaccinated U.S. children have a significantly higher risk of neurological disorders -- including autism -- than unvaccinated children.
USDA & Industry try to sneak banned conventional ingredients into organic beer, sausage, & processed food
The USDA has announced a controversial proposal, with absolutely no input from consumers, to allow 38 new non-organic ingredients in products bearing the "USDA Organic" seal. Most of the ingredients are food colorings derived from plants that are supposedly not "commercially available" in organic form. But several of the proposed ingredients, backed by beer giant Anheuser-Busch, and pork and food processors, represent a serious threat to organic standards, and have raised the concerns of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA).
The USDA has announced a controversial proposal, with absolutely no input from consumers, to allow 38 new non-organic ingredients in products bearing the "USDA Organic" seal. Most of the ingredients are food colorings derived from plants that are supposedly not "commercially available" in organic form. But several of the proposed ingredients, backed by beer giant Anheuser-Busch, and pork and food processors, represent a serious threat to organic standards, and have raised the concerns of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA).
Germany confirmed the H5N1 bird flu virus in three more wild birds in the southern state of Bavaria on Monday, bringing the total infected cases to six since last weekend.
Since three wild bird found dead in Nuremberg in northern Bavaria tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain on Sunday, three more cases have been confirmed, with five swans and one goose infected, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, a veterinary institution, said on Monday.
Since three wild bird found dead in Nuremberg in northern Bavaria tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain on Sunday, three more cases have been confirmed, with five swans and one goose infected, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, a veterinary institution, said on Monday.
Comment: Why do we have a feeling that today's science "juggles" with research results like professional circus clowns?
Less than a month ago two other "research results" with different conclusions were released to the public.
Meditation Sharpens the Mind
Meditate...to Concentrate: Penn Researchers Demonstrate Improved Attention With Mindfulness Training