Researchers at Oregon State University have found that a compound called rapamycin has unusual properties that may help address neurologic damage such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Two decades of harmful algal bloom, nutrient and sediment research by the U.S. Geological Survey is helping to support Wichita’s long-term vision of a sustainable water supply into the future. Early warning indicators of harmful algal blooms have been developed for Cheney Reservoir, Kansas, according to a new USGS publication done in cooperation with the City of Wichita, Kansas.

A new Behavior Pain Assessment Tool (BPAT) provides a simple way to evaluate pain in critically ill patients—including those who aren't able to communicate their pain verbally, reports a study in PAIN®, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

Dr. Alan Getgood and his team at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute are the first in Canada to participate in an investigative trial to determine the safety and efficacy of using a patient’s own cartilage cells to repair knee cartilage injuries.

When told the subject of her research has a bit of an alien predator vibe, Natacha Hogan is quick to agree.

“Oh, I like that,” said the assistant professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science. “When you look at the structures of these mycotoxins, some really are scary looking. Many are very complex structures with multiple rings fused together and many functional groups hanging off the sides. They sort of look like spiders.”

Five simple medical tests together provide a broader and more accurate assessment of heart-disease risk than currently used methods, cardiologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center found.

Stress is a natural biological process enabling us to deal with the world around us. In short bursts, such as exercise or watching a thrilling film, stress is beneficial to the body. But when stress is too much or lasts too long, the effects can be detrimental to our health.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) carries out experiments in which volunteer participants agree to be intentionally exposed by inhalation to specific pollutants at restricted concentrations over short periods to obtain important information about the effects of outdoor air pollution on human health.  A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine finds these studies are warranted and recommends that they continue under ­­two conditions: when they provide additional knowledge that informs policy decisions and regulation of pollutants that cannot be obtained by other means, and when it is reasonably predictable that the risks for study participants will not exceed biomarker or physiologic responses that are of short duration and reversible.

Researchers have been able to demonstrate how the survivors of motor vehicle accidents have fewer such symptoms if they play Tetris in hospital within six hours of admission after also having been asked to recall their memory of the accident. The results of the study, which was conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet with colleagues at Oxford University and elsewhere, are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Many cancer patients struggle with the adverse effects of chemotherapy, still the most prescribed cancer treatment. For patients with pancreatic cancer and other aggressive cancers, the forecast is more grim: there is no known effective therapy.