Tag Archives: ucla

Hyperactivity in Brain May Explain Multiple Symptoms of Depression

By Guest PostFebruary 28, 2012Health, Scienceabnormal patterns, abnormal rhythms, aimee m hunter, andrew leuchter, brain chemistry, brain dysfunction, brain networks, brain regions, brain waves, chaochao cai, connection, depressed brain, depression, electrical activity, electrical signal, function, ian a cook, lilly research laboratories, major depressive disorder, mark wheeler, mdd, pfizer pharmaceuticals, steve horvath, symptoms, synchronization, ucla

*Electrical signals can’t shut off, suggest UCLA researchers*

Most of us know what it means when it’s said that someone is depressed. But commonly, true clinical depression brings with it a number of other symptoms. These can include anxiety, poor attention and concentration, memory issues, and sleep disturbances.

Traditionally, depression researchers have sought to identify the individual brain areas responsible for causing these symptoms. But the combination of so many symptoms suggested to UCLA researchers that the multiple symptoms of depression may be linked to a malfunction involving brain networks — the connections that link different brain regions. (more…)

UCLA Scientists Boost Memory By Stimulating Key Site in Brain

By Guest PostFebruary 16, 2012Sciencealzheimer, americans, barbara knowlton, brain, brain cells, brain site, critical junction, cyber city, disease, entorhinal cortex, eric behnke, hippocampus, itzhak fried, john stern, memory, nanthia suthana, neuro prosthetic devices, neuroscientist, roy mukamel, taxi cab, ucla, united states, video game, virtual passenger, zulfi haneef

*Mechanism holds potential for improving recall in dementia patients*

Have you ever gone to the movies and forgotten where you parked the car? New UCLA research may one day help you improve your memory.

UCLA neuroscientists have demonstrated that they can strengthen memory in human patients by stimulating a critical junction in the brain. Published in the Feb. 9 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the finding could lead to a new method for boosting memory in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease. (more…)

Scientists Use Animal-Free Reagents to Create Clinical-Grade Neurons from Skin Cells

By Guest PostDecember 11, 2011Scienceanimal based reagents, clinical grade cells, clinical use, derivation and differentiation techniques, embryonic stem cells, gmp, good manufacturing practices, human skin cells, human use, humans, induced pluripotent stem, ips, kim irwin, mouse feeder cells, neural precursor cells, neurons, pluripotent stem cells, process, protocols, saravanan karumbayaram, stem cell, ucla, william lowry

Using a specially designed facility, UCLA stem cell scientists have taken human skin cells, reprogrammed them into cells with the same unlimited property as embryonic stem cells, and then differentiated them into neurons while completely avoiding the use of animal-based reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process.

Generally, stem cells are grown using mouse “feeder” cells, which help the stem cells flourish and grow. But such animal-based products can lead to unwanted variations and contamination, and the cells must be thoroughly tested before they can be deemed safe for use in humans. (more…)

New Mouthwash Targeting Harmful Bacteria May Render Tooth Decay A Thing of The Past

By Guest PostNovember 19, 2011Healthamericans, anti dental caries drug, antimicrobial technology, bacteria, broad spectrum antibiotics, c16g2, c3 jian inc, cavities, colgate palmolive, dental caries, experimental mouthwash, fluoride, human body, infectious diseases, microbiologist, mouthwash, no hee park, normal ecological balance, optimum health, parasitic infections, pathogenic organisms, s mutans bacteria, small scale study, smart bomb, streptococcus mutans, thomas mitchell, tooth decay, ucla, united states, wenyuan shi, yeast

A new mouthwash developed by a microbiologist at the UCLA School of Dentistry is highly successful in targeting the harmful Streptococcus mutans bacteria that is the principal cause tooth decay and cavities.

In a recent clinical study, 12 subjects who rinsed just one time with the experimental mouthwash experienced a nearly complete elimination of the S. mutans bacteria over the entire four-day testing period. The findings from the small-scale study are published in the current edition of the international dental journal Caries Research. (more…)

Dr. Livingstone’s Lost 1871 ‘Massacre’ Diary Recovered; Discovery Rewrites History

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2011Culture, General1874, account of a massacre, adrian wisnicki, africa, arab slavers, birkbeck, british academy, british government, central africa, congolese village, david livingstone, doug emery, east african slave trade, eastern democratic republic of congo, evening standard, expedition, henry m stanley, horace waller, imperialist in africa, indiana university of pennsylvania, ink from berry seeds, keith knox, livingstone 1871 field diary, london standard, mike toth, national hero, new york herald, nyangwe, original diary, roger l easton jr, slave trade, spectral imaging, the last journals of david livingstone, the unspeakable horror, ucla, united states, university of london, victorian explorer

In Africa 140 years ago, David Livingstone, the Victorian explorer, met Henry M. Stanley of the New York Herald and gave him a harrowing account of a massacre he witnessed, in which slave traders slaughtered 400 innocent people. Stanley’s press reports prompted the British government to close the East African slave trade, secured Livingstone’s place in history and launched Stanley’s own career as an imperialist in Africa.

Today, an international team of scholars and scientists led by Dr. Adrian Wisnicki of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, publishes the results of an 18-month project to recover Livingstone’s original account of the massacre. The story, found in a diary that was illegible until it was restored with advanced digital imaging, offers a unique insight into Livingstone’s mind during the greatest crisis of his last expedition, on which he would die in 1873. (more…)

Rich Country, Poor Country: Economists say Financial Sector Key Driver of Economic Growth

By Guest PostOctober 3, 2011Economyamerican economic review, computer-based economic model, economic growth, economic landscapes, emerge from poverty, federal reserve bank, finance and development, financial sector key driver of economic growth, francisco j. buera, jennifer roche, joseph kaboski, minneapolis, poor country, relationship between development and finance, rich country, ucla, university of california, uUniversity of notre dame, washington university, yongseok shin

Economists have long suspected that one reason developing countries struggle to emerge from poverty is that they lack robust financial sectors, especially when compared to wealthier nations.

Although it may seem obvious that a weak financial sector would stifle growth within a developing country, few economists until now have tried to determine just how this phenomenon occurs. This has made it difficult for policymakers and investors to understand how financial markets may be failing and to create effective solutions to correct them.

Economists Francisco J. Buera of UCLA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Joseph Kaboski of the University of Notre Dame, and Yongseok Shin of Washington University in St. Louis present important insights into this phenomenon in a paper recently published in the journal American Economic Review. (more…)

UCLA Life Scientists’ Study of Abalone Yields New Insights into Sexual Reproduction

By Guest PostAugust 15, 2011Sciencechemistry and biology of reproduction, contact between sperm and egg, effective communication system, environmental conditions, female abalone eggs, fluid dynamics, jeffrey riffell, mammalian reproductive tract, massachusetts institute of technology, molecule, natural habitat of the abalone, ocean crevices, ocean dwelling snail, point loma, red abalone, richard zimmer, roman stocker, san diego, sexual reproduction, sperm and eggs, target area, techniques to improve fertilization in humans, tryptophan, ucla, university of washington

*Research could lead to techniques to improve fertilization in humans*

In new research that could have implications for improving fertilization in humans and other mammals, life scientists studied interactions between individual sperm and eggs in red abalone, an ocean-dwelling snail, and made precise chemical measurements and physical models of these interactions. They are the first scientists to do so.

By simulating the natural habitat of the abalone in the laboratory, the scientists were able to determine the conditions under which sperm–egg encounters and fertilization were most likely to occur. (more…)

For UCLA Expert on Chumash Indians, Roughly Hewn Beads are Child’s Play

By Guest PostMay 8, 2011Culture, Scienceamerican southwest pueblos, archaeologist, archaeology, artifacts, bead makers, beads, california, channel islands, chumash, chumash indians, chumash people, craft apprenticeship, europeans, france, global archaeological record, jeanne arnold, North America, olivella, olivella biplicata shells, Paris, santa cruz island, shells, southern california, stone age, ucla

As the world’s leading authority on beads manufactured from shells by California’s Chumash Indians, UCLA archaeologist Jeanne Arnold was stumped by a series of anomalous artifacts excavated at former settlements on the Channel Islands.

Pierced with more than one hole, often at unconventional angles or too close to the edges, the oddly configured multi-hole beads differ considerably from the smooth, round, precisely drilled beauties that served as currency among the Chumash prior to the arrival of Europeans in Southern California. (more…)