Category Health/Medical

Human Hair fiber

In a new study, UCSD researchers investigate why hair is incredibly strong and resistant to breaking. The findings could lead to the development of new materials for body armor and help cosmetic manufacturers create better hair care products. Hair has a strength: weight ratio comparable to steel. It can be stretched up to 1.5X its original length before breaking. They examined at the nanoscale level how a strand of human hair behaves when it is deformed, or stretched. Hair behaves differently depending on how fast or slow it is stretched. The faster hair is stretched, the stronger it is.

Hair consists of 2 main parts – the cortex: made up of parallel fibrils, and the matrix, with an amorphous structure...

Lifetime report of perceived stress at work and cancer among men: A case-control study in Montreal, Canada. Preventive Medicine, 2017; 96: 28 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.12.004

1st study on the link between cancer and work-related stress perceived by men throughout their working lifetime. For men, prolonged exposure to work-related stress has been linked to an increased likelihood of lung, colon, rectal, and stomach cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The findings are among the results obtained by researchers at INRS and Université de Montréal who conducted the first study to assess the link between cancer and work-related stress perceived by men throughout their working life. The results were recently published in Preventive Medicine.

On average, the study participants had held 4 jobs, with ...

Table: Results of gene analysis (top 20 genes)
from GWAS meta-analysis reveals novel loci and genetic correlates for general cognitive function: a report from the COGENT consortium

Findings could lead to new treatments for schizophrenia, ADHD etc. An international team of scientists, led by Todd Lencz, PhD, professor at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research at Northwell Health and Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, have unlocked some of the genes responsible for cognitive ability. Dr. Lencz et al studied the genes of 35,000 people and discovered new genetic variations related to cognitive ability.

60 international scientists form the Cognitive Genomics Consortium (COGENT)...

Dr. Andy Shih is Assistant Professor of Neurosciences at the Medical University of South Carolina and senior author on an article published online on Jan. 16, 2017 by the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. The article provides preclinical evidence that ministrokes can have a lasting effect on brain function that could contribute to dementia. Credit: Medical University of South Carolina

Evidence overwhelmingly supports a link between cognitive decline and cerebrovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, arteriolosclerosis, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy...