Hair of the dog keeps children’s allergies at bay

kavin submitted, created time 8 months 1 week (www.msnbc.msn.com)

Recently, many researchers have suggested that having a dog in the house reduces the risk that young children will develop allergies. They believe youngsters may get beneficial early exposure to germs carried into the house on the animal’s fur, which helps their immune systems develop.

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Multiple sclerosis patients will get new vaccine

Paradise submitted, created time 1 year 4 months (www.reutershealth.com)

An experimental vaccine against multiple sclerosis (MS) appears to be safe and may produce beneficial changes in patients' brains and immune systems, Canadian researchers reported on Monday.

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The structure of quality systems is important to the process and outcome, an empirical study of 386 hospital departments in Sweden

angelfish submitted, created time 1 year 5 months (www.biomedcentral.com)

"The model could be used to describe and evaluate single quality systems or to compare different quality systems. It could also be an aid to implement a systematic and evidence-based system for working with quality improvements in hospital departments."

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Automated reverse engineering of nonlinear dynamical systems

annatto submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.pnas.org)

"Complex nonlinear dynamics arise in many fields of science and engineering, but uncovering the underlying differential equations directly from observations poses a challenging task. The ability to symbolically model complex networked systems is key to understanding them, an open problem in many disciplines. Here they introduce for the first time a method that can automatically generate symbolic equations for a nonlinear coupled dynamical system directly from time series data

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Humble opossum's genetic map sheds light on humans

Gene that governs toxin production in deadly mold found

broadcast submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.eurekalert.org)

For the growing number of people with diminished immune systems - cancer patients, transplant recipients, those with HIV/AIDS - infection by a ubiquitous mold known as Aspergillus fumigatus can be a death sentence. The fungus, which is found in the soil, on plant debris and indoor air, is easily managed by the healthy immune system. But as medical advances contribute to a growing population of people whose immune systems are weakened by disease or treatment, the opportunistic fungus poses a serious risk

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Study: Tai Chi May Help Prevent Shingles

dovechocolate submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.examiner.com)

Tai chi is already known as a good low-impact exercise for older people. Now a recent study suggests it offers benefits beyond improving fitness and balance: It may help prevent shingles, a painful skin condition. Researchers found older people who performed the slow, graceful movements of tai chi had a better immune response against the virus that causes shingles than those who only got health education, according to the most rigorous test to date. Tai Chi an ancient Chinese martial art that has become increasingly popular in the West, affects the immune system

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Siglecs and their roles in the immune system

broadcast submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.nature.com)

Cell surfaces in the immune system are richly equipped with a complex mixture of glycans, which can be recognized by diverse glycan-binding proteins. The Siglecs are a family of sialic-acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins that are thought to promote cell–cell interactions and regulate the functions of cells in the innate and adaptive immune systems through glycan recognition. In this Review, we describe recent studies on signalling mechanisms and discuss the potential role of Siglecs in triggering endocytosis and in pathogen recognition

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