Lead poisoning maps in R.I. reveal huge disparities, guide cleanup Rhode Islanders under six years of age who lived in the state’s lowest income areas or in neighborhoods with lots of pre-1950 housing faced a threat of lead poisoning several times higher than average, according to a new study of data from 1993 through 2005. […]

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Size of protein aggregates, not abundance, drives spread of prion-based disease In a study that challenges the conventional wisdom about infections caused by proteins called prions, Brown researchers report in Science that the size of protein structures, rather than their abundance, determines their transmission among cells. PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Mad Cow disease and […]

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Concussions: Giving brain injuries the attention they deserve No more “Just shake it off” advice. Sports organizations from Pop Warner to the NFL are starting to treat concussions as the serious injuries they are. PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — An estimated 300,000 high school athletes suffer concussions on the playing fields annually. The brain is […]

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Discovery opens new window on development, and maybe potential, of human egg cells Egg cells hold the key to many mysteries about reproduction, and knowing about the genetic makeup of individual eggs is important in fertility treatment. A new method of looking at genetic material egg cells discard offers a way to learn more about […]

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Deadly virus reveals a potential weakness A new study of the JC polyomavirus, a devastating pathogen that attacks brain cells in patients with compromised immune systems, has revealed how it binds to its targets, providing a basis for developing drugs to interrupt that process. PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The JC polyomavirus doesn’t strike very […]

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$7.5M grant to fund research on interaction of drinking and HIV infection Individually, HIV and excessive alcohol consumption are international health crises, but when they intersect they can be uniquely troubling. Scientists at the Brown Alcohol Research Center on HIV, a new federally funded center, will explore physiological and behavioral questions raised by the combination, […]

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Research team identifies new mechanism with suspected role in cancer Researchers at Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital have identified a process in which prolactin receptors can be drawn together and begin working in pairs called dimers. Overexpression of prolactin receptors in patients has been linked to cancer. PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — If women […]

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Researchers report two advances against preeclampsia Preeclampsia, a sudden-onset and sometimes fatal prenatal disease, may strike up to 8 percent of pregnant women worldwide. Researchers have now developed a dependable pregnancy-specific animal model for laboratory testing and may have a predictive test that would allow early intervention. The studies are reported in The American Journal […]

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Brown University scientists simplify biodiesel conversion Two chemists at Brown University have streamlined the conversion of waste vegetable oil into biodiesel, eliminating the need for corrosive chemicals to perform the reactions. Writing in the journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, the chemists were able to pull off the waste vegetable oil-to-biodiesel conversion in a single reaction vessel […]

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Childhood adversity may lead to unhealthy stress response in adult life A study has detected a correlation between childhood adversity and exaggerated inflammatory response to stress among seemingly healthy people. It may shed light on risk for depression, other illnesses later in life. PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Seemingly healthy adults, if they were abused […]

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