For the study 40 infants of women diagnosed with postpartum depression were matched with 40 infants of non-depressed mothers on infant age, gender and socioeconomic status. The mothers with postpartum depression received nine weeks of group CBT. The infants were all tested before the treatment and nine weeks later, including a questionnaire on the infant…

Researchers used gallic acid, an antioxidant found in gallnuts, green tea and other plants, and applied a stretching mechanism to human cartilage cells taken from arthritic knees that mimics the stretching that occurs when walking. The combination not only decreased arthritis inflammation markers in the cells but improved the production of desired proteins normally found…

Non-parents expand the range of their facial expressions in caring for infants among primates. The study shows the ability, among non-relatives, to both decipher facial expressions and to be attuned to others’ emotional states, revealing the evolutionary nature of communication. The research, which appears in the journal Evolution, focused on the relationship between alloparenting, or…

Scientists have identified how and why some COVID-19 patients can develop life-threatening clots, which could lead to targeted therapies that prevent this from happening. The work, led by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Previous research has established that blood clotting is a…

A gene-silencing therapy protected against Zika virus transmission from pregnant mice to the mouse fetuses, finds a new study. The treatment, which harnesses nanoparticles called small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) for drug delivery, crossed the placenta and blood-brain barrier to greatly reduce fetal neurological damage, including virus-induced brain shrinkage. «Our experiments indicated that targeted delivery via…

A study has shown few differences in the profiles of genes that influence cognition between people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and the general population. This surprising finding could provide new insights into therapies designed to improve cognition. «For years, people have been talking about cognition in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and how cognitive impairments in…

In the largest study of its kind, involving more than 50,000 subjects in 14 countries, researchers at more than 200 collaborating institutions have identified 20 new genetic associations with one of the most prevalent and elusive mental illnesses of our time — bipolar disorder. The elevated morbidity and mortality associated with bipolar disorder make it…

Columbus brought syphilis to Europe — or did he? A recent study now indicates that Europeans could already have been infected with this sexually transmitted disease before the 15th century. In addition, researchers have discovered a hitherto unknown pathogen causing a related disease. The predecessor of syphilis and its related diseases could be over 2,500…

Strategies to reduce antibiotic prescribing in primary care are insufficient alone to halt the rise in drug resistant E. coli infections in England, a new report concludes. The first evaluation of NHS England’s Quality Premium intervention on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The Quality Premium scheme was introduced in 2015…

Drug discovery researchers have created a new framework for mining data for training machine learning models. Purdue University drug discovery researchers have created a new framework for mining data for training machine learning models. The framework, called Lemon, helps drug researchers better mine the Protein Data Base (PDB) — a comprehensive resource with more than…