5/18
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Virtual Driving Leads Penn Psychologists to the Cells That Sense Direction in the Brain: Path Cells
PHILADELPHIA – Psychologists led by the University of Pennsylvania have used implantable electrodes and a first-person driving game to identify the cells of the brain that indicate travel in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion, called “path cells.” The study will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Double Agents: Penn Researchers Identify Immune Cells That Fight Parasites May Promote Allergies and Asthma
PHILADELPHIA –- Millions of people in both the developing and developed world may benefit from new immune-system research findings from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.The Penn Vet researchers, studying how the immune system operates, have discovered a previously unidentified cell population that may be the body’s double-edged sword, fighting off parasitic infections but also causing the harmful immune responses that can lead to allergies and asthma.
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Penn Dental Medicine Students Seal the Deal in Community Outreach to Grade Schoolers
MEDIA ADVISORY & PHOTO OPPORTUNITYWHAT:
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Penn Nursing Hosts "Cities and Women’s Health: Global Perspectives" to Tackle Modern Urban Health Issues
PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, with the International Congress of Women’s Health Issues, will host ”Cities and Women’s Health: Global Perspectives,” Wednesday, April 7, through Saturday, April 10, on Penn’s campus.
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Penn Biologists Determine MicroRNA Activity Is Suppressed in Mouse Ovum
PHILADELPHIA –- Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania studying oocytes in mice, the immature egg cells necessary for sexual reproduction, have demonstrated an unusual behavior in microRNA, or miRNA, activity that may be the first event in reprogramming the differentiated oocyte into pluripotent blastomeres of the embryo. MicroRNAs are a member of the family of small RNAs, the so-called dark matter of the biological world.
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Penn Study Shows Antidepressants Work Best for Severe Depression, Provide Little to No Benefit Otherwise
PHILADELPHIA –- A study of 30 years of antidepressant-drug treatment data published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that the benefit of antidepressant medication compared with placebo may be minimal or nonexistent in patients with mild or moderate symptoms. University of Pennsylvania researchers say, however, the benefit of medications is substantial for patients with very severe depression.
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Genetic Study Led by University of Pennsylvania and Cornell Clarifies African and African-American Ancestry
PHILADELPHIA –- People who identify as African-American may be as little as 1 percent West African or as much as 99 percent, just one finding of a large-scale, genome-wide study of African and African-American ancestry released today.
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Penn Researchers Find Reproductive Germ Cells Survive and Thrive In Transplants, Even Among Species
PHILADELPHIA –- Reproductive researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have succeeded in isolating and transplanting pure populations of the immature cells that enable male reproduction in two species—human spermatogonia and mouse gonocytes. These germline stem cells, taken from testis biopsies, demonstrated viability following transplantation to mouse testes within a controlled laboratory setting.
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Antidepressants May Change Personality, Leading to Reduced Depression, Says Penn Collaboration
PHILADELPHIA –- Examining data obtained from a University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University psychology study, researchers at these universities and Northwestern University have reported the first placebo-controlled evidence that antidepressant medications—particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs—can substantially change patients’ personalities. The personality changes also appeared to be linked to long-term improvements in mood.
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There’s a Speed Limit to the Pace of Evolution, Penn Biologists Say
PHILADELPHIA –- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a theoretical model that informs the understanding of evolution and determines how quickly an organism will evolve using a catalogue of “evolutionary speed limits.” The model provides quantitative predictions for the speed of evolution on various “fitness landscapes,” the dynamic and varied conditions under which bacteria, viruses and even humans adapt.