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Scientists have found that people with low vision can improve their ability to see and enjoy television with a new technique that allows them to enhance the contrast of images of people and objects of interest on their digital televisions.

A new prospective study of pain in adults with sickle cell disease finds that daily pain is far more prevalent and severe than previous large studies have indicated. "The major finding of our study," said the director of the new study, "was that pain in sickle cell disease is a daily phenomenon and that patients are at home mostly struggling with their pain rather than coming into the hospital or emergency department."

Engineers and physicians have developed a carbon nanopipette thousands of times thinner than a human hair that measures electric current and delivers fluids into cells. Researchers developed this tiny carbon-based tool to probe cells with minimal intrusion and inject fluids without damaging or inhibiting cell growth.

Bisexuality in women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and not an experimental or transitional stage that some women adopt "on their way" to lesbianism, according to new research. The 10-year study of women helps establish bisexuality as distinct sexual orientation; debunks stereotype that bisexual women can't commit to long-term relationships.

Researchers at the University of Illinois have found a simple solution to a problem that has plagued scientists for decades: the tendency of chemical buffers used to maintain the pH of laboratory samples to lose their efficacy as the samples are cooled. The research team, headed by chemistry professor Yi Lu, developed a method to formulate a buffer that maintains a desired pH at a range of low temperatures.

Scientists have discovered a novel type of neural stem cell, which has a broader differentiation potential than previously identified neural stem cells. In culture, neural stem cells (NSCs) can readily differentiate into neuronal and glial subtypes, but their ability to differentiate into region-specific neuronal cell types is limited.

A new Mayo Clinic study details an unprecedented method to predict brain aging disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. Investigators studied common variations within axon guidance pathway genes and identified several gene variations (DNA fingerprints) that collectively predicted people who are at a high risk for ALS (2,000 times greater than the average risk).

Depression is one of the most common forms of psychopathology. Studies suggest that the neurotransmitter dopamine may play a role in the risk for depression. Early negative interpersonal environments (i.e., rejecting parents) have also been implicated. New research investigated whether a gene associated with dopamine interacted with maternal parenting style to predict episodes of depression.

Researchers have shown why a protein known as cyclin D1 may be the Achilles heel for breast tumors that are estrogen receptor positive -- which is the most common type of breast cancer.

Probiotics, such as yogurt drinks containing live bacteria, have a tangible effect on the metabolism, according to the results of a new study. The research is the first to look in detail at how probiotics change the biochemistry of bugs known as gut microbes, which live in the gut and which play an important part in a person's metabolic makeup.