Itch.

A camping trip will quickly become unpleasant if a horde of mosquitoes descends while you pitch your tent, or you find yourself in a patch of poison oak. Whether due to an insect bite, a poisonous plant, or a chronic skin disease, everyone has experienced the urgent sensation of itch and the sweet relief of scratching. The itch-scratch cycle is so powerful that just reading about itch or seeing someone scratching elicits a strong desire to scratch.

Sophorolipid Candidates Demonstrate Cytotoxic Efficacy against 2D and 3D Breast Cancer Models.

Sophorolipids are biosurfactants derived from the nonpathogenic yeasts such as with potential efficacy in anticancer applications. Simple and cost-effective synthesis of these drugs makes them a promising alternative to traditional chemotherapeutics, pending their success in preliminary drug-screening. Drug-screening typically utilizes 2D cell monolayers due to their simplicity and ease of high-throughput assessment.

Certain ortho-hydroxylated brominated ethers are promiscuous kinase inhibitors that impair neuronal signaling and neurodevelopmental processes.

The developing nervous system is remarkably sensitive to environmental signals, including disruptive toxins, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). PBDEs are an environmentally pervasive class of brominated flame retardants whose neurodevelopmental toxicity mechanisms remain largely unclear. Using dissociated cortical neurons from embryonic , we found here that chronic exposure to 6-OH-BDE-47, one of the most prevalent hydroxylated PBDE metabolites, suppresses both spontaneous and evoked neuronal electrical activity.

Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy With Lactic Acidosis and Stroke-Like Episodes-MELAS Syndrome.

Background: Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome is a rare inherited disorder that results in waxing and waning nervous system and muscle dysfunction. MELAS syndrome may overlap with other neurologic disorders but shows distinctive imaging features.

Case Report: We present the case of a 28-year-old female with atypical stroke-like symptoms, a strong family history of stroke-like symptoms, and a relapsing-remitting course for several years.

Allying health care and housing.

There is a wealth of evidence that health is inextricably linked to housing. For instance, research has shown that those in substandard housing have poorer health outcomes than other groups, and they often must forgo costly medication in order to pay for housing. Further, the health care and housing concerns faced by the underserved often compound one another--people with poor health often have trouble maintaining housing, and those with substandard homes, in turn, often have trouble maintaining their health.