A customizable framework uses simulated patients to distinguish effects of a new treatment from “learning effects” for clinicians; it should help identify training opportunities and hasten treatment improvements.

A case study of a rare disorder uncovers roles for the protein dysbindin in the adaptive immune response and suggests that mutations may underlie some cases of very early onset inflammatory bowel disease.

Dietary magnesium depletion in a mouse model activated inflammatory pathways and molecules that promote hypertension, suggesting that increased magnesium consumption may be beneficial for reducing the prevalence of hypertension.

Hepatic stellate cells maintain liver mass and function; the signaling factors they use could be exploited therapeutically to promote liver regeneration and inhibit cancerous proliferation, Vanderbilt researchers suggest.

Genetic mosaicism — when the body’s cells do not all have the same genetic makeup — could generate variants previously thought to be spontaneous in genetic disease, and detecting parental mosaicism could clarify recurrence risk for future children.

Studies in a primate animal model suggest that islet hyperfunction — which in humans is associated with increased fat mass and Type 2 diabetes — is programmed in offspring by a maternal Western-style diet during pregnancy.

MRI brain scans at baseline for study participants 60 and older — who were free of clinical dementia at study entry — predicted a decline in independent function five years later.