A Danish-led research project has made encouraging progress toward using advanced mathematics as the basis of an improved method for indexing and searching medical images in the huge digital databases of clinics and hospitals.
Completed in November 2005, the DSSCV consortium’s long-term goal was to contribute to software tools allowing doctors and hospital technicians to quickly search and match X-rays, magnetic resonance images and computed 3D tomography scans, particularly of the cra
As early as one or two days after a stroke, that is, far earlier than was previously thought, the formation of new nerve cells and blood vessels gets underway in the affected area. This is indicated by findings in a dissertation by Wei Juang at Umeå University in Sweden.
Stroke is most often caused by a blockage of one of the heart’s blood vessels, which results in disrupted blood flow, so-called ischemic stroke. Brain damage occurs directly and spreads for the first few critical
Results of the Warfarin-Aspirin Recurrent Stroke Study published in the journal “Cerebrovascular Diseases” show no benefit of warfarin over aspirin for the prevention of recurrent stroke or death. Therefore, pending future clinical trial evidence to the contrary, antiplatelets are recommended for survivors of noncardioembolic stroke.
The efficacy of adjusted-dose warfarin to aspirin for recurrent ischemic stroke or death within 2 years was compared among prespecified and explorato
Scientists have secured their first look at the birth of monstrous stars that shine 100 000 times more brightly than the Sun, thanks to ESA’s Infrared Space Observatory (ISO).
The discovery allows astronomers to begin investigating why only some regions of space promote the growth of these massive stars.
Space is littered with giant clouds of gas. Occasionally, regions within these clouds collapse to form stars. “One of the major questions in the field of study is why do
A new study from the Netherlands on preventive treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms shows higher costs for endovascular coiling than for treatment by surgical clipping, mostly because of the more expensive coils. The study is being published in the journal “Cerebrovascular Diseases”.
To determine in detail the costs of the two treatments, the University Medical Centre Utrecht assessed patients who were treated for an unruptured aneurysm between 1997 and 2003. Patients tre
The first neuropathological examination of a Camelford resident who, in 1988, was exposed to extremely high concentrations of aluminium in drinking water and died of an unknown neurological condition, has revealed a rare form of an early onset Alzheimer’s-like disease.
Analysis of affected brain tissue revealed extremely high concentrations of aluminium – levels similar to those observed previously in aluminium-induced brain diseases, including dialysis-associated encephalop
Professor Markku Mäki and Ilma Korponay-Szabo MD, PhD, of the University of Tampere in Finland have developed a reliable new method which makes it possible to diagnose celiac disease quickly and easily. The research results were translated into a commercial product by a Finnish company. The test returns a result in 10-15 minutes.
A pinprick of blood is taken from the fingertip to test for tissue transglutaminase and endomysial antibodies. An increased level of antibodies correlates well wit
TU Delft today sent the reports with the conclusions of the first phase of the Superbus programme to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This completes the first phase of the Superbus design. “We demonstrate that Superbus is a global, sustainable public transport alternative”, TU Delft professor Wubbo Ockels comments. “The government should incorporate Superbus in its decisions on numerous infrastructure projects.”
A € 300,000 grant was received last year for the first phase of the Superb
Aspiring rock stars can now create their own guitar solos, without ever having to play a real instrument, thanks the Virtual Air Guitar, developed at the Helsinki University of Technology.
The Virtual Air Guitar uses a computer to monitor the hand movements of a air guitar player and adds genuine guitar sounds to match player’s finger work. The innovative application combines gesture recognition with musical interpretation software.
The idea emerged at the Helsink
A research team from Uppsala University and AstraZeneca has found that the schizophrenia gene QKI affects the production of myelin, the material that insulates nerve fibers. It is hoped that these findings will lead to enhanced treatment of schizophrenia. The findings are being published in the Net edition of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) in mid-April.
The research group has previously shown that the QKI gene is a possible contributing cause of the disease schizoph
A new target-seeking affibody molecule can be used to visualize cancer tumors and to treat them. This has been shown in a dissertation by Ann-Charlott Steffen to be publicly defended at Uppsala University on April 22.
Every third Swede is estimated to receive a cancer diagnosis sometime in their lives, and nearly one Swede in four dies as a result of the disease. The need for improved detection and treatment of the disease is great.
Existing treatments include surgery,
Colon cancer treatment could be revolutionised with a pioneering computer system to help doctors fight the disease.
Colon cancer is the third biggest killer cancer and the £2 million EU-funded project could mean faster and more accurate diagnosis, leading to better treatment outcomes for patients.
The system identifies gene mutations that contribute to the growth of cancerous tumours, giving doctors vital details about the type of cancer and its possible causes. It works
British scientists have discovered rivers the size of the Thames in London flowing hundreds of miles under the Antarctica ice shelf by examining small changes in elevation, observed by ESA’s ERS-2 satellite, in the surface of the oldest, thickest ice in the region, according to an article published in Nature this week.
The finding, which came as a great surprise to the scientists, challenges the widely held assumption that subglacial lakes evolved in isolated conditions for severa
Concerns about the use of letrozole, an easy-to-use and inexpensive drug for the treatment of infertility, appear to be unfounded, according to a major study co-authored by Dr. Togas Tulandi, Director of Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Jewish General Hospital, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGill University. Their findings, which are currently available in an early online edi
Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered a neural circuit that is likely to play an important role in the visual perception of moving objects. Their finding, published in the April issue of the journal Neuron, forces neurobiologists to rethink the neural pathways that our brain relies on to detect motion.
It had long been assumed that sensory information about color and fine detail is relatively unimportant for the perception of moving objects.
In four separate studies of mothers and their infants, preschoolers, kids and teens, a multi-university research team has shown, for the first time, that a simple test of a little drool can provide new insight into the role of social stressors, including relationships with parents and teachers, in child development.
The test monitors alpha amylase, an enzyme secreted by the salivary glands, that has been linked in adults to the sympathetic nervous system’s (SNS) fight or flight response.
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