Animal study advances call for early implants in children born deaf
New research at Johns Hopkins has clearly demonstrated the ability of cochlear implants in very young animals to forge normal nerve fibers that transmit sound and to restore hearing by reversing or preventing damage to the brain’s auditory system.
The findings in cats, published in Science online Dec. 2, help explain why implants are up to 80 percent successful in restoring hearing in young children born
Risk of adverse gastrointestinal outcomes in patients taking cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitors or conventional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: population based nested case-control analysis [BMJ Volume 331, pp 1310-12]
There is no evidence to back up claims that the new generation of anti-inflammatory drugs (COX-2 inhibitors) are less harmful to the stomach lining than many traditional anti-inflammatory drugs, concludes a study in this week’s BMJ.
These drugs were
Cannabis intoxication and fatal road crashes in France: population based case-control study BMJ Online First
Driving under the influence of cannabis almost doubles the risk of a fatal road crash, finds a study published online by the BMJ today. However its share in fatal crashes is significantly lower than those involving alcohol.
The study took place in France and involved 10,748 drivers who were involved in fatal crashes from October 2001 to September 2003. All drivers
Exposure to household endotoxin levels poses a significant risk for asthma, according to the first nationwide sampling of house dust.
The study appears in the first issue for December 2005 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
Endotoxins are toxic substances associated with the outer membrane of certain gram-negative bacteria. These molecules are bound to the bacterial cell wall and are released
Syndrome linked to neurological abnormalities
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) may be rooted in distinct neurological abnormalities that can be medically tested. Although the sample studied was small, this research provides objective, physiological evidence that the controversial disorder can be considered a legitimate medical condition.
Chronic fatigue syndrome defines a range of illnesses including
Scientists have found some additional evidence that environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may be associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a study published in the December 1 issue of Cancer Research.
By comparing blood levels of PCBs in 100 pairs of healthy volunteers and non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients, Anneclaire De Roos, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and colleagues determined that high levels o
Researchers might have found evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome is a real and legitimate neurological condition. A pilot study published today in the open access journal BMC Neurology reveals that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have a set of proteins in their spinal cord fluid that were not detected in healthy individuals. These proteins might give insight into the causes of CFS, and could be used as markers to diagnose patients with CFS.
James Baraniuk and Begona Casad
Threats to freshwater fisheries and associated biodiversity largely unrecognized, authors state
Systematic overfishing of fresh waters occurs worldwide but is largely unrecognized because of weak reporting and because other pressures can obscure fishery declines, according to an article in the December 2005 issue of BioScience. Although the status of inland waters and their fish species should be of broad concern, threats to freshwater fisheries and associated biodiversity have rece
A unique European meeting for sustainable aquaculture development that confirmed the health benefits of seafood consumption.
More than 100 stakeholders met between 21st and 23rd November 2005 in a special European Workshop dedicated to sustainable aquaculture development, including consumer groups, sectoral representatives of European aquaculture, scientists and institutional interests.
Held in Ostend (Belgium), within the work programme of the “Consensus” project, th
As a further demonstration of the depth of its commitment to tackling climate change, the European Commission has been behind today’s launch of the Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants. This body will bring together energy companies, equipment suppliers, users, consumers, financial institutions, regulators, public authorities, researchers and civil society to develop common research goals, with the aim of a future where the use of power plants that emit no climate-damagi
The IMPRESS project saw the first launch of an experimental payload, the Electromagnetic Levitator, onboard an ESA/DLR-funded Texus 42 sounding rocket, from the Esrange launch site near Kiruna in northern Sweden, on 1 December at 10:06 hours CET.
This experimental payload, jointly developed by ESA and the DLR, enables accurate measurement of the properties of highly-reactive liquid metal alloys. Such measurements are unattainable on Earth and will greatly benefit the project.
Doctors and scientists nationwide will today for the first time be able to join together over the internet to start the search for genes that underlie a range of chronic diseases.
Patients across Britain with cancer, heart and other common diseases have been providing blood samples for research since 2000. They are part of a project hosted by The University of Manchester that will allow more researchers than ever before to study genes in chronic diseases. The project – called
Ebola virus (of the Filoviridae family) was first identified in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex- Zaire). It has been the source of several lethal epidemics in central Africa. Four subtypes exist, three of which rage on the African continent. The zaire subtype, the most dangerous for humans, was responsible for eight epidemics which have hit Gabon and the Republic of Congo since 1995. Infection by this subtype in humans is expressed by a violent haemorrhagic fever which in 80 % of cas
The world’s largest mass extinction was probably caused by poisonous volcanic gas, according to research published today.
The research, published in the journal Geology, reveals vital clues about the mass extinction at the end of the Permian period, 250 million years ago, when mammal-like reptiles known as synapsids roamed the earth.
Many scientists had previously thought that an asteroid hitting the earth or a deep-sea methane release had caused the extinction, whi
Researchers identify key gene sequences that promote growth of new arteries when existing arteries are blocked
Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center have uncovered part of the genetic mechanism that causes new arteries to grow in response to blocked arteries. A team led by SFVAMC vascular surgeon Rajabrata Sarkar, MD, PhD, has demonstrated in mice that the MMP2 gene is essential for the growth of new arteries when the femoral (leg) artery is blocked.
Th
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have just launched a web-based 3-D digital atlas browser and database of the brain of a popular laboratory mouse (see http://www.bnl.gov/CTN/mouse/).
“Neuroscientists around the world can now download these extremely accurate anatomical templates and use them to map other data — such as which parts of the brain are metabolically active and where particular genes are expressed — and for making qua
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