Researchers have taken an important step toward high-volume production of new nanometer-scale structures with the first systematic study of growth conditions that affect production of one-dimensional nanostructures from the optoelectronic material cadmium selenide (CdSe).
Using the results from more than 150 different experiments in which temperature and pressure conditions were systematically varied, nanotechnology researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology created a “roa
The economic benefits of protecting a rainforest reserve outweigh the costs of preserving it, says University of Alberta research–the first of its kind to have conducted a cost-benefit analysis on the conservation of species diversity.
“The traditional moral and aesthetic arguments have been made about why we should conserve the biodiversity in rainforests, but little has been done that looks at whether it makes pure economic sense to do so,” said Dr. Robin Naidoo, who did hi
Diffusion MRI is good early predictor of whether cancer will progress
A special type of MRI scan that measures the movement of water molecules through the brain can help doctors determine halfway through treatment whether it will successfully shrink the tumor or a patient’s cancer will continue to grow, a new study shows. The test identifies after only three weeks of treatment – more than two months earlier than traditional tests — who is responding to the chemotherapy or
Monkeys have a semantic perception of numbers that is like humans’ and which is independent of language, Duke University cognitive neuroscientists have discovered. They said their findings demonstrate that the neural mechanism underlying numerical perception is evolutionarily primitive.
Jessica Cantlon and Elizabeth Brannon described their findings with macaque monkeys in an article published online the week of Oct. 31, 2005, in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of th
In the event of an influenza pandemic, the world’s vaccine manufacturers will be in a race against time to forestall calamity. But now, thanks to a new technique to more efficiently produce the disarmed viruses that are the seed stock for making flu vaccine in large quantities, life-saving inoculations may be available more readily than before. The work is especially important as governments worldwide prepare for a predicted pandemic of avian influenza.
Writing this week (Oct.
Results from the first and only interim analysis of an important trial assessing the potential of Herceptin (trastuzumab) to improve disease-free survival (DFS) in HER-2 positive breast cancer patients after adjuvant chemotherapy, have shown that Herceptin affords a significant survival advantage. These new findings were released at the 13th European Cancer Conference (ECCO) on the recommendation of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee.
The study in question, an internation
Bees have a much more sophisticated visual system than previously thought, according to a new UCL (University College London) study in which bees were able to solve complicated colour puzzles. The findings shed light on how brains resolve one of the most difficult challenges of vision – namely, recognizing different surfaces under different colours of illumination – by suggesting that bees solve this problem using their experience with meaningful colour relationships between objects in a scene. T
Charities must be genuinely distinctive to stand out in an increasingly crowded market, according to new research funded by the ESRC.
If they seem identical to other charitable organisations, appeals they make are doomed from the outset, says a study led by Professor Adrian Sargeant of the University of the West of England.
Researchers found that few facets of charity brands were genuinely distinctive. On the contrary, donors take the core values of charitable bodies as
Petroleum exploration tool may have new use in hurricane study
In 2004 and now in 2005, the hurricane seasons have been horrifyingly intense – so how bad is the long-range forecast? Based on a century of data, meteorologists currently believe that a 30-year lull in hurricane activity is over and we are at the beginning of a new multi-decade period of larger and more frequent storms. However, there is other data that suggests we may also be coming to the end of a thousand year peri
While the past fifteen years have seen a growth of support for school-aged children who have suffered bereavement, less attention has been paid to those under five years.
Now a researcher at the University of Leicester School of Education is redressing the balance in a two-year research programme called “Grief and Young Children”.
With a major grant of nearly £140,000 from the Parenting Fund, Rose Griffiths has been working with the Childhood Bereavement Network, L
Doctors might be better off washing their hands with yoghurt instead of relying on antiseptic soap-scrubbing, according to a new discussion paper by a UCL (University College London) researcher.
Scientists should investigate whether saturating the skin with ‘good’ bacteria would offer better protection against deadly germs, says the paper. Professor Mark Spigelman, of the UCL Centre for Infectious Diseases and International Health, is calling for a study to be set up in hospi
The Commission of the European Union has awarded €9 million over five years for a new Network of Excellence that will make computational systems biology accessible to bench scientists throughout Europe and beyond. ENFIN, which stands for “Experimental Network for Functional INtegration,” brings together some of Europe’s best computational and experimental biology labs – 20 groups across 17 institutions in 13 countries – to build a virtual institute that will put Europe at the centre of the sys
Surgeons at the MUHC have successfully implanted a new kind of mechanical heart in two patients, the first time this new technology has been used in Canada. This new mechanical heart will allow some patients’ damaged hearts to recover their normal function, and will reduce the need for heart transplants. This “bridge-to-recovery” technology promises to revolutionize the management of heart failure. The MUHC is one of only a handful of Canadian hospitals capable of installing the new mechanical
In the high-tech 21st century, the most rudimentary natural products continue to reveal exciting ant-cancer properties to scientists, offering people relatively simple ways to help protect themselves from the disease.
Five studies presented today during the American Association for Cancer Research’s 4th annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore, Md., add to the arsenal of research that shows adding certain vegetables and herbs to the diet can p
Looking in a mirror at a reflection of their healthy hand could help people with persistent pain ease their symptoms and eventually overcome their problem, say scientists in the latest edition of the journal Clinical Medicine.
The treatment, being developed by researchers from the University of Bath and the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD), is based on a new theory about how people experience pain even when doctors can find no direct cause.
This ‘c
Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT has supervised the development of building technology that cuts the amount of energy required for heating in a block of flats by 70 per cent. The first apartment constructed with this low-energy technology was completed in the city of Espoo Finland, in the summer. Building of an entire block of flats utilising the same technology is scheduled to begin next summer.
Research on low-energy building in Finland has mainly focused on single-fami
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