The Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) and Uppsala University have shown that a method previously used to warn about mining quakes can be used to predict where and when earthquakes are going to take place.
“Using this method, major quakes like the one that caused the tsunami could be predicted better, both in terms of time and geographic area,” says Leif Persson, a researcher at FOI.
Seismology researchers at FOI and Uppsala University have retrospectively examined
Electroconvulsive therapy, previously known as “electric shock treatment” is a method that can help patients combat severe depressions that no other treatment can alleviate. Lund University researcher Johan Hellsten has now shown in animal experiments that electroconvulsive therapy leads to new generation of nerve cells and blood vessels in precisely those parts of the brain that are affected in patients with depression. This may explain how electroconvulsive therapy makes the disease recede.
Pioneering research by scientists at the University of Surrey (UniS) is proving to be a big hit in Asia when it comes to monitoring land contamination. The Rapid On-Site Toxicity Audit System (ROTAS), a patented technology developed and owned by UniS and licensed to Cybersense Biosystems Ltd, has proved such a success with Hitachi Chemicals in Japan, that the company is now working closely with Cybersense to distribute the product exclusively throughout South East Asia and is also helping to d
Despite the government’s £1bn commitment to increase the use of information technology in schools, few teachers make full use of computers in the classroom, according to ESRC funded research. The findings of the four-year project at the University of Bristol confirm recent reports by Ofsted and OECD, which found the use of ICT in schools was ‘sporadic’ and ‘disappointing’ in the UK and internationally. The ESRC study reveals that many teachers fear that computers would interfere with ‘genuine’
A fossil record of the Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) shows population-wide changes in body size and morphology in response to climate change over the last 3,000 years. The observed changes offer predictions about the response of the species to future climate change, and the impact on the ecosystem. The research is published in the open access journal, BMC Ecology.
Researchers analysed a late-Holocene fossil record to track morphological traits in the Tiger Salamander through
Methoxychlor (MXC), a common insect pesticide used on food crops, may interfere with proper development and function of the reproductive tract, leading to reduced fertility in women, researchers at Yale School of Medicine write in the August issue of Endocrinology.
The researchers found that MXC, which was manufactured as a safer replacement for the now-banned DDT, alters the estrogen-regulated gene Hoxa10 in the reproductive tract and reduces the ability of the uterus to supp
Here’s a test. Take a crayfish, offer it two meals – one the native plants that it eats everyday, the other a gourmet meal of a similar, but exotic species of plant. Conventional biological wisdom predicts it will stick with the tried and true. But new research at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that plant eaters may be more adventurous than previously thought and prefer to nosh on exotic meals by a ratio of three to one. The findings, which appear in the September issue of Ecol
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have uncovered important evidence that explains how water, usually an inhibitor of catalytic reactions, can sometimes promote them. The findings could lead to fewer constraints on reaction conditions potentially leading to the development of lower cost techniques for certain industrially important catalytic reactions. The results appear in the September 6, 2005 issue of Physical Review Letters.
“Normally, in most catalytic reactio
Wind generator vanes can suffer degradation by erosion, particularly at their outer edge, produced by particles (dust, sand, etc.) which are present suspended in the air. Because of this, the ever increasing presence of wind parks in zones of extreme climate make it puts an onus on optimising the protection coating material, with the aim of guaranteeing good yields, even in the most extreme conditions.
The main parameters that affect this phenomenon are, on the one hand, gel-coat character
Improving survivability and mobility
A concept vehicle designed to illustrate potential technology options for improving survivability and mobility in future military combat vehicles will be shown publicly for the first time Sept. 13-15 at a military technology meeting in Virginia.
The event, “Modern Day Marine Expo,” will be held at the Marine Corps Air Facility in Quantico, Va.
The concept vehicle, known as the ULTRA AP (Armored Patrol), was built to help
Women who suffer heart attacks wait longer to be assessed, admitted and receive treatment than men with the same condition, according to a paper in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.
890 patients admitted to coronary care units via casualty departments in six major teaching hospitals in Dublin were studied in detail by a team led by Dr Sharon O’Donnell from the City’s Trinity College.
The study of 613 men and 277 women shows that: On average, wo
Bleeding stops in just 37 seconds
A metal clip that closes an arterial puncture by drawing the wound edges together like a drawstring stitch is proving an easy and effective way to speed patient recovery after coronary interventions, according to a study in the just-published October 2005 issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions: Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.
The study–the first published report in humans–t
Accurate stent positioning does not require use of high-tech device
Once a coronary stent becomes blocked with scar tissue, the likelihood it will become blocked again is 30 percent to 80 percent. Inserting a second coronary stent that slowly releases anti-scarring medication can markedly cut that risk, according to a study in the just-published October 2005 issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions: Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interv
According to professor Thomas Kirkwood of the University of Newcastle, there is no single gene for ageing. Throughout time, Humans have used energy to get food, produce offspring and survive danger – not to repair and maintain cells. So the maintenance system in the body slowly breaks down.
This topic was of great interest at the seminar for ageing at the conference “Functional genomics and disease” taking place in Oslo, Norway. Thomas Kirkwood is the director of the internationa
Research could lead to future treatment advancements for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases
A major finding by researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) has identified a previously unknown cellular mechanism that acts as an off switch for immune system function. The discovery could lead to the future development of new treatments for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease.
Scientists in Italy have found that a drug that blocks acid buildup inside cells revs up the immune response to vaccines. Reporting in the September 19 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vincenzo Barnaba and his team at the University of Rome show that people receiving booster shots against hepatitis B virus developed more robust immune responses if given a widely used anti-malaria drug called chloroquine.
Many vaccines are made up of soluble proteins derived from dangerous v
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