This may have hi-tech applications, report UCSB scientists
The simple marine sponge is inspiring cutting-edge research in the design of new materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
A report about these exciting new results involving the use of gold nanoparticles is the cover story of the current issue of the scientific journal, Advanced Materials. The article is written by Daniel E. Morse, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at U
Sacrificing one wetland for the sake of five others may be the way to go when planning constructed wetlands to replace those destroyed during road building, but a Penn State Erie biologist is monitoring the salinity of the wetlands to see how the salt affects animals and insects.
“I am currently doing research in wetlands that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation constructed as mitigation wetlands to replace all the ones that were destroyed by the new road,” says Dr
A new analysis of Africa’s past and future climate shows that the Sahel region, which experienced catastrophic drought until rains returned in the 1990s, could experience wetter monsoons for decades to come. However, drought across southern Africa is projected to intensify further. Oceanic warming consistent with an increase in greenhouse gases appears to be a factor in these expected 21st-century changes to Africa’s monsoons.
James Hurrell of the National Center for Atmos
Study appears in the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Using the human genome sequence annotation, high-throughput cloning methodologies, and automation, a group at the Harvard Institute of Proteomics lead by Leonardo Brizuela (Harvard Medical School lecturer on biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology) mined public databases to collect the sequence information of all identified human kinase genes and have built a gene repository for t
No increase found in hepatitis C recurrence
Researchers seeking to enhance transplant patient care with less toxic drug regimens presented early findings of a steroid-free treatment regimen in liver transplant recipients with hepatitis C. One-year data from an open label study reported Sunday at the American Transplant Congress (ATC) suggests that a steroid-free treatment regimen including CellCept® (mycophenolate mofetil) provided comparable efficacy and safety to a standard st
Oncologist from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Urges Partnerships to Build R & D Pipeline
Market forces alone are not sufficient to produce new drugs needed for children with cancer, according to a new report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Faced with “a near absence of research in pediatric cancer drug discovery,” the IOM report recommends forming new public-private partnerships among government, industry, researchers, advocacy groups and other parties to lead r
Naturally replaced neurons may hold the key to understanding processes of neurodegeneration
In certain parts of the brain, cells called neurons go through a cycle of death and replenishment. New research from Rockefeller University’s Fernando Nottebohm, Ph.D., shows that these replaceable neurons share something in common with the neurons that die in people with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s: both have unusually low levels of a protein called UCHL
Patients with schizophrenia who are treated with the atypical antipsychotic SEROQUEL (Quetiapine) show significantly superior rates of treatment compliance compared to patients treated with other atypical and typical antipsychotics, according to new data presented today at the American Psychiatry Association (APA) meeting in Atlanta, USA. Additional data presented today also showed improved cognitive functioning for patients with schizophrenia who are treated with SEROQUEL.
The c
Milk consumption, stroke, and heart attack risk: evidence from the Caerphilly cohort of older men, J. Epidemiol Community Health 2005; 59: 502-5
A diet rich in milk does not increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, and may even be protective, concludes research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The research team asked a representative sample of 764 men to weigh and record every item of food and drink they consumed for seven consecutive days. Just under 90
(Can social factors explain sex differences in insomnia? Findings from a National Survey in Taiwan J Epidemiol Community Health 2005; 59: 488-94)
Women have higher rates of insomnia than men, but the better educated a woman is, the more likely she is to sleep through the night, finds a large study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Conversely, the better educated a man is, the less likely he is to get a good night’s sleep, the research shows.
The
Children living close to a major road are significantly more likely to have asthma than children who live farther away, according to a study presented today at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23.
The study found that children living within 75 meters (about 82 yards) of a major road had an almost 50 percent greater risk of having had asthma symptoms in the past year than were children who lived more than 300 meters (about 328 yards) away.
Moderate to severe cases of the nighttime breathing problem known as obstructive sleep apnea significantly increases the risk of suffering a stroke, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23.
The study of 1,475 people found that those with moderate to severe sleep apnea at the beginning of the study were 3 to 4 times more likely to have a stroke than a comparable group of patients without sleep apnea during the n
Neurobiologists have discovered a specialized night-vision brain area in night-migratory songbirds. They believe the area might enable the birds to navigate by the stars, and to visually detect the earth’s magnetic field through photoreceptor molecules, whose light-sensitivity is modulated by the field.
The researchers published their findings May 23, 2005, in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The collaboration was led by Henr
Research at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) shows that playground injuries among children were significantly reduced after the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) removed hazardous equipment from school playgrounds in 2000 and replaced it with safer equipment. This research is reported in the May 24, 2005 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The study looked at data from 86 elementary schools before and after the playground equipment was replaced in 200
Despite the efforts of governments and the World Health Organization to combine prevention measures and efforts to eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes, the disease kills more than a million people each year. Much is known about the microbes that cause the disease, tiny parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which have a complex life cycle involving several distinct phases and habitats. But, many details of the organism’s life cycle, including a critical stage in the parasite’s life cycle – in
Researchers at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have found that Lafora disease, an inherited form of epilepsy that results in death by the age of 30, can be caused by mutations in a gene that regulates the concentration of the protein laforin. These findings are reported in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Lafora disease is characterized by normal development for the first decade of life, followed by an initial seizure in
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