A University of Alberta researcher is strapping tiny backpacks to toads in an effort to discover why one species is in serious decline.
Connie Browne, a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences, is spending this summer haunting the ponds and sloughs in northern Alberta, Canada, using tiny radio transmitter backpacks to track Canadian and Western toads.
Browne hopes to capture 12 of each kind and using soft surgical tubing, she will belt the toads into tin
Routinely reformatting computed tomography (CT) scans to view organs from several different directions may help radiologists improve diagnosis, according to new research from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The results are being presented this week at the American Roentgen Ray Society meeting in New Orleans, La.
“You can see things in one view that you might miss in another,” said Craig Barnes, M.D., section head of pediatric radiology at Wake Forest Baptist
Scientists on Huygens’ Descent Imager Spectral Radiometer (DISR) experiment have generated new views of Saturn’s giant moon, Titan.
The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe descended onto Titan on January 14, 2005. The University of Arizona-led DISR team released mosaics made from raw, unprocessed images days after Huygens landed, but they continue processing the data.
The team now has produced the first enhanced mosaic images. They used special image projection tech
TERREAL of France, a leading manufacturer of terracotta construction materials, specialises in terracotta facades for commercial and residential buildings and is currently looking for distributors. The company has demonstrated its international expertise by advising architects in Spain, England, the USA and China. TERREAL will be showcasing its latest product lines at various trade shows in the coming months.
TERREAL’s expertise is a major advantage in the terracotta cladding
Wind farms are nothing new to some parts of the United States, where tall, white wind turbines with their giant propellers tower over the landscape, generating electricity with every sweep of their blades.
Now these windmills may be coming to an ocean near you — but not without significant public debate and navigation of a “hodgepodge” of regulations, according to recent University of Delaware research.
Willett Kempton and Jeremy Firestone, in the Marine Policy Program a
Findings demonstrate that abnormal expression of the BCL6 gene causes lymphoma
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have created the first mouse model that develops a lymphoma the same way that humans do. This advancement has the potential to significantly speed the development of new, improved therapies for diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common type of human B cell lymphoma. Human B cell lymphomas cause 85 percent of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, the
Study shows illusive ’hemifusion’ state can precede membrane merger
Every living cell is surrounded by a membrane, a thin barrier that separates the genetic machinery of life from the non-living world outside. Though barriers, membranes are not impervious. Cells use a complex hierarchy of proteins that work in concert to allow cell membranes to fuse – with other cells or with membrane-encased packages of proteins and other chemicals that the cell needs to take in or
Antibiotic is effective, lacks side effects and doesn’t provoke resistance in bacteria
An antibiotic can be safely used to prevent attacks of diarrhea that plague millions of globe-trotting vacationers and business travelers, a Houston research team reports this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine. “Our findings show that rifaximin is an ideal drug for prevention of travelers’ diarrhea, an illness that affects an estimated 20 million international travelers each year,
An antibody that targets the blood vessels nourishing tumors significantly reduced breast cancer formation and growth in mice when combined with a current cancer drug, according to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Their work appears in today’s issue of Cancer Research.
“This antibody could enhance the therapeutic efficacy of the drug docetaxel in breast cancer patients,” said Dr. Philip Thorpe, professor of pharmacology at UT Southwestern and senior author of
NCCTG investigations yield additional significant data
A study led by a Mayo Clinic medical oncologist and conducted by the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) provides important new data about the effectiveness and safety of a breast cancer treatment combining chemotherapy and a drug called trastuzumab (Herceptin).
According to Mayo Clinic medical oncologist and NCCTG study chair Edith Perez, M.D., these results could change the standard of care for thousands
Trained eyes needed to spot small cancers, blood clots and aneurysms early
Nearly half of all patients who get their hearts scanned with a high-speed CT scanner may get a shocking surprise: a diagnosis of a serious problem that has nothing to do with their heart. New research from the University of Michigan shows that 43 of 98 patients who had a CT heart scan to look for clogged arteries were also found to have significant or potentially significant signs of problems with their
Large-scale comparative and functional genomics study characterizes bacterial pathogen responsible for major vegetable crop losses worldwide
Scientists at four major genomics and plant pathology laboratories in China have collaborated on a project to characterize the causative agent of “black rot” disease, which is the most serious disease of vegetable crops worldwide. Their study, which represents the largest comparative and functional genomics screen for a plant or animal bacter
A new way to identify gastric carcinoma patients with high probability of develop a more aggressive form of disease has just been described on the latest issue of the journal Glycobiology.
Researchers have found that the peptide sequence* of mucins – a group of proteins expressed by epithelial cells -seemed to be directly associated with the expression of tumour markers linked to very severe gastric carcinomas. Because peptide sequences are genetically determined, not only this
A fresh report that assessed the treatment at three youth homes run by the National Board of Institutional Care, abbreviated SiS in Swedish, shows that two thirds of the boys do fairly well. On the other hand, the choice of methods used does not appear to be crucial. The key factor is the competence and commitment of the staff and the boys’ relationship with their contact persons.
SiS has 35 specialized youth homes. The adolescents who are placed there often have serious pr
Two new tests by VTI (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute) have investigated traffic safety for police in their cars. The hypothesis that the personal equipment or the uniform might affect the function of the seat belt in a collision was put to test. The study points out that an alternative, professional use of vehicles ought to be more generally considered in relation to the crash safety aspects.
VTI was contacted by the National Police Board of Sweden in th
A new type of drug originally developed for lung cancer can reduce the size of breast cancer tumours when taken in combination with other drugs. A London-based group of scientists, reporting today (Tuesday 17 May) in The Lancet Oncology, say that taking the new drug combination prior to surgery could make breast cancer surgery less invasive and more effective, and reduce the risk of cancer spreading to other parts of the body.
Around 80% of breast cancers depend on the hormone oestrogen t
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