A new study on the incidence of liver cancer after transplant found that high levels of the immunosuppressant cyclosporine favored tumor recurrence and identified blood levels of the drug that should not be exceeded. Lower levels of cyclosporine levels did not affect rejection rates.
The results of this study appear in the May 2005 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Tr
The ESA/NASA SOHO spacecraft determines the origin of the fast solar wind in the magnetized atmosphere of the Sun
A Chinese-German team of scientists have identified the magnetic structures in the solar corona where the fast solar wind originates. Using images and Doppler maps from the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) spectrometer and magnetograms delivered by the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on the space-based Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
Exposure to air pollutants increases the risk of fatal myocardial infarction (MI), particularly pollutants caused by motor traffic. This is the conclusion of a new thesis published by Karolinska Institutet.
Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in Sweden and other Western European countries. Known risk factors include age, gender, hereditariness, smoking, hypertension and high blood lipid levels. However, the part played by the external environment still remain
Using X-ray crystallography, researchers at Yale have “seen” the structural basis for antibiotic resistance to common pathogenic bacteria, facilitating design of a new class of antibiotic drugs, according to an article in Cell.
In recent years, common disease-causing bacteria have increasingly become resistant to antibiotics, such as erythromycin and azithromycin. Although the macrolide antibiotics in this group are structurally different, all work by inhibiting the protein synthe
UCLA AIDS Institute discovery points to new drug target
Scientists have long suspected that HIV hijacks immune cells called dendritic cells to infiltrate the immune system. Now UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have shown that blocking HIV’s access to a naturally occurring molecule on dendritic cells may cut their ability to smuggle the virus into other immune cells. Published in the May edition of the Journal of Virology, the discovery may lead to new drugs to prevent sexua
Portable radiation detectors generally perform well enough to meet new consensus standards but provide inaccurate readings for certain types of radiation, according to recent tests by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The results, reported in the May issue of the journal Health Physics,* are based on NIST tests of 31 commercial detectors, including hand-held survey meters; electronic personal alarming detectors (similar to pagers); and radionuclide i
Protein Found by UCLA Shows Generation of New Bone in Patients Who Lack It, as Well as Faster, More Reliable Healing of Fractures
By studying diseases in which the human body generates too much bone, UCLA researchers have discovered and isolated a natural molecule that can be used to heal fractures and generate new bone growth in patients who lack it.
Bioengineering Professor Ben Wu at UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Thomas R. Bales
Staying up past bedtime, skipping meals, and snacking constantly all add up to weight gain, fatty livers, and high cholesterol levels for an unlucky group of mice whose internal biological clocks are genetically disrupted.
Researchers at Northwestern University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have identified wide-ranging molecular and behavioral changes in mice that have a faulty circadian system. In people, similar changes in body fat and metabolic activity are known as
More than half of air travellers find that their oxygen saturation drops to a level at which many hospital patients would be prescribed extra oxygen, according to a paper in the May issue of Anaesthesia.
The study, by a team of Belfast researchers, found that oxygen levels fell by an average of four per cent when people reached cruising altitude.
84 passengers, aged from one to 78, had their oxygen saturation levels measured by qualified anaesthetists on the ground and
Using synchrotron x-ray microbeams, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart and the ESRF has been able to observe for the first time that the microscopic structure of a crystalline material fluctuates in time. The results are published today in Science Express with the title: Scaling in the Time Domain: Universal Dynamics of Order Fluctuations in Fe3Al.
The research team investigated a metal alloy, composed of iron and aluminium. When the structure o
Striking Image of Nebula N214C taken with ESO’s NTT at La Silla
The nebula N214, a large region of gas and dust located in a remote part of our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, is a quite remarkable site were massive stars are forming. In particular, its main component, N214C (also named NGC 2103 or DEM 293), is of special interest since it hosts a very rare massive star, known as Sk-71 51 and belonging to a peculiar class with only a dozen known members in t
A NASA funded study has found a decline in winter and spring snow cover over Southwest Asia and the Himalayan mountain range is creating conditions for more widespread blooms of ocean plants in the Arabian Sea.
The decrease in snow cover has led to greater differences in both temperature and pressure systems between the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Sea. The pressure differences generate monsoon winds that mix the ocean water in the Western Arabian Sea. This mixing leads to
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified an enzyme that helps trigger the development of leukemia, a cancer of blood cells.
The enzyme hDOT1L activates a set of genes that plays a key role in the rare and largely incurable acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This disease affects less than 2 percent of the estimated 16,000 individuals diagnosed with acute leukemia nationwide each year. The discovery, based on research using bone marrow cells from mice,
Relief from soaring prices at the gas pump could come in the form of corncobs, cornstalks, switchgrass and other types of biomass, according to a joint feasibility study for the departments of Agriculture and Energy.
The recently completed Oak Ridge National Laboratory report outlines a national strategy in which 1 billion dry tons of biomass – any organic matter that is available on a renewable or recurring basis – would displace 30 percent of the nation’s petroleum consu
A new study by 64 renowned scientists may bring us one step closer to personalized medical treatment–that is, medical treatment tailored to each person’s unique genetic make-up and medical condition. The study shows researchers how to get more consistent and reliable results when using a technology called microarrays or gene chips. Microarrays allow scientists to see how differences in gene expression are linked to specific diseases. Improving and standardizing microarray experiments will a
An X-ray technique developed by physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is helping to improve the design and energy efficiency of the bright white lights often used to illuminate stadiums, roads and many other settings.
High-intensity gas discharge (HID) lamps produce 26 percent of the nation’s light output, but, as a result of their high energy efficiency, consume only 17 percent of the electricity used for lighting. Continuing improvements
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