In the quest to unravel the characteristics of the mysterious neutrino particle, millions of which pass through us undetected every day, scientists from several international universities have joined forces with UK research colleagues to build a unique engineering technology demonstrator at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. Known as MICE [Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment] the experiment will prove one of the key requirements to produce intense beams of neutrinos at a dedicated
Findings may yield methods for improving fertility as well as developing male contraceptives
For 40 percent of the estimated six million American couples battling infertility, the problem lies with the man. But help may be on the way. New research in mice by scientists at Rockefeller University and the Population Council sheds light on the causes behind male infertility. The findings, reported in the March issue of Developmental Cell, also include potential targets for developing a
Efficient, effective and reliable remote healthcare monitoring is a holy grail in medicine but solutions have so far proved elusive. But it took a step closer to reality with the successful conclusion of pilot tests under the E-Care project.
The project developed a comprehensive monitoring system to capture, transmit and distribute vital health data to doctors, carers and family. Pilot tests of the system indicate that doctors, nurses, patients and their families found E-Care rel
A complete picture of Foot-and-Mouth Disease’s key replication enzyme could lead to the development of new drugs to control the disease without recourse to vaccination or slaughter, scientists report today.
By solving the structure of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) enzyme named ’3C protease’ scientists have taken an essential step towards developing protease inhibitors, a class of anti-viral drug that has proved hugely successful in controlling HIV.
On 17 March the ESA Council, at its meeting in Paris, unanimously approved a cooperation agreement between ESA and the Indian Space Research Organisation for India’s first moon mission – Chandrayaan-1.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), founded in 1969, launched its first satellite in 1975. Since then it has developed a number of launch vehicles as well as satellites for Earth observation, remote sensing, telecommunications and weather forecasting. India has its own
Scientists at the University of Liverpool, supported by the British Heart Foundation, are studying blood flow in the brain to further medical understanding of cardiovascular disease.
Dr John Quayle and Dr Tomoko Kamishima, from the University’s Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, are investigating why blood supply to the brain becomes inadequate during serious illnesses, such as strokes. Approximately one in eight people are diagnosed with a disease of the heart or circ
Since Saturday, 19 March, the study entitled Women International Space Simulation for Exploration (WISE) has been fully under way. All participants in the first of two campaigns have been lying in bed, tilted head down at an angle of 6º below horizontal, so that their heads are slightly lower than their feet.
This position results in physiological changes that also occur in astronauts during space flight. The study will assess the roles of nutrition and combined physical exe
A new interactive multi-media self-help package for people diagnosed with eating disorders developed by a medical researcher at the University of Glasgow is now set to be delivered over the internet to adolescent sufferers.
The package, initially developed as a CD-ROM cognitive-behavioural self-help tool for the treatment of the eating disorder bulimia nervosa (BN), is set to revolutionise therapy. Bulimia nervosa is a common and disabling condition with significant personal, s
Introducing a simple risk assessment tool could increase the number of patients receiving vital medication for dangerous blood clots, according to a paper just published online by IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.
Venous thromboembolisms (VTEs) kill more than 25,000 people in the UK every year according to a report released by the Commons Health Committee earlier this month. But a multi-disciplinary team of NHS researchers from Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS T
In a first, Carnegie Mellon University scientists have “programmed” cells to make their own contrast agents, enabling unprecedented high-resolution, deep-tissue imaging of gene expression. The results, appearing in the April issue of Nature Medicine, hold considerable promise for conducting preclinical studies in the emerging field of molecular therapeutics and for monitoring the delivery of therapeutic genes in patients.
“For 20 years it has been the chemist’s job to develop agents that
Since they began clearing valleys and slopes for agriculture more than 9,000 years ago, and continuing with the construction of roads, buildings and cities, people have been altering landscapes. UVM geologists explore the link between human actions and landscape–and reach some important conclusions–in the cover article of the April/May issue of GSA Today. Produced by the Geological Society of America, the prestigious monthly journal goes to more than 20,000 geologists and libraries worldwid
Finding patterns behind seemingly random events is the signature of a recent trio of research studies coming from the statistical physics group in Boston University’s Department of Physics. Although describing physical phenomenon is not a surprising industry for research physicists, findings from this BU group increasingly wed phenomena associated with the inanimate world to those of animate beings — finding commonalities between stock markets fluctuations, earthquakes, and heart rates, for
Networks are everywhere. Trying to catch connecting flights as we shuttle from one airport to the next can make distances between cities seem even greater than they are. Discovering that you are sitting next to a friend of a friend on one of those flights (social contact networks) can make the world seem a much smaller place. Diverse networks, from airports to social interactions to genes and proteins, often have surprisingly similar structure. In all of these networks, some nodes are highly con
British researchers have launched urgent research programmes in order to learn lessons from the recent Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster. Such knowledge is relevant to both UK, and overseas disaster assessment and prevention programmes.
Funded by grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), teams from the University of Cambridge, the University of Newcastle, and University College London have looked at differing aspects of the tsunami’s effects. Their o
Genomic analysis may one day be a primary diagnostic tool for physicians deciding on a course of treatment for trauma and other critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), according to a new study by a national collaboration of more than 70 physicians and scientists.
The researchers showed that state-of-the-art techniques for rapidly analyzing changes in activity of all human genes will likely produce useful insights into the health of critically ill patients. The f
That seven-day-old bag of spinach in your refrigerator may not make you as strong as your grandma told you, because, according to Penn State food scientists, spinach stored for a long time loses much of its nutrient content.
Luke LaBorde, associate professor of food science, and Srilatha Pandrangi, graduate student, both at Penn State, found that spinach stored at 39 degrees Fahrenheit loses its folate and carotenoid content at a slower rate than spinach stored at 50 and 68 degree
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