A woman’s risk of ovarian cancer rises significantly if she carries either of two previously unexamined variations in the gene that codes for the progesterone receptor, according to a team of researchers led by scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
The study, which is being published in the January 5th issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, was initially supposed to be a more in-depth look at one particular versi
A substance found in the urine of pregnant women can be measured to predict the later development of preeclampsia, according to research from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
“We may have reached a turning point in the extensive federal research investigation of this frequent, life-threatening complication of pregnancy,” said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD. “This finding sets the stage for the dev
FogScreen is a futuristic innovation that creates a thin white screen of fog. The screen can be projected onto, touched, and even walked through – a sure-fire attention-getter for publicity or educational purposes.
“FogScreen is the world’s first walk-through projection screen, based on our proprietary technology,” says Mika Herpiö, CEO of the company with the same name. “With an add-on interactivity set, FogScreen also allows you to write and draw in the air. It can easily be us
A newly-invented automatic waste transportation and sorting system operates economically and ecologically on virtually any kind of premises.
Pre-separated waste is transported in biodegradable bags through a sealed pipeline. Each type of material is delivered to an appropriate container for recycling, disposal or use as an energy source.
“The main innovation of the XMIT system is that different waste fractions can be transported in the same pipe, making separation eas
Amid concern over fuel costs, parking and air quality, it’s time to reconsider carpooling. The new system called Dynamic Carpool offers the pros of ride-sharing without the cons.
Now in use at Amsterdam’s Schiphol business park, the mobile-phone-based system links riders and drivers in a flexible, hassle-free manner.
“For the first time, we offer real-time matching of trip requests and offers in an ‘eBay’ manner,” says Antti Hannula, CEO for Ecolane. The system enables commuter
Shoppers throughout Europe are enjoying a greater variety of organic potatoes at more affordable prices, according to researchers who publish an international study today.
Several varieties of organic potato, suitable for a range of national palates and cuisine, are adorning supermarket shelves across the continent for the first time.
A European study, led by Nafferton Ecological Farming Group at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, found up to ten varieties of potatoes, w
Two specific areas in chromosome 7 and chromosome 16 have been associated with photosensitivity, an epilepsy-related trait, by a team of European scientists in the January issue of Human Molecular Genetics. Photosensitivity or photoparoxysmal response (PPR) is associated with the most common epilepsy of genetic origin –Idiopathic Generalised Epilepsy (IGE) – and comprehension of the genetics behind it is important to a better understanding of IGE and epilepsy in general.
Epilepsie
For some years ago now biochemotherapy has replaced chemotherapy for the treatment of melanomas. In biochemotherapy, together with chemotherapuetic agents, substances that activate the patient’s immune system are used with the objective of obtaining a reinforced immune system in order to help the patient overcome the illness.
Now, however, the activity of a number of these activating substances has been questioned, given that they have not been found to extend the life of the patient compar
A quiet revolution is coming our way. Recent successful trials of European semantic-Web applications suggest that machine-readable data will soon usher in an improved Web that will facilitate information reuse, and provide for painless building and maintenance of community portals.
“Computers struggle to attach meaning to information written in common Web languages such as Hypertext Markup Language [HTML],” says Libby Miller, coordinator of the IST SWAD-Europe project. “One way to h
The Millau viaduct, newly inaugurated by President Jacques Chirac, is now the world’s tallest road bridge. It stands high above the Tarn valley in France’s Massif Central mountains, as seen in this 11 December satellite image from ESA’s Proba.
The bridge is made of a four-lane steel-built roadway stretching across 2460 metres. At its highest the roadway is suspended 270 metres above the Tarn River.
It is supported by seven concrete pillars standing 343 metres tall, greater t
Fossil records of the holes drilled in clam shells before and after a mass extinction two million years ago show patterns of predator-prey behavior indicating that although diversity recovered rapidly, the level of competition has not, according to an article in the journal Science.
The study emphasizes a new way of looking at the consequences of extinction and recovery, by closely observing how individual species interact with each other. “Our work shows that scientists have
An estrogen-like chemical commonly used to synthesize plastic food containers has been shown to encourage the growth of a specific category of prostate cancer cell, potentially affecting the treatment efficacy for a subset of prostate cancers.
According to a study published in the January 1 issue of Cancer Research, such prostate cancer cells proved to be vulnerable to exposure to the chemical BPA (bisophenol A), an industrial chemical and nonsteroidal environmental estrogen used
Elaine Miller desperately wanted to find a way to help her daughter, Hannah, endure an awkward and painful medical examination in which doctors insert a catheter into her bladder, inject a dye and ask her to urinate while being X-rayed.
The girl had been through the procedure four times by age 7, and she dreaded going through it again. So when researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine offered hypnosis, Miller welcomed the chance. “I had tried every angle I could to
A multi-state outbreak of urinary tract infections caused by drug-resistant Escherichia coli was probably due to consumption of a contaminated food product of animal origin, such as meat or milk, according to an article in the Jan. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.
Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are one of the most common infections in women. Although they are not typically considered “outbreak” diseases, it is likely that a cluster of UTIs resulti
When Arizona State University’s Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research Project (CAP LTER) was funded by the National Science Foundation in 1997, more than 50 scientists signed on to do the multidisciplinary research knowing that they were embarking on something unusual – the first ever long-term ecological study of “a human-dominated ecosystem,” aka, a city.
Seven years later, the first phase of the research has been completed and NSF has renewed the proje
A week after the tsunami that hit Asia on 26 December the death toll is still rising. Nearly 140 000 people are confirmed dead, more than 1.8 million people need food aid and an estimated five million are homeless.
The tsunami formed when an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude vertically jolted the seabed by several metres, displacing hundreds of cubic kilometres of water. The epicentre was 320 km west of Medan, just off the west coast of the Indonesia island of Sumatra. The people of Ind
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