Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a pair of rapid-fire tests for botulinum toxin, a feat that could underpin new technologies to thwart bioterrorism and spur the development of agents to blunt the toxic action of the world’s most poisonous substance.
Writing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the Wisconsin group, led by UW-Madison physiologist Edwin R. Chapman, describes the development of two assays for
First study in early-stage patients provides additional insight into how psychosocial interventions impact disease management
A new study shows that cognitive-existential group therapy (CEGT), a psychosocial intervention designed to improve the mood and attitude of patients with breast cancer, does not improve survival of women with early-stage disease. The study, to be published online September 27 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, is the first to evaluate the impact of CEGT on
Findings could have implications for treating lung disease
Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have identified a master gene that controls the first breath a newborn infant takes. The findings could have implications for treating premature babies and children and adults with lung disease or lung injury. While other genes have been identified as having roles in lung development, this master gene, called Foxa2, controls key factors that allow the lungs o
Despite a long-standing international ban on ivory trade, African elephants continue to be killed in large numbers for their prized tusks. But a team headed by a University of Washington biologist has devised a new means of determining the geographic origin of ivory that could prove a potent tool in slowing elephant poaching and the illegal ivory trade by identifying hot spots where enforcement should be increased.
It is relatively easy to monitor elephant populations with flights
Short stretch of DNA sequence fast, accurate method for identifying species
The task of identifying Earth’s estimated 10 million species has daunted biologists for centuries – fewer than two million have been named. Using a technique called DNA barcoding, researchers at Rockefeller University and two Canadian institutions have uncovered four new species of North American birds. The findings are reported in the September 28 issue of Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology.
Benefits of non-drug techniques top most popular sleeping pill, Ambien
A study by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School has found cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is more effective than sleeping pills in treating chronic sleep-onset insomnia. The findings, which appear in the Sept. 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, show non-drug techniques yield better short and long-term results than the most widely prescribed sleeping
Pregnant women are at higher risk for the occurrence or worsening of restless legs syndrome (RLS), a movement disorder that affects up to 10 percent of the general population, according to a study reported in the September 28 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers in Milan, Italy, recently concluded a large and detailed epidemiological study on RLS during pregnancy and six months postpartum that demonstrates at least one in four
Manipulation unit of an ndt|analyser with X-ray tube Wunstorf/Germany, November 2003. The conditions for the physical and the ecological safety…
A leading biological scientist from the University of Southampton is warning of massive increases in the UK’s fly population if temperatures continue to rise.
Experts predict average temperatures will increase by three degrees or more within the next few years, if global warming continues across the planet. Dr Dave Goulson from the University’s School of Biological Sciences says this could mean the fly population growing by 97 per cent. He bases his predictions on work done at a landf
Since it started orbiting Saturn last June, the Cassini mission has returned incredible images of the gas giant, its dazzling rings and its enigmatic moons. But its most dramatic chapter will come this January, when a European lander probe (Huygens) that has been piggybacking on Cassini for the last seven years is sent on a fiery plunge into the murky atmosphere of Saturn’s largest and most mysterious moon, Titan–a chapter that would have ended in disaster, save for an engineer called Boris Sm
Stem cell research. Just the mention of the controversial study stirs up a storm of debate.
The divisive research has become a political hot potato, even emerging as a campaign issue. One presidential candidate has declared it an ethical and moral issue that must not be treated lightly; the other has pledged to lift a partial ban on the research. In California, voters will vote on a measure that would devote $3 billion to human embryonic stem cell experiments.
Even a prom
Internationales Symposium “Hepatitis C und verwandte Viren” in Heidelberg / Viel versprechende Wirkstoffe in ersten klinischen Studien / Neues Zellsystem erlaubt Virusvermehrung im Labor
Anlässlich des 11. Internationalen Symposiums “Hepatitis C und verwandte Viren” vom 3. bis 7. Oktober 2004 in der Stadthalle Heidelberg lädt Professor Dr. Ralf Bartenschlager, Ärztlicher Direktor der Abteilung Molekulare Virologie des Universitätsklinikums Heidelberg und hauptverantwortlicher Organ
Ten years ago, Valter Longo had an inkling of a theory of aging that is now challenging the dogma of one of science’s heavyweights – Charles Darwin.
From graduate school to a career as an assistant professor in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Longo’s ideas were questioned by peers and students alike as he explored a new way to look at aging that directly opposes principles set forth by Darwin in his theory of
Getting expertise where it is needed in wastewater treatment is the goal of TELEMAC, which has developed remote, and local monitoring and control solutions so industries can obtain all the benefits of anaerobic waste treatment while minimising costs and complications.
The TELEMAC system is currently being evaluated at three pilot sites ahead of extensive testing next year in preparation for commercialisation, potentially heralding a major boost for the use of anaerobic treatment, a cl
A team of University of Surrey scientists led by Professor Ahmet Kondoz has developed new technology which will enable companies and organisations to ensure that their GSM mobile phone conversations are totally secure and confidential. Previous attempts to make such conversations totally secure have been successful, but relied on a special GSM data service which resulted in some operational problems. In particular these solutions require expensive dedicated handsets and subscriptions, and calls betw
Pneumonia—one of the world’s deadliest diseases for young children in developing countries—could be treatable by the oral antibiotic amoxicillin rather than injectable penicillin, with implications for better health outcomes and reduced costs, conclude authors of an international study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.
Nearly 2 million children under 5 years of age die every year in developing countries from respiratory diseases such as pneumonia. Penicillin given by injection is t
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