A report in the journal Nature describes the first experiment in which a single photon is coherently coupled to a single superconducting qubit (quantum bit or “artificial atom”).
This represents a new paradigm in which quantum optics experiments can be performed in a micro-chip electrical circuit using microwaves instead of visible photons and lasers. The work is a collaboration of the laboratory of Professor Robert Schoelkopf and the theory group of Professor Steven Girvin in the
A program that targets allergens and tobacco smoke in the home resulted in fewer asthma symptoms in children participating in the intervention than in those who were not, according to a new study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in seven metropolitan areas nationwide. Children taking part in the intervention had 21 fewer days of asthma symptoms over the one-year course of intervention.
The study–co-funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dis
In recent years, scientists have made important strides in developing drugs that help patients manage the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease – a chronic, progressive movement disorder affecting as many as one million Americans. But despite their effectiveness, the drugs don’t stop Parkinson’s disease from progressing, causing patients’ symptoms to eventually grow worse in spite of medication.
Now, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that two spec
Soils provide humans with a whole range of irreplaceable ecosystem services the production and maintenance of which are largely dependent on the actions of the animal communities which inhabit them. Apart from the substantial agricultural production made necessary by humanity’s demand for food, soils filter and store water, holding back erosion and flooding. They provide a large proportion of the nutrients necessary for plant growth and for maintaining biodiversity, and at the same time limit g
Physical symptoms (such as headache, back pain, stomach problems, joint or muscle pains, and dizziness) are nearly as common in depression as emotional symptoms and are the predominant complaint depressed patients present with in the primary care setting.
A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine examined the prevalence, impact on quality of life, and outcome of physical symptoms in depressed patients during nine months of antidepressant therapy. While physical sy
Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS announces its latest MPEG-4 AV solutions – now available as free evaluation software. At IBC 2004, Fraunhofer IIS will present “DSL-TV”, a combination of MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding and the most advanced low bit-rate multi-channel audio coding scheme.
To introduce recent developments within the open multimedia standard MPEG-4 to the public, Fraunhofer IIS offers a public download of an MPEG-4 AV evaluation software suite today. The d
Exposing babies and young children to music has a positive impact on their learning, researchers from Northumbria University will tell a conference this week.
In addition to enhancing their musical development, it appears to have a significant positive impact on their social development as well as literacy and numeracy.
The conference in Newcastle on Friday (10 September) will reveal the interim findings on a three-year study funded by Youth Music involving 750 children f
The ways in which European countries respond to the ‘new social risks’ which result from changes in patterns of work and family life vary considerably. Britain’s response has placed the country firmly at the forefront of current directions in EU welfare policy, according to research to be presented by Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby of University of Kent at the University of Oxford on 9 September. This is despite traditionally low expenditure on welfare and a strong commitment to the market.
A new way of taking pictures of the retina could give medics a powerful new tool in diagnosing and monitoring the most prevalent diseases of the eye — glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age related macula degeneration. The technique was revealed today at the Institute of Physics conference Photon 04 in Glasgow.
By 2020 there will be 200 million visually-impaired people worldwide but 80% of these cases are preventable or treatable. For this to happen, screening and early detection
A drug that is already being tested as an anticancer agent, especially in lymphoma, may also reduce the kidney disease that is a result of systemic lupus, according to a researcher at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
The drug, SAHA (suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid ), inhibited the onset of lupus-related kidney disease in mice with lupus, said Nilamadhab Mishra, M.D., an assistant professor of internal medicine – rheumatology, writing in the Sept. 15 issue of The Journa
International experts will (Wednesday 8 September) consider the evidence for a link between the rise in childhood leukaemia and increased light at night at an international scientific conference in London.
The incidence of childhood leukaemia increased dramatically in the twentieth century. The increase has mainly affected the under five age group, in whom the risk increased by more than 50 per cent during the second half of the century alone.
Although the causes of leuka
In the first study of its kind, researchers at the Temple University School of Medicine will analyze whether the frequent monitoring and adjustment critical to the management of diabetes during pregnancy can be better accomplished virtually. The ultimate goal is to reduce large birth weights, which can pave the way to later problems such as obesity and diabetes.
Gestational diabetes, which typically occurs toward the end of pregnancy, affects 3 to 5 percent of all women in the United Stat
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) present significant new discoveries on West Nile virus, monkeypox, and yellow fever in four papers in the September issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The articles are summarized below, and can be found on the EID web site at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index.htm.
• In “Year-Round West Nile Virus Activity, Gulf Coast Region, Texas and Louisiana
Scientists conclude that, 65 million years ago, a 10-kilometer-wide asteroid or comet slammed into what is now the Yucatán peninsula, excavating the Chicxulub impact crater and setting into motion a chain of catastrophic events thought to precipitate the extinction of the dinosaurs and 75 percent of animal and plant life that existed in the late Cretaceous period.
“The impact of an asteroid or comet several kilometers across heaps environmental insult after insult on the world,” said
A mixed epigenetic and genetic and mixed de novo and inherited model may explain most cases of autism
Researchers have proposed a new hypothesis on the cause of autism, suggesting a mixed epigenetic and genetic and mixed de novo and inherited (MEGDI) model. Their hypothesis, and evidence to support it, will be published September 8, 2004 in the online edition of the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, and will be available via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.w
Novel Gene Therapy for Bladder Cancer Shows Strong Results in Animal Studies HOUSTON – Gene therapy that causes the bladder to act like a “bioreactor” to produce and secrete the anti-cancer agent interferon-alpha has shown dramatic benefits in preclinical tests, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The researchers say their findings, published in the September issue of Molecular Therapy, suggest this gene therapy strategy holds much promise for tr
Feedback
