Skeletal muscle has a remarkable capacity to regenerate following exercise or injury and harbors two different types of adult stem cells to accomplish the job: satellite cells and adult stem cells that can be isolated as side population (SP) cells. A certain group of these stem cells is involved in muscle tissue repair, but is only triggered into the muscle cell development pathway by injury. The question then arises: what molecular factors turn these adult stem cells into muscle cells? Now Michael
A new guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology evaluates the use of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) to determine when use of the test leads to better informed decisions by doctors and improved patient outcomes. A TCD is an ultrasound test that uses reflected sound waves to evaluate blood as it flows through the brain. TCD is mainly used to evaluate patients with cerebrovascular disease.
The guideline, which is published in the May 11 issue of Neurology, the scienti
Researchers have recently confirmed a set of indicators that, alone and in combination, identify shingles patients who have an increased risk of developing persistent pain after the shingles rash heals. Results and implications of their study will be presented in the May 11 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Shingles (herpes zoster) has the highest incidence of all neurological diseases, affecting approximately half a million Americans annually.
The body’s own defences could be programmed to attack disease to order if two University of Leeds’ scientists succeed in proving their innovative theory.
Dr Graham Cook and Dr Erica de Wynter from the Molecular Medicine Unit have secured £125,000 to investigate the unique way antibody genes are assembled and how they can be harnessed to fight disease.
Scientists don’t often get funding for research where there is no preliminary data or background information but the pair have been f
If rising global temperatures cause the ice streams of Western Antarctica to break up, major cities and agricultural heartlands the world over would be submerged. Researchers from the University of Leeds’ School of Geography are set to embark on a £1m, three-year project to find out exactly how stable they are.
The project, the biggest of its kind to date, will drill up to 2.2km down into the Rutford ice stream in Western Antarctica to determine its stability and see how close it is to break
The main role in new findings about neovessel formation is played by a protein called tissue factor. This factor turns out to have both a stimulatory function and an inhibitory function in the generation of blood vessels. Normally these two functions neutralize each other, but in diseases like retinopathy – where unwanted blood vessels grow into the retina – this balance is disturbed. The research team shows this in an article in the May issue of Nature Medicine.
Tissue factor is found in th
Seas and oceans are a vital resource for Europe and the world, particularly in terms of fishing and extracting minerals. But our oceans are now under intense pressure from over-exploitation and more than ever need to be managed in a sustainable way. To help ensure the protection and sustainable use of marine resources, 500 leading scientists, policy makers and other stakeholders will meet today, and for three days, at the EUROCEAN2004 conference in Galway (Ireland). The Commission will present lates
Plant chemicals created during the preparation of some vegetables could kill colon cancer cells in a similar way to some cancer drugs.
Scientists at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) have found that natural chemicals sabotage the uncontrolled cell division of colon cancer cells. Cancer cells are immortal because they divide indefinitely, unlike healthy cells which commit suicide at the end of their lifecycle as part of a constant process of renewal.
The plant chemical all
Australian scientists have developed a breakthrough low-cost, lightweight, concrete technology that is set to lower costs and speed up construction projects from residential homes to high-rise buildings.
HySSIL (High-Strength, Structural, Insulative, Lightweight) panels are manufactured using a new low energy, process developed by CSIRO Novel Materials & Processes. Dr Swee Liang Mak, who leads the HySSIL development team at CSIRO says, ’HySSIL is a revolutionary aerated cementitious (cement
With often over 200 alarms installed on today’s ships, the risk of information overload is real. TELEMAS’ tool can track and manage alarms by taking input from the various computers and alarms on board and presenting them to the crew in a uniform and structured way.
With funding from the IST programme TELEMAS developed a middleware tool called Umbrella. “It brings together information from various data sources on board. For instance, you might have a cruise vessel that has over 1,
Microchip miniaturization is making quality control-related measurement of features during the production process increasingly difficult. New National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) software and research results* should help manufacturers reduce errors in measuring microchip features which today measure less than 37 nanometers (about 1.5 millionths of an inch) in width and are expected to shrink to 25 nanometers (about 1 millionth of an inch) by 2007.
Currently, most semicondu
Loggerhead sea turtles may be getting sick because of environmental exposure to toxic organic chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) and pesticides, according to a new study led by Duke University, with collaboration from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and other organizations.
Released on April 21 in the online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, the study found that turtles with higher concentrations of contaminants had poorer health. T
Using improved processing equipment developed with support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program, American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) has produced lengths of record-breaking high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire.
The company recently announced that it achieved electric current carrying capacity in multiple 10-meter lengths of second-generation (2G) HTS wire equal to or better than 250 Amperes per centimeter of width, an indust
Researchers, using a new combination of techniques, have discovered that dopamine levels in our brains vary the most in situations where we are unsure if we are going to be rewarded, such as when we are gambling or playing the lottery.
The research results, “Dopamine Transmission in the Human Striatum during Monetary Reward Tasks,” were published online April 28 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Dopamine has long been known to play an important role in how we experience rewards from
If imported fire ants dreamed – and who knows if they do or don’t – then a tiny protozoa could be their worst nightmare.
Even better news: Texas A&M University System entomologists have completed a survey that detected the protozoa in fire ant colonies in approximately 120 of the 157 Texas counties where they have been found.
Once a colony is infected, the protozoa debilitates the queen, the workers and even the larvae. The disease shortens their the ants’ life sp
While less educated people report fewer stressful days than those with more education, their stress is more severe and has a larger impact on their health, reports a researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and his colleagues in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
Joseph G. Grzywacz, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, said studies on stress typically overlook daily stressors or hassles, which are
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