Pregnant women living under stressful conditions and those who use tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs have compromised immune system responses that threaten the health of both mother and baby, according to a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University Medical Center.
The results suggest that elevated levels of inflammatory biomarkers called cytokines – small protein molecules that transmit signals within the immune system – are an early risk factor for prem
Dartmouth physicians and engineers are collaborating to test three new imaging techniques to find breast abnormalities, including cancer. Results from the first stage of their research, information about the electro-magnetic characteristics of healthy breast tissue, appears in the May 2004 issue of Radiology, the journal of the Radiological Society of North America.
The interdisciplinary team, which includes researchers from Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering and Dartmouth Medical
An independent researcher reporting at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) finds that “Custom” or…
The fastest known cryptographic system based on transmission of single photons—the smallest pulses of light—has been demonstrated by a team at the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The transmissions cannot be intercepted without detection, so that messages encrypted with the system can be kept secret.
The NIST “quantum key distribution” (QKD) system transmits a stream of individual photons to generate a verifiably secret key–a random seri
Computer security – or the apparent lack of it – is increasingly a worry for network administrators. But viruses and other such vulnerabilities are no mystery for Europe’s Computer Security Incident Response Teams, now also finding their feet in the European Union’s newest Member States.
Creating and managing Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) is just one of the topics at this year’s Computer Security Incident Handling Conference. Organised by FIRST (Forum of
People who have lost or damaged teeth could soon be growing their own, thanks to a major scientific breakthrough by a start-up, Odontis Ltd, formed by King’s College, London. An investment of £400,000 from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) – the organisation that nurtures UK creativity and innovation and the Wellcome Trust biomedial research charity, will enable the company to move onto the next stage of development.
Damaged or missing teeth are a large and
An increasing number of new auto buyers choose diesel engines. For asthmatics and those with allergies this is very unfortunate. Particles in diesel exhaust can both worsen and trigger allergic reactions.
“Tough, raw and macho”. Such is the advertising for many new off-road vehicles on the market today. They can drive in the mud as well as on pavement and they most often use diesel. It is no longer the “macho boys” that drive these vehicles – now they have also become very popular as family
Hope for people with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases may ultimately come from their own bodies. Research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 56th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif., April 24 – May 1, 2004, shows that cells taken from adult human bone marrow can be converted into brain stem cells that meet the criteria for transplantation into the brain.
“It’s exciting to think that some day a p
Cohort study of sibling effect, infectious diseases, and risk of atopic dermatitis during first 18 months of life BMJ Online First
Having siblings, keeping a pet, or living on a farm helps protect infants against the development of atopic (allergic) diseases, but early infections increase the risk, according to new research from Denmark. This study will be available on bmj.com on Friday 30 May 2004.
Researchers conducted four separate interviews with over 24,000 pregnant wom
Researchers are testing the feasibility of using radar technology to detect mold behind gypsum wallboard. A common problem, hidden mold can cause serious structural damage and health problems before homeowners discover it.
Hoping to develop a non-destructive and less expensive method than is now available to detect mold behind walls, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) scientists are collaborating with humidity control expert Lew Harriman of Mason-Grant Consulting in a two-year feasibili
A new breed of faster, more powerful computers based on quantum mechanics may be a step closer to reality, report scientists from Purdue and Duke universities.
By linking a pair of tiny “puddles” of a few dozen electrons sandwiched inside a semiconductor, researchers have enabled these two so-called “quantum dots” to become parts of a transistor – the vital switching component in computer chips. Future computers that use quantum dots to store and process digital information might outperform
Irrigation by surge flooding, a technique used essentially in rice cropping, involves the input of large volumes of water. In some regions, this water does not infiltrate to any depth. Poor infiltration like this can cause severe loss in soil quality and harm crops. Recent investigations on such a situation in a rice field in the River Senegal valley, involving water budget monitoring for 100 days, the length of a cropping season, have confirmed a lack of water infiltration below 40 cm depth. Scienti
Erosion of genetic diversity of crop plants has for several decades been making it necessary to develop initiatives for protecting these plant resources. One strategy is in-situ conservation of crop plants. The model currently advanced involves maintaining the varieties to be conserved isolated in reserves, protected from entry of other varieties from elsewhere and cultivated according to ancestral farming practices. Researchers from the IRD and the CIMMYT of Mexico (1) used work previously conducted
“Regime shifts” are infrequent, large changes in oceanic conditions that spread through the food web. Depending on dynamics of the ecosystem, the response of a biological organism to some external forcing can be smooth, abrupt, or discontinuous.
In a paper published in the current issue of Progress in Oceanography, Dr. Jeremy Collie, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, Dr. Katherine Richardson, University of Arhus, Denmark, and Dr. John Steele, Woods Hole Oceanograph
Compound could be used to prevent biofilm formation
A Center for Behavioral Neuroscience research team led by Georgia State University biologist Charles Derby has identified the genetic sequence of an anti-microbial protein called Escapin found in the ink of the common Aplysia sea slug or hare. The finding could have implications for the development of new anti-bacterial industrial compounds to prevent the formation of damaging biofilms on marine materials such as ship hulls, fishing
Scientists have unraveled the behavior of one key component of bacteria, a finding that may lead to better, more effective antibiotics.
The researchers studied a mechanism of action they call the “magic spot” – an important regulator of gene expression. They describe their results in the current issue of the journal Cell.
Researchers know that the magic spot – a molecule known as guanosine-tetraphosphate or ppGpp – is involved in how bacteria respond to amino acid starvation.
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