In the most comprehensive study of how multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms change over time, Mayo Clinic researchers have found that less than half of patients studied developed worsening disability within 10 years. Their report appears in the current edition of the journal Neurology [Pittock SJ et al. (2004). Neurology 62:51-59].
Knowing how the symptoms of MS change over time provides good news for patients newly diagnosed with MS, who may feel the disease leads to inevitable and uniform dec
What if a personal computer knew how its user is feeling?
That computer on your desk is just your helper. But soon it may become a very close friend. Now it sends your e-mails, links you to the Web, does your computations, and pays your bills. Soon it could warn you when you’re talking too much at a meeting, if scientists at Sandia National Laboratories’ Advanced Concepts Group have their way. Or it could alert others in your group to be attentive when you have something imp
Many types of vegetation have more or less ground cover and recruitment of new individuals often occurs only in temporarily empty patches or gaps. Ever since Watt’s (1947) Presidential address to the BES, the Journal of Ecology has been publishing the results of investigations into the importance of processes in such gaps in the determination of community structure. Three recent papers from Norway, the UK and the USA (Vandvik 2004, Turnbull et al. 2004 and Ewanchuk and Bertness, 2004, respectively –
Researchers at the University of Bradford are looking for a better understanding of how the body can fight-off heart disease – without needing drugs.
Senior lecturer Dr Khalid Naseem in the University’s Department of Biomedical Studies has secured two grants totalling almost £150,000 from the British Heart Foundation to fund two research posts.
Dr Naseem said: “Coronary heart disease is the greatest cause of death in industrialised nations and we are looking for a better understand
LABEIN Tecnological Centre, based in the Basque Country, has developed an innovative system for verifying tunnel safety in the case of fire. The new system, developed at the request of the Gipuzkoa Provincial Government, has been successfully tested in the new Lezarri (Bergara) tunnel on the A1 Eibar-Vitoria motorway.
The novel element in the testing set up by LABEIN, compared to other systems used to date, is that the verification can be carried out in a short period (about 8 hours) and wit
The aim of Navarre engineer Ana Zabalza Aznárez’s PhD thesis – entitled “The inhibition of the biosynthesis of amino acids in ramified chain and their use as a target-site for herbicides” – was to find out what effects herbicides produce on the metabolism of plants so as to enable a more rational use of them.
According to lecturer Zabalza Aznárez, herbicides have undergone considerable development since they began to be developed in the fifties of the last century in order to eliminate wee
Eleven Earth and space scientists say that a recent paper attributing most climate change on Earth to cosmic rays is incorrect and based on questionable methodology. Writing in the January 27 issue of Eos, published by the American Geophysical Union, Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and colleagues in Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States challenge the cosmic ray hypothesis. In July 2003, astrophysicist Nir Shaviv and geologist Jan Ve
Although vaccines developed to help the immune system fight tumors appear to have an impact against early-stage tumors, they have little if any success in slowing the growth of tumors in later stages. Now researchers writing in the Feb. 1, 2004 issue of The Journal of Immunology identify abnormalities in the immune system’s T cells, provide insight into their origin, and describe how these defects can be prevented and “repaired” in animal experiments.
“Conventional thinking and previous s
Grid computing is one of the hot topics in distributed computing. Using a Grid of computers, located around the world, it is possible to carry out truly massive calculations. To achieve this requires a high level of interoperability between computer systems. Addressing this is IST project GRIP. Its system will be used to enable the European Weather services to share resources and allow applications the resources for which are beyond the capabilities of a single service.
Grid computing is o
An interaction between two brain proteins that leads to abnormal brain development has been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine in a study published in the January 22, 2004 issue of the journal Neuron.
The studies in mice, conducted in the lab of Joseph G. Gleeson, M.D., UCSD assistant professor of neurosciences, combines work in both humans and mice to identify a protein kinase called Cdk5 as the “off” switch for a crucial neuronal
Three brain areas of panic disorder patients are lacking in a key component of a chemical messenger system that regulates emotion, researchers at the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have discovered. Brain scans revealed that a type of serotonin receptor is reduced by nearly a third in three structures straddling the center of the brain. The finding is the first in living humans to show that the receptor, which is pivotal to the action of widely prescribed anti-anxiety medication
Findings Could Aid Treatment Planning and Prevention Strategies
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health studying dengue hemorrhagic fever epidemics in Thailand have determined that the disease radiates outward in a traveling wave from Bangkok, the nation’s largest city, to infect every province in the country. According to the researchers’ analysis, the spatial-temporal wave travels at a speed of 148 kilometers per month and takes about eight months to sprea
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today a plan to expand collaboration between national tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS programmes to curb the growing pandemic of TB/HIV co-infection, with a principal focus on Africa where 70% of the world’s 14 million people who are co-infected live.
The new policy guidelines define activities necessary to address the dual epidemic of TB and HIV and gives clear guidance for countries on the circumstances under which these effective activities nee
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a new probe that allows them to watch protein activity in living cells. In their initial study, which focused on a protein tentatively linked to the spread of cancerous cells, the team both proved their new technique works and revealed surprising new details about the protein’s activity.
The protein in this study, neuronal Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (N-WASP), is naturally found in every cell in the bod
A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests two proteins work together in mice to prevent formation of brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
The proteins, apolipoprotein E (apoE) and clusterin, appear to act as “chaperones” orchestrating the clearance of potentially hazardous molecules out of the brain. Ironically, these proteins also have been implicated in a key stage of plaque formation. The study appears in the Jan. 22
Pittsburgh Compound B gives unique view of amyloid plaques in the living human brain
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in collaboration with researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, have laid the groundwork for a new era in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research by completing the first human study of a compound that, through positron emission tomography (PET), enables them to peer into the brains of people with the memory-stealing illness and see the tell
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