Will allow non-invasive study of neurochemistry, behavior, and disease progression
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated that a miniature positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, known as microPET, and the chemical markers used in traditional PET scanning are sensitive enough to pick up subtle differences in neurochemistry between known genetic variants of mice.
This “proof-of-principle” experiment, described i
A family history of breast cancer does not increase a woman`s chances of developing womb cancer, finds a 20-year study in the Journal of Medical Genetics.
Cancers of the lining of the womb (endometrium) and breast share some of the same reproductive, hormonal, and lifestyle risk factors. The evidence for a genetic link between the two types of cancer has so far been inconclusive.
But a team from the US National Cancer Institute and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Scientists at the Institute for Animal Health have revealed how a tropical bacterium is able invade cells, and ultimately trigger its escape using a homemade rocket. Their work is published in the November issue of Molecular Microbiology.
A group of scientists led by Dr Ed Galyov and Dr Mark Stevens have discovered that Burkholderia pseudomallei , which causes a disease called melioidosis, uses a special set of `effector` proteins to invade host cells. Their discovery has revealed surp
The best thing since sliced bread may be bread crust: Researchers in Germany have discovered that the crust is a rich source of antioxidants and may provide a much stronger health benefit than the rest of the bread.
This is good news for those who like to complement their holiday meals with bread stuffing, which is rich in crust, but bad news for those who prefer to remove crusts from their bread, as they may be sacrificing healthful antioxidants. The research findings are scheduled to appe
Generating rainfall for deserts using wind power and seawater is the subject of a new research project.
The idea involves the installation at sea of specially designed wind turbines. The turning motion of the rotors would be harnessed to pump seawater along the turbines’ hollow blades. The water would then be forced out through slits as a fine spray. These drops would evaporate, with salt falling back into the sea and a cloud of water vapour drifting inland, increasing the probabilit
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers report a 50 percent reduction in the number of deaths among kidney hemodialysis patients who are given a new drug that helps prevent excess phosphorus from accumulating in the bloodstream. “The drug, lanthanum carbonate, is effective. It’s well-tolerated, and patients find it reasonably easy to take,” said Dr. William Finn, nephrologist and professor of medicine at UNC.
Study findings will be presented Saturday (Nov. 2) at the Amer
Populations of marine fish may lose genetic diversity even if fishing stops while there are still several million individuals – a number previously assumed to be enough to preserve a diverse gene pool.
Losing the diversity of key genes can render a population less productive and unable to adapt when faced with challenges such as global warming, pollution or changes in predators or prey. Rare genetic variation of little importance today might be the key to adaptability in the future, accordin
A compound that enables squirrels to hibernate may one day help minimize brain damage that results from stroke, according to a researcher at the Medical College of Georgia and Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta.
In an animal model for stroke, delta opioid peptide reduced by as much as 75 percent the damage to the brain’s striatum, the deeper region of the brain and a major target for strokes, according to Dr. Cesario V. Borlongan, neuroscientist.
In fact, evidence suggests t
Like farmers across the nation bringing in their crops this season, researchers in Wisconsin are carefully taking stock of a very special harvest – one grown aboard the International Space Station.
They’ve measured and weighed plants, counted seeds, and collected additional physical information from the first-ever soybean crop grown aboard the orbiting research laboratory.
Now, the research team will begin several months of chemical and biological tests on the plants that w
A group of researchers in Trondheim, Norway, are the first in the world to use in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to separate benign tumors from cancer. Ingrid Susann Gribbestad shows, in her recently published thesis, how one can discover breast cancer and monitor the treatment by using this new technology. The work is financed by the Norwegian Cancer Society and the Research Council of Norway.
www.kreft.no: The research behind this thesis was done at the Foundation
May increase susceptibility to inflammatory diseases such as allergic, autoimmune or cardiovascular diseases
Chronic stress not only makes people more vulnerable to catching illnesses but can also impair their immune system’s ability to respond to its own anti-inflammatory signals that are triggered by certain hormones, say researchers, possibly altering the course of an inflammatory disease. This finding is reported on in the November issue of Health Psychology, published by the
A new computer program devised by British physicists can quickly spot tiny beetles, rodent droppings and ergot (a poisonous mould) in grain destined for flour and bread manufacture. The researchers reveal details of their work today in the Institute of Physics journal Measurement Science and Technology.
Professor Roy Davies and his colleagues in the Machine Vision Research Group at Royal Holloway, University of London, in Egham, Surrey, have found they can run their program on a conventional
Using a technique based on the work of the 1902 Nobel Prizewinner, Pieter Zeeman, an international team of astronomers have, for the first time, provided conclusive proof that the magnetic field close to a number of aging stars is 10 to 100 times stronger than that of our own Sun. These observations suggest a solution to the long outstanding problem as to how, at the end of their lives, a perfectly spherical star can give rise to the complex and often far from spherical structure seen in the resultin
Astronomers have been puzzled for decades as to how the rings of hot gas surrounding certain types of star are formed. Now a team of scientists from the Universities of Glasgow and Wisconsin believe they have found the answer. The team studied a type of young, hot star, known as a “Be star”, that has a disk of glowing gas around it, similar to the rings surrounding Saturn. Until now, no one has been able to account for how these rings form but in a paper published this month*, the team suggest an ans
Nitric oxide is a natural part of the body’s immune defense. Linköping University researcher Thomas Schön has studied this compound in connection with the skin disease leprosy and the lung disease tuberculosis. The Swedish researcher has found that nitric oxide probably contributes to the disease in the case of leprosy but, on the other hand, plays a positive role in protecting against tuberculosis. This role can be reinforced by adding a supplement of arginine, which is found in peanuts, for example
Models of Larch budmoth outbreaks in the European Alps may eventually show scientists how to model a variety of disease and insect eruptions that rely on a combination of enemy, host and spatial movement to decimate populations, according to a team of ecologists.
“We use theoretical models to help understand the spatial component in these outbreaks and to predict how spatial spread occurs,” says Dr. Ottar N. Bjornstad, assistant professor of entomology and biology at Penn State. “With local
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