The Swedish Radiation Protection Authority has engaged two internationally well-known epidemiologists to review published epidemiological studies on the relationship between the use of cellular telephones and cancer risk. They are Dr. John D. Boice, Jr. and Dr. Joseph K. McLaughlin from the International Epidemiology Institute, USA.
In their review, no consistent evidence was observed for increased risk of brain cancer, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma, ocular melanoma, or salivary gland canc
A new study using a computer climate model to simulate the last 50 years of climate changes, projects warming over the next 50 years regardless of whether or not nations curb their greenhouse gas emissions soon. If no emission reductions are made and they continue to increase at the current rate, global temperatures may increase by 1-2 degrees Celsius [2-4 degrees Fahrenheit]. But if the growth rate of carbon dioxide does not exceed its current rate and if the growth of true air pollutants (substance
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified and described a small gene that regulates the delicate balance involved in the healthy growth and replication of heart muscle cells.
“This finding is likely to be important for our understanding of the causes of congenital heart disease. It is also relevant to our attempts to regrow damaged heart muscle,” said the corresponding author of the study, Jonathan A. Epstein, MD, of Penn’s Departments of Medicine a
Instant detection for chemicals, explosives, and biohazards
A little over a year after September 11, a laser technique is lighting a new path to homeland security. In recent Army laboratory research, this technique instantly detected and identified various explosives.
Preliminary results indicate that it can also tell the difference between several close relatives of anthrax.
Recent breakthroughs now let it detect any known substance, at least in theory. The laser t
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered a protein that regulates growth and development of the heart from its fetal stage to adulthood.
Findings published in today’s edition of Cell report that the protein, named Homeodomain-Only Protein (HOP) by the researchers, is active in controlling heart growth at various stages of development in mice. Dr. Eric Olson, chairman of molecular biology at UT Southwestern and the study’s principal investigator, said the team
Active mountain ranges like the Olympic Mountains, Taiwan Central Range or the Southern Alps are still growing, but they are not getting any taller. River cutting and erosion keep the heights and widths of uplifted mountain ranges in a steady state according to an international team of geoscientists.
“These mountains grew to 2.5 to 3 miles high over the past few million years and then they stopped increasing,” says Dr. Rudy L. Slingerland, professor of geology and head of Penn State’s g
Researchers from the University of Nottingham set out to determine whether people whose marital partners suffered with a certain condition such as depression, high blood pressure or asthma were at increased risk of suffering from the same disease.
Over 8,000 married couples aged between 30 and 74 years of age took part in the study. After adjustments were made for age, obesity and smoking status in both partners it was found that the partners of people with asthma, depression and peptic ulc
Researchers at Oregon State University have made an important advance in the understanding of “micro-RNA” molecules, which are tiny bits of genetic material that were literally unknown 10 years ago but now represent one of the most exciting new fields of study in biology.
The findings will be reported Friday in the journal Science.
They reveal for the first time a new mechanism by which micro-RNA can stop the function of messenger-RNA by literally cutting it in half, interfering wit
A new approach to cancer treatment that replaces a patient’s immune system with cancer-fighting cells can lead to tumor shrinkage, researchers report today in the journal Science*. The study demonstrates that immune cells, activated in the laboratory against patients’ tumors and then administered to those patients, can attack cancer cells in the body.
The experimental technique, known as adoptive transfer, has shown promising results in patients with metastatic melanoma who have not respond
Proteins that work in immune system also play fundamental role in heart size and function
Researchers have identified two proteins that play fundamental roles in heart size and function and have genetically uncoupled them, a discovery the scientists hope will lead to better treatments for those with cardiovascular disease.
“We initially had a hint that the protein called PTEN controls cell size,” says Josef Penninger, professor of medical biophysics and immunology at U of T,
A high-fidelity spectrometric system for studying the behavior of drops and particles in industrial flame reactors has been constructed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in collaboration with researchers at the University of Arizona. The instrument was used to study the potential of thermal combustors for reducing the volume of liquid nuclear wastes for safe, long-term storage.
Vitrification of radioactive waste into glassy solids is the most popular approach f
A new group of arthritis drugs recommended by NICE for patients at risk of gastrointestinal complications may be safer than traditional drugs, research in this week’s BMJ suggests.
Claims that the drugs, known as selective COX2 inhibitors, caused fewer gastrointestinal problems than traditional arthritis drugs led to an increase in their use, but the research on which they were based was criticised.
Two studies in this week’s BMJ, however, show that the risk of gastrointestinal comp
A longitudinal study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET provides compelling evidence that breastfeeding does not protect against asthma and atopy in childhood and early adulthood—authors of the study suggest that breastfeeding may actually increase the risk of these diseases.
Breastfeeding is widely advocated to reduce the risk of atopy and asthma, but the evidence for this effect is conflicting. Malcolm Sears and colleagues from McMaster University, Canada, and the University of Otago, New
Results of a preliminary study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that Viagra may have a future role in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (increased blood pressure in the pulmonary artery), a severe and potentially fatal condition causing respiratory impairment.
Lung fibrosis (scarring of the lungs due to inflammation of the alveoli) can be complicated by pulmonary hypertension. Hossein Ardeschir Ghofrani and colleagues from University Hospital, Giessen, Germany, did a prelimi
Microbes can withstand extreme levels of atmospheric ultraviolet light (UV) by producing their own sunscreens. Unlike humans, some bugs may even be able to survive without any help from the ozone layer scientists heard today (Thursday 19 September) at the Society for General Microbiology autumn meeting at Loughborough University.
“A group of microbes called cyanobacteria produce substances called mycosporines in response to UV light. We’ve shown that this is an ancient mechanism dating back
Two scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have described how a plant grown in their laboratory uses two sets of proteins to detect the seasons so that it can flower at the right time. And by tinkering with those proteins, the scientists were able to make the plant flower at will.
“We have demonstrated, for the first time, how plants can anticipate the seasons so that they can flower appropriately,” says Marcelo Yanovsky, Ph.D., who is a research associate at TSRI and the lead
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