The prevailing medical understanding of seizures in the weeks just after epilepsy surgery is that they are likely to be temporary, probably due to swelling or minor trauma suffered by the brain during the operation.

In fact, early seizures after the most common form of epilepsy surgery signal a greatly increased likelihood that the patient will continue to have seizures, according to a study published online January 24, 2005, in the Annals of Neurology (http://www.interscience

The Tekniker Foundation, together with the company EuroOrtodoncia S.L., is designing a new range of orthodontic brackets which have minimum visual or aesthetic impact and which are manufactured by means of microinjection techniques. Dental brackets are small items employed in orthodontics for the correct alignment of the teeth.

The dental bracket market is in full swing worldwide for a number of reasons. In western societies this growth is due to the fact that criteria over buc

After a break in antiretroviral drug therapy in HIV-positive patients, the virus rebounds and begins to multiply. While this was feared to destroy, perhaps irreversibly, patient HIV-specific CD4+ T cells that are preferentially infected by the virus, it has now be shown to actually boost HIV-specific T cell production and activation, thereby boosting the immune response to the virus.

Scheduled interruption and resumption of antiretroviral treatment of HIV-positive patients has gen

Brain cells in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease have surprised scientists with their ability to recuperate after the disorder’s characteristic brain plaques are removed.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis injected mice with an antibody for a key component of brain plaques, the amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide. In areas of the brain where antibodies cleared plaques, many of the swellings previously observed on nerve cell branches rapidl

The scientists found that depressed female monkeys become socially withdrawn and have reduced body fat, low levels of activity, high heart rates and disruptions in hormone levels – all of which are known or suspected characteristics of major depression in women. Their research is based on female monkeys because women are 66 percent more likely than men to experience depression during their lifetimes.

“We believe these monkeys can be a useful model for learning more about depressio

A research team lead by University of British Columbia zoology assistant professor Darren Irwin is the first in the world to demonstrate a genetic gradient–or path of gradually changing genetic traits–between two distinct species that have been isolated by distance. The research challenges the prevailing theory among evolutionary biologists that species evolve only when separated by a geographical barrier.

The findings, published in the January 21 issue of Science magazine, ha

Another important piece to the photosynthesis puzzle is now in place. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have identified one of the key molecules that help protect plants from oxidation damage as the result of absorbing too much light.

The researchers determined that when chlorophyll molecules in green plants take in more solar energy than they are able to immediately us

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine have shown that an antibody treatment administered to the brain surface in mice with Alzheimer disease is capable of rapidly reversing disease-related structural nerve damage. The study will appear online on January 20 in advance of print publication in the February 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

One of the many hallmarks of Alzheimer disease is the presence of deposits or “plaques” made up of amyloid-

University of Pittsburgh findings published in leading European journal

Reduced blood concentrations of a protein called adiponectin appear to indicate a significant risk of cardiovascular disease in one of the first studies to focus on risk of the disorder among patients with diabetes mellitus type 1, previously known as juvenile diabetes. Recent studies suggest that adiponectin, a protein specific to fat tissue, is involved in obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Results of the s

Supplement projects future possibilities and partnering with patients in providing care

A special supplement to the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Journal of Nuclear Medicine examines current and future uses of radionuclide therapy and its importance in medical practice and patient management.

Supplement editors Steven M. Larson, M.D., and Eric P. Krenning, M.D., Ph.D., present a comprehensive overview intended to offer relevant advice to nuclear medicine practitioners

Gene chips, or microarrays, have proven to be immensely important in measuring the activity of thousands of genes at once in such cells as cancer cells or immune cells. The use of these chips has given scientists snapshots of gene activity that lead to better understanding of the genetic machinery of the cells. This understanding has led to new ways to kill cancers or to manipulate the immune system, for example.

Gene chips consist of vast arrays of thousands of specific genetic

Oncogene plays a critical role in tumor formation

Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have identified a new cellular oncogene essential for the development of cancer. Oncogenes are genes that, when mutated or dysfunctional, lead normal cells to become cancerous. The investigators have named the gene POKEMON (for POK Erythroid Myeloid Ontogenic factor). The work is being published in the January 20, 2005, issue of Nature.

“There are a number of g

Australian researchers (Thursday 20 January) announced that they have used pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to avoid a couple having a baby suffering from rhesus factor[1] disease – the potentially fatal condition caused by incompatibility between a baby’s blood and that of its mother.

Their pioneering work resulted in the birth of a healthy baby girl in November 2003 to a couple who had previously had one child severely affected by Rh disease.

Writing in

Cells have protein associated with embryonic development, limb regeneration

A year ago, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers discovered that the spleen might be a source of adult stem cells that could regenerate the insulin-producing islets of the pancreas. In a follow-up to that unexpected finding, members of the same team now report that these potential adult stem cells produce a protein previously believed to be present only during the embryonic development of mam

How do insects smell? Badly, according to a new study, if they lack a certain kind of protein critical to their ability to detect and interpret pheromones – the insect equivalent of “smelling.”

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how a protein, called an olfactory binding protein, links incoming pheromone signals and specific nerve cells in an insect’s brain, which in turn translate those signals. Pheromones are chemical signals given off by animal

A novel antiviral treatment combining nanoparticle and gene silencing technologies thwarts attacks of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — a virus associated with severe bronchitis and asthma, an animal study by University of South Florida researchers found. The study was reported in the January 2005 issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

RSV infects lung cells and can be life-threatening in very young children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. No vaccine or w