Results presented at the Cardiovascular Cell and Gene Therapy Conference II

MacroPore Biosurgery, Inc. (MacroPore; Frankfurt: XMP) (MACP.DE) (XMP:GR) today announced pre-clinical findings that suggest for the first time that adipose-derived regenerative cells have the potential to engraft injured myocardium and express markers consistent with differentiation into cardiac myocytes. These results provide early indication that adipose-derived regenerative cells, which include adult stem

Two Dutch researchers have developed a method for managing so-called batch productions. During a batch production, substances react in a reactor vessel according to a certain recipe to produce an end product. After the reaction the reactor is emptied and a new reaction with the same recipe is started.

Chemist Eric van Sprang and chemical engineer Henk-Jan Ramaker have developed a control method that also takes the relationship between various process parameters into account. The current met

Researchers from the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam have discovered a common link between cancer cells and stem cells. Together with colleagues from the University of Zurich, Merel Lingbeek and NWO pioneer Prof. Maarten van Lohuizen published their findings on 18 March 2004 in Nature.

Because cancer cells and stem cells can both reproduce themselves in unlimited numbers, it was suspected that they have something in common. That suspicion proved to be correct. Together with their

The occurrence of avian influenza in humans is a reminder of the vulnerability of people to an emerging pandemic, Mayo Clinic researchers warn in the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Mayo Clinic researchers review the latest outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1 strain) that occurred recently among poultry in eight Asian countries. The researchers review current knowledge about avian influenza and how to manage this emerging disease.

ÒAn immediate prio

A research team comprising of an ergonomist, autism expert and interactive design and media artists, are using ergonomics to design an interactive, polysensory environment for children with ASD (autistic spectrum disorders) to meet the youngsters’ needs in a way that can be tailorable to specific needs.

Delegates to the Ergonomics Society Annual Conference in Swansea this week (14-16 April) will hear from Andree Woodcock, a member of the project team, on how they plan to use the latest mult

Dutch researcher Niels Prins has discovered that elderly people with a lot of damage to the small blood vessels in the brain have a greater chance of developing dementia or depression. The damage is visible on MRI scans as white matter lesions and infarcts of the brain.

Elderly people with serious white matter abnormalities and infarcts were found to deteriorate more quickly in their cognitive functioning than peers with fewer abnormalities. In particular, the processing of information was

An international team of researchers from the University of Helsinki, GeneOS Ltd. and partner institutions announced today that it has made significant discoveries on the causes of asthma. The team’s study, published in the April 9, 2004 edition of Science, reports two novel asthma genes and a set of diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

The implications of the finding are that physicians may be able to identify atopic asthma and allergy patients earlier than is currently poss

A new guideline refutes the current thinking that people with a heart condition called a patent foramen ovale (PFO) who have had a stroke are at greater risk of having a second stroke. The guideline, developed by the American Academy of Neurology, determined that people with a PFO who suffer a stroke with no known cause and receive treatment are at no greater risk of having a second stroke than those who had a stroke and did not have a PFO. The guideline is published in the April 13 issue of Neurolog

Laparoscopy (‘keyhole surgery’) for colorectal cancer could be the future treatment of choice after results of a study from Hong Kong in this week’s issue of THE LANCET show how it is associated with a similar 5-year survival outcome and more favourable recovery time than conventional surgery.

Colorectal cancer is one of the commonest forms of cancer worldwide. Laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer was first introduced a decade ago, although its long-term benefits (5-year survival rate

Oxford Researchers have developed a new, simple, design of accessory MR surface coil which significantly enhances the quality and clarity of deep organ MRI images.

A new design of magnetic resonance imaging surface coil has been developed in which the location, size and improved homogeneity of the magnetic field within the, so called, “sweet spot” of the field coil have been optimised to enhance both the quality and clarity of MRI images of organs located deep in the human body. The device

A study just completed by researchers at the Josephine Ford Cancer Center has resulted in the most comprehensive long-term prostate cancer survival model available to date. An interactive version of the survival model is available online at prostatecalculator.org. Patients and doctors who visit the site can obtain a personalized 10-year survival estimate based on age, race, a few clinical measures, and the kind of treatment being pursued. Once data have been entered, a simple mouse-click provides the

A protein involved in the release of neurotransmitters in the brain is essential to learning and memory in mice, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have found.

A study published today in Neuron offers the first evidence that lack of this protein – known as RIM1 alpha – causes profound deficits in the learning process. The discovery is a major step in understanding the molecular events that underlie learning and memory – complex processes that can be impaired in human ne

Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA reports in the April 6, 2004 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that introduction of the MeCP2 protein into post-mitotic nerve cells of MeCP2 mutant mice rescues the symptoms of Rett Syndrome. This raises the possibility that neurons are functionally normal in a newborn child and that neural dysfunction manifests itself only later due to prolonged MeCP2 deficiency. If correct, therapeut

As attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects around 1 in every 25 school-aged children, managing this condition is of huge social importance. An article published in BMC Psychiatry this week shows that zinc supplements could increase the effectiveness of stimulants used to treat children with the disease. The effects of ADHD on individual children differ, but symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Stimulants are the most common treatment prescribed, but

Review article from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in New England Journal of Medicine

The cure rate for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) might continue to rise with improved use of conventional therapies. But even more effective and less toxic therapies based on genetic and pharmacogenetic studies might one day push the success rate close to 100 percent, according to an article published by investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the Apri

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying vaccinia virus, a close relative of smallpox, have determined that a gene necessary for virus replication also has a key role in turning off inflammation, a crucial anti-viral immune response of host cells.

The discovery, reported this month in the Journal of Virology, potentially broadens the knowledge base of how all poxviruses cause disease and how they may be outwitted by improvements in vaccines against them, said Joa