Following a series of well documented natural disasters with grave human and economic consequences, the ability to predict these devastating events has once more come to the fore as a research priority for the European scientific community.This, amongst other things, is what leading scientists in ocean margin research came together to discuss at the recent EUROMARGINS conference in Bologna, Italy.
The eye can provide a very reliable way of diagnosing cerebral malaria, researchers in Malawi have shown. By looking at the changes to the retina, doctors are able to determine whether an unconscious child is suffering from this severe form of malaria or another, unrelated illness, leading to the most appropriate treatment.
Going into another flu season, a new study reports that hospitalizing children for influenza may cost up to three or four times the previously accepted estimates. Pediatric researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia say their finding strengthens the economic justification for broadly vaccinating children against flu. The cost of influenza-related hospitalizations in children was about $13,000 each — compared to prior estimates of $3,000 to $4,000.
Negative perceptions about radiation therapy can strongly influence a prostate cancer patient’s choice to avoid external beam radiation therapy, even though studies have proven the treatment to be as safe and effective as other treatments for the disease, including surgery, according to a study presented November 5, 2006, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s 48th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.
UCSD bioengineers report in the November issue of Nature Genetics rapid evolutionary changes in a bacterial genome, observed in near-real time over a few days. Scientists have previously published static “snapshots” of the genome sequences of more than 100 bacterial species, but this new report shows how these genomes are moving targets.
Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School have discovered a previously unknown cause for a severe, early-onset form of kidney disease and renal failure in children: recessive mutations in a gene called phospholipase C epsilon or PLCE1.
Public health communications professionals from around the country honored a joint effort by the University of Washington and Public Health – Seattle & King County to prepare public health workers and people in related fields to get emergency information out to the general public quickly and effectively.
An effective contraceptive for men would make a welcome new family planning option. Researchers report that male rats given an experimental new treatment became infertile within four weeks, and that the effect was reversible. The accomplishment might lead researchers to a safe and effective contraceptive for men.
The stickiness of human neurons may have been a key factor in why the human brain evolved beyond the brains of our primate relatives. In a study comparing the genomes of humans, chimpanzees, mice and other vertebrates, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Joint Genome Institute (JGI) found a strikingly high degree of genetic differences in DNA sequences that appear to regulate genes involved in nerve cell adhesion molecules. Cell adhesion controls many aspects of brain development including growth and structure, and enables neurons to connect with other neurons and supportive proteins. Differences in the molecular connections of human neurons compared to the neurons of chimps, mice and other animals, could help explain why the human brain is capable of far more complex cognitive functions.
A team of researchers has used computer simulations to explain how cells adhere so firmly to blood vessel walls.