University | Page 491 of 574

Eyes :: Funnel in the eye: Signal focusing increases photosensitivity

In poor light the eyes of mice react like some digital cameras: they reduce their resolution while at the same time increasing their sensitivity. Specialists in the retina focus the information of several light sensor cells for this purpose. Scientists from the University of Bonn and their colleagues from Oldenburg, Bochum and Kobe (Japan), have now discovered how all this works. The study will be published on 3 November in the prestigious Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Backache :: Backache beaten by good vibrations?

University of Manchester researchers are recruiting people with backache caused by nerve root pain — commonly known as sciatica — in the first ever study to discover if therapeutic ultrasound can help their condition.

Health :: T-ray breakthrough could make detecting disease far easier

A breakthrough in the harnessing of “T-rays” — electromagnetic terahertz waves — which could dramatically improve the detecting and sensing of objects as varied as biological cell abnormalities and explosives has been announced by a team led by the University of Bath.

Child Care :: Needs of families with disabled children remain largely unmet

The social and economic needs of families with a disabled child are high, but remain largely unmet, argue researchers in this week’s BMJ.More disabled children and young people live in the UK than ever before (about 770,000 according to criteria defined in the Disability Discrimination Act) and the number of children with the most severe or complex needs is also increasing, write social policy experts from the University of York.

Liver Transplant :: Predicting survival after liver transplant

A new model based on specific characteristics of the donor and the recipient may help predict survival after liver transplantation, according to a new study. Published in the November 2006 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS), the author writes, “This model could be used to inform liver transplant candidates and their doctors what post-transplant survival would be expected when a given donor is offered and may be particularly helpful in marginal or high risk donors.”

Health :: Dopamine used to prompt nerve tissue to regrow

Georgia Tech/Emory researchers have integrated dopamine, a type of neurotransmitter, into a polymer to stimulate nerve tissues to send out new connections. The discovery, published in PNAS, is the first step toward the eventual goal of implanting the polymer into patients suffering from neurological disorders to help repair damaged nerves.

Health :: Chemists make tiny molecular rings with big potential

Ohio State University chemists have devised a new way to create tiny molecular rings that could one day function as drug delivery devices or antibiotics. The rings are made from polymers — large molecules that are made up of many smaller molecules — and the chemical reaction that creates them is similar to others that create polymer chains. But this new reaction solely makes rings, ones tailored to perform specific functions.

Stroke :: Doctors launch new effort to treat stroke more effectively

Just a small fraction of patients who have a stroke receive the only drug — TPA — available to treat the condition. Now doctors and scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have developed a potential new treatment that will reach a milestone in the next few months, when the experimental treatment is tested for the first time in people who have suffered a stroke or “brain attack.”

Gingivitis :: Common antacids could help keep gingivitis at bay

Chemicals commonly used to treat heartburn also display fighting power against the oral bacteria linked with gum disease, according to researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center and G?teborg University in Sweden.

Breast Cancer :: Some key laboratory breast cancer cell lines are, indeed, good models for the ‘real’ disease

In this era of molecular medicine, controversy among cancer researchers is increasing as to whether the laboratory cells they study — and upon which human treatment is based — accurately reflect the biology of “real” tumors growing in a person’s body. Some argue that cancer cells that learn to live in a flat lab dish cannot reflect cancer in the body, but others say that without any other way to study cancer, they seem to have performed well.