Body

Washington, DC (October 26, 2008) —A single administration of a novel, nasally delivered influenza vaccine elicited immune responses in ferrets that were more than 20 times higher than those generated by two injections of the currently approved vaccines, according to a study by NanoBio Corporation. The new vaccine used only half the standard antigen dose to produce this effect.

Washington, DC – New research shows that environmental gains derived from the use of nanomaterials may be offset in part by the processes used to manufacture them. Research published in a special issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology, a peer-reviewed journal owned by Yale University and headquartered at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, highlights the need for improved efficiency in the manufacturing of nanoscale materials to reduce energy use, emissions, solid waste, and the use of toxic input materials.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An innovative systems biology approach to understanding the carbohydrate structures in cells is leading to new ways to understand how inflammatory illnesses and cardiovascular disease develop in humans. The work was described in two recent publications by University at Buffalo chemical engineers.

NEW YORK (October 28, 2008) – CancerCare today announced that despite an overall increase in news reporting on lung cancer, the overall tone of lung cancer media coverage has become significantly more negative. "How the U.S. Media Report on Cancer," an analysis of lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancer coverage, was an independent report conducted by CARMA International Inc. for CancerCare; previous analyses were issued in 2000 and 2004.

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- For decades, the J.R. Macdonald Laboratory at Kansas State University has been known worldwide as a center for atomic collision physics using particle accelerators. Now, researchers at the lab are working toward making it known for ultrafast laser science.

AMES, Iowa -- An Iowa State University researcher is exploring a new method of getting medicine to the eyes of infected dogs that is more effective and reliable than using eye drops.

Dr. Sinisa Grozdanic, an assistant professor of veterinary clinical sciences at Iowa State's College of Veterinary Medicine, is working with a drug manufacturer to develop a method of implanting biodegradable medicine into the tissue surrounding a dog's eyes. The medicine releases gradually and treats the infected eye for an entire year.

As part of the ongoing poll series, Debating Health: Election 2008, the Harvard Public Opinion Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Harris Interactive conducted a new survey focused on whether voters believe the results of this presidential election will make "a great deal of difference" in the state of the nation's health care and other key policy areas.

Philadelphia -- Minimally-invasive surgery for lung cancer called video-assisted thoracic surgery or VATS is a relatively new procedure performed almost exclusively at academic centers. Now, a preliminary study to be presented this month at the annual CHEST meeting in Philadelphia is giving surgeons an early look at its benefits.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 28, 2008) — Scientists at NanoBio Corporation have demonstrated for the first time in humans that a novel topical treatment for cold sores (herpes labialis), NB-001, speeds healing of lesions as effectively as the leading oral systemic drugs but without safety or toxicity concerns.

Around 150,000 people per year get African sleeping sickness, a disease spread by the biting tsetse fly and caused by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Unless treated, the illness is invariably fatal. And the only available medicines are either difficult to administer, expensive, or toxic. The widely used drug melarsoprol, for example, is essentially arsenic dissolved in antifreeze.

An international team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Basel in Switzerland have issued a report on the mechanism of toxicity of a chemical compound called Dibutyltin (DBT). Their findings will be published by PLoS ONE on October 28.

CHICAGO - While history has taught us that looks matter for everyone from presidential candidates to the person next door, the economic crisis is forcing many consumers to re-evaluate their cosmetic surgery plans. The results of consumer and plastic surgeon polls are being release in conjunction with Plastic Surgery 2008, the annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) at McCormick Place in Chicago October 31st through November 5th.

Washington, DC – New research shows that environmental gains derived from the use of nanomaterials may be offset in part by the processes used to manufacture them. Research published in a special issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology (JIE), a peer-reviewed journal owned by Yale University and headquartered at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, highlights the need for improved efficiency in the manufacturing of nanoscale materials to reduce energy use, emissions, solid waste, and the use of toxic input materials.

Measures to tackle the human impact on biodiversity require long term research and collaboration between many countries working with common goals and frameworks. This emerged from a recent workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF), which moved towards establishing an ESF Research Networking Programme (RNP) for ecosystem and biodiversity analysis on the back of existing initiatives.

Development planners and policymakers in developing countries need accurate information about the poverty of the population. The risk of food shortages or other poverty-related problems is an ever present threat. This is certainly the case in rural Uganda where there is a lot of poverty among smallholder farmers. However, the usual method of assessing poverty in terms of expenditure often fails to work here, as the farmers frequently produce for their own consumption.