Someday, your car might have the metallic finish of some insects or the deep black of a butterfly's wing, and the reflectors might be patterned on the nanostructure of a fly's eyes, according to Penn State researchers who have developed a method to rapidly and inexpensively copy biological surface structures.
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Halle/Saale. The number of alien plant species has more than tripled over the last 25 years. This is the finding of a study by European scientists who evaluated the data from 48 European countries and regions. 5789 plant species were classified as alien. 2843 originating outside of Europe, according to the researchers and their publication in the journal Preslia. By contrast, in 1980 only 1568 alien species were registered. Of these, 580 had come from outside Europe. According to the researchers, around six new species arrive in Europe each year on average.
(Boston) – Researchers from the Children's Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program (C-SNAP) at Boston Medical Center and Drexel University School of Public Health, have reported that low-income families in Boston and Philadelphia using food stamp benefits do not have the financial resources to buy the Thrifty Food Plan, the standardized food plan used as the basis for calculating food stamp benefits by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Scientists from Finland, Germany and the ESRF have developed a new X-ray technique for the early detection of breast cancer. This allows 3D visualization of the breast with a high spatial resolution and is extremely sensitive to alterations in the tissue, such as those generated by cancer. This technique could be used in the next years in hospitals. It may help doctors to detect tumours with greater precision than is possible using current X-ray mammography.
Ithaca, N.Y. – September 17, 2008 – Lipitor has been the top-selling drug in the world and has accounted for over $12 billion in annual sales. It has been prescribed to both men and women to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with common risk factors for heart disease. However, a new study appearing in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies was unable to find high quality clinical evidence documenting reduced heart attack risk for women in a primary prevention context. Furthermore, advertising omits label information relevant to women.
National size guidelines for all-terrain vehicles (ATV) are inadequate to ensure the safety of young riders, according to preliminary results from a study by researchers at the University of Kentucky.
Based on initial experiments, the researchers found that national ATV size guidelines for youth – which match the rider's age to a recommended vehicle frame or engine size – do not assure a proper fit. Though results are preliminary and the initial experiments were considered exploratory, the results have profound implications.
The pain due to injury caused by an impingement within the hip joint can be alleviated by means of two surgical techniques in a minimally invasive manner. Arthroscopy is the technique preferred for those cases where the injury is less serious while the femoroacetabular osteoplastica after a small incision is for more serious injuries, according to doctors Juan Ramón Valentí and Pablo Díaz de Rada, director and consultant, respectively, at the Department Of Orthopaedic and Bone Surgery at the University Hospital of Navarra.
DURHAM, N.C. – By coupling a kicked-up version of microscopy with miniscule particles of gold, Duke University scientists are now able to peer so deep into living tissue that they can see molecules interacting.
If future studies in animal models prove fruitful, the researchers believe that their new approach can have a wide spectrum of clinical applications, from studying the margins of a tumor as it is removed from the body to assessing the effects of anti-cancer agents on the blood vessels that nourish tumors.
New research by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Sherbourne Health Centre sheds light on the mental health of bisexual people in Ontario by looking at the context of mental health issues in this group. The Bisexuality, Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being Research Project also found that the existing mental health services do not adequately meet the needs of bisexual people.
Scientists from The Forsyth Institute, Boston, MA, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Utah School of Medicine have developed a new system in which to study known mammalian adult stem cell disorders. This research, conducted with the flatworm planaria, highlights the genetic similarity between these invertebrates and mammals in the mechanisms by which stem cell regulatory pathways are used during adult tissue maintenance and regeneration.
Newborns can be protected from seasonal flu when their mothers are vaccinated during pregnancy, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers observed a 63 percent reduction in proven influenza illness among infants born to vaccinated mothers while the number of serious respiratory illnesses to both mothers and infants dropped by 36 percent. The study is the first to demonstrate that the inactivated influenza vaccine provides protection to both mother and newborn.
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (17 September, 2008) – Monitoring the health of children born to women who attempted suicide while pregnant can shed light on which medicines and what doses are particularly dangerous to developing fetuses, according to researchers from Hungary who publish their findings in a series of reports in a special issue of Toxicology and Industrial Health, published this week by SAGE.
Nowadays we don't only take measurements with simple measuring devices, but also with whole measuring systems. These are very complex and are completely set up from their component parts at the point of use. Vehicle scales are an example of such a system. They weigh vehicles like trains, lorries or cars.
Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have shown in that it might be possible to make tumor cells more sensitive to irradiation and some types of chemotherapy by treating them with a drug that cripples their ability to repair DNA damage caused by these therapies.
BETHESDA, Md. (Sept. 17, 2008) - A group of sedentary and overweight older people placed on a four-month exercise program not only became more fit, but burned off more fat, compared to older sedentary people who were placed on a diet but did not exercise.