A new type of laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) holds the promise of diagnosing skin cancer in a single snapshot.
Typical LSCMs take 3-D images of thick tissue samples by visualizing thin slices within that tissue one layer at a time. Sometimes scientists supplement these microscopes with spectrographs, which are devices that measure the pattern of wavelengths, or "colors," in the light reflected off of a piece of tissue.
Watching a funny movie or sitcom that produces laughter has a positive effect on vascular function and is opposite to that observed after watching a movie that causes mental stress according to research conducted at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.
"The idea to study positive emotions, such as laughter came about after studies had shown that mental stress caused blood vessels to constrict", says Dr. Michael Miller, Professor of Medicine and lead investigator.
The echocardiographic response (reduction of left ventricular end-systolic volume) evaluated at 6 months follow-up, demonstrated to be a better predictor of long-term mortality than improvement in clinical status in a large population of CRT patients. Therefore, assessment of occurrence of left ventricular reverse remodeling at mid-term follow-up may be an adequate surrogate end point in heart failure patients treated with CRT.
WASHINGTON – While most research into video games and aggressive behavior has focused on violent games, competitiveness may be the main video game characteristic that influences aggression, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
Device management using a home monitoring system with daily telemetry in patients with ICDs (implantable cardioverter defibrilators) is a safe alternative to conventional monitoring and could decrease the number of inappropriate shocks, according to results of the ECOST study, a multicentre randomised trial performed in France.
Winston-Salem, N.C. -- New research from Wake Forest University has advanced the field of plastic-based flexible electronics by developing, for the first time, an extremely large molecule that is stable, possesses excellent electrical properties, and inexpensive to produce.
The first nuclear power plant being considered for production of electricity for manned or unmanned bases on the Moon, Mars and other planets may really look like it came from outer space, according to a leader of the project who spoke here today at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
James E. Werner said that innovative fission technology for surface power applications is far different from the familiar terrestrial nuclear power stations, which sprawl over huge tracts of land and have large structures such as cooling towers.
An international team of scientists, funded in the UK by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), has sequenced the genome of a Chinese cabbage variety of a plant called Brassica rapa, a close relative of oilseed rape. The research, which is published today (28 August) in the journal Nature Genetics, could help improve the efficiency of oilseed rape breeding, as well as that of a host of other important food and oil crops.
A new skin test can determine the age of wild animals while they are still alive, providing information needed to control population explosions among nuisance animals, according to a report here today at the National Meetingof the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Randal Stahl, Ph.D., said that the improved method will provide important information about the health and stability of herds, flocks and other populations of wild animals, which lack the established birth dates of prized cattle, horses, and many household pets.
A new University of Alberta study says when it comes to goal setting, your unconscious mind can be a great motivator.
Alberta School of Business researcher Sarah Moore and colleagues from Duke and Cornell universities say that unconscious feelings about objects in the environment influence the pursuit of long-term goals. Their study explores how the unconscious mind responds to objects in relation to an individual's goals—and how the unconscious continues to influence feelings about these objects once the goals are reached—whether or not the outcome has been successful.
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Zoologists at Oregon State University have discovered that a freshwater species of zooplankton will eat a fungal pathogen which is devastating amphibian populations around the world.
This tiny zooplankton, called Daphnia magna, could provide a desperately needed tool for biological control of this deadly fungus, the scientists said, if field studies confirm its efficacy in a natural setting.
A caesium fountain clock that keeps the United Kingdom's atomic time is now the most accurate long-term timekeeper in the world, according to a new evaluation in the October 2011 issue of Metrologia by a team of physicists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom and Penn State University in the United States.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have created a mathematical model – and an accompanying online weight simulation tool – of what happens when people of varying weights, diets and exercise habits try to change their weight. The findings challenge the commonly held belief that eating 3,500 fewer calories – or burning them off exercising – will always result in a pound of weight loss.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois researchers are giving a light answer to the heavy question of cell growth.
Led by electrical and computer engineering professor Gabriel Popescu, the research team developed a new imaging method called spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) that can measure cell mass using two beams of light. Described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the SLIM technique offers new insight into the much-debated problem of whether cells grow at a constant rate or exponentially.
Physicists with the Institute of Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers (IUSL) at The City College of New York have presented a new way to map spiraling light that could help harness untapped data channels in optical fibers. Increased bandwidth would ease the burden on fiber-optic telecommunications networks taxed by an ever-growing demand for audio, video and digital media. The new model, developed by graduate student Giovanni Milione, Professor Robert Alfano and colleagues, could even spur enhancements in quantum computing and other applications.