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News | Archive (February 2011)
Immune molecule regulates brain connections
— 28 Feb 2011 | HealthThe number of connections between nerve cells in the brain can be regulated by an immune system molecule, according to a new study from UC Davis. The research, published Feb. 27 in the journal Nature Neuroscience, reveals a potential link between immunity, infectious disease and conditions such as schizophrenia or autism…
Study looks at how homeless kids' use of online social networks can affect sexual behaviour
— 28 Feb 2011 | HealthA new UCLA AIDS Institute study suggests that the use of social networking websites by homeless youth can lead to an increase in risky sexual behaviours. But interestingly, homeless kids who used these sites were also more likely to have been tested for sexually transmitted infections and to be better informed about preventing such infections and HIV…
Smartphones - the grip of death
— 28 Feb 2011 | TechnologyThe growth in the demand of smartphones has highlighted the complexities of wireless communications through problems of reduced sensitivity when the user holds some devices. New research has been investigating this problem, along with developing new solutions to overcome the loss of connectivity…
Gene fuelled transporter causes breast cancer cells to self-destruct
— 28 Feb 2011 | HealthScientists at Queen's University Belfast have shown that they can deliver a gene directly into breast cancer cells causing them to self-destruct, using an innovative, miniscule gene transport system, according to research published today (28 February) in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics…
Stretched rubber offers simpler method for assembling nanowires
— 28 Feb 2011 | TechnologyResearchers at North Carolina State University have developed a cheap and easy method for assembling nanowires, controlling their alignment and density. The researchers hope the findings will foster additional research into a range of device applications using nanowires, from nanoelectronics to nanosensors, especially on unconventional substrates such as rubber, plastic and paper…
Free radicals may be good for you
— 28 Feb 2011 | HealthFear of free radicals may be exaggerated, according to scientists from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. A new study, published in the Journal of Physiology, shows that free radicals act as signal substances that cause the heart to beat with the correct force…
Hearing loss rate in older adults climbs to more than 60 percent in national survey
— 28 Feb 2011 | HealthNearly two-thirds of Americans age 70 and older have hearing loss, but those who are of black race seem to have a protective effect against this loss, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins and National Institute on Aging researchers. These findings, published online Feb. 28 in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, provide what is believed to be the first nationally representative survey in older adults on this often ignored and underreported condition…
Drug to fight tumours also fights the flu and possibly other viruses
— 28 Feb 2011 | HealthEver get a flu shot and still get the flu? If so, there's new hope for flu-free winters in the years to come thanks to a new discovery by researchers who found that a drug called DMXAA, originally developed as anti-tumour agent, enhances the ability of flu vaccines to ward off this deadly virus. A new research report appearing in the March 2011 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org) suggests that DMXAA could assist flu vaccines by causing the body to produce its own antiviral proteins, called interferons, which interfere with the virus's ability to spread. In addition, DMXAA may be a useful antiviral therapy to treat newly emerging strains of the flu for which a vaccine has not be developed…
TU Delft simulates breaking waves
— 28 Feb 2011 | TechnologyThe SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) wave prediction model developed at TU Delft has been a huge international success for many years. This model predicts the distribution of wave heights close to the shore. It was recently expanded to include the SWASH (Simulating WAves till SHore) model, which enables the modelling of wave behaviour right up to the shore, including how they break and overflow…
Binge eaters' dopamine levels spike at sight, smell of food
— 28 Feb 2011 | HealthA brain imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory reveals a subtle difference between ordinary obese subjects and those who compulsively overeat, or binge: In binge eaters but not ordinary obese subjects, the mere sight or smell of favourite foods triggers a spike in dopamine - a brain chemical linked to reward and motivation. The findings - published online on February 24, 2011, in the journal Obesity - suggest that this dopamine spike may play a role in triggering compulsive overeating…
Spitzer catches star cooking up comet crystals
A Venus figurine from the Swabian Jura rewrites prehistory