news 2011

Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and can reduce blood supply to the heart tissue and damage cardiac cells, resulting in heart failure. New research has investigated if nerve growth factor (NGF) gene therapy can prevent diabetic heart failure and small vascular disease in mice.

A new malaria vaccine with the potential to neutralise all strains of the most deadly species of malaria parasite has been developed by an Oxford University-led team. The scientists from the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford have shown that their vaccine induces an antibody response in animal models that is capable of neutralising all the strains they tested of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum .

Cambridge, MA - Astronomers using NASA's Kepler mission have detected two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant star. This discovery marks a milestone in the hunt for alien worlds, since it brings scientists one step closer to their ultimate goal of finding a twin Earth. "The goal of Kepler is to find Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone.

Women who are at risk for breast cancer may also be at greater risk for heart disease, new research from the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital has found. The majority of women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer have a mutated form of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, which normally suppress the growth of breast and ovarian tumours.

20 Dec 2011 A drug that removes excess copper from people with diabetes resulting in improved function of the heart is to be tested in a national trial led by researchers in Manchester. The research team has received funding of £430,000 for the phase 2B trial from the J P Moulton Charitable Foundation, set up by entrepreneur Jon Moulton to fund non-commercial clinical trials.

Hospitals vary greatly in the number of patients who see an internal medicine specialist before major non-cardiac surgery, with rates ranging from five per cent of patients to 90 per cent, new research from the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital has found.

Learning is when you change your behaviour in the light of new experience, and this is what a locust needs to do when it gets caught up in the crowd." —Dr Swidbert Ott from the University of Cambridge Department of Zoology New research has found that a protein associated with learning and memory plays an integral role in changing the behaviour of locusts from that of harmless grasshoppers into swarming pests.

Researchers from The Australian National University have discovered a new treatment for Type-1 diabetes - an autoimmune disease which currently affects some 130,000 Australians. Charmaine Simeonovic and Professor Christopher Parish from The John Curtin School of Medical Research have identified a previously unknown process which causes destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.

Identifying the composition of the earth's core is key to understanding how our planet formed and the current behavior of its interior. While it has been known for many years that iron is the main element in the core, many questions have remained about just how iron behaves under the conditions found deep in the earth.

A fundamental problem that has long puzzled scientists has been solved after more than 70 years. An international team of researchers has discovered a subtle electronic effect in magnetite, the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals. The effect causes a dramatic change to how this material conducts electricity at very low temperatures.

The two most common weapons to fight influenza are an annual immunization and the use of antiviral drugs. A team of investigators has found that statins - a drug widely used to lower cholesterol - may offer additional benefits that complement these approaches and reduces mortality among patients with influenza.

Emotional differences between the rich and poor, as depicted in such Charles Dickens classics as "A Christmas Carol" and "A Tale of Two Cities," may have a scientific basis. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that people in the lower socio-economic classes are more physiologically attuned to suffering, and quicker to express compassion than their more affluent counterparts.

Humans pump thousands of tons of vapor from the metallic element mercury into the atmosphere each year, and it can remain suspended for long periods before being changed into a form that is easily removed from the atmosphere. New research shows that the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere work to transform elemental mercury into oxidized mercury, which can easily be deposited into aquatic ecosystems and ultimately enter the food chain.

A research group has developed a new strategy to fight cancer. Blood vessels in the environment of tumours are killed with a new molecule which leads to the "starvation" of the tumour. Compared to currently applied treatments, this new strategy has a series of advantages. Modern cancer therapeutics produced by biotechnological methods, often are based on antibodies.

In an example of life imitating art, biologists and bioengineers at UC San Diego have created a living neon sign composed of millions of bacterial cells that periodically fluoresce in unison like blinking light bulbs. Their achievement, detailed in this week's advance online issue of the journal Nature, involved attaching a fluorescent protein to the biological clocks of the bacteria, synchronizing the clocks of the thousands of bacteria within a colony, then synchronizing thousands of the blinking bacterial colonies to glow on and off in unison.

After birth, the developing brain is largely shaped by experiences in the environment. However, neurobiologists at Yale and elsewhere have also shown that for many functions the successful wiring of neural circuits depends upon spontaneous activity in the brain that arises before birth independent of external influences.

The new measurements are approximately 100 times higher in resolution than previous mechanical measurements, a nanotechnology feat which reveals an isolated protein molecule, surprisingly, is neither a solid nor a liquid. "Proteins are the molecular machines of life, the molecules we are made of," Zocchi (UCLA) said.

Nitrogen from human activity has been polluting lakes in the northern hemisphere since the late 19th century. The clear signs of industrialisation can be found even in very remote lakes, thousands of kilometres from the nearest city. This is shown in new research findings published today, Friday, in the journal "Science".

Physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider have received an early Christmas present. Using apparatus partly designed in Bristol, the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) collaboration has presented the first tentative evidence of the Higgs boson. The discovery of this new particle has been described as the 'holy grail of particle physics' and would confirm our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature.

Us Stephanie Berger 212-305-4372 Email sb2247 [a] columbia (p) edu Gay men are able to lead healthier, less stress-filled lives when states offer legal protections to same-sex couples, according to a new study examining the effects of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. The study, "Effect of Same-Sex Marriage Laws on Health Care Use and Expenditures in Sexual Minority Men: A Quasi-Natural Experiment," is online in the American Journal of Public Health .