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New X-ray microscope shows nanomaterials in 3D

Using a new x-ray microscope that can look at nanomaterials in three dimensions, an international research team has produced the first detailed atomic structure of a core-shell nanoparticle.

18 Dec 2006

Aptamer-capped nanocrystal quantum dots

Quantum dots, used increasingly as bright fluorescent markers in basic research and diagnostic assays, must be coated, or capped, with one of a wide variety of organic molecules in order to stabilize these nanocrystals and prevent them from aggregating when added to water.

18 Dec 2006

Nanostructured calcium phosphates (NanoCaPs) for non-viral gene delivery

Though gene therapies hold great promise for treating cancer, it has proven difficult to deliver therapeutic genes efficiently into cancer cells.

18 Dec 2006

Mammalian pharmacokinetics of carbon nanotubes using intrinsic near-infrared fluorescence

In the first experiments of their kind, researchers have determined that carbon nanotubes injected directly into the bloodstream of research lab animals cause no immediate adverse health effects and circulate for more than one hour before they are removed by the liver.

18 Dec 2006

Breast cancer screening for under 50's of little benefit

It seems that it remains debatable whether screening women under 50 years old for breast cancer significantly reduces deaths from the disease.

12 Dec 2006

Epidurals affect how successful breastfeeding will be

According to researchers in Australia having an epidural to relieve labour pains may affect how successful breastfeeding will be.

12 Dec 2006

Scans show hysteria is caused by a brain dysfunction

Hysteria is an unexplained neurological disorder in which a patient complains of symptoms, ranging from numbness in a limb, to paralysis, memory loss and seizures, that cannot be traced to any known medical problem and doctors fail to find anything medically wrong with them.

12 Dec 2006

Research offers hope for alcoholics

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have discovered a system in the brain that stops an alcoholic's craving for alcohol, as well as prevent relapse once they have recovered from alcohol addiction.

12 Dec 2006

Successful lung cancer surgery not enough to break nicotine dependence in many smokers

A new study has found that close to half of 154 smokers who had surgery to remove early stage lung cancer picked up a cigarette again within 12 months of their potentially curative operation, and more than one-third were smoking at the one year mark. Sixty percent of patients who started smoking again did so within two months of surgery.

12 Dec 2006

Media multitasking among American youth

The Kaiser Family Foundation released a new report and hosted a forum on media multitasking among young people.

12 Dec 2006

New oral contraceptive not such a bitter pill

A company in the United States has come up with the first chewable birth control tablet.

11 Dec 2006

Infant car seats can be a killer

According to researchers in New Zealand by leaving young infants sleeping unattended in car seats, even when they're brought indoors, can be a killer.

11 Dec 2006

Health officials accused over cover up in deaths from vCJD

A cover up on the part of British health authorities meant a man who had been infected with CJD from contaminated blood during a transfusion was not told until he was dying what was really wrong with him.

11 Dec 2006

AIDS and malaria go hand in hand

Researchers believe they may well be a link between two of the biggest killers in Africa, Malaria and AIDS.

11 Dec 2006

Bird flu vaccine ready in a year but who will get it first?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says a vaccine against the killer H5N1 bird flu virus could be licensed for humans within a year.

11 Dec 2006

Report says children exposed to too much radiation by CT scans

According to a report by a Canadian expert, children are being exposed to excessive amounts of radiation when they have a CT scan.

11 Dec 2006

Substantial new scientific evidence supports medics in Libyan HIV court case

A team of international scientists have produced new information that questions the evidence against the six medics on trial in Libya accused of deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV.

11 Dec 2006

New diabetes drug Rimonabant again proves to be a good option

A new study has found that a new diabetic drug helped improve blood sugar control and also promoted weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes.

6 Dec 2006

Mobile phones given a clean bill of health

A team of Danish researchers have found that using a cellular phone does not increase a person's risk of cancer.

6 Dec 2006

Vascular targeted nanoparticles for imaging and treatment of brain tumors

Combining two promising approaches to diagnosing and treating cancer, a multidisciplinary research team at the University of Michigan has created a targeted multifunctional polymer nanoparticle that successfully images and kills brain tumors in laboratory animals.

4 Dec 2006