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Virtual reality simulation technology improves carotid angiography skills

Cardiologists can learn to perform risky catheter procedures such as carotid angiography on a virtual patient simulator, rather than on real patients, according to a new study in the May 2, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

3 May 2006

Researchers recommend national uniform newborn screening tests

In a new study, conducted for the federal government and published in a supplement to the May issue of the journal Pediatrics, Stephen M. Downs, M.D. and Aaron E. Carroll, M.D., of the Indiana University School of Medicine, recommend a national uniform panel of newborn screening tests which they found to be cost saving as well as life saving.

3 May 2006

Early myocardial enhancement defects (dark spots) on multidetector CT are valuable predictors of myocardial viability

...in patients who have suffered a heart attack, reported doctors from the departments of cardiology and radiology at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel.

3 May 2006

Study investigates early biology of HIV infection

In July 2005, the race to find a vaccine that would stem the worldwide rate of 13,000 new cases of HIV infection each day moved from competition among research institutions to a strategy of cooperation.

2 May 2006

New method could predict individual patient responses to drug treatments

Scientists from Imperial College London and Pfizer have developed a new method that could predict individual patient responses to drug treatments. The authors anticipate that the development will advance biomedical research further towards development of personalised medicines.

28 Apr 2006

Polycomb proteins key factors in influencing the direction of embryonic stem cell development

Embryonic stem cells may one day provide a means to treat disease, but according to two new reports, they are already revealing remarkable insights into the mysteries of human biology. How humans manage to develop from a single fertilized egg into the trillions of cells that make up a mature adult remains a poorly understood process. Now, using both human and mouse embryonic stem cells, researchers have mapped how a key developmental ingredient controls the genome.

28 Apr 2006

Potential vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis developed

Development of a fundamentally new "candidate," or potential, vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (LEASH-ma-NIGH-a-sis), a parasitic disease that kills about 60,000 people annually, is reported in the current issue of ACS Chemical Biology. Spread by the bite of infected female sand flies, visceral leishmaniasis infects about 500,000 people annually, with the majority of cases occurring in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan and Brazil.

26 Apr 2006

Avian flu vaccine to be developed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Bionostra

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine will collaborate with the prestigious Bionostra Group of Spain to develop an avian flu vaccine. The vaccine will protect against the lethal infection of the H5N1 virus.

26 Apr 2006

Beams of light used to move, select and trap protein molecules

A paper that outlines a new method to use a beam of light to trap protein molecules and make them dance in space has earned a place in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

25 Apr 2006

Vaginal gel zaps AIDS virus - gives women control

According to the researchers if current trials are satisfactory, a safe and effective gel which protects women from the AIDS virus may be available by 2010.

24 Apr 2006

Foot problems change social behaviour - but it doesn't have to be that way

With the average person taking 9,000 steps per day -- more than 600 miles each year -- when feet start to hurt or change in shape, it can really impact a person's life. In fact, according to a new survey, of people who report having foot issues in the past five years, two out of three report that these foot issues, which range from blisters to bunions and heel pain, have changed the kind of shoes they wear, how active they are, where and how far they walk, and so on.

23 Apr 2006

Australian scientists tackle deadly Q fever

Scientists at James Cook University have taken the lead in developing a new vaccine against a highly infectious cattleyard disease caused by a bacteria which has the potential to be developed as a bioterrorist weapon.

20 Apr 2006

Magnetic nanotechnology holds promise in fighting cancer

Detecting cancer and reinventing computing are two challenges that seemingly have little, if anything, to do with each other. That is, unless you are a nanotechnologist like Shan Wang, an associate professor of materials science and engineering and of electrical engineering at Stanford.

20 Apr 2006

Researchers find gene connected to Lupus

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified a variant of a gene that is present in most people with lupus, a complex and chronic autoimmune disease.

20 Apr 2006

New design lets mini-microscope observe cells in vivo

Two eyes are better than one. Or more precisely, two lines of sight are better than one. That's the word from researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine, who have applied this adage to the design of a tiny microscope that is about the size of an M&M.

20 Apr 2006

Adult stem cell implant first in orthopaedic patient

The Royal Melbourne Hospital has performed the world's first implant of cultured specialist stem cells into an orthopaedic patient who suffered a broken femur nine months ago which failed to heal.

19 Apr 2006

New research shows specific mechanisms may not exist for facial recognition

New research from Georgetown University Medical Center suggests that the brain may not have developed a specific ability for "understanding faces" but instead uses the same kind of pattern recognition techniques to distinguish between people as it uses to search for differences between other groups of objects, such as plants, animals and cars.

19 Apr 2006