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£1.5 million of Executive funding for pioneering research into patient experiences at the University of Stirling’s new Cancer Care Research Centre

Cancer care will only improve by listening more to the experiences of patients and their carers, Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said today. He was announcing £1.5 million of Executive funding for pioneering research into patient experiences at the University of Stirling’s new Cancer Care Research Centre.

6 Apr 2004

Researchers are helping car manufacturers come up with the best ‘audible icons’ to convey alerts

Researchers have subjected volunteers to the sounds of cockerels, bells, babies crying and footsteps to find out how people perceive urgency and pleasantness. The two-year EPSRC-funded project aims to find the most appropriate sounds – such as those of screeching tyres or car horns – to warn drivers of hazards on the road.

6 Apr 2004

Research shows giving Tourette Syndrome patients the drug levodopa normalizes brain activity

Scientists have known for years that abnormal activity involving a brain chemical called dopamine is somehow connected to the movements and vocalizations, or tics, associated with Tourette syndrome. Now neuroscience researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found brain activity in these patients is abnormal during memory tasks, as well.

5 Apr 2004

Common cholinesterase inhibitor eases behavioral symptoms like agitation, depression, and psychosis in patients

The so-called "memory drugs" used to treat Alzheimer's disease and other causes of dementia also ease or prevent a barrage of troublesome behaviors that affect the majority of patients, ultimately lightening the burden on caregivers, researchers have found. They report their results in the March issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

5 Apr 2004

Missed opportunities for addressing HIV testing remain unacceptably high

The researchers, led by Jeffrey Samet, MD, professor of medicine at BUSM and chief of General Internal Medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC), performed a 10-year retrospective chart review of patients seen at an HIV intake clinic between January 1994 and June 2001 who: 1) tested positive for HIV during the 12 months prior to their presentation at the intake clinic and 2) had one or more encounters recorded in the medical record prior to their HIV positive status.

5 Apr 2004

Professor Michael Banner to head ESRC Genomics Research Forum

Professor Michael Banner will join the University from King's College London, to be Director of the ESRC Genomics Research Forum. Professor Banner is well known in science and public policy arenas. He is currently Chair of the Home Office Animal Procedures Committee, and formerly chaired the Department of Health's CJD Incidents Panel.

5 Apr 2004

Yohimbe Tree Bark Hold Promise for Revolutionizing Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

New findings at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute demonstrate the potential of a substance found in yohimbe tree bark to accelerate recovery from anxiety disorders suffered by millions of Americans.

4 Apr 2004

MIT scientists are reporting new insights into how the human brain recognizes objects

MIT scientists are reporting new insights into how the human brain recognizes objects, especially faces, in work that could lead to improved machine vision systems, diagnostics for certain neurological conditions and more.

4 Apr 2004

Dangers of ‘hidden ingredients’ in breakfast cereals

The Stroke Association warned today against the hidden dangers from the high levels of salt, sugar and fat found in many popular breakfast cereals enjoyed by both children and adults.

4 Apr 2004

Compounds that may stop replication of T-cell leukemia virus

Researchers are analyzing several compounds that may inhibit the enzyme that is essential for the reproduction of the Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 (HTLV-I), which has infected 15 to 20 million people worldwide. The virus causes the fatal adult T-cell leukemia in up to 10 percent of those infected.

1 Apr 2004

Lab discovers way to keep short-lived catalysts active for longer than five months

Enzymes, the workhorses of chemical reactions in cells, lead short and brutal lives. They cleave and assemble proteins and metabolize compounds for a few hours, and then they are spent. This sad fact of nature has limited the possibilities of harnessing enzymes as catalytic tools outside the cell, in uses that range from biosensing to toxic waste cleanup.

1 Apr 2004

Gene of immune system linked to severe adverse drug reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)

In a study of Han Chinese patients, researchers have for the first time directly linked a gene of the immune system to a severe adverse drug reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), according to a Duke University Medical Center medical geneticist and collaborators in Taiwan.

1 Apr 2004

Whites and African-American pain thresholds most likely the same

Previous research and anecdotal clinical evidence have suggested that African-Americans tend to be more sensitive to pain than Whites, but the latest research study shows the two groups simply interpret standard pain rating scales differently. The new study also confirms earlier findings that women are more sensitive to pain than men.

1 Apr 2004

Research shows no association between whooping cough vaccine and asthma

Parents who may be concerned by a scare over the side effects of the whooping cough vaccine will be reassured by a new study involving thousands of children. The Department of Health advice that babies should be vaccinated against whooping cough (pertussis) at the age of two, three and four months has been questioned by some scientists who have suggested a link with asthma and allergies.

1 Apr 2004

T-cells in lupus patients avoid apoptosis and are stimulated to produce antibodies against the patients own DNA

Researchers studying autoimmune diseases have found a molecular mechanism that explains how T-cells in lupus patients avoid apoptosis and are stimulated to produce antibodies against the patients own DNA.

1 Apr 2004

Sheffield University pioneers osteoporosis research

A leading osteoporosis expert from Sheffield has been awarded the prestigious Society for Endocrinology Medal and the Kohn Foundation Award for his 25-year commitment to revolutionising the treatment and diagnosis of osteoporosis.

31 Mar 2004

Oxford Biomedica to win Department of Health gene funding

Oxford spinout Oxford Biomedica was yesterday awarded £0.5 million by the Department of Health to conduct the first British gene therapy haemophilia trial.

31 Mar 2004

How rat's genetic blueprint stacks up against those of mice and humans

An international research team, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced it has completed a high-quality, draft sequence of the genome of the laboratory rat, and has used that data to explore how the rat's genetic blueprint stacks up against those of mice and humans.

31 Mar 2004

Scientists seek cause for what makes good cell go bad

Genetic mutations--sudden, random and usually harmful changes to the structure of a gene--are only one factor that determines the ultimate fate of a cell. Chicago scientists have discovered that a non-genetic molecular process also can play a role, and that experimenters can influence this process in bacteria, they report in the April 1 issue of the journal Nature.

31 Mar 2004

Research team has found a new way to streamline gene isolation to determine their functions

A single strand of plant or animal DNA may contain tens of thousands of genes, each programmed to produce a specific protein essential for the growth or survival of the organism. The challenge for geneticists is to isolate individual genes and determine their function -- a painstaking process often requiring years of laboratory trial and error.

31 Mar 2004

Medical Research News

£1.5 million of Executive funding for pioneering research into patient experiences at the University of Stirling’s new Cancer Care Research Centre

Researchers are helping car manufacturers come up with the best ‘audible icons’ to convey alerts

Research shows giving Tourette Syndrome patients the drug levodopa normalizes brain activity

Common cholinesterase inhibitor eases behavioral symptoms like agitation, depression, and psychosis in patients

Missed opportunities for addressing HIV testing remain unacceptably high

Professor Michael Banner to head ESRC Genomics Research Forum

Yohimbe Tree Bark Hold Promise for Revolutionizing Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

MIT scientists are reporting new insights into how the human brain recognizes objects

Dangers of ‘hidden ingredients’ in breakfast cereals

Compounds that may stop replication of T-cell leukemia virus

Lab discovers way to keep short-lived catalysts active for longer than five months

Gene of immune system linked to severe adverse drug reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)

Whites and African-American pain thresholds most likely the same

Research shows no association between whooping cough vaccine and asthma

T-cells in lupus patients avoid apoptosis and are stimulated to produce antibodies against the patients own DNA

Sheffield University pioneers osteoporosis research

Oxford Biomedica to win Department of Health gene funding

How rat's genetic blueprint stacks up against those of mice and humans

Scientists seek cause for what makes good cell go bad

Research team has found a new way to streamline gene isolation to determine their functions

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

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