One of astronomy's big questions is why galaxies forming as recently as 1 billion years after the Big Bang contain so much dust. The leading hypothesis is that supernovae, stars that explode at the end of their lives, contain large amounts of metal-enriched material that, in turn, harbors key ingredients of dust, like silicon, iron and carbon.
Physicians can dramatically reduce the radiation dose delivered to patients undergoing coronary CT angiography in a "triple rule-out" protocol by simply using tube current modulation, according to a study performed at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.
The study included 172 patients who were evaluated using coronary CT angiography without tube current modulation and 95 patients who were evaluated with tube current modulation. The effective radiation dose ranged between 9.9 and 31.3 mSv in patients without modulation; the dose ranged between 5.4 and 16.6 mSv in patients with modulation. "Image quality was comparable to when we didn't use tube current modulation," said Kevin M. Takakuwa, MD, lead author of the study.
Radiologists can now lower the radiation dose delivered by cardiac CT angiography by 39% in adult patients weighing 185 pounds or less, according to a study performed at the University of Erlangen in Erlangen, Germany.
Radiologists have developed a computer based model that aids them in discriminating between benign and malignant breast lesions, according to a study performed at the University Of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, WI. The model was developed by a multidisciplinary group, including radiologists and industrial engineers, led by Elizabeth S. Burnside, MD, Oguzhan Alagoz, PhD, and Jagpreet Chhatwal, PhD.
INDIANAPOLIS – When the need for speed is critical, how can a public health department communicate with doctors and hospitals, sending alerts to help prevent or stop a public health crisis? How can thousands of health-care providers be notified about disease outbreaks, illness from food borne contaminants or even a possible pandemic?
New Rochelle, NY, April 3, 2009—A novel technique for carrying out gene-expression profiling is set to challenge the market dominance of the current, widely used methodology, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN). Some scientists believe that digital gene-expression profiling, a fully quantitative approach for gene-expression analysis, will eventually rival microarrays in this application area, according to the April 1 issue of GEN (http://www.genengnews.com/articles/chitem.aspx?aid=2844).
Ask a simple question, get a simple answer: When Abraham Lincoln was asked how long a man's legs should be, he absurdly replied, "Long enough to reach the ground." Now, by using a new microscopy technique to watch the growth of individual neurons in the microscopic roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, Rockefeller University researchers are turning another deceptively simple question on its head. They asked, "How long should a worm's neurons be?" And the worms fired back, "Long enough to reach their targets."
Gliomas are malignant brain tumors that arise from glial (supporting) cells of the brain. Gliomas are often resistant to chemotherapy. These tumors grow fine extensions that infiltrate normal brain tissue and, in addition, individual tumor cells can form satellites in surrounding tissue. Therefore, it is almost impossible to remove the tumor tissue completely by surgery.
Yet, radical surgical removal of the tumor would substantially improve the prognosis of patients. Surgeons are confronted with the difficulty of discriminating between tumor tissue and healthy brain tissue during surgery. Dr. Eva Frei of DKFZ, collaborating with doctors and researchers of the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, has now developed a method to improve neurosurgery.
New Haven, Conn. — Some of the brightest colors in nature are created by tiny nanostructures with a structure similar to beer foam or a sponge, according to Yale University researchers.
Most colors in nature—from the color of our skin to the green of trees—are produced by pigments. But the bright blue feathers found in many birds, such as Bluebirds and Blue Jays, are instead produced by nanostructures. Under an electron microscope, these structures look like sponges with air bubbles.
(Boston) - Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine's (BUSM) New England Centenarian Study have noted specific personality traits associated with healthy aging and longevity amongst the children of centenarians. The work was conducted in collaboration with scientists from the National Institute on Aging. These findings currently appear on-line in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
LAWRENCE, Kansas — Natalie Ciaccio, a fourth-year graduate student researcher in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas, is investigating what might be an ideal target for anti-cancer drug therapy, and she is focusing her work on brain tumors specifically.
Seventeen people are still dying from lung cancer each week in Northern Ireland despite a small improvement in survival rates for the disease.
The figures are revealed by a report launched today by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) at Queen's University Belfast.
The NICR is holding a joint launch today with Macmillan Cancer Support which has released its own report on the experience of patients living with lung cancer and their carers in Northern Ireland, highlighting that services are not meeting their needs.
Older men who were big during their 20s face an increased risk of suffering from atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heart rhythm. New research from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, reveals that height and weight are both factors.
The results are being published in the latest issue of the European Heart Journal.
