A glowing, eerily beautiful image of a water flea with its radiant green "crown of thorns" took top prize in the 2009 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®, the world's foremost forum for showcasing microscope photos and movies of life science subjects. Dr. Jan Michels, a zoologist at the University of Albrecht, Kiel, Germany, took top honors for the image of a water flea, with its defensive "crown of thorns" to protect it against predators. The image reveals not only the exoskeleton, but also interior detail down to the nuclei within its cells, seen as tiny, glowing blue dots. This [More]

Between 17-21 October 2009, the 39th annual conference of the Society of Neuroscience drew some 30,500 people to the great city of Chicago, which was more balmy than windy for the occasion. Your Alzforum reporters have been busy roaming the halls, buttonholing scientists for their comments on the presentations, and putting together reports on the most significant advances. [More]

A commentary in the December issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases brings to light the gaps in knowledge on the transmission of a common pathogen - the influenza virus - and its impact on decisions about how best to protect health care workers. Infectious diseases specialist Leonard Mermel, DO, medical director of infection control for Rhode Island Hospital, looks at the ongoing debate in light of the H1N1 pandemic, what past research tells us about the spread of influenza, and what is missing in the debate. His commentary is currently available in an online first edition. [More]

Maja Mataric', who directs the University of Southern California Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems, will lead an effort to evaluate robots as exercise coaches for adults of all ages, with a particular focus on the elderly. [More]

A workshop on "Neuroeconomics and Endocrinological Economics," to be held Nov. 20 and 21 at UC Davis, will be the first to bring together experts in neuroscience, economics and hormone physiology in one event, according to organizers. [More]

Astellas Pharma Inc. and XenoPort, Inc. today announced that a new drug application (NDA) has been filed with the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Device Agency (PMDA) in Japan for ASP8825 (gabapentin enacarbil), also known as XP13512, as a potential treatment for restless legs syndrome (RLS). [More]

The human brain is bombarded with all kinds of information, from the memory of last night's delicious dinner to the instructions from your boss at your morning meeting. But how do you "tune in" to just one thought or idea and ignore all the rest of what is going on around you, until it comes time to think of something else? [More]

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine set out to address a question that has been challenging scientists for years: How do dietary restriction-and the reverse, overconsumption-produce protective effects against aging and disease? [More]

AstraZeneca today announced it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ticagrelor, an investigational oral antiplatelet treatment for the reduction of major adverse cardiac events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). [More]

Dr. Donald Weaver, a Halifax researcher with unmatched credentials, received the Prix Galien Research Award at a ceremony in Ottawa last night. Known as the Nobel Prize of pharmaceutical research, this award is the highest distinction worldwide for biopharmaceutical work, and the most prestigious in the field of Canadian pharmaceutical research and innovation. [More]

Australian scientists have significantly advanced our understanding of dopamine release from nerve cells, findings that should speed the development of more effective drugs for treating Parkinson's Disease. [More]

There is good news for women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant. A new study shows that pregnant women with multiple sclerosis are only slightly more likely to have cesarean deliveries and babies with a poor prenatal growth rate than women who do not have MS. [More]

AstraZeneca today announced the results of the phase II studies, ONSET/OFFSET and RESPOND for ticagrelor (BRILINTA(TM)) at the annual American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions in Orlando, FL,with ONSET/OFFSET study results being simultaneously published in the medical journal Circulation. [More]

During its research into the application of neuroscience in business, a New Jersey based think tank, The Center for Modeling Optimal Outcomes®, LLC (The Center) made an inadvertent and amazing discovery. [More]

A new analysis of the JUPITER trial, released today at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Florida, demonstrates that CRESTOR (rosuvastatin calcium) 20mg reduced first major cardiovascular events by 46%. [More]