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DRCRF names 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review.

11 Jul 2012

SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free-electron Laser demonstrates shortest wavelength and high peak output

A detailed technical introduction to the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free-electron Laser (SACLA) appeared online in Nature Photonics. The attention on the world's second XFEL facility comes in response to its record-breaking size and performance: SACLA boasts the shortest wavelength in the world (0.63 Angstroms), an extremely broad wavelength range (0.63 - 3 Angstroms) and a very high peak output of 10 GW.

30 Jun 2012

Enrollment commences in Stealth Peptides' Bendavia Phase II clinical study for acute STEMI

Stealth Peptides Incorporated, a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for cardiovascular disease and its complications, announced today that the first patient was enrolled in its multinational Phase II clinical study with Bendavia focused on ischemia reperfusion and microvascular injuries for patients experiencing acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

25 Jun 2012

Selenium reduces Staph populations in medical implants

Selenium is an inexpensive element that naturally belongs in the body. It is also known to combat bacteria. Still, it had not been tried as an antibiotic coating on a medical device material. In a new study, Brown University engineers report that when they used selenium nanoparticles to coat polycarbonate, the material of catheters and endotracheal tubes, the results were significant reductions in cultured populations of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, sometimes by as much as 90 percent.

22 Jun 2012

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles from pomegranates

Food waste is a growing problem in many parts of the world, but discarded fruit peel, in the case of pomegranates, could be put to good use in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology according to research published in the International Journal of Nanoparticles.

20 Jun 2012

Paper spotlights unique developmental strategy undertaken by all mammals

Ask the average person the street how the brain develops, and they'll likely tell you that the brain's wiring is built as newborns first begin to experience the world. With more experience, those connections are strengthened, and new branches are built as they learn and grow. A new study conducted in a Harvard lab, however, suggests that just the opposite is true.

7 Jun 2012

Initial data to construct first whole-brain wiring diagram of vertebrate brain

Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) reached an important milestone today, publicly releasing the first installment out of 500 terabytes of data so far collected in their pathbreaking project to construct the first whole-brain wiring diagram of a vertebrate brain, that of the mouse.

2 Jun 2012

Breakthrough in nanotechnology could make laboratory tests more sensitive

A laboratory test used to detect disease and perform biological research could be made more than 3 million times more sensitive, according to researchers who combined standard biological tools with a breakthrough in nanotechnology.

2 Jun 2012

Molecular structure of APP protein could lead to new therapeutics for AD

The molecular structure of a protein involved in Alzheimer's disease - and the surprising discovery that it binds cholesterol - could lead to new therapeutics for the disease, Vanderbilt University investigators report in the June 1 issue of the journal Science.

1 Jun 2012

Partnership between Molecular Profiles and GEA Process Engineering to demonstrate benefits of new technology

Molecular Profiles, a leading specialist contract research and manufacturing organisation, announces that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with GEA Process Engineering - the company behind the world-recognized GEA Niro spray drying technology.

29 May 2012

Table-top solid-state laser system cuts brain tissue with unprecedented precision

Researchers from the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI) were involved in the development of a table-top solid-state laser system that could cut brain tissue with unprecedented precision. The achievement is a result of an interdisciplinary EU project that involved partners from seven European countries.

25 May 2012

Scientists decipher structure of bacterial injection needles at atomic resolution

The plague, bacterial dysentery, and cholera have one thing in common: These dangerous diseases are caused by bacteria which infect their host using a sophisticated injection apparatus. Through needle-like structures, they release molecular agents into their host cell, thereby evading the immune response.

21 May 2012

Administering vitamin K2 could possibly help patients with Parkinson's

Neuroscientist Patrik Verstreken, associated with VIB and KU Leuven, succeeded in undoing the effect of one of the genetic defects that leads to Parkinson's using vitamin K2. His discovery gives hope to Parkinson's patients.

11 May 2012

DFG to establish seven new research units

The establishment of six new Research Units and one Clinical Research Unit has been decided by the Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). These networks will offer researchers the opportunity to address current and pressing issues in their fields and to pioneer innovative approaches. As all DFG Research Units, the new groups will work across locations and disciplines. Clinical Research Units combine clinical, applied and basic research.

8 May 2012

Zinc oxide could increase risk of skin cancer

As vacationers prepare to spend time outdoors this summer, many of them will pack plenty of sunscreen in hopes it will protect their bodies from overexposure, and possibly from skin cancer. But researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are discovering that sunscreen may not be so safe after all.

8 May 2012

Scientists identify how cell architecture changes during formation of gametes

Scientists using high-powered microscopes have made a stunning observation of the architecture within a cell - and identified for the first time how the architecture changes during the formation of gametes, also known as sex cells, in order to successfully complete the process.

2 May 2012

Study describes structure and function of the stratum corneum

A research team at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has succeeded in describing the structure and function of the outermost layer of the skin - the stratum corneum - at a molecular level. This opens the way not only for the large-scale delivery of drugs via the skin, but also for a deeper understanding of skin diseases.

27 Apr 2012

Irreversible Electroporation can more effectively kill cancer cells with BNNTs

A new study has shown that adding boron-nitride nanotubes to the surface of cancer cells can double the effectiveness of Irreversible Electroporation, a minimally invasive treatment for soft tissue tumors in the liver, lung, prostate, head and neck, kidney and pancreas.

27 Apr 2012

Cancer therapy with common cold virus

Common viruses have become the latest weapon against cancer. There is the case of the eight-year-old African boy diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma at a Ugandan health clinic. He was exposed to the measles virus and in the next few weeks his tumour regressed completely and he entered remission. But only relatively recently have scientists clinically examined the interaction between viruses and cancers in the growing area of oncolytic virotherapy.

24 Apr 2012

Study determines importance of bacterial infections in cirrhosis

A South African study presented today determines the importance of bacterial infections, which commonly occur in cirrhosis and can alter the natural history of the condition, possibly leading to loss of liver function and decompensation. It is now recognised that many infections in cirrhotic patients result from bacterial translocation (BT) from the intestine.

20 Apr 2012