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Bruker launches new FastScan Atomic Force Microscope

Bruker today announced the innovative and unique Dimension FastScan Atomic Force Microscope, which delivers a significant breakthrough in improved imaging speed without sacrificing nanoscale resolution.

From Bruker Nano Surfaces and Metrology 3 May 2011

Researchers unravel mechanism behind sickle hemoglobin protection against malaria

The latest issue of the journal Cell carries an article that is likely to help solve one of the long-standing mysteries of biomedicine. In a study that challenges currently held views, researchers at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci-ncia, in Portugal, unravel the molecular mechanism whereby sickle cell hemoglobin confers a survival advantage against malaria, the disease caused by Plasmodium infection.

29 Apr 2011

NIH awards UH with $361,000 grant for chikungunya vaccine study

It is spread to humans by mosquito bites, causing arthritic symptoms so severe that some victims can't even walk. While rarely fatal, the effects of the chikungunya virus can last up to a year.

28 Apr 2011

Medicaid managed care under the microscope

News outlets explore the challenges states face as they increasingly try to move recipients into managed care plans in order to control costs and brace for upcoming expansions.

28 Apr 2011

New research provides insight into mechanism behind cardiac development

During embryonic development, cells migrate to their eventual location in the adult body plan and begin to differentiate into specific cell types. Thanks to new research at the University of Pennsylvania, there is new insight into how these processes regulate tissues formation in the heart.

25 Apr 2011

Normal routine use of topical corticosteroids for eczema in children does not 'thin the skin'

A new study published in the journal Pediatric Dermatology reveals that routine, long-term use of topical corticosteroids (TCS) for treating children with eczema does not cause any significant, negative side effects.

21 Apr 2011

Researchers deploy new tool in study of tubulin tyrosine ligase in tumor growth

Many of the newest weapons in the war on cancer come in the form of personalized therapies that can target specific changes in an individual's tumor. By disrupting molecular processes in tumor cells, these drugs can keep the tumor from growing and spreading. At the forefront of this work are Binghamton University researchers, Susan Bane, and Susannah Gal, who are deploying a new tool in their study of an enzyme called tubulin tyrosine ligase, or TTL.

20 Apr 2011

Researchers investigate new digital tool for breast cancer prognosis

Cancer researchers at the University of Calgary are investigating a new tool to use for the prognosis of breast cancer in patients. This new digital tool will help give patients a more accurate assessment of how abnormal and aggressive their cancer is and help doctors recommend the best treatment options.

19 Apr 2011

Study finds more evidence linking high-grade serous ovarian cancer to fallopian tubes

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC), the fifth-deadliest cancer among American women, is thought by many scientists to often be a fallopian tube malignancy masquerading as an ovarian one. While most of the evidence linking HGSOC to the fallopian tubes has so far been only circumstantial, a new Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study suggests there is a direct connection, a finding that could aid in the development of better treatments for the cancer.

19 Apr 2011

House GOP budget plan under the microscope

More details of the House GOP budget plan are taking shape, including the blueprint's inclusion of Democratic Medicare cuts that were subject to Republican criticism during the election season. Other parts of the health law also would stay intact. Meanwhile, the full House is scheduled to vote on the 2012 budget measure this week.

15 Apr 2011

Shrink Nanotechnologies to acquire Nanopoint

Shrink Nanotechnologies, Inc., an innovative high technology company, announced today that it has executed a binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of Hawaii-based Nanopoint Inc., a biomedical instrumentation and microfluidics company with global distribution for its award-winning suites of life sciences products.

12 Apr 2011

New nonviral method to create cardiac cells

Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a simplified, cheaper, all-purpose method they say can be used by scientists around the globe to more safely turn blood cells into heart cells. The method is virus-free and produces heart cells that beat with nearly 100 percent efficiency, they claim.

11 Apr 2011

Malaria diagnosis made easy with smart phone app

Malaria kills nearly 1 million children a year, mostly in developing countries with little infrastructure and few resources. For the 9th Imagine Cup 2011 - a student contest sponsored by Microsoft, student entrants were asked to “imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.” Tristan Gibeau 25, a graduate computer engineering student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and his team developed an ‘app’, LifeLens, to detect malaria.

10 Apr 2011

Johns Hopkins scientists identify autism gene linked to severity of social interaction deficits

With the help of two sets of brothers with autism, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a gene associated with autism that appears to be linked very specifically to the severity of social interaction deficits.

7 Apr 2011

UC researchers sequence individual glioblastoma genomes and track abnormalities through the bloodstream

Medical scientists know this about glioblastoma multiforme: the malignant brain tumor is aggressive, it is elusive, and it appears in different permutations.

5 Apr 2011

New computer-based system can distinguish similar secondary tumours

A new computer-based system discussed in the International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management can distinguish between apparently similar secondary tumours and allow a cancer specialist to trace the metastases back to the site of the original cancer in the patient's body.

5 Apr 2011

New ‘nanotech’ weapon against drug-resistant superbugs

Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) and IBM Research – Almaden have developed the first biodegradable polymer nanoparticles to combat drug-resistant superbugs, such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These nanoparticles can selectively kill the bacteria without destroying healthy red blood cells, and being biodegradable, have great potential to treat infectious diseases in the body. This was reported today in the leading scientific journal, Nature Chemistry [(2011) DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1012].

3 Apr 2011

Potential HIV vaccine component undergoes dramatic protein rearrangement

An international study headed by a UC Davis scientist describes how a component of a potential HIV vaccine opens like a flower, undergoing one of the most dramatic protein rearrangements yet observed in nature. The finding could reveal new targets for vaccines to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. A paper describing the work was published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1 Apr 2011

First MR images to show complete borders in human cerebral cortex

Understanding functional properties of the brain’s structural units is one of the main aims of brain research. Until now only fragmentary borders of brain areas could be identified in vivo since the resolution in MR images was not high enough.

31 Mar 2011

Top-line results from Biomoda's CyPath pilot study against lung cancer

Cancer diagnostics company Biomoda, Inc. today announced top-line results of its pilot study for lung cancer which shows highly significant evidence of CyPath's ability to discriminate between cancer and non-cancer groups based on sputum samples collected in a non-invasive manner.

31 Mar 2011