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Stress and depression worsen childhood asthma

Young people with asthma have nearly twice the incidence of depression compared to their peers without asthma, and studies have shown that depression is associated with increased asthma symptoms and, in some cases, death.

12 Jul 2009

Scientists step closer to first artificial nerve cell

Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University are well on the way to creating the first artificial nerve cell that can communicate specifically with nerve cells in the body using neurotransmitters. The technology has been published in an article in Nature Materials.

7 Jul 2009

Antidepressants aid electroconvulsive therapy in treating severe depression

Combining antidepressant drugs with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) does a better job of reducing symptoms of severe depression and causes less memory loss than using ECT alone, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues.

6 Jul 2009

Deep brain stimulation for psychiatric disorders

Pioneering therapeutic trials to investigate the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in hard-to-treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's syndrome are underway at multiple medical centers around the world, according to a review in the June 2009 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

30 Jun 2009

Soft and tough like biological tissue: DNA-wrapped carbon nanotubes

For modern implants and the growth of artificial tissue and organs, it is important to generate materials with characteristics that closely emulate nature.

17 May 2009

New device allows for self-monitoring of blood lactate level

Performance athletes need to know their blood lactate level. It indicates how much lactic acid has collected in their blood as a result of physical exertion and enables conclusions to be drawn about their fitness. Professional athletes therefore regularly have to attend performance diagnosis sessions. As they pedal a cycle ergometer at various levels of exertion, a doctor takes blood samples from an earlobe. A special device then measures the concentration of lactate in the blood.

6 May 2009

A glimpse at vision: First impressions count

Human beings far outpace computers in their ability to recognize faces and other objects, handling with ease variations in size, color, orientation, lighting conditions and other factors.

29 Apr 2009

Nanostrings bring 'artificial noses' closer to reality

These days, chemical analysts are expected to track down even single molecules.

23 Apr 2009

Proof-of-concept for a DNA-based therapeutic vaccination against chronic hepatitis C

The first-proof-of-concept for a DNA-based therapeutic vaccination against chronic hepatitis C was announced today at EASL 2009, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Copenhagen, Denmark.

23 Apr 2009

Organic biosensor detects onset of acute myocardial ischemia

Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have fabricated and tested a unique biosensor that measures concentrations of potassium and hydrogen ions in the human heart with high specificity.

22 Apr 2009

Grouping muscles to make controlling limbs easier

With more than 30 muscles in your arm, controlling movement -- whether it's grasping a glass or throwing a baseball -- is a complex task that potentially takes into account thousands of variables.

20 Apr 2009

Simple method to monitor sleep and potentially diagnose sleep disorders

Sleep is such an essential part of human existence that we spend about a third of our lives doing it -- some more successfully than others.

15 Apr 2009

Alzheimer's controversy solved

For a decade, Alzheimer's disease researchers have been entrenched in debate about one of the mechanisms believed to be responsible for brain cell death and memory loss in the illness.

15 Apr 2009

Signals from stroking have direct route to brain

Nerve signals that tell the brain that we are being slowly stroked on the skin have their own specialised nerve fibres in the skin.

14 Apr 2009

Nerve shock implant device may help bladder control in urinary incontinence

For people with urinary incontinence who have run out of options, an electrical device might help, according to a new Cochrane Library review.

14 Apr 2009

Deep brain stimulation effective for patients with primary generalized dystonia

A new study from Mount Sinai School of Medicine finds that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a safe and effective treatment for patients with primary generalized dystonia (PGD).

14 Apr 2009

How the retina works: Like a multi-layered jigsaw puzzle of receptive fields

About 1.25 million neurons in the retina -- each of which views the world only through a small jagged window called a receptive field -- collectively form the seamless picture we rely on to navigate our environment.

6 Apr 2009

Exercise may improve kid's attention span

As school districts across the nation revamped curricula to meet requirements of the federal "No Child Left Behind" Act, opportunities for children to be physically active during the school day diminished significantly.

1 Apr 2009

Polymer nanowires detect cancer biomarker

Investigators at the University of California, Riverside, have developed a simple and cost-effective method of building conducting polymer nanowires that can detect a wide range of levels of a cancer biomarker. This work, which was published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, could serve as a model for portable cancer detection equipment suitable for use in a doctor's office.

26 Mar 2009

Quantum effect may hold promise for low-cost DNA sequencing, sensor applications

A ghostly property of matter, called quantum tunneling, may aid the quest for accurate, low-cost genomic sequencing, according to a new paper in Nature Nanotechnology Letters by Stuart Lindsay and his collaborators at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University.

22 Mar 2009