The combined measles–mumps–rubella–varicella (MMRV) vaccine shows a slightly increased risk of febrile seizures in children, compared with the previously separate vaccines for MMR and varicella (chickenpox) (MMR+V), according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The MMRV vaccine was developed for young children to reduce the number of needles they receive. However, the combined vaccine has been associated with slightly higher rates of febrile seizures. Febrile seizures can accompany high fever in young children; although distressing, they are ...

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have shown that stem cell behaviour can be modified by manipulating the nanoscale properties of the material they are grown on - improving the potential of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering as a result. Stem cells are special because they are essential to the normal function of our organs and tissues. Previous research shows stem cells grown on hard substrates go on to multiply but do not differentiate: a process by which the cells specialise to perform specific functions in the body. In contrast, stem cells ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Ischemic heart disease, a narrowing of the arteries supplying blood to the heart, is a leading cause of death throughout the world. A hybrid molecular imaging technique called positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance (PET/MR) imaging, which tells doctors vital information about cardiac and arterial function, has been found to be an effective molecular imaging tool for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD), say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. Often patients suspected ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting revealed how a protein encourages the production of stem cells that regenerate damaged tissues of the heart following an acute attack (myocardial infarction). They further assert that it has a better chance of working if provided early in treatment. This was confirmed by molecular imaging, which captured patients' improved heart health after therapy. If given after a heart attack, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) mobilizes bone marrow ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Low back pain is not only excruciating but also debilitating for countless sufferers. Unfortunately, not everyone responds to treatment. A molecular imaging scan in addition to a conventional bone scan can provide the necessary information about the physiological health of the spine to select the most appropriate pain-killing treatment protocol, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. Conventional imaging methods including X-ray, computed tomography and even magnetic resonance imaging ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Advanced cancer of the neuroendocrine system can lead to dismal prognoses, but a novel therapy is packing a punch by uniting powerful radionuclide treatment and chemotherapy drugs, revealed researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. The research findings show that the experimental therapy led to stabilization or regression of patients' cancer in about 70 percent of cases a year after completion of the treatment, now called peptide receptor chemo-radionuclide therapy (PRCRT). The therapy is ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Taking their pick, biomedical researchers can now conduct five different imaging studies in one scan with a state-of-the-art preclinical molecular imaging system that scientists unveiled during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. The imaging device allows single photon emission tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), X-ray computed tomography, fluorescence and bioluminescence imaging—powerful imaging techniques that provide different information about anatomy and physiological processes ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – With a new molecular imaging system powerful enough to peer down to 20-micrometer resolution, researchers can now use radioluminescence to examine the characteristics of single, unconnected cells. The result is a fascinating picture of diversity among cells previously assumed to behave the same, revealed researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. A resolution of 20 micrometers or microns—about a quarter of the diameter of a single human hair—is made possible with an imaging technique that ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – The prominent role a single enzyme plays in cancer imaging has eluded researchers for years, but not anymore. This discovery could pave new avenues in nuclear medicine. The enzyme, called neutral endopeptidase (NEP), has a way of breaking down most radiopeptide imaging agents in the body. Researchers have developed an elegant new concept that improves molecular imaging, according to study results presented during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. The sneaky enzyme has evaded studies with peptide ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Rheumatoid arthritis causes chronic pain for almost half of adults by the time they retire, but a new molecular imaging technique can visualize inflammation in the joints, giving doctors a clear read on chronic pain and possible joint destruction, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. In order to image arthritis inside the joints, researchers used multiple molecular imaging systems, positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission tomography (SPECT), both of which image ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Many people develop depression in the latest stages of life, but until now doctors had no idea that it could point to a build up of a naturally occurring protein in the brain called beta-amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. In fact, late-life depression could become a major risk factor for developing Alzheimer's faster than others, according to research unveiled at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. Alzheimer's disease is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disease with marked protein ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – How many millions of people suffer from sleep disturbance? One sleep disorder in particular, called REM behavior disorder, could be a sign of impending neurodegenerative disease, including Parkinson's and dementia, say scientists presenting their research at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. Researchers are not sure why spontaneous and unexplained disturbance in REM sleep should lead to a neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson's, but new longitudinal imaging data show a clear correlation between ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – A simple noninvasive blood test matched with state-of-the-art molecular imaging of individual cells could help oncologists understand their patients' chances of survival, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. Metastasis accounts for an estimated 90 percent of cancer deaths. For decades, researchers tried to develop a way to gauge a cancer's risk of metastasizing from a blood sample—the long-sought-after liquid biopsy. Today there are numerous methods available to isolate lone cells. ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – For years researchers have been developing molecular imaging techniques that visualize hormonally active breast cancer cells—specifically those testing positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). A recent innovation in breast cancer biomarkers seeks the HER3 receptor instead, which could mean more comprehensive breast cancer imaging and potential treatments, say experts presenting data during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Anti-androgen hormonal therapy, also called chemical castration, can be an important defense against further disease progression for patients with prostate cancer that has traveled and grown in other areas, or metastasized—but some cases simply do not respond to this treatment. A groundbreaking molecular imaging agent has been developed to help clinicians find as much cancer as possible, whether it is responding favorably or not, in an effort to improve clinical decision making for these patients, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Patients with advanced breast cancer that may have spread to their lymph nodes could benefit from a more robust dose of a molecular imaging agent called Tc-99m filtered sulfur colloid when undergoing lymphoscintigraphy, a functional imaging technique that scouts new cancer as it begins to metastasize. Best results also indicate that imaging could be improved by injecting the agent the day prior to surgical resection, according to research unveiled at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. "The innovative ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Startling data from an international multi-center trial provide growing evidence that sentinel node imaging is more effectively accomplished with hybrid functional imaging with single photon emission computed tomography and computed tomography (SPECT/CT) than with another molecular imaging technique called lymphoscintigraphy. This conclusion held after imaging a range of cancers displaying a variety of lymphatic drainage types associated with melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer; breast carcinoma; and malignancies of the pelvis, such as prostate ...

Climate change mitigation strategies such as the German Energiewende require linking vast numbers of new power generation facilities to the grid. As the input from many renewable sources is rather volatile, depending on how much the wind blows or the sun shines, there's a higher risk of local power instabilities and eventually blackouts. Scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now employed a novel concept from nonlinear systems analysis called basin stability to tackle this challenge. They found that connecting dead ends can significantly ...

June 9, 2014 – (BRONX, NY) – Investigators at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center will present their latest research at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions. Einstein-Montefiore scientists and clinicians are participating in nearly three dozen presentations, sessions and symposia during the five-day meeting. They will address a range of basic, translational and clinical research topics—from medication adherence in adolescents and the impact on resveratrol and vitamin D on insulin resistance to epigenetic ...

Since the early 1970s, lithium has been the most popular element for batteries: it's the lightest of all metals and has the greatest electrochemical potential. But a lithium-based battery has a major disadvantage: it's highly flammable, and when it overheats, it can burst into flames. For years, scientists have searched for safer battery materials that still have the same advantages as lithium. While plastics (or polymers) seemed like an obvious choice, researchers never fully understood how the material would change when an ion charge was introduced. Now a Northwestern ...

AURORA, Colo. (June 9, 2014) – In an article published in the scientific journal Nature, a University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher and colleagues explain how RNA molecules found in certain viruses mimic the shape of other molecules as part of a strategy to 'hijack' the cell and make more viruses. The findings by Jeffrey S. Kieft, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the School of Medicine and an early career scientist with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and his colleagues solve a biochemical and molecular mystery that has ...

NASA and NOAA satellites are gathering visible, infrared, microwave and radar data on a persistent tropical low pressure area in the southwestern Bay of Campeche. System 90L now has a 50 percent chance for development, according to the National Hurricane Center and continues to drop large amounts of rainfall over southeastern Mexico. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite gathered infrared data on the developing low on June 5 at 18:59 UTC (2:59 p.m. EDT). Basically, AIRS looks at the infrared region of the spectrum. In a spectrum, ...

A group of scientists believe that a previously unexplained isotopic ratio from deep within the Earth may be a signal from material from the time before the Earth collided with another planet-sized body, leading to the creation of the Moon. This may represent the echoes of the ancient Earth, which existed prior to the proposed collision 4.5 billion years ago. This work is being presented at the Goldschmidt conference in Sacramento, California. The currently favoured theory says that the Moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago, when the Earth collided with a Mars-sized mass, ...

Let's say you're buying a car. You have a wealth of data at your fingertips, from safety information to performance, to guide your decision. The same is not as true in health care, especially if you're pricing procedures. A new study from the University of Iowa compared the cost of prostate cancer surgery at 100 hospitals throughout the United States. The quote for the procedure, the researchers found, varied from $10,100 to $135,000, a 13-fold range. (The average price was nearly $35,000, more than double the Medicare reimbursement.) Only 10 of the hospitals that provided ...

TORONTO, ON — Think those flat, glassy solar panels on your neighbour's roof are the pinnacle of solar technology? Think again. Researchers in the University of Toronto's Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering have designed and tested a new class of solar-sensitive nanoparticle that outshines the current state of the art employing this new class of technology. This new form of solid, stable light-sensitive nanoparticles, called colloidal quantum dots, could lead to cheaper and more flexible solar cells, as well as better gas sensors, infrared ...