Fast and ultrasensitive optical systems are gaining increasing significance and are being used in a diverse range of applications, for example, in imaging procedures in the fields of medicine and biology, in astronomy and in safety engineering for the automotive industry. Frequently the challenge lies in being able to record high-quality images under extremely low light conditions. Modern photo detectors for image capture typically reach their limits here. They frequently work with light-sensitive electronic components that are based on CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide ...

Power supply is the backbone of our modern economy. Nearly every aspect of life depends on electrically-operated devices. When the flow of power stops, it is not just the lights that go out. In the supermarket, the automatic teller machines and cash registers stop working. Even telephones, radios and televisions become paralyzed. If the shortage lasts a long time the supply of hot water, gas and fuel and the functioning of respirators at intensive care units in nursing homes or at private homes is at risk. The causes of this dreadful scenario can range from natural disasters ...

Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2012 -- Common wisdom has it that if the visual cortex in the brain is deprived of visual information in early infanthood, it may never develop properly its functional specialization, making sight restoration later in life almost impossible. Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in France have now shown that blind people – using specialized photographic and sound equipment – can actually "see" and describe objects and even identify letters and words. The new study by a team of researchers, led by Prof. Amir Amedi of the Edmond and ...

A new study led by researchers from the University of York suggests protected areas in East Africa are not conserving plants such as the iconic Acacia tree. Acacia, the thorny flat-topped tree that characterises the African savannas, is an important component of ecosystem diversity. However, the researchers found that the majority of Acacia biodiversity 'hotspots' receive little protection through the protected area network, which includes national parks, nature and forest reserves. The situation, they say, may be exacerbated by climate change. The results of the study, ...

Biogenic amines may be one of the factors responsible for symptoms such as headaches, gastro-intestinal disorders, shortness of breath, fall in blood pressure, and even unconsciousness and cardiac arrhythmia in severe cases. Histamine, one of the best known members of this group, can cause serious physical problems. Biogenic amines can be produced in the body by natural metabolic activities but are also ingested in larger quantities with food. They play a special role in microbiologically produced food such as wine, beer, cheese, and sauerkraut. In a joint project Johannes ...

Paleontology, with its rocks and fossils, seems far removed from the world of developmental genetics, with its petri dishes and embryos. Whereas paleontology strives to determine "What happened in evolution?", developmental genetics uses gene control in embryos to try to answer "How did it happen?" Combined, the two approaches can lead to remarkable insights that benefit both fields. In the current issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Hans Thewissen, Ingalls-Brown Professor at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), and his colleagues review recent studies ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Climate scientists cannot attribute any single weather event — whether a drought, wildfire or extreme storm — to climate change. But extreme events, such as Hurricane Sandy, are glimpses of the types of occurrences the world could be more vulnerable to in the future. As the devastation left by Sandy continues to reverberate, decision-makers at every level are asking: How can we be better prepared? MIT researchers have developed a new tool to help policymakers, city planners and others see the possible local effects of climate change. Its regional projections ...

This press release is available in German. Months of painstaking work in the laboratory at Bielefeld University's Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) have paid off: the 15 students participating in this year's 'international Genetically Engineered Machine competition' (iGEM) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have good reason to celebrate. The goal of their project was to develop a biological filter that removes estrogen from drinking water. It was a success: they managed to produce enzymes that break down the hormone. On Monday 5 November, the competition ...

New Rochelle, NY, November 7, 2012—Premenopausal use of hormonal contraceptives may improve the cognitive abilities of women in midlife and for years afterward. This finding may have implications for prevention of declining cognitive function that occurs with advancing age and in diseases such as Alzheimer's. The beneficial effects of hormones increase the longer a woman uses them, as described in a study published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health ...

Contact: Denise Bradley denise.bradley@tevapharm.com 215-591-8974 Teva North America Teva to present new Phase III data for QNASL® Nasal Aerosol at the 2012 ACAAI Meeting Studies highlight safety and efficacy profiles in pediatric patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis, reinforce device functionality and reliability and demonstrate ocular safety profile JERUSALEM, Israel, November 6, 2012 – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that additional data from the Phase III clinical program for QNASL® (beclomethasone dipropionate) Nasal Aerosol will be ...

HOUSTON – (Nov. 7, 2012) – Administering stem cells derived from patients' own bone marrow either three or seven days after a heart attack is safe but does not improve heart function six months later, according to a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The results of the trial, called Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation (TIME), mirror a previous related study, LateTIME, which found that such cells (called autologous stem cells) given two to three weeks after a heart attack did not improve heart function. Both TIME and LateTIME ...

New Rochelle, NY, November 7, 2012—Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a rare form of thyroid tumor, but it is also the most deadly. Newly developed evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term monitoring and follow-up care of patients with this extremely aggressive form of thyroid cancer are published in Thyroid (http://www.liebertpub.com/thy), a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com). The Guidelines, prepared by the American Thyroid Association Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Task Force, are ...

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 7, 2012 — UC Irvine researchers have created a new stem cell-derived cell type with unique promise for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Dr. Edwin Monuki of UCI's Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, developmental & cell biology graduate student Momoko Watanabe and colleagues developed these cells –called choroid plexus epithelial cells – from existing mouse and human embryonic stem cell lines. CPECs are critical for proper functioning of the choroid plexus, the tissue in the brain that produces cerebrospinal fluid. ...

MAYWOOD, Il. - Loyola University Medical Center is among the centers participating in a landmark study that could lead to fewer inappropriate shocks from implanted defibrillators. Implanted defibrillators save lives by shocking hearts back into a normal rhythm. But sometimes a defibrillator can go off when it's not necessary, delivering a shock that feels like a kick in the chest. The study found that reprogramming defibrillators to be less sensitive to irregular heart rhythms reduced the number of inappropriate shocks, while also reducing mortality. The study was presented ...

(Lebanon, NH, 11/5/2012) — Dartmouth researchers have found that duration of ibuprofen use was associated with a reduced risk of bladder cancer in patients in northern New England, which has a high mortality rate of this disease. In a 2012 collaborative project with the National Cancer Institute, Margaret Karagas, PhD, co-director, Cancer Epidemiology & Chemoprevention program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and Professor of Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and Richard Waddell, D.Sc, Research Assistant Professor of Medicine at ...

Vancouver researchers have discovered the cellular pathway that causes lung-damaging inflammation in cystic fibrosis (CF), and that reducing the pathway's activity also decreases inflammation. The finding offers a potential new drug target for treating CF lung disease, which is a major cause of illness and death for people with CF. "Developing new drugs that target lung inflammation would be a big step forward," says Dr. Stuart Turvey, who led the research. Dr. Turvey is the director of clinical research and senior clinician scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A South American butterfly flapped its wings, and caused a flurry of nanotechnology research to happen in Ohio. Researchers here have taken a new look at butterfly wings and rice leaves, and learned things about their microscopic texture that could improve a variety of products. For example, the researchers were able to clean up to 85 percent of dust off a coated plastic surface that mimicked the texture of a butterfly wing, compared to only 70 percent off a flat surface. In a recent issue of the journal Soft Matter, the Ohio State University engineers ...

A presentation at the American Society of Human Genetics 2012 meeting updated genetics experts about a one-year-old research initiative that brought together researchers, clinicians and policy experts to tackle the challenges of incorporating new genomic technologies into clinical care of newborns, infants and children with anatomical defects whose causes are unknown. Among the challenges is interpreting how variations in patients' DNA cause or contribute to their medical problems, said Duke University Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Erica E. Davis, Ph.D., who presented ...

Humans share over 90% of their DNA with their primate cousins. The expression or activity patterns of genes differ across species in ways that help explain each species' distinct biology and behavior. DNA factors that contribute to the differences were described on Nov. 6 at the American Society of Human Genetics 2012 meeting in a presentation by Yoav Gilad, Ph.D., associate professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago. Dr. Gilad reported that up to 40% of the differences in the expression or activity patterns of genes between humans, chimpanzees and rhesus ...

Scientists have adopted a novel laboratory approach for determining the effect of genetic variation on the efficiency of the biological process that translates a gene's DNA sequence into a protein, such as hemoglobin, according to a presentation, Nov. 6, at the American Society of Human Genetics 2012 meeting in San Francisco. In the 0.1% of the DNA that differs between any two individuals, scientists search for the biological mechanisms underlying human genetic differences, including disease susceptibility. "How exactly these slight changes in the DNA affect the biology ...

WASHINGTON – High cigarette prices, smoke-free air laws, marketing restrictions and other measures, all part of Brazil's strong tobacco control policies, are credited for a 50 percent reduction in smoking prevalence between 1989 and 2010. The reduction contributed to an estimated 420,000 lives saved during that time period. Those are the findings of a new study published today in PLOS Medicine by a team of researchers from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Brazilian National Cancer Institute. Adding to the dramatic conclusion of the study, which ...

People who do regular physical activity, such as brisk walking, live longer than those who don't do any leisure time exercise, even when overweight, reports a study by international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine. These findings are important because, according to the authors (led by Steven Moore from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, USA): "This finding may help convince currently inactive persons that a modest physical activity program is ''worth it'' for health benefits, even if it may not result in weight control." The researchers from ...

Smoking rates in Brazil have dropped by half over the past two decades thanks to strict tobacco control policies, according to a study by US and Brazilian researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine. Using a modeling simulation study called Brazil SimSmoke, the authors from authors from Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center of Georgetown University in Washington DC and the Brazilian National Cancer Institute in Rio de Janeiro, calculated that 46% of the reduction in smoking rates between 1989 and 2010 (34.8% of Brazilian adults smoked in 1989 compared to 18.5% in ...

In this week's PLOS Medicine, David Hipgrave from the University of Melbourne, Australia and colleagues discuss health system reform in China and argue that parallel reforms in governance, financing, and accountability are also needed to ensure health equity. ### Funding: No specific funding was received to write this article. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The opinions expressed in this paper reflect the perspectives of the authors alone, and may not be inferred to represent the position of their parent institutions. Citation: ...

A new study shows that defibrillators – devices designed to detect and correct dangerous heart rhythms – can help people with heart disease live longer, and with a much better quality of life, than they do now. A small, very simple change in the way physicians set or programmed the device led to a dramatic 80 to 90 percent reduction in inappropriate therapies – potentially painful and anxiety-provoking shocks delivered for rhythms that aren't dangerous or life threatening. And, to the authors' surprise, the new programming also significantly increased survival, lowering ...