LA JOLLA, Calif., March 1, 2011 – When patients receive a bone marrow transplant, they are getting a new population of hematopoietic stem cells. Fresh stem cells are needed when a patient is low on red blood cells, as in anemia, or white blood cells, which can be caused by cancer or even cancer treatments such as irradiation or chemotherapy. The problem is that a bone marrow transplant might not succeed because the transplanted stem cells don't live long enough or because they proliferate too well, leading to leukemia. To help determine how long a bone marrow (stem ...

A pioneering program by one of the world's largest cities to switch its vehicle fleet to clean fuel has not significantly improved harmful vehicle emissions in more than 5,000 vehicles – and worsened some vehicles' climate impacts – a new University of British Columbia study finds. The study – which explores the impacts of New Delhi, India's 2003 conversion of 90,000 buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws to compressed natural gas (CNG), a well-known "clean" fuel – provides crucial information for other cities considering similar projects. Of the city's more than 5,000 auto-rickshaws ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown in a new study on mice, that cell therapy can be used to reverse the effect of 'bad' LDL cholesterol and reduce the inflammation that leads to atherosclerosis. The new cell therapy, which is presented in the prestigious scientific journal Circulation, can open the way for new therapies for stroke and myocardial infarction if the results prove translatable to humans. Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammation of the blood vessels. Cholesterol is transported in the blood in particles called LDL ('bad' cholesterol) that can ...

A new non-surgical post-mortem technique that has the potential to revolutionise the way autopsies are conducted around the world has been pioneered by forensic pathologists and radiologists at the University of Leicester in collaboration with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. The technique developed by a team in the East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit, at the University of Leicester, has been published today (1 March) in International Journal of Legal Medicine. This paper presents the development of the methodology and protocol for this technique from ...

There are already systems that detect ships at sea, but a group of engineers from the UAH, led by the researcher Raúl Vicen, has introduced a new development, involving "the use of artificial intelligence techniques and improvements in the templates used to select input data". The team has come up with a new detection method "that outperforms the one that has generally been used until now, as well as offering the advantages of low computational costs, and which can also be used in real time". The new system, the details of which are published in the journal IET Radar, ...

Pioneering technology by scientists at Queen's University Belfast, which is transforming the lives of millions of people in Asia, is now being used to create safer drinking water in the United States. The award-winning system – Subterranean Arsenic Removal – removes arsenic from groundwater without using chemicals. It was developed by a team of European and Indian engineers led by Dr Bhaskar Sen Gupta in Queen's University School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering. The technology, based on the principle of oxidation and filtration processes, is already ...

Scientists have discovered a new way to generate human motor nerve cells in a development that will help research into motor neurone disease. A team from the Universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge and Cardiff has created a range of motor neurons – nerves cells that send messages from the brain and spine to other parts of the body – from human embryonic stem cells in the laboratory. It is the first time that researchers have been able to generate a variety of human motor neurons, which differ in their make-up and display properties depending on where they are located in ...

By examining historical data, statisticians in the College of Science at Virginia Tech have quantified biases that play a role in granting Division I at-large basketball teams inclusion in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. Assistant professors Leanna House and Scotland Leman found that in addition to the standard Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) used by the 10-member selection committee, biases such as the team's marquee and the strength of its schedule are also factors. "We wanted to quantify how much bias there is for bubble teams," Leman said. So-named "bubble teams" ...

New Haven, Conn.—Imagine a material that's stronger than steel, but just as versatile as plastic, able to take on a seemingly endless variety of forms. For decades, materials scientists have been trying to come up with just such an ideal substance, one that could be molded into complex shapes with the same ease and low expense as plastic but without sacrificing the strength and durability of metal. Now a team led by Jan Schroers, a materials scientist at Yale University, has shown that some recently developed bulk metallic glasses (BMGs)—metal alloys that have randomly ...

Scientists have discovered how tendons – the fibrous tissue that connects muscle to bone – become damaged through injury or the ageing process in what could lead to new treatments for people with tendon problems. The University of Manchester team, working with colleagues at Glasgow University, have been investigating 'adhesions', which are a build up of unwanted fibrous tissue on internal organs that have been damaged as a result of surgery or injury. Adhesions cause organs to stick together and are extremely painful and distressing for patients, who often have to undergo ...

Only in very few life phases do individuals face as many life transitions in such a short time as young adults at the age of 19-30. The transition from adolescence to adulthood is characterised by frequent changes in status or social roles, such as leaving the parental home, starting a career, entering into working life, forming a partnership and becoming a parent. Assuming civic and social responsibility is also an integral part of the lives of young adults at this particular life phase. Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro's research team has investigated the transition ...

Scientists have unravelled the shape of the protein that gives human tissues their elastic properties in what could lead to the development of new synthetic elastic polymers. University of Manchester researchers, working with colleagues in Australia and the United States, used state-of-the-art techniques to reveal the structure of tropoelastin, the main component of elastin. Elastin allows tissues in humans and other mammals to stretch, for example when the lungs expand and contract for respiration or when arteries widen and narrow over the course of a billion heart ...

A spongy substance that could be mistaken for packing material has the nanotechnology world buzzing. University of Central Florida Associate Professor Lei Zhai and postdoctoral associate Jianhua Zou have engineered the world's lightest carbon material in such a way that it could be used to detect pollutants and toxic substances, improve robotic surgery techniques and store energy more efficiently. The new material belongs to the family of the lightest solid, also known by its technical name of aerogel or its common nickname of "frozen smoke." Zhai's team worked with ...

AMES, Iowa – Invasive plant species have long had a reputation as being bad for a new ecosystem when they are introduced. Stan Harpole, assistant professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology at Iowa State University, is founding organizer of a team of more than 70 researchers working at 65 sites worldwide that tested that assumption. They wanted to know if it is true that problematic invasive species often spread widely in their new habitats because they don't encounter predators or diseases that help keep them in check in their home ranges. "There is this ...

Robotic surgery offers the same or better results than minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures for treating kidney disease, and can potentially help more patients because it is not as difficult for surgeons to learn, according to a new study led by Henry Ford Hospital specialists. The findings come at a time both when chronic kidney disease is becoming more common, and while occult – or hidden – damage to kidney function has been overlooked in more than a fourth of patients with small kidney tumors, according to earlier studies. This chronic renal insufficiency – ...

This release is available in French. Montreal, March 1, 2011 – Although Edith Piaf defiantly sang, "Non, je ne regrette rien," most people will have their share of regrets over their lifetime. Indeed, anyone who seeks to overcome disappointments should compare themselves to others who are worse off – rather than looking up to folks in more enviable positions – according to a new study from Concordia University. Published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, these findings have implications for both young and old. "Our study examined how younger ...

ATLANTA –March 1, 2011 – A new report from the American Cancer Society says a large proportion of the 141,000 cases and 49,000 deaths from colorectal cancer expected in the United States this year could be prevented by increasing the use of established screening tests and by applying existing knowledge about colorectal cancer prevention. The report, Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2011-2013, released during National Colon Cancer Awareness Month, notes there has been substantial progress in the last decade reducing colorectal cancer incidence and death rates in most population ...

Minneapolis/St. Paul (Mar. 1, 2011) – A five-year clinical trial led by University of Minnesota Medical School researchers has led to a new method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that improves long-term survival rates with good brain function by 50 percent. The new technique goes beyond the standard hands-only compression-decompression method to include to two devices that increase blood circulation. Researchers found that the new device combination caused the heart and brain to receive nearly three times more blood flow during each compression-decompression ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Recent research suggests vitamin D may be able to stop or prevent cancer. Now, a new study finds an enzyme that plays a role in metabolizing vitamin D can predict lung cancer survival. The study, from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, suggests that this enzyme stops the anti-cancer effects of vitamin D. Levels of the enzyme, called CYP24A1, were elevated as much as 50 times in lung adenocarcinoma compared with normal lung tissue. The higher the level of CYP24A1, the more likely tumors were to be aggressive. About ...

University Park, Pa. -- Free time is not always a fun time for people with autism. Giving them the power to choose their own leisure activities during free time, however, can boost their enjoyment, as well as improve communication and social skills, according to an international team of researchers. "For many of us, we look at recreation as a time to spend on activities that are fun and that are designed for our enjoyment," said John Dattilo, professor, recreation, park and tourism management, Penn State. "But for some people with disabilities, particularly those who ...

A new review published in WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology explores how nanotechnology may provide powerful new tools that could have a marked impact on the therapeutic and diagnostic measures available to surgeons. Nanotechnology uses very small objects—billionths of a meter—to achieve tasks that would be difficult at larger scales. Nanodevices travel relatively freely throughout the body and can enter cells, making them useful for drug delivery, or mimic the features of the environment outside cells, making them useful for tissue engineering. Their very properties ...

Researchers have over time been able to show that medicine designed at nanoscale offers unprecedented opportunities for targeted treatment of serious diseases such as cancer. However, now research also shows that the body's immune system plays a significant part in the drug delivery process. "Researchers today are able encapsulate medicine in nanoparticles the size of viruses. The nanoparticles are effective for drug delivery – the delivery of the medicine to the body – because they can very precisely find diseased cells and carry the medicine to them. This means that ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Small businesses are seen as an important part of the American economy. These businesses often rely heavily on loans to stay afloat. The recent economic recession has created a reduction in available credit for many small businesses, making it difficult for many businesses to operate. Tansel Yilmazer, assistant professor in the personal financial planning department in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Missouri, says that lack of available credit has forced many small business owners to use their household savings or other ...

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2011 — The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) award-winning podcast series, "Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions," focuses on the discovery that household sewage has far more potential as an alternative energy source than previously thought. Scientists say the discovery, which increases the estimated potential energy in wastewater by almost 20 percent, could spur efforts to extract methane, hydrogen and other fuels from this vast and, as yet, untapped resource. Their report appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. ...

Despite substantial gains in knowledge and understanding of autism over the last three years, we are still no closer to either prevention or cure, according to Sir Michael Rutter, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. In a new study, Rutter reviews the latest scientific developments in the study of autism, published between 2007-2010. His paper is available online in Springer's Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Professor Rutter is the first consultant of child psychiatry in the United Kingdom. He has ...