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...sible to send gadolinium, an FDA-approved contrast agent used for medical imaging, directly and noninvasively into a part of the mouse brain known as the hippocampus. These results demonstrate the very promising feasibility of using ultrasound to noninvasively deliver drugs to specific parts of the brain. ...Conference celebrates ten years of transdisciplinary education and research
...tems engineering, healthcare engineering, software agent technologies, software engineering, and much more. The workshops this year will cover transdisciplinary approaches grounded in such diverse fields as system biology, software engineering, and technology commercialization. The conference specificall...Study finds that a woman's chances of having twins can be modified by diet
...that adding more calcium or reducing the chelating agent ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) in the IVF incubation media might decrease the unwanted complication....Researchers make vitamin E offshoot a potent cancer killer
...e researchers then used that knowledge to make the agent an even more potent cancer killer. The compound, ...eath, or apoptosis. Until now, no one knew how the agent caused this to happen. These findings answer that question and also indicate that the molecule's an...Factor isolated that regenerates nerve fibers
...ncomodulin to work, it must be given along with an agent that raises cell levels of cyclic AMP, a "messenger" that initiates various cellular reactions. Increased cyclic AMP levels are needed to make the oncomodulin receptor available on the cell surface. A two-pronged approachBenowitz also notes that ther...Allergy/asthma and cystic fibrosis (CF) focus of awareness in May
...tudied site of this interaction between infectious agent and its host. Statistics from the World Health Organization reported 4.4 million deaths throughout the world in 2003 resulting from acute bacterial and viral lower respiratory tract infections. While many people suffering from lung infection do not ...Robots manipulating animal behaviour
...eeded in our main goal showing that an artificial agent such as a robot can modify the collective behaviour of natural agents, in this case cockroaches, in a mixed community."...Interfering RNA silences genes in 'slippery' immune cells
...serted the desired SEC into a vector, a biological agent that inserts itself into a target cell's nucleus more efficiently than an unaccompanied cassette. The researchers first tested their approach by introducing a gene for green fluorescent protein into human T cells, and using siRNA to inhibit that gen...Sludge recycling sends antiseptic soap ingredient to agriculture
...triclocarban, thereby concentrating the antiseptic agent to levels several thousand-fold higher than those found in raw wastewater. At the particular plant observed, 95 percent of the sludge is recycled for other uses, such as being sold as a soil conditioner and crop fertilizer. "The irony is twofold," sa...MIT chemist discovers secret behind nature's medicines
...seudomonas syringae uses to produce the antifungal agent syringomycin, he discovered it had a single iron atom in the protein's active site, the part responsible for the chemical reaction. Drennan and her graduate student Leah C. Blasiak, who was first author of the study, crystallized SyrB2 and then used ......to that found in hospitals and clinics. A contrast agent often employed in MRI was used as a stand-in for chemotherapy drugs, and this material was injected into special mice with different cancerous growths. The team created computer algorithms (instructions for computers) that allowed them to verify the ...NIH awards $13.3 million to Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh
... to instantly detect the presence of an infectious agent or tumor protein that would indicate the spread of disease. These imaging technologies will be integrated with new data analysis tools, according to Waggoner. "The center also will provide unprecedented, unique interdisciplinary training in this eme...Other highlights in the April 19 JNCI
...ation, is a molecular target for a novel antitumor agent ZSTK474, a new study has found. In research led by Takao Yamori, Ph.D., of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research in Tokyo, and colleagues, ZSTK474 displayed strong antitumor activity against human cancer tissue in mice. Additionally, treatment ...Researchers use mass spectrometry to detect norovirus particles
...r situations where you have an emerging infectious agent or pathogenic strain, such as in a potential terrorist attack," said Halden. ...Blood pressure medication may revolutionize treatment of Marfan syndrome
... compare losartan, propranolol -- a blood pressure agent that is the existing standard of care for Marfan patients -- and a placebo. The three groups of mice were followed prospectively and all analyses were done blinded to genotype and treatment. The studies showed that the mice that received losartan sh...Low dose vitamin A derivative does not prevent head and neck tumors, clinical trial finds
...recommend isotretinoin monotherapy as a preventive agent for second primary tumors in people with stage I or II HNSCC. "After two decades of research that has drastically changed the principles and practice of cancer chemoprevention, the present chapter on translational cancer chemoprevention with retinoi...16-Year follow-up study reinforces Betaseron long-term efficacy, safety and tolerability in MS
...approval of Betaseron, the first disease-modifying agent for MS, in 1993. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three study arms, Betaseron 50 mcg , Betaseron 250 mcg or placebo, with a median duration of observation of 45 months. Analysis after two years demonstrated that significantly more patients...Fox Chase Cancer Center study shows that inhibitors of (FAP) attenuate tumor growth in mice
...s previously demonstrated to be a potent antitumor agent in preclinical models of various tumor types, including epithelial tumors. Point scientists established that talabostat could stimulate host antitumor responses involving both innate and adaptive immunity. Both compounds were administered orally to i...APS lecturer shows rare video of 'teacher-student' immune cell interactions in live animal
... warfare, such as anthrax, or yersinia pestis, the agent that causes the plague. Bubonic plague, for instance, starts with a flea that deposits a few bacteria, which travel via the lymphatic system to the lymph node and proliferate to huge numbers. One of the puzzles von Andrian has been working on, is how...Discovery at the Feinstein suggests new treatment approach for inflammatory conditions
...al with one of these drugs as an anti-inflammatory agent to evaluate its effect on inflammatory measures in healthy people." The research team plans to test galantamine, a drug whose active ingredient was first extracted from a plant and is now synthesized in the laboratory, which works primarily by blocki...