West Africa: meningitis epidemics driven by the wind
A meningitis epidemic hits West Africa every year, affecting 25 000 to 200 000 people. It has long been known that the timing of this epidemic and its spatial distribution within the "Meningitis Belt", situated between 10 and 15 North, are closely linked to climatic conditions...Participants needed for generalized anxiety disorder study at UT Southwestern
...tarts racing a mile a minute as soon as the person hits the bed." GAD treatment options include medication, psychotherapy or both, and can help people overcome their worries and function normally.UT Southwestern is one of 40 sites recruiting a total of 800 individuals for the research study, which will l...UQ develops West Nile virus treatment
...it is only a matter of time before West Nile virus hits Australian shores but hopefully my research will help reduce the impact of the disease."...4D proton therapy, radiation-resistant tumors, interpreting medical images
... time (the fourth dimension) so that the radiation hits the tumor precisely over all phases of a patient's breathing cycle. Now, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have applied the 4D approach to proton therapy. In a study of four patients, they have found that planning and carrying out 4D pr...Study: Nose doesn't smell like the eyes see
...he very nature of light and molecules. "When light hits a rod and is absorbed, it's a one-time event -- the light disappears forever," says Yau. "In the nose, an odor molecule that's inhaled probably stays in the nasal mucus long enough to bind to and trigger a number of receptors, essentially enhancing i...New proton therapy, breast CT clinical trials, radiation-resistant tumors
... time (the fourth dimension) so that the radiation hits the tumor precisely over all phases of a patient's breathing cycle. In a study of four patients, they have found that planning and carrying out 4D proton therapy delivers excellent dose levels to lung tumors in all cases. After these initial promisin...Mouthguards: Rolls Royce of mouthguard line provides maximum injury protection
...njury and decrease the severity of the injury from hits or falls that could otherwise result in a fractured jaw." "Remember, if you lose a single tooth, it will cost $10,000 $20,000 dollars over your lifetime to restore that tooth," says Dr. Kenyon, citing statistics from the NYSSF. Mouthguard Types Ex...UCI wins $2.4 million grant to study how brain understands language
...field since 1999. "When we listen to speech, what hits our ears is nothing more than tiny fluctuations in air pressure, or sound waves," Hickok said. "The ability of humans to turn these sound waves into meaningful language is a complex task, one that we have not managed to replicate yet with computer vo...First disease-specific (breast cancer) protein library opens new drug paths
...ns to identify relevant cDNAs. They also received hits from less-studied breast cancer genes, demonstrati... migration screens produced the greatest number of hits from the BC1000 cDNAs. Of the 75 cDNAs that induced cellular migration in the preliminary, single-pa...Light-based device probes for early cancer signs
...The a/LCI device emits light that scatters when it hits the cell nucleus. To enable a/LCI to be used as a diagnostic technology, the researchers developed a model of how light is scattered by the nucleus of healthy cells versus cancerous ones. "What really sets a/LCI apart is its ability to focus on light...OHSU brings relief to 'suicide disease' sufferers
... TN for 16 months. "I'll go outside and the breeze hits my face and it feels like the most intense toothache I've ever had in my life. It drops me to my knees almost. I can totally understand why they call it the suicide disease. It affects so many aspects of your life." Then there's Melissa Hill, 55, a r...New findings could lead to vaccine for severe malaria
The most severe form of malaria hits pregnant women and children the hardest. A joint study between Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Makerere University in Uganda has now produced some important findings on how the malaria parasite conceals itself in the placenta. Plasmodium falcipa...Amateur boxing linked to brain cell injury
...the first assessment, the boxers reported how many hits to the head they received during the match and und...tau probably reflect damage to neuronal axons from hits to the head during a bout." They also had elevated levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein, which...Doctors cut repeat LASIK visits dramatically
...ast anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds, the laser beam hits the cornea about 50 times per second, with generally 750 to 3,000 pulses. The timing and aim, controlled by both the surgeon and the software, have to be precise. By taking into account the unique anomalies in each persons eye, the formula predicts w...Blunt smokers link dependence potential to nicotine
...mes and places for smoking, limiting the number of hits one takes before passing a blunt, and contributing to the cost and effort of a blunts-smoking event. The rules are enforced by peer pressure, including the implicit threat of ejection from the group and an argot of demeaning labels for those who vio...Worldmapper draws attention to the world's health inequalities
...bulate it, but it is only when you show it that it hits home." This is the philosophy behind Worldmapper, a collection of cartograms that rescale the size of territories in proportion to the value being mapped (examples of values that are mapped are public health spending, malaria cases, HIV prevalence,...Medicalize me: Experts look at how our perceptions of illness are shaped
...spelling, medicalisation) yields more than 358,000 hits most of which have to do with the drug industrys role in changing societal perceptions of disease, normalcy and wellness. But the authors also warn against painting this phenomenon with an entirely negative brush. The same drugs that treat devianc...New asthma inhaler propellant effective, but costlier
...iple the cost to consumers until a generic version hits the market, according to a review in today's (March 29) New England Journal of Medicine. Conducted by two university professors and a director for the Food and Drug Administration, the review examines the consequences of switching to hydrofluoroalk...Bypassing eggs, flu vaccine grown in insect cells shows promise
...ight also be advisable in case a bird flu pandemic hits chicken flocks hard. The insect-cell technology also simplifies the manufacturing process in another way: A live flu virus is needed when growing vaccine in eggs, a danger when working with a potent bird-flu strain. The technology would also help m...Biofeedback on abnormal mechanics lowers risk for stress fractures, pain under kneecap
...tress fractures tend to land harder when each foot hits the ground, and in fact about half of the at-risk runners who have completed the study so far already had experienced microfractures. During their retraining sessions, the runners wore a shock measuring device on their lower legs while they ran on a ...