16:34 09 March 2007
Nanowires in the blood could feel the pressure
Implanting
zinc oxide nanowires in a patient's arm could monitor blood pressure
with awesome accuracy around the clock, researchers claim
13:15 13 March 2007
New 3D 'flyovers' let viewers swoop down on Mars
Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter images have been woven into 3D animations that
may help the Opportunity rover find a path into Victoria crater
14:50 13 March 2007
Sedative 'reactivates' damaged brains
There
are signs that an insomnia drug may revolutionise the lives of brain
damaged people, by bringing "silent" areas of the brain back to life
16:55 13 March 2007
Philistines, but Less and Less Philistine
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Archaeologists have applied more polish to the long-tarnished reputation of the Philistines.
Personal Health
Growing Older, and Adjusting to the Dark
By JANE E. BRODY
How well do you see at night? If you're over 50, probably not as well as you think, no matter how many carrots you eat.
Essay
How Two Studies on Cancer Screening Led to Two Results
By H. GILBERT WELCH, STEVEN WOLOSHIN and LISA M. SCHWARTZ
Of all the forms of cancer, lung cancer is by far the deadliest. So
doctors have long hoped to come up with a screening test that would
find it early, before it can grow and become untreatable.
Public Release: 12-Mar-2007
Nucleic Acids Research
Chromium 6: A killer compound with an improbable trigger
Chromium 6, the cancer-causing compound that sparked the legal crusade
by Erin Brockovich, can be toxic in tiny doses. Brown University
scientists have uncovered the unlikely culprit: vitamin C. In new
research, the Brown team shows that when vitamin C reacts with even low
doses of chromium 6 inside human cells, it creates high levels of
cancer-causing DNA damage and mutations.
National Institues of Health
Contact: Wendy Lawton
Wendy_Lawton@brown.edu
401-863-1862
Brown University
Public Release: 12-Mar-2007
Lifting Chinese tiger trade ban a death sentence for wild tigers say WWF and TRAFFIC
Any easing of the current Chinese ban on trading products made from
tigers is likely a death sentence for the endangered cats, according to
a new TRAFFIC report released today by World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC
-- the wildlife trade monitoring program of WWF and IUCN.
Contact: Sarah Janicke
sarah.janicke@wwfus.org
202-778-9685
World Wildlife Fund
Morning Edition, March 16, 2007
Groopman: The Doctor's In, But Is He Listening?
Jerome Groopman is a doctor who
discovered that he needed a doctor. When he developed pain and swelling
in his right hand, he saw six prominent hand surgeons and got four
different opinions. He was advised to have unnecessary surgery and got
a seemingly made-up diagnosis for a nonexistent condition. The
correct diagnosis came when one of the doctors took the time to listen to Groopman describe his injury and examined the doctor-patient's left hand.
Public Release: 13-Mar-2007
Addiction
A short walk helps smokers quit
Smokers should do short bouts of exercise to help them resist the
temptation to light up, say experts at the University of Exeter. A
review, recently published in the international journal "Addiction,"
concludes that when smokers abstain from smoking, exercise can help
them to manage withdrawal symptoms and resist the urge to smoke.
Contact: Sarah Hoyle
S.Hoyle@exeter.ac.uk
01-392-262-062
University of Exeter
Public Release: 13-Mar-2007
Journal of Neuroscience
Making sense of the world through a cochlear implant
Scientists at University College London and Imperial College London
have shown how the brain makes sense of speech in a noisy environment,
such as a pub or in a crowd. The research suggests that various regions
of the brain work together to make sense of what it hears, but that
when the speech is completely incomprehensible, the brain appears to
give up trying.
Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council
Contact: Craig Brierley
c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk
44-207-611-7329
Wellcome Trust
Public Release: 13-Mar-2007
Nature Neuroscience
Penn study on olfactory nerve cells shows why we smell better when we sniff
Unlike most of our sensory systems that detect only one type of
stimuli, our sense of smell works double duty, detecting both chemical
and mechanical stimuli to improve how we smell. This finding, plus the
fact that both types of stimuli produce reaction in olfactory nerve
cells, which control how our brain perceives what we smell, explains
why we sniff to smell something, and why our sense of smell is
synchronized with inhaling.
NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders,
Whitehall Foundation, University of Pennsylvania Institute on Aging
Contact: Karen Kreeger
karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-5658
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Public Release: 13-Mar-2007
Diabetes
Belly fat may drive inflammatory processes associated with disease
As scientists learn more about the key role of inflammation in diabetes
and heart disease, new research from Washington University School of
Medicine in St. Louis suggests that fat in the belly may be an
important promoter of that inflammation. The researchers have confirmed
that fat cells inside the abdomen secrete molecules that increase
inflammation. This is the first evidence of a potential mechanistic
link between abdominal fat and systemic inflammation.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Jim Dryden
jdryden@wustl.edu
314-286-0110
Washington University School of Medicine
WORD document HERE
