Body

Researchers say a newly tested method for producing super dense, defect-free, thin polymer films is the fastest, most efficient method ever achieved and it may dramatically improve microelectronic storage capabilities such as those in computer memory sticks.

Starting with the tiny fruit fly and then moving into mice and humans, researchers at VIB and K. U. Leuven show that expression of the same gene suppresses cancer in all three organisms. Reciprocally, switching off the gene – called Ato in flies and ATOH1 in mammals – leads to cancer. The authors show there is a good chance that the gene can be switched on again with a drug. They report their findings in two papers in the leading online open access journal PLoS Biology.

A team of researchers at the Ikerlan-IK4 technological centre have made a laboratory-scale photoelectric panel which, apart from fulfilling the function of converting solar light into electricity, solves the problems of integratability and availability that current technology presents.

The phenomenon of light emission by living organisms, bioluminescence, is quite common, especially in marine species. It is known that light is generated by chemical reactions in which oxygen molecules play an important part. In the animal world, these chemical reactions take place in special luminescent cells called photocytes. These are aggregated into complex light organs, in which the intensity of light is regulated by nerve impulses, and in which light can be modulated with the help of reflectors, lenses and filters.

A Canadian scientist, now based in the UK and funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, has harnessed a new drug discovery tool to identify a new player in the body's insulin secretion process. This finding could spark a completely new class of drugs to treat type 2 diabetes.

Together with three colleagues Professor Peter Oppeneer of Uppsala University has explained the hitherto unsolved mystery in materials science known as 'the hidden order' – how a new phase arises and why. This discovery can be of great importance to our understanding of how new material properties occur, how they can be controlled and exploited in the future. The findings are now being published in the scientific journal Nature Materials and of great importance to future energy supply.

Good news, dad! All those times your daughter appeared to be tuning you out? She was probably paying more attention than you thought. In fact, a new study co-authored by a researcher from North Carolina State University says the relationship between fathers and daughters is leading to an increase in the number of daughters who are pursuing careers in the same field as their dads.

The recent detection of antibodies in celiac patients specific for deamidated gliadin peptides (DGP), the product of tTG binding to gliadin peptides, provides an opportunity to address the correlation between the production of anti-tTG IgA and the antibodies against DGP in celiac patients

Risks for gastric cancer or peptic ulcer diseases are low in subjects with healthy stomach mucosa but are remarkably high in those with "diseased" stomach mucosa: i.e., in those with H pylori gastritis or atrophic gastritis. Therefore, the differentiation between patients with healthy (no H pylori, gastritis, or atrophic gastritis) and diseased gastric mucosa is clinically relevant. Serum levels of pepsinogen have been used for decades to diagnose atrophic corpus gastritis non-invasively.

H pylori infection was associated with many upper gastrointestinal diseases. The prevalence of H pylori resistant to antibiotics was increased with the spreading of H pylori eradication. Many patients needed receive rescue therapy for the eradication of H pylori after first- or second-line therapies. Furazolidone has been used for the eradication of H pylori for many years, but to use it as a component of quadruple rescue therapy has been reported less frequently.

Metastatic esophageal squamous cell cancer has very poor prognosis. Conventional surgery is considered the most effective treatment, but many cases are inoperable at the time of diagnosis.

More recently, chemotherapy has shown activity in metastatic ESCC. However, no generally accepted standard chemotherapy for advanced. In addition, more and more people pay close attention to the research of optimizing chemotherapy regimen.

To date, more than 700 cases of SPTs have been reported in English literature. About 15% are known to present metastasis or recurrence. However, based on the conventional histopathology, it has been difficult to establish the criteria which could be suggestive of the aggressive behavior including recurrence and metastasis. It is well-known that MDCT can provide more accurate delineation of normal and abnormal pancreatic morphology. There is no published literature regarding the imaging features implying the malignant potential of the SPTs of pancreas on MDCT.

February 23, 2009, Cambridge, UK – Cell lifespan is limited by telomeres, DNA sequences that cap chromosomes and control the number of times a cell may be copied. A new study reported in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM), dmm.biologists.org, describes how telomere dysfunction in skin cells can lead to increased skin cancer risk and pigmentation.

February 23, 2009, Cambridge, UK – Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastating condition in which motor neuron degeneration causes progressive loss of movement and muscle tone, leading to death. Overcoming the limited success of previous models, a report published in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM), dmm.biologists.org describes how neurons can be derived from human stem cells, and engineered to mimic inherited ALS.

A new analysis finds that when colorectal cancer patients seek out health information from the internet and news media, they are more likely to be aware of and receive the latest treatments for their disease. Published in the April 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that patients can influence their own treatment, in some cases in inappropriate ways.