Tech

San Antonio … Medical mycologists in The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) and the Department of Biology at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have significantly advanced the fight against San Joaquin Valley Fever, a respiratory infection of humans, commonly called Valley Fever, which is caused by the Coccidioides fungus. For the first time, the researchers have genetically engineered a live, attenuated vaccine that successfully protects mice against Valley Fever, known in scientific circles as coccidioidomycosis.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists may be able to diagnose deep endometriosis and accurately locate lesions prior to surgery, according to a new study published in the online edition of Radiology.

"Pelvic MRI at 3 Tesla is a noninvasive technique that allows a complete examination of the pelvis," said the study's lead author, Nathalie Hottat, M.D., from the Department of Radiology at Erasme Hospital and the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium. "It accurately depicts all locations of deep endometriosis."

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University researchers have shown that public information readily gleaned from governmental sources, commercial data bases, or online social networks can be used to routinely predict most — and sometimes all — of an individual's nine-digit Social Security number.

The number of prescriptions in Canada for cardiovascular medications has been increasing over the past decade, with a 200% increase in costs, found a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/press/cmaj-181-E19.pdf (www.cmaj.ca). In 2006, total costs of cardiovascular medications exceeded $5 billion, with statins accounting for almost 40% of the expenditure.

An electronic system with personalized patient information shared by diabetes patients and their primary care providers improved diabetes care and clinical outcomes, found a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/press/cmaj-181-37.pdf (www.cmaj.ca).

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---College students with depression are twice as likely as their classmates to drop out of school, new research shows.

However, the research also indicates that lower grade point averages depended upon a student's type of depression, according to Daniel Eisenberg, assistant professor in the University of Michigan School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study.

There are two core symptoms of depression---loss of interest and pleasure in activities, or depressed mood---but only loss of interest is associated with lower grade point averages.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A new prostate cancer "homing device" could improve detection and allow for the first targeted treatment of the disease.

A team of Purdue University researchers has synthesized a molecule that finds and penetrates prostate cancer cells and has created imaging agents and therapeutic drugs that can link to the molecule and be carried with it as cargo.

July 6, 2009 -- In a study to determine the non-medical factors that may be associated with the decision to treat nonmetastatic breast cancer, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health evaluated the association between oncologist characteristics and the receipt of chemotherapy in elderly women with breast cancer and found that they were more likely to receive chemotherapy if treated by oncologists employed in a private practice.

(Toronto: July 6, 2009) A University of Toronto pilot study that re-conceptualized the hospital labour room by removing the standard, clinical bed and adding relaxation-promoting equipment had a28 per cent drop in infusions of artificial oxcytocin, a powerful drug used to advance slow labours.

The study, called PLACE (Pregnant and Labouring in an Ambient Clinical Environment) was published in the current edition of the journal Birth.

Nearly a quarter of married and cohabiting women who took part in a survey said that they had been sexually, psychologically or physically abused by their partner, according to research published in the July issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

Researchers who studied the 2,746 responses found a clear link between abuse and poor health and are calling for policy initiatives to help primary care nurses tackle the problem in a holistic way.

STANFORD, Calif. —The newest revolution in microbiology testing walks on four legs and says "baa."

It's the hair sheep, a less-hirsute version of the familiar woolly barnyard resident. A new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine, which is to be published July 3 in PLoS ONE, finds that not only are these ruminants low-maintenance and parasite-resistant, they're also perfect blood donors for the microbiology tests necessary to diagnose infectious disease in the developing world.

Video from portable cameras is analysed to calculate the distance of obstacles and predict the movements of people and cars. This information is then transformed and relayed to a blind person as a three-dimensional ‘picture’ of sound.

The concept is apparently simple and two prototypes have been successfully tested. Laser and digital video cameras become the eyes for the blind man and see the objects and activity going on around him.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Do friends wear the same style of shoe or see the same movies because they have similar tastes, which is why they became friends in the first place? Or once a friendship is established, do individuals influence each other to adopt like behaviors?

Social scientists don't know for sure. They're still trying to understand the role social influence plays in the spreading of trends because the real world doesn't keep track of how people acquire new items or preferences.

SANTA CRUZ, CA--A new type of optical particle trap can be used to manipulate bacteria, viruses and other particles on a chip as part of an integrated optofluidic platform. The optical trap is the latest innovation from researchers at the Jack Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who are developing new sensor technology for biomedical analysis and other applications.