Source: Nanotechwire.com

Researchers have developed a new generation of microscopic particles for molecular imaging, constituting one of the first promising nanoparticle platforms that may be readily adapted for tumor targeting and treatment in the clinic.

By Fiona Macrae

(Image: Right) Researchers turned skin cells taken from a sick boy into stem cells, and then into nerve cells

Scientists have successfully created nerve cells from skin cells in a breakthrough
that offers hope for those with a fatal muscle-wasting disease.

The transformation opens the way for treatments for spinal muscular atrophy, an inherited disease for which there is no cure.

“Washington Is Killing Silicon Valley” (Opinion- WSJ: 12/22/08, by Michael S. Malone) is “on point”, but doesn’t address some of the additional culprits, the VC industry being partially responsible as well, because of their own culpability/cupidity.

Big questions will forever hang over the spectacular demise of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The collapse of America's fourth-largest investment bank easily ranks as the single largest bankruptcy in history and one filled with staggering superlatives. Assets at the time of filing on Sept. 15 were $639 billion. Liabilities were $613 billion, or nearly 20 times the previous bankruptcy record set by WorldCom Inc. Lehman owed $150 billion in bond debt alone, more than the entire Russian debt default a decade earlier. Credit default swaps underlying Lehman's debt reached up to $400 billion.

Parkinson's disease affects 6.3 million people worldwide. While the disease is recognized for its profound effects on movement, up to 40 percent of Parkinson's disease patients also develop changes in thought, behavior and judgment.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered stem cells in the esophagus of mice that were able to grow into tissue-like structures and when placed into immune-deficient mice were able to form parts of an esophagus lining. The investigators report their findings online this month in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Emily S. Van Aalst-Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., Raine Riggs, M.D., Ph.D., and Ira R. Byock, M.D.

Objective: To provide an updated estimate of the extent and manner in which palliative care is incorporated
in the curricula of U.S. medical schools.

Methods: Data were obtained from two sources: a 40-item written survey sent directly to deans of all 128 medical schools and corresponding information was obtained from the Curriculum Management and Information Tool CurrMIT©) national database of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Scientists have uncovered vital clues about how to treat serious bowel disorders by studying the behaviour of cells in the colon.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh believe a chemical messenger that is essential for developing a baby's gut in the womb could hold the key to new treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a condition which affects 1 in 250 people in the UK.

Two materials, the cuprates, discovered in the mid-1980s, and the iron-based pnictides, discovered in 2008, have been classified as unconventional superconductors. In these materials, the mechanism for superconductivity is believed to be different to that of conventional superconductors, such as aluminum, in which lattice vibrations bind electrons into the so-called Cooper pairs that carry the supercurrent. Rather, in unconventional superconductors, many theorists believe that magnetic fluctuations are needed to pair electrons into Cooper pairs.

( Image: right) Structure of the iron-based superconductor SmFeAsO1-xFx: Fe (yellow), As (green), Sm (purple), O (red). The excess fluorine (F) substitutes for the oxygen sites.

"The emotions: a powerful therapeutic tool or a double-edged sword? "

Translated from: Associazionepauloparra-art.it

Try to imagine waking up one morning and not feeling any emotions and continuing the rest of the day in the same situation. It is very difficult to put in a similar condition, we could say that this is an impossible task. Emotions are indeed an integral part of our lives, the color nuances of human existence more or less.

Yet often we suppress emotions, especially those regarded as negative like fear, sadness, the melancholy.

Scientists have developed a substance that can illuminate live cancer cells and may offer a way of tracking the spread of the disease.

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo

The fluorescent compound attached itself to live cancer cells, enabling scientists to determine either the growth or containment of the disease.

By Alissa Poh

At a recent roundtable hosted by AstraZeneca on the topic of personalized medicine, representatives from industry, academia, and patient advocacy groups gathered to discuss ways to translate the alluring prospects of individualized medicine into therapeutic realities.

The question was summed up by the roundtable chair, Alan Barge, AstraZeneca’s vice president for clinical oncology: “What, practically speaking, can we do to bring personalized medicine to cancer patients?”