Month: February 2013
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GE, Vanderbilt to Partner on Colon Cancer Research
GE Global Research, a division of General Electric Company, and Vanderbilt University’s Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville are collaborating on research to better understand the formation of colon cancer tumors at the level of individual cells. The study is funded by a five-year, $3.75 million grant from National Institutes of Health (NIH). Better cancer diagnosis…
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Nano Patterns in Plastic Help Stem Cells Become Bone Cells
Medical researchers and engineers at universities of Southampton and Glasgow in the U.K. created a nanoscale process with a common plastic material to convert human embryonic stem cells into skeletal tissue cells. The findings of the team led by Southampton’s Richard Oreffo are described online in a recent issue of the journal Small (paid subscription…
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Process Adds New Properties to Ferroelectric Materials
Materials scientists at University of Illinois in Urbana developed a new type of thin metal oxide film with a built-in electric field, useful for semiconductor devices such as computer memory. The team led by Illinois professor Lane Martin published their findings online in a recent issue of the journal Advanced Materials (paid subscription required). Lane,…
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Asthma Drug Reveals Potential as Diabetes, Obesity Treatment
A drug long prescribed for asthma and canker sores has been shown in tests on mice to reverse obesity and diabetes. Researchers from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and labs in California and Australia, published their findings yesterday online in the journal Nature Medicine (paid subscription required). Alan Saltiel, director of Michigan’s Life Sciences…
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FDA Grants Accelerated Multiple Myeloma Drug Approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved pomalidomide to treat patients with multiple myeloma whose disease progressed after being treated with other cancer drugs. Pomalidomide is marketed under the brand name Pomalyst by the pharmaceutical company Celgene Corporation in Summit, New Jersey. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that affects mainly older adults and arises…
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iPhone App Tests Selective Dominant-Ear Listening Behavior
Psychologists at University of Bergen in Norway wrote software that turns an iPhone into a device to test dichotic listening, behavior that combines language processing and attention. A team from Bergen’s research group examined the iPhone app’s validity and reliability in measuring dichotic listening, with the team’s results appearing online yesterday in the journal Frontiers…
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Space Data Start-Up Raises $1.3M from Angels, Crowdfunding
NanoSatisfi, a start-up company in San Francisco offering low-priced space-based data services, raised $1.2 million in seed capital, to go along with more than $100,000 collected last summer through crowdfunding. The company announced the funding round yesterday on Twitter, with details reported on the technology and business news Web site TechCrunch. Anthony Ha of TechCrunch…
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No Disability Improvement Seen from Clot Device After Stroke
A clinical trial shows devices inserted into an artery after a stroke to remove a blood clot, used with clot-dissolving drugs, do not improve chances of living independently after 90 days compared to the use of drugs alone. The results of the study, funded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the…
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Trial Tests Tablet App to Assess Neuromuscular Performance
Biomedical researchers at Harvard University tested a computer tablet application to quickly assess neuromuscular disorders, such as those experienced by older adults. The team from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Institute for Aging Research at Harvard Medical School, with colleagues from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, published their findings online…
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Statistical Database Analysis Links Genes, High Cholesterol
Researchers at University of Massachusetts in Amherst and University of Pennsylvania developed a technique for analyzing public databases with open-source software to discover populations at genetic risk for disease at lower cost. The team led by UMass biostatistician Andrea Foulkes (pictured right) reported its findings yesterday in the online journal PLoS One. The technique called…