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Surgical treatment for epilepsy should not be viewed as a last resort, study shows
Evidence-Based Systems Needed to Reduce Unnecessary Imaging Tests
Circumcision May Help Protect Against Prostate Cancer
Powerful treatment with botox provides effective relief for urinary incontinence
3D-Printer with Nano-Precision
Tracing the UK's No1 sexually transmitted infection
World breakthrough on salt-tolerant wheat
Pregnane X receptor protein discovery could switch off cardiovascular disease
A new approach to treating type I diabetes? Gut cells transformed into insulin factories

Surgical treatment for epilepsy should not be viewed as a last resort, study shows

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 07:07 AM PDT

While the thought of any type of surgery can be disconcerting, the thought of brain surgery can be downright frightening. But for people with a particular form of epilepsy, surgical intervention can literally be life-restoring.

Evidence-Based Systems Needed to Reduce Unnecessary Imaging Tests

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 06:34 AM PDT

Imaging has been identified as one of the key drivers of increased healthcare costs. A new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School has found significant variation in the use of head computed tomography (CT), even within a single emergency department. Strategies to reduce such variation in head CT use may reduce cost and improve quality of care. The study appears online in advance of publication in the April issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

Circumcision May Help Protect Against Prostate Cancer

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 06:29 AM PDT

A new analysis led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that circumcision before a male’s first sexual intercourse may help protect against prostate cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that circumcision can hinder infection and inflammation that may lead to this malignancy.

Powerful treatment with botox provides effective relief for urinary incontinence

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 04:58 AM PDT

The biggest study into the treatment of urinary incontinence with botulinum toxin (trade name Botox) has demonstrated that it is effective in treating overactive bladder (OAB) - a debilitating common condition which can affect up to 20% of people over the age of 40.

The study from the University of Leicester was led by Dr. Douglas Tincello, Senior Lecturer at the University and Honorary Consultant Gynaecologist at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

3D-Printer with Nano-Precision

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 04:50 AM PDT

The 3D printer uses a liquid resin, which is hardened at precisely the correct spots by a focused laser beam. The focal point of the laser beam is guided through the resin by movable mirrors and leaves behind a polymerized line of solid polymer, just a few hundred nanometers wide. This high resolution enables the creation of intricately structured sculptures as tiny as a grain of sand. “Until now, this technique used to be quite slow”, says Professor Jürgen Stampfl from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the TU Vienna.

Tracing the UK's No1 sexually transmitted infection

Posted: 11 Mar 2012 08:18 PM PDT

In a study released today in Nature Genetics, researchers have found that Chlamydia has evolved more actively than was previously thought. Using whole genome sequencing the researchers show that the exchange of DNA between different strains of Chlamydia to form new strains is much more common than expected.

World breakthrough on salt-tolerant wheat

Posted: 11 Mar 2012 08:10 PM PDT

A team of Australian scientists involving the University of Adelaide has bred salt tolerance into a variety of durum wheat that shows improved grain yield by 25% on salty soils.

Using 'non-GM' crop breeding techniques, scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry have introduced a salt-tolerant gene into a commercial durum wheat, with spectacular results shown in field tests. Researchers at the University of Adelaide's Waite Research Institute have led the effort to understand how the gene delivers salinity tolerance to the plants.

Pregnane X receptor protein discovery could switch off cardiovascular disease

Posted: 11 Mar 2012 07:38 PM PDT

Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Surrey have found a protein inside blood vessels with an ability to protect the body from substances which cause cardiovascular disease.

The findings, published online in the journal Cardiovascular Research, have revealed the protein protein pregnane X receptor (PXR) can switch on different protective pathways in the blood vessels.

A new approach to treating type I diabetes? Gut cells transformed into insulin factories

Posted: 11 Mar 2012 07:23 PM PDT

A study by Columbia researchers suggests that cells in the patient's intestine could be coaxed into making insulin, circumventing the need for a stem cell transplant. Until now, stem cell transplants have been seen by many researchers as the ideal way to replace cells lost in type I diabetes and to free patients from insulin injections.

The research—conducted in mice—was published 11 March 2012 in the journal Nature Genetics.