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Anything but standard

Although paediatric laboratory medicine and clinical chemistry is a well and long established scientific field, it is still a challenging one with its own special problems, as Dr Massimiliano Cantinotti, Paediatric Cardiologist Consultant at Fondazione G Monasterio, National Research Institute, Massa, Italy, well knows.

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Integration to combat diabetes

To face the national and worldwide increase in diabetes mellitus cases, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research initiated the foundation of the German Centre for Diabetes Research (DZD), aiming to improve basic research, prevention, diagnostic and therapy of diabetes. Inaugurated in Berlin a few months ago, the centre has five strategic partners.

Oxford’s new centre for science entrepreneurs

UK – A partly refurbished building in central Oxford is opening to provide space for science entrepreneurs. Science Oxford, a charity that supports education and business in the city, ultimately aims to demolish the building to create a science-focused public building to showcase new technological innovation from the Oxford area.

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The future of the pharmaceutical industry

The closure of Pfizer’s Sandwich Lab is part of a long-term decline in drug development, a trend that has been affecting all major UK pharmaceutical multinationals. Big pharmaceutical companies have been downsizing, outsourcing and merging in an attempts to find an innovation strategy that will keep their pipelines filled with new, potentially profitable products.

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European cancer mortality predictions for the year 2011

There will be nearly 1.3 million deaths from cancer in Europe in 2011 according to predictions from a study published in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology. The estimates, which have been reached after researchers used for the first time in Europe a new mathematical model for predicting cancer mortality, show a fall in overall cancer death rates for both men and women when compared to 2007.

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Plasma therapy: an alternative to antibiotics?

Cold plasma jets could be a safe, effective alternative to antibiotics to treat multi-drug resistant infections, says a study published this week in the January issue of the Journal of Medical Microbiology. The team of Russian and German researchers showed that a ten-minute treatment with low-temperature plasma was not only able to kill drug-resistant bacteria causing wound infections in rats but…

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Improving biochemical substances research

Chemical substances can bring miracles: they kill bacteria, prevent viral multiplication or stop cancer cell growth. Thus they offer a huge reservoir of potential drugs. However, seeking substances and their biological effects is a mammoth task and cannot be undertaken alone. The Preparatory Phase Project EU-OPENSCREEN (European Infrastructure of Open Screening Platforms for Chemical Biology) was…

Liver Cancer in Cirrhotic Patients Effectively Treated with Radiofrequency Ablation

Researchers from Italy determined that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a safe and effective therapy for managing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic patients. The high repeatability of RFA is advantageous in controlling recurrences of cancerous tumors in the liver. Results of this 10-year retrospective study are available in the January 2011 issue of Hepatology, a journal published by…

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Is Santa Claus toxic?

The exact location of Santa’s Workshop has long been kept secret, but one thing every child knows is that he lives somewhere up by the North Pole. It’s a place that has seen great changes in recent years with melting sea ice and warmer summer temperatures attributed to global warming.But climate change isn’t the only bad news facing the world’s favorite jolly old elf: research from the…

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New EU project CORONET

Interfaces between the brain and electrical circuits in technical devices or computers open new perspectives for basic research and medical application, e.g., for therapeutic brain stimulation and neuroprosthetics. The new EU project CORONET will develop the technological and theoretical foundations for such future “bio-hybrid” interfaces between biological and artificial nervous tissues.

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Superantigens could be behind several illnesses

Superantigens, the toxins produced by staphylococcus bacteria, are more complex than previously believed, reveals a team of researchers from the University of Gothenburg in an article published today in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Their discovery shows that the body’s immune system can cause more illnesses than realised.

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Synapses recycle proteins for the release of neurotransmitters

Neurons communicate via chemical transmitters which they store in the bubble-like synaptic vesicles and release as required. To be able to react reliably to stimulation, neurons must have a certain number of "acutely releasable" vesicles. With the help of a new method, German neuroscientists have now discovered that neurons systematically recycle the protein components necessary for transmitter…

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Cancer stem cells

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the engine that drives tumour growth. They can not only reproduce themselves but also differentiate to form all the specialised cells found within a tumour. While chemotherapy and radiotherapy non-specifically target all rapidly dividing cells, there is increasing evidence that CSCs are more resistant to these treatments. Report: Karoline Laarmann

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1000 Genomes Project publishes analysis of completed pilot phase

Small genetic differences between individuals help explain why some people have a higher risk than others for developing illnesses such as diabetes or cancer. In the journal Nature, the 1000 Genomes Project, an international public-private consortium, published the most comprehensive map of these genetic differences, called variations, estimated to contain approximately 95 percent of the genetic…

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The potentiated value of MR-PET imaging

Even more precise diagnoses, even better process controls -- the future of MR-PET technology has dawned. The first commercial, full-body hybrid scanners are either waiting in the wings or already installed. But what does the introduction of the MR-PET really mean for clinical practice? Professor Heinz-Peter Schlemmer MD, Head of the Radiology Department at the German Cancer Research Centre in…

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