Health

Statistics Help Infants Build Knowledge of Visual World

A baby’s first look at the world is likely a dizzying array of shapes and motion that are meaningless to a newborn, but researchers at the University of Rochester say they have now shown that babies use relationships between objects to build an understanding of the world. By noting how often objects appear together, infants can efficiently take in more knowledge than if they were to simply see the same shapes individually, says the paper published in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Preparation high, confidence low against bioterrorism

A survey has found that while 80 percent of attendees at a recent international biosecurity conference say their organizations — including first responder, medical, military and industrial outfits — have plans in place to counter bioterrorism, two-thirds doubt they would be safe in the event of a biological or chemical attack.

Chinese company claims cancer test advance

A Chinese medical equipment manufacturer says it will begin marketing a test kit that can detect the presence of tumour abnormal protein (TAP), from a single drop of blood. That, the company says, can provide cell diagnostics up to three years before terminal cancer is formed, and before any clinical symptoms appear.

Mother’s marital status, not age, linked to later depression

The age a mother first gives birth may be less relevant to her chance of later-life depression than her marital status, according to new research showing that unmarried teenage mothers and unmarried adult mothers have similar levels of depressive symptoms in their late 20s. The study also found that living in a female-headed family at age 14, living with a stepfather at age 14, having low self-esteem in mid-adolescence and having poor verbal and math skills predicted depressive symptoms in young adulthood.

NASA uses ‘extremophile’ microbes to grow nanostructures

NASA scientists have invented a biological method to make ultra-small structures that could be used to produce electronics 10 to 100 times smaller than today’s components. As part of their new method, scientists use modified proteins from ‘extremophile’ microbes that live in near-boiling, acidic hot springs to grow mesh-like structures so small that an electron microscope is needed to see them.
“Our innovation takes advantage of the innate ability of proteins to form into ordered structures and for us to use genetic engineering to change nature’s plans, transforming these structures into something useful,” said one of the project’s lead researchers.

Researchers Identify Cause of Aggressive Childhood Cancer

Researchers have generated a mouse model of a new type of tumor suppressor gene that triggers a rapidly advancing cancer that affects children. The discovery of the fast-onset cancers that result from inactivation of the gene and the technique used to generate the model will likely prove useful in studying genes involved in other forms of cancer.

Discovery May Dramatically Reduce Liver Transplants in Children

A discovery published in the current issue of The Lancet may lead to new treatments for a deadly liver disease of infancy — dramatically reducing the number of liver transplants in children. A team of researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital have revealed a genetic underpinning to biliary atresia, the most common reason for liver transplant in children. Biliary atresia occurs in infants and usually becomes evident two to eight weeks after birth. Its cause has been unknown. Symptoms include unexplained jaundice, dark urine, clay-colored stools and weight loss. The disease destroys bile ducts in the liver, trapping bile, rapidly causing damage to liver cells and severe scarring.

Brain’s perception depends upon the source of cues, researchers find

When the human brain is presented with conflicting information about an object from different senses, it finds a remarkably efficient way to sort out the discrepancies, according to new research conducted at the University of California, Berkeley. The researchers found that when sensory cues from the hands and eyes differ from one another, the brain effectively splits the difference to produce a single mental image. The researchers describe the middle ground as a “weighted average” because in any given individual, one sense may have more influence than the other. When the discrepancy is too large, however, the brain reverts to information from a single cue – from the eyes, for instance – to make a judgment about what is true.

Major Herpes Vaccine Trial Launched in Women

A pivotal efficacy trial of an experimental vaccine designed to prevent genital herpes in women began enrolling volunteers this week. The study will determine the vaccine’s ability to prevent genital herpes disease in women who are free of two common types of herpes simplex viruses (HSV): HSV-1 and HSV-2. The trial will eventually enroll 7,550 women in at least 16 sites in the United States.

Scientists Glimpse Cellular Machines at Work Inside Living Cells

Using advanced imaging technology and computational simulations, scientists have, for the first time, glimpsed the action of a cellular machine at work within living cells. The work puts forth a new concept of cellular machines as dynamic protein complexes that are continually building and rebuilding themselves within the cell, rather than the stable structures scientists have traditionally thought them to be.

Outpatient Cardiology Care Improves Survival Odds After Heart Attack

Elderly heart attack patients who visit a cardiologist’s office in the months after leaving the hospital are less likely to die within two years than patients who visit only their primary care doctor, a study by Harvard Medical School researchers finds. And patients who visit both a cardiologist and a primary care doctor have even better outcomes than those who visit only a cardiologist.