A new approach to building an “artificial nose” — using fluorescent compounds and DNA — could accelerate the use of sniffing sensors into the realm of mass production and widespread use, say Stanford chemists. If their method lives up to its p…
Irvine, Calif., Aug. 19, 2010 — A UC Irvine study is the first to demonstrate that human neural stem cells can restore mobility in cases of chronic spinal cord injury, suggesting the prospect of treating a much broader population of patients.
P…
Patients who receive a liver transplant due to alcoholic liver disease need to demonstrate periods of abstinence and often attend addiction treatment before transplantation. However, alcohol use disorders can recur, as can other diseases requiring t…
Among teens in juvenile detention, nearly two thirds of boys and nearly three quarters of girls have at least one psychiatric disorder, a federally funded study has found. These rates dwarf the estimated 15 percent of youth in the general population thought to have psychiatric illness, placing detained teens on a par with those at highest risk, such as maltreated and runaway youth.
French researchers say they have for the first time demonstrated the use of a teleoperated robotic arm for echographic diagnosis in a remote situation. The objective of the project was to demonstrate how teleoperated echographic diagnosis can be carried out on patients at remote locations. A radiologist at St Anne’s Hospital in Toulon used the teleoperated robotic arm to diagnose a test patient on board the ship stationed at sea. With the robotic arm, videoconferencing equipment and satellite communications, the radiologist was able to assess the severity of medical problems from the remote site. This has important implications for spaceflight and research as it means that astronauts on board the international space station can receive diagnostic attention without returning to Earth.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a speaker at BioSecurity 2002, now underway in Las Vegas, discusses with Science Blog editor Ben Sullivan issues facing Israel and the Middle East in the biosecurity realm.
Beyond Iraq, to what extent do bioweapons represent a likely threat to Israel and other Middle East countries? Do you believe they are seen as a legitimate weapon by the powerplayers behind the intifada, for example, or does the region’s concentrated geography actually play against the likelihood of their use?
Iraq is clearly the major player of bio-weapon in the region. Syria might be interested in it as a part of its “Strategic Answer” vis a vis the per claimed nuclear capabilities of Israel, namely as a deterrence element. Palestinian terror might not be able to use it on major scale for the reasons you have mentioned…