In the womb of animals November 30, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Anatomy, Invention, Photography, science.1 comment so far
National Geographic Channel will present a great documentary on the 10th of December.
“In the Womb: Animals” is an unprecedented two-hour world premiere special that takes you inside the hidden world of animal pregnancy. Using state-of-the-art visual effects, computer graphics and real-time, moving 4-D ultrasound imagery, we can see inside the unique world of animal fetal development in a way never before possible. For the first time, these pictures shed light on how an elephant, a dolphin and a dog develop in the womb.
You can watch the preview, galleries or timelines of pregnancies with interactive learning possibilities. Behind the Scenes Facts help to understand the techniques used during the making of the film.
© 1996-2006 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
Thank you, Petra, for the link.
What to do if you can’t even hear yourself? November 30, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Invention, Medicine.3 comments
There are cases when you can’t use your stethoscope due to the noise around you. On the 4th Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Acoustical Society of Japan in Honolulu, Hawaii, they will present a new technique: an ultrasound stethoscope that can be used in loud noise and is capable of making accurate readings at noise levels up to 120 decibels (it sounds as loud as a train horn).
As the scienceblog.com article says, this invention will be used mainly by the army where the critical hour is crucial:
For soldiers wounded in combat, the first hour after sustaining an injury is known as the “critical hour,” when diagnoses and emergency treatment must take place to give them the best chance of recovery
Unfortunately, due to the price, the main market is going to be the army itself.
The ultrasound stethoscopes are almost ready to begin the process of FDA approval, which is likely to take two to three months. Then Active Signal Technologies will begin manufacturing the devices to sell to the armed forces. The company’s chief executive officer, Arthur Cooke, said the commercial release of the stethoscopes will likely be very small at first, since the cost could be anywhere between $250 and $700. He said he hopes positive feedback from the armed forces will generate widespread interest.
HIV will be in the top 3 November 30, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Medicine.1 comment so far
Nowadays, the top health problems are perinatal diseases, respiratory infections, heart diseases and the stroke. Within the next 25-30 years, HIV infections are set to get into the the top three causes of death worldwide as Malaria, diarrhoea and tuberculosis are all due to fall off the top ten list.
HealthWatch writes about the problem:
The paper by Dr. Colin Mathers and Dejan Loncar of the World Health Organization estimates that at least 117 million people will die from AIDS by 2030. In an optimistic future projection, if new HIV infections are curbed and access to life-prolonging antiretrovirals is increased, 89 million people will die from the disease.
But the most important message of that estimation is what Colin Mathers, one of the authors of the report says:
I hope this paper inspires change… And I hope our pessimistic projections turn out to be wrong.
References:
- HIV to be top health problem within 25 years (Nature News)
- Mathers C. D. &Loncar D. PLoS Med., e442 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030442 (2006).
Mammography against Elastography November 29, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Invention, Medicine.1 comment so far
If you are a woman, you surely hate mammography. It’s a painful procedure; has an error rate that is still high and the amount of radiation used for the imaging is still too much. But there is a new hope…
In the annual meeting of the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America), they presented a new technique and preliminary tests. The technique is called elasticity imaging. As the Wikipedia article says:
Elastography is an non-invasive method in which stiffness or strain images of soft tissue are used to detect or classify tumors. A tumor or a suspicious cancerous growth is normally 5-28 times stiffer than the background of normal soft tissue. When a mechanical compression or vibration is applied, the tumor deforms less than the surrounding tissue. i.e. the strain in the tumor is less than the surrounding tissue.
The preliminary tests show fantastic results. They’ve scanned 123 tumors, identified correctly all 17 cancerous lesions, and 105 out of 106 benign ones. Richard G. Barr, professor of radiology at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Youngstown, who presented the results, says:
This technique could significantly reduce the number of biopsies and increase the confidence of women that a detected lesion is truly benign. …There are no needles… The patient does not notice any difference from a standard ultrasound.
Why does it work? Tumors tend to be harder and less elastic than benign lumps and the test can distinguish a dangerous growth from a harmless one.
Left: normal; right: cancerous mammography image. Image source: Wikipedia
References:
- Ultrasound spots tumorous lumps (Nature)
- Elasticity Imaging: New Ultrasound Technique, Accurately Separates Benign From Malignant Breast Lesions (Cancer Commentary)
- Press Releases: Elasticity Imaging Identifies Cancers and Reduces Breast Biopsies (RSNA.org)
Microscope Imaging Station November 29, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Invention, Photography, science.add a comment
One of the best microscope sites I’ve ever seen. In the mission statement, they say:
The Exploratorium launched the most ambitious microscope facility ever created for use by the general public, the Microscope Imaging Station. The initial phase of the project gives visitors the ability to image living specimens, as well as control the microscopes themselves.
You have several possibilities in their site. You can
- download flipbooks or wallpapers
- read stories about researches as Stem cells: Cells with potential or Zebrafish: A model for heart development
- watch videos
I show an image just to represent their fantastic work. Have a good journey!
© The Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu
What to buy for Christmas? November 28, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Anatomy, Invention, Sciencefun.add a comment
There are plenty of ideas what to present to the scientists of the future (thanks Petra for the links). Here are some suggestions:
- SmartLab Skull Model
- Human Nose and Mouth Anatomical Model
- Smithsonian Synthetic Frog Dissection Kit
- Human Anatomy Models
- Life-Size Skeleton 66 inches tall
And the absolutely best:
Sites for today November 28, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Blogroll, Medicine, genetics.add a comment
- A Medical Animation Library with plenty of videos. I loved this one: Where do babies come from?
And the baby will grow inside a special place in my tummy called my uterus…
- DNA from the Beginning: a site on classical and molecular genetics with animations included. Hundreds of slideshows, galleries, bios.
Breaking the DNA Code November 28, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Invention, genetics.2 comments
The genome consists of five types of nucleotides (Uracyl is not important for us now as a part of the RNAs) . If you take a look at a code of a gene, you can’t describe the protein to be translated. But now, Professor Simon Shepherd at the University of Bradford has constructed an algorithm that can unpick the sequences of Adenines, Guanines, Cytosines and Thymines.
Professor Shepherd originally tested his computer programme on the entire text of Emma by Jane Austen after removing all the spaces and punctuation, leaving just a long impenetrable line of letters. Despite having no knowledge of the English vocabulary or syntax, the programme managed to identify 80 per cent of the words and separate them back into sentences.
In case of a genome, the problem is much more complicated as we don’t even know exactly how we can describe a sentence. There are introns that are not transcripted and protein folding itself is one of the most difficult processes. Maybe, after additional developing, this method can be applied to a genetic sequence.
We are treating DNA as we used to treat problems in intelligence. We want to break the code at the most fundamental level… The protein folding problem is regarded as one of the three grand challenge problems of 21st century science. Its resolution is crucial to the development of the new drugs and medical therapies that the Human Genome project promises one day to deliver.
Although results will not happen overnight, we can expect to see the promise of the Human Genome project bearing fruit within the next 20 to 50 years.
I’m just wondering what can be the other two other challenge problems of 21st century science. Any comment is welcome.
References:
- DNA Code Breaker Tested Theory On Jane Austen Text
- Nature (pg 259, Vol. 444, 16 November 2006)
- Evolving code wiki
Neonatal screening in the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis November 27, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Medicine, genetics.1 comment so far
There is a new French collaborative study about the neonatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most frequent life-limiting autosomal recessive disorder in the white. It is caused by mutations in 2 alleles of the gene encoding for the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein, which acts mainly as a cyclic AMP (cAMP)-activated chloride channel. The product of this gene helps to create sweat, digestive juices, and mucus.
Newborn screening programs for CF usually consist of an immunoreactive trypsinogen (IRT) assay, followed when IRT is elevated by testing for a panel of CF-causing mutations. But the following factors make this method problematic:
- Some children may have persistent hypertrypsinogenemia
- only one or no identified CFTR gene mutation
- and sweat chloride concentrations close to normal values.
There is an other solution:
Measurements of transepithelial nasal potential differences (NPD) in adults accurately characterize CFTR-related ion transport. The aim of the present study is to establish reference values for NPD measurements for healthy children and those with CF aged 3 months to 3 years, the age range of most difficult-to-diagnose patients with suspected CF. The ultimate goal of our study is to validate NPD testing as a diagnostic tool for children with borderline results in neonatal screening.
So in this new screening protocoll, they have adapted the standard NPD protocol for young children, designed a special catheter for them, used a slower perfusion rate, and shortened the protocol to include only measurement of basal PD, transepithelial sodium (Na+) transport in response to the Na+ channel inhibitor amiloride, and CFTR-mediated chloride (Cl-) secretion in response to isoproterenol, a β-agonist in a Cl- free solution.
Why can it be useful?
This study will provide the basis for interpreting findings from a new and rapid diagnostic tool in patients with suspected CF after neonatal screening. This should help clinicians to alleviate parental distress and provide earlier therapeutic interventions and genetic counselling.
References:
- The CF-CIRC study: a French collaborative study to assess the accuracy of Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis in neonatal screening
- Wikipedia article
- Corey M, McLaughlin FJ, Williams M, Levison H. A comparison of survival, growth, and pulmonary function in patients with cystic fibrosis in Boston and Toronto. J Clin Epidemiol. 1988;41:583–591. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(88)90063-7. [PubMed]
- Doughty IM, Ward I, Schwarz M, David TJ. Delayed diagnosis of cystic fibrosis due to normal sweat electrolytes. J R Soc Med. 1995;88:417P–418P. [PubMed]
Education of the future November 27, 2006
Posted by Bertalan Meskó in Anatomy, Invention, Medicine.add a comment
University of Berkeley has started a new project called webcast.berkeley.
Podcasting automatically delivers MP3 audio recordings of classroom lectures to computers and portable MP3 players. These recordings are primarily used by students to review key concepts and to study before exams… Approximately 26 courses are participating in the Podcast Pilot.
Here is a list of lectures avaliable and my favourite ones:
