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Antidepressants, cognitive behavioral therapy appear equally effective in treating social phobia
Chicago -- 4 October 2004
The use of fluoxetine (an antidepressant) or comprehensive cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) were similarly effective for treating social phobia, while combining these treatments did not provide further benefit, according to an article in the October issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
According to the article, as many as 14 percent of people in the United States experience social phobia, also known as social anxiety disorder. Previous studies have shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and cognitive behavioral treatments (CBTs) have been effective in treating social phobia.
top -- more from Eurekalert
DVDs could hold '100 times more'
Future DVDs could hold 100 times more information than current discs. Imperial College London researchers in the UK are developing a new way of storing data that could lead to discs capable of holding 1,000 gigabytes. It means that every episode of The Simpsons could fit on a disc the size of a normal DVD.
Lecturer Dr Peter Torok revealed the technique called Multiplexed Optical Data Storage (Mods) at the Asia-Pacific Data Storage Conference 2004 in Taiwan. The work is part of a collaboration with researchers at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
School to give Kamasutra lessons
Kolkata, India -- 14 September 2004
A unique "lifestyle school" is coming up here to impart lessons in everything related to sex with a curriculum that draws heavily from the famous Kamasutra. Defending themselves against criticism, the school's promoters are saying that the "lifestyle school" would actually promote fidelity by ensuring healthy, pleasurable and satisfying sex for partners.
"Fidelity is ensured by removing boredom in the sex life of married couples," said Girdhari Joshi, chief of the sex school that is yet to receive a name. Joshi describes the school as a "multi-faceted lifestyle provider" that would deal with sex education, counselling, therapy and the art of lovemaking.
top -- more from Times of India
Rumours surround Google browser
Thursday, 23 September 2004,
The net is buzzing with rumours that Google is working on a web browser.
Online journals, or weblogs, have put together a series of developments which suggest that the search engine is developing new web tools.
A US newspaper has also reported that Google has poached former Microsoft workers who created early versions of the Internet Explorer browser.
Web tool may banish broken links
By Jo Twist, BBC -- Friday, 24 September 2004
Students have developed a tool which could mean broken weblinks are history. Peridot, developed by UK intern students at IBM, scans company weblinks and replaces outdated information with other relevant documents and links.
It works by automatically mapping and storing key features of webpages, so it can detect significant content changes.
The students said Peridot could protect companies by spotting links to sites that have been removed, or which point to wholly unsuitable content.
Brain's 'storehouse' for memory molecules identified
Durham, N.C. -- 23 September 2004
Neurobiologists have pinpointed the molecular storehouse that supplies the neurotransmitter receptor proteins used for learning-related changes in the brain. They also found hints that the same storage compartments, called recycling endosomes, might be more general transporters for 'memory molecules' used to remodel the neuron to strengthen its connections with its neighbors.
They said their finding constitutes an important step toward understanding the machinery by which neurons alter their connections to establish preferred signaling pathways in the process of laying down new memories.
Understanding such machinery could also offer clues to how it might degenerate in aging and disease to degrade learning and memory, they said
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Bridging the gap between global problems and global solutions
26 September 2004
There is no shortage of sensible solutions to our global problems. What the world lacks is an effective means to cooperatively implement them everywhere, simultaneously. Individual nations cannot tackle the challenge of global problems alone or even in limited alliances or unions. Other nations, alliances or unions would still be free to ignore or exploit problems like global warming, cheap labour, and corporate tax shelters to gain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.
Enter the Simultaneous Policy website ? a peaceful, yet revolutionary political tool that empowers voters everywhere to compel our politicians ? at the point of a ballot box! ? to commit our nations to implement global solutions simultaneously.
top -- to the SimPol website
Woman left sterile gives birth
Thursday, 23 September, 2004
A cancer patient made infertile by chemotherapy has, in a world first, given birth after revolutionary treatment, Belgian doctors say. Ovarian tissue from the Belgian mother, 32, was removed and frozen seven years ago before chemotherapy, then re-implanted into her pelvis last year.
She conceived naturally and gave birth at Brussels's Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc this week, Lancet reported. Researchers said all young women with cancer should be offered the treatment.
The treatment could help thousands of infertile cancer patients to conceive.
Google's Gmail inspires imaginative 'hacks'
16 September 2004
A number of ingenious uses for Google's capacious free email service Gmail have surfaced since the service's launch. Gmail was created by the web search company Google in April 2004 amid much excitement as every user is promised an unprecedented gigabyte of storage space for messages. Google encourages users to keep all their old messages and automatically searches these to determine what kind of web advertisements might interest users.
But Gmail's copious storage space has inspired a number of programmers to come up with completely novel ways of using the service. These include a "weblog" or online message board that uses Gmail to store postings and a desktop file system that plugs straight into the Gmail system.
top-- more from New Scientist
Space's largest window is built
14 September 2004
The largest window built for use in space has been completed, promising to give astronauts a spectacular view from the International Space Station. The 80cm-wide window is one of seven fitted to an observation dome called Cupola, which will be attached to the ISS in January 2009.
Cupola has six trapezoid-shaped side windows around the large, circular one. The new dome is designed to allow astronauts to control the robotic arm on the outside of the space station. The Cupola measures 2m in diameter and 1.5m in height and will be attached to Node-3 before the end of the decade. Node-3 is a new module designed for the ISS, and is currently still being assembled.
Airbus successfully completes first mobile-telephone flight trial
15 September 2004
Airbus has successfully completed the first in-flight trial of GSM personal mobile- telephones aboard an airliner, paving the way for their future widespread use. The trial, which took place aboard an Airbus A320 flight-test aircraft flying from, and back to, Toulouse, is part of an ongoing technical development project to provide an in-flight mobile telephony service to airline passengers.
In addition to tests for measurement purposes, functional tests were performed in which several different GSM telephones were used simultaneously for both voice communications and text messaging. The trials demonstrated successful communications to and from personal mobile telephones onboard to mobile and fixed telephones on the ground, and to another mobile telephone aboard.
Medical journals to require clinical trial registration
9 September 2004
Eleven prestigious medical journals around the world have announced a new strategy intended to force drug companies to disclose more information about clinical trials.
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) plan to refuse to publish papers on clinical trial results if the trial was not recorded in a publicly-accessible registry at its outset. The new policy will be brought into force over the next year.
These registries would describe the size, design and purpose of each trial at its beginning. The policy's aim is to prevent companies from only reporting positive results, or spinning data to suppress inconclusive or unflattering conclusions about their treatments.
top -- more from New Scientist
Self-sustaining killer robot creates a stink
6 September 2004
It may eat flies and stink to high heaven, but if this robot works, it will be an important step towards making robots fully autonomous.
To survive without human help, a robot needs to be able to generate its own energy. So Chris Melhuish and his team of robotics experts at the University of the West of England in Bristol are developing a robot that catches flies and digests them in a special reactor cell that generates electricity.
So what is the downside? The robot will most likely have to attract the hapless flies by using a stinking lure concocted from human excrement.
Called EcoBot II, the robot is part of a drive to make "release and forget" robots that can be sent into dangerous or inhospitable areas to carry out remote industrial or military monitoring of, say, temperature or toxic gas concentrations. Sensors on the robot feed a data logger that periodically radios the results back to a base station.
top -- more from New Scientist
Hypnosis 'reduces cancer pain'
By Paul Rincon, BBC -- Friday, 10 September 2004
Childhood cancer patients suffer less pain when placed under hypnosis, scientists have claimed.
Children who had been hypnotised in trials reported they had less pain from medical procedures as well as cancer-related pain. Dr Christina Liossi, from University of Wales, Swansea, suggested there was even tentative evidence that hypnosis prolonged the lives of cancer patients.
Making the Internet smarter, safer, more reliable and useful
Intel Developer Forum, San Francisco, 9 September 2004
Intel Corporation today described the significant changes that need to be made to the Internet's architecture to make it safer, more useful, reliable and accessible.
In a speech today at the Intel Developer Forum, Intel Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Pat Gelsinger said that by adding an overlay network of computational services to the Internet - made up of computing and storage resources -- the industry could bring greater intelligence into and across the network core. This would transform the Internet from a data transmission pipe into a vast platform for hosting a wide array of services available to the world's six billion inhabitants. Gelsinger referred to this approach as the ability to provide planetary-scale services.
top -- more from New Scientist -- more from Intel
The (brain) stuff of which dreams are made
Zurich, 10 September 2004
A grand tradition in the study of the brain is to wait for disaster to strike. The functional map of the brain--identifying which areas underlie movement, different senses or emotions, memory, and so on--has largely been filled in by observing which functions were eliminated or changed with injuries or strokes to focal areas of the brain.
In a study published September 10, 2004, in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology, scientists describe a patient who lost all dreaming, and very little else, following a stroke in one distinct region of the brain, suggesting that this area is crucial for the generation of dreams.
"How dreams are generated, and what purpose they might serve, are completely open questions at this point. These results describe for the first time in detail the extent of lesion necessary to produce loss of dreaming in the absence of other neurological deficits. As such, they offer a target for further study of the localization of dreaming," said author Claudio L. Bassetti, M.D., of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital of Zurich in Switzerland.
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more from Eurekalert
Israeli scientists reveal the plan of a key cellular machine
8 September 2004
The new study gives scientists insight into how the DNA code is turned into instructions for protein construction
A team of scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has revealed the structure of a cellular editor that "cuts and pastes" the first draft of RNA straight after it is formed from its DNA template. Many diseases appear to be tied to mistakes in this process, and understanding the workings of the machinery involved may lead to the ability to correct or prevent them in the future.
Since the discovery, around 25 years ago, that the bits of DNA in the genes that code for protein formation are interspersed with "filler" segments that have no known function, scientists have worked to understand the process by which the right sequences are lifted out and strung together to make a coherent set of instructions. This act, referred to as "RNA splicing," takes place in the "spliceosome" situated in the cell nucleus. A large complex of proteins and short strands of RNA, the spliceosome distinguishes the beginnings and ends of coded segments, precisely cutting and stitching them together. Alternative splicing, which underlies the huge diversity of proteins in the body by allowing segments of the genetic code to be strung together in different ways, takes place in the spliceosome as well.
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Short term memory's effectiveness influenced by sight, sound
31 August 2004
For decades scientists have believed that people can only remember an ordered list of about seven items at a time--such as seven grocery items or seven digits of a phone number--but new research from the University of Rochester has shown that this magic number varies depending on whether the language used is spoken or signed. The results in the cover story of the latest issue of Nature Neuroscience have important implications for standardized tests, which often employ ordered-list retention as a measure of a person's mental aptitude.
"When we hear things, we naturally process them in a series," says Daphne Bavelier, associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. "When we hear music, for instance, it comes to us second by second, so the part of our brains that processes auditory information has evolved to absorb information in sequence. This means hearing a spoken list, such as numbers in an ATM code, corresponds more closely with what the auditory brain does naturally." Conversely, visual information comes to us simultaneously as we might see a sunset, clouds and a skyline all at the same time. While the visual processes in the brain can still remember ordered lists, they tend to be less effective at it, recalling an average of five numbers instead of seven.
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more from Rochester University
Gadget 'restored my independence'
Saturday, 4 September 2004
Anthony Whitehead, 37, became tetraplegic over 20 years ago following an accident. His injury means he is no longer able to use his arms and legs.
A remote control which enables him to operate everyday household appliances has meant he no longer has to rely on his parents.
Two such devices are available free of charge on the NHS, or from social services.
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more from BBC -- more from SRS
Not long ago, in a galaxy far away...
In February 2003, astronomers involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) pointed the massive radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, at around 200 sections of the sky. The same telescope had previously detected unexplained radio signals at least twice from each of these regions, and the astronomers were trying to reconfirm the findings.
The team has now finished analysing the data, and all the signals seem to have disappeared. Except one, which has got stronger. This radio signal, now seen on three separate occasions, is an enigma. It could be generated by a previously unknown astronomical phenomenon. Or it could be something much more mundane, maybe an artefact of the telescope itself.
But it also happens to be the best candidate yet for a contact by intelligent aliens in the nearly six-year history of the SETI@home project, which uses programs running as screensavers on millions of personal computers worldwide to sift through signals picked up by the Arecibo telescope.
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more from New Scientist
Neanderthal life not tougher than that of "modern" Eskimos
Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg, Columbus, Ohio -- 2 September 2004
The bands of ancient Neanderthals that struggled throughout Europe during the last Ice Age faced challenges no tougher than those confronted by the modern Inuit, or Eskimos.
Thatís the conclusion of a new study intended to test a long-standing belief among anthropologists that the life of the Neanderthals was too tough for their line to coexist with Homo sapiens.
And the evidence discounting that theory lies with tiny grooves that mar he teeth of these ancient people.
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more from Ohio State University
Door open for silicon replacement
Wednesday, 25 August 2004
A replacement for the use of pure silicon in electronics has come a step closer, the journal Nature reports. Silicon chips can malfunction at high temperatures, often from the heat generated in their own circuitry.
But Japanese experts have now overcome the flaws that plague crystals of silicon carbide, a hard compound that is more robust in hot conditions. This material could now fulfil its potential as a replacement for pure silicon in manufacturing processes.
UN backs drive for free software
Sunday, 29 August 2004
Events have been held across Asia to encourage the region to adopt free and open source software. The UN's International Open Source Network (IOSN) helped promote the first annual Software Freedom Day on 28 August, giving out CDs and booklets about the technology.
Events took place in countries like India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Open source is free and can offer big opportunities for developing countries. The initiative was organised by free and open source software advocates under the umbrella of the Software Freedom Day.
Marathon mouse keeps on running
Tuesday, 24 August, 2004
A "marathon" mouse which can run twice as far as a normal rodent has been bred by a US-South Korean team of scientists The genetically engineered animal has been given an enhanced protein that turns it into an "endurance athlete" and makes it resistant to weight gain.
Changing a gene that codes for a specific protein boosted the molecule's activity, leading to an increase in so-called "slow-twitch" muscle fibre. They could be used to help people with muscle or weight problems, say the researchers. The scientists also acknowledge their studies could be abused by athletics cheats.
Psychotherapy by telephone an effective addition to treatment for depression
25 August 2004
Integrating psychotherapy by telephone into a program for treating depression can significantly improve outcomes, according to a study in the August 25 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Both antidepressant medication and structured psychotherapy have been proven effective, but less than one-third of people with depressive disorders receive effective levels of either treatment, according to background information in the article. Of those beginning psychotherapy, 25 percent attend only one session and only half attend four or more sessions. Stigma remains an important barrier to treatment seeking and treatment adherence. Psychotherapy requires a significant commitment of time.
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more from Eurekalert
Why we enjoy telling people off
Thursday, 26 August 2004
People genuinely enjoy telling others off if they have done something wrong, according to scientists.
Researchers from the University of Zurich in Switzerland tested seven pairs of men as they played a game. The game involved money changing hands. If one player failed to play fairly, he tended to be punished by the other.
Writing in Science, the researchers said telling someone off activated a part of the brain which is linked to enjoyment and satisfaction. The researchers said it might explain why many people choose to reprimand others if they break the rules or abuse their trust.
Bright idea could doom cancer and viruses
Harry Morrison, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. ? 23 August 2004
Cancer and viruses may someday find themselves blinded by the light of therapies based on recent Purdue University chemistry research.
A team of scientists including Harry Morrison has developed a group of rhodium-based compounds that, when exposed to light, can kill tumor cells and deactivate a virus closely related to the West Nile and yellow fever viruses. Unlike the ordinary substances used for chemotherapy, these chemicals are not harmful to the body in general ? they only become lethal to DNA when activated by light of a specific frequency. While therapies based on the discovery are likely many years away, the compounds could have potential as anticancer agents and for blood sterilization.
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more from Purdue News
Eyewitness recall accuracy affected by mood
Joseph Forgas, Sydney -- 22 August 2004
People in a negative mood provide more accurate eyewitness accounts than people in a positive mood state, according to new research. The surprise finding, which is to be published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, is the first to assess the effect of mood on memory and human thinking.
People in a positive mood such as happiness were shown under experimental conditions to have relatively unreliable memories, and show poorer judgement and critical thinking skills.
By contrast, those who experienced a negative mood such as sadness were shown to provide more reliable eyewitnesses accounts and exercise superior thinking and communication skills.
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more from Eurekalert
Virtual veins give nurses a hand
By Jo Twist -- 20 August 2004
A virtual reality hand, complete with vital veins, that "feels" could help trainee nurses practise their jabs. The tactile 3D virtual reality system uses force feedback technology that is usually found in video game controllers, known as haptics.
It could help in learning sensitive venopuncture skills on a variety of hand types, instead of plastic models. The system, developed by UK Haptics, is still at an early stage, but could be used for training nurses next year.
Particle collider edges forward
Beijing -- 20 August 2004
A key decision on the International Linear Collider, one of the grand scientific projects of the 21st Century, has been taken in China. Physicists told a Beijing conference that the multi-billion-euro project should use superconducting technology to create its particle collisions.
These would be high-energy impacts inside a 30km-long laboratory. The experiments should give scientists a deeper understanding of the materials used to construct the Universe.
At the moment, the so-called Standard Model of particles and their interactions provides only a partial picture of the nature of the normal matter we see around us. Researchers know, however, the cosmos is dominated by other material which is invisible to current detection technologies.
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more from BBC -- more from Interactions
Transparency begets trust in the ever-expanding Blogosphere
J.D. Lasica, 12 August 2004
The openness of Weblogs could help explain why many readers find them more credible than traditional media. Can mainstream journalists learn from their cutting-edge cousins?
At the Aspen Institute's Conference on Journalism and Society in mid-July, a question was put to executives of major news organizations: Whom do you trust in online media today? Most answered with a list of the usual suspects: the Web sites of The New York Times, NPR, the Los Angeles Times.
Jeff Jarvis, a blogger and president of Advance Internet, gave a different answer: "I have learned to trust the voice and judgment of my fellow citizens."
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more from Online Journalism Review
Language may shape human thought
Celeste Biever, 19 August 2004
Language may shape human thought, suggests a counting study in a Brazilian tribe whose language does not define numbers above two. Hunter-gatherers from the Piranha tribe, whose language only contains words for the numbers one and two, were unable to reliably tell the difference between four objects placed in a row and five in the same configuration, revealed the study.
Experts agree that the startling result provides the strongest support yet for the controversial hypothesis that the language available to humans defines our thoughts. So-called linguistic determinism was first proposed in 1950 but has been hotly debated ever since.
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more from New Scientist
Prions act as stepping stones in evolution
15 August 2004
When a protein misfolds, the results can be disastrous. An incorrect change in the molecule's shape can lead to diseases including Alzheimer's and Huntington's. But scientists have discovered that misfolded proteins can have a positive side in yeast, helping cells navigate the dicey current of natural selection by expressing a variety of hidden genetic traits.
What's more, at the center of this process is a prion, a protein that changes shape in a self-perpetuating way--much like the prion in mammals that is responsible for certain neurological conditions such as Mad Cow disease.
"This is the first time we've seen a prion affect a cell in a beneficial way that can determine the evolution of an organism," says Heather True, lead author of the paper.
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Scientists given cloning go-ahead
Wednesday, 11 August 2004
British scientists have been given permission to perform therapeutic cloning using human embryos for the first time. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority granted the licence to experts at the University of Newcastle.
They are investigating new treatments for conditions including diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The controversial decision could open a new era of research by scientists looking for remedies for diseases.
Brain's reward circuitry revealed in procrastinating primates
10 August 2004
Using a new molecular genetic technique, scientists have turned procrastinating primates into workaholics by temporarily suppressing a gene in a brain circuit involved in reward learning. Without the gene, the monkeys lost their sense of balance between reward and the work required to get it, say researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
"The gene makes a receptor for a key brain messenger chemical, dopamine," explained Barry Richmond, M.D., NIMH Laboratory of Neuropsychology. "The gene knockdown triggered a remarkable transformation in the simian work ethic. Like many of us, monkeys normally slack off initially in working toward a distant goal. They work more efficiently ? make fewer errors ? as they get closer to being rewarded. But without the dopamine receptor, they consistently stayed on-task and made few errors, because they could no longer learn to use visual cues to predict how their work was going to get them a reward."
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more from Eurekalert
Scientists identify compounds that mimic calorie restriction
11 August 2004
Compounds that mimic the effects of a low calorie diet but without a change in the amount of essential nutrients has been identified by investigators from an international consortium of research institutes, including the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers believe it may be possible to design drugs that imitate many of the beneficial effects of calorie restriction resulting in the prevention of diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, which are more common in people who are overweight.
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more from Johns Hopkins SPH
ET first contact 'within 20 years'
Marcus Chown -- 23 July 2004
If intelligent life exists elsewhere in our galaxy, advances in computer processing power and radio telescope technology will ensure we detect their transmissions within two decades. That is the bold prediction from a leading light at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute in Mountain View, California.
Seth Shostak, the SETI Institute's senior astronomer, based his prediction on accepted assumptions about the likelihood of alien civilisations existing, combined with projected increases in computing power.
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more from New Scientist
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