A longitudinal study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET provides compelling evidence that breastfeeding does not protect against asthma and atopy in childhood and early adulthood—authors of the study suggest that breastfeeding may actually increase the risk of these diseases.
Breastfeeding is widely advocated to reduce the risk of atopy and asthma, but the evidence for this effect is conflicting. Malcolm Sears and colleagues from McMaster University, Canada, and the University of Otago, New
A high-fidelity spectrometric system for studying the behavior of drops and particles in industrial flame reactors has been constructed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in collaboration with researchers at the University of Arizona. The instrument was used to study the potential of thermal combustors for reducing the volume of liquid nuclear wastes for safe, long-term storage.
Vitrification of radioactive waste into glassy solids is the most popular approach f
A new group of arthritis drugs recommended by NICE for patients at risk of gastrointestinal complications may be safer than traditional drugs, research in this week’s BMJ suggests.
Claims that the drugs, known as selective COX2 inhibitors, caused fewer gastrointestinal problems than traditional arthritis drugs led to an increase in their use, but the research on which they were based was criticised.
Two studies in this week’s BMJ, however, show that the risk of gastrointestinal comp
Instant detection for chemicals, explosives, and biohazards
A little over a year after September 11, a laser technique is lighting a new path to homeland security. In recent Army laboratory research, this technique instantly detected and identified various explosives.
Preliminary results indicate that it can also tell the difference between several close relatives of anthrax.
Recent breakthroughs now let it detect any known substance, at least in theory. The laser t
Results of a preliminary study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that Viagra may have a future role in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (increased blood pressure in the pulmonary artery), a severe and potentially fatal condition causing respiratory impairment.
Lung fibrosis (scarring of the lungs due to inflammation of the alveoli) can be complicated by pulmonary hypertension. Hossein Ardeschir Ghofrani and colleagues from University Hospital, Giessen, Germany, did a prelimi
Active mountain ranges like the Olympic Mountains, Taiwan Central Range or the Southern Alps are still growing, but they are not getting any taller. River cutting and erosion keep the heights and widths of uplifted mountain ranges in a steady state according to an international team of geoscientists.
“These mountains grew to 2.5 to 3 miles high over the past few million years and then they stopped increasing,” says Dr. Rudy L. Slingerland, professor of geology and head of Penn States g