A study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET highlights a reduction in both HIV-1 incidence (the number of new cases) and prevalence (the number of cases in the population) from the beginning to the end of the past decade among a rural Ugandan population. Authors of the study conclude that the results could offer hope for other sub-Saharan countries where the HIV-1 infection rate remains high.

HIV-1 incidence rates in a community are a more accurate measure of epidemic trends than prevalence r

New screening techniques for Down`s syndrome are less effective than previously supposed, despite a government initiative to offer all pregnant women the new tests by 2004, finds a study in this week`s BMJ.

Researchers identified all cases of Down`s syndrome in eight district general hospitals in the Wessex region between 1994 and 1999. During these six years, 155,501 babies were delivered 335 cases of Down`s syndrome were identified.

Across the region, seven different screening pol

Temple healing practices may help to improve the symptoms of people with mental illnesses, according to researchers in this week`s BMJ.

The study was conducted at the temple of Muthuswamy in South India, known as a source of help for people with serious mental disorders. From June to August 2000, everyone who came for help was assessed by a trained psychiatrist on the first day of their stay in the temple and again on the day they left to return home, using recognised psychiatric rating scal

Scientists at VTT and the University of Florida take immunotechnology to a new level

Mimicking the cell walls transport system by biocoated nanotubes opens novel possibilities for numerous applications

Living cells transport selectively molecules in and out through their cell walls. This process is remarkably accurate and efficient. In co-operation with Professor Charles Martin`s workgroup from the University of Florida, VTT`s Research Professor Hans Söderlund and Researcher

Researchers at Oregon State University have made a significant breakthrough in the technology to produce crystalline oxide films, which play roles in semiconductor chips, flat panel displays and many other electronic products.

In a report to be published Friday in the journal Science, the OSU scientists explain a way to create these crystalline thin films at temperatures far lower than those used currently, and with no need to be produced in a vacuum as the current technology usually requir

Researchers at Stanford University Medical Center have tricked cancer cells into self- destructing by briefly disabling a cancer-causing gene. Although the gene revs back up after deactivation, the brief hiatus gives the affected cells a chance to alter their cancerous destiny. This work in mice could open new avenues for treating some human cancers, researchers believe.

Cancer usually results after a cell accumulates a handful of mutations in cancer-related genes called oncogenes or tumor-