Studies and Analyses

Researchers are conducting a groundbreaking new study that may help stroke patients regain greater use of their hands or arms through treatment with electrical stimulation. Preliminary results of the feasibility study that precedes this new study have shown that the use of electrical stimulation, called motor cortex stimulation, may be both safe and effective, according to Robert Levy, M.D., Ph.D., a neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Levy presented this feasibility

Male scientist are good at research because they have the hormone levels of women and long index fingers, a new study says.

A survey of academics at the University of Bath has found that male scientists typically have a level of the hormone oestrogen as high as their testosterone level. These hormone levels are more usual in women than men, who normally have higher levels of testosterone.

The study draws on research which suggests that these unusual hormone levels in many

Receptors in the brain that are highly sensitive to alcohol may function differently in a person with a family history of alcoholism, according to a Yale study published this month.

The study included 45 healthy subjects, some with a family history of alcoholism and others with no family history. None of the study participants had a drinking problem. All of the participants were administered a placebo or ketamine, an anesthetic that induces alcohol-like effects. Their behaviora

Warm workers work better, an ergonomics study at Cornell University finds.

Chilly workers not only make more errors but cooler temperatures could increase a worker’s hourly labor cost by 10 percent, estimates Alan Hedge, professor of design and environmental analysis and director of Cornell’s Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory.

When the office temperature in a month-long study increased from 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, typing errors fell by 44 percent and typing ou

Ductal lavage is not an effective method for detecting breast cancer, according to a new study in the October 20 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Ductal lavage–a method used to collect cells from the milk ducts of the breast–has been proposed as a screening tool for cancer detection because ducts that yield fluid were thought to be more likely to contain cancer cells. Interest in the procedure was spurred by a study in which ductal lavage detected cancer i

The Internet protocol private branch exchange (IP PBX) market offers a ray of hope in the otherwise depressed European telecommunications industry. Encouraging developments in this market have seen enterprises beginning to replace their time division multiplexing (TDM) voice networks with IP enabled/converged voice data networks.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.telecom. frost.com) reveals that the total enterprise IP PBX market (including IP enabled PBX) demonstrat