Washington, Mar 29 : In a breakthrough study, researchers have developed a new stem cell therapy that may help in treating hearing impairment.

Deafness typically involves the loss of sensory receptors, called hair cells, for their "tufts" of hair-like protrusions, and their associated neurons.

Led by Dr. Marcelo N. Rivolta of the University of Sheffield, researchers have has successfully isolated human auditory stem cells from foetal cochleae (the auditory portion of the inner ear) and found that they could be differentiated into sensory hair cells and neurons.

Washington, March 29 : Researchers at the University of Navarra Hospital say that high-dosage perioperative brachytherapy can prove very useful in the treatment of head and neck tumours, and for reducing the period of radiation.

Brachytherapy is a radiotherapy treatment involving the placing of radioactive sources within the tumour or nearby.

The scientists say that their work describes the application of this new radiotherapy technique to 40 patients between 2000 and 2006.

Washington, March 29 : A breakthrough study by researchers at Brandeis University and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Cambridge, U. K.) has for the first time provided significant insights into a crucial step in the process whereby human genetic information is transmitted to action in the human cell, and frequently at which point genetic disease develops in humans.

The researchers say that they have been successful in crystallizing a very large complex of a macromolecular "machine" in the human cell, in determining what it actually looks like, and thereby in zeroing in on the process of genetic encoding.

Sydney, March 29 : Researchers in Sydney are struggling to find volunteers for a study to determine the effect of binge drinking on the teenage brain, and also to find whether alcohol affects its development.

Professor Lindy Rae, who is leading a team at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Unit at Randwick, says that animal studies have already shown that young rats are more sensitive to alcohol-induced damage than adult rats, with substantial deterioration in the frontal lobe, which underlies planning, impulse control and reasoning.

Washington, March 29 : Cumulative exposure to lead at levels likely to be experienced in community settings may have adverse consequences for women’s cognition in their later years, according to a study.

The study, supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, was conducted with a view to examine biomarkers of lead exposure in relation to performance on cognitive tests given to older women.

Lead exposure is measured in two ways—blood lead level, which is a reading of recent lead dosage; and bone lead level, which is a cumulative measure of lead exposure over many years.

Washington, March 29 : Scientists at the University of Michigan have come up with a new method of detecting nitric oxide in exhaled breath, elevated levels of which are a telltale sign of diseases like lung cancer and tuberculosis.

The researchers say that their work may prove useful in diagnosing illness and monitoring the effects of treatment.