Tag: month

Monthly Research Review – May 2020

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

 

At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during May 2020.

The post is divided into seven parts based on the type of research:

  • Basic biology
  • Disease mechanism
  • Clinical research
  • New clinical trials (Oooh, new section for 2019!)
  • Clinical trial news
  • Other news
  • Review articles/videos

 

So, what happened during May 2020?

In world news:

May 11th – In two studies published in Nature, and Nature Ecology and Evolution, scientists describe hominin remains and artefacts excavated from the Bacho Kiro Cave (in Bulgaria) that indicate early humans were present in Europe around 46,000 years ago – suggesting the species shared the continent with Neanderthals for longer than previously thought.

May 18th – A Maryland restaurant preparing to reopen amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic unveiled its fleet of wheeled bumper tables designed to enforce social distancing:

 

May 27th – South Korean schools reopened as the country began easing COVID-19-associated lockdown restrictions.

May 29th – South Korea re-closed 200 schools as new cases of COVID-19 spike to 79, the highest daily figure in two months.

May 30th – The age of commercial human spaceflight officially began

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In May 2020, there were 782 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (4565 for all of 2020 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 6 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – May 2020” →

Monthly Research Review – February 2019

~ Simon ~ 4 Comments

 

At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during February 2019.

The post is divided into seven parts based on the type of research:

  • Basic biology
  • Disease mechanism
  • Clinical research
  • New clinical trials
  • Clinical trial news
  • Other news
  • Review articles/videos

 

So, what happened during February 2019?

In world news:

31st January – Not exactly February I know, but this is amazing: Forget everything you know about 3D printing, because now we can 3D print with light! (Click here for the research report and click here for the press release).

 

 

 

 

3rd February – Pope Francis visited Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. He is the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula.

19th February – Star Wars Lightsaber duelling was registered as an official sport in France, as part of an effort to encourage young people to engage more in sports (Click here to read more about this).

21st February – Israeli tech firm SpaceIL launched the Beresheet probe – the world’s first privately financed mission to the Moon. The company is competing in the Google Lunar X Prize, and it is hoping that the craft will land on the surface of the moon on the 12th April.

22nd February – “Wallace’s giant bee” (Megachile pluto) was the world’s largest species of bee – with a wingspan measuring more than six centimetres (2.5 inches) – until the species disappeared in 1981. An international team of scientists and conservationists have now re-discovered it in an Indonesian rainforest, giving hope that other lost species may also be found.

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In February 2019, there were 696 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (1555 for all of 2019 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 7 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – February 2019” →

Monthly Research Review – December 2018

~ Simon ~ 1 Comment

 

At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during December2018.

The post is divided into five parts based on the type of research (Basic biology, disease mechanism, clinical research, other news, and Review articles/videos). 

 

So, what happened during December 2018?

In world news:

7th December  – The U.N.’s International Telecommunication Union reported that, by the end of 2018, more than half – a full 51.2 percent – of the world’s population will be using the Internet (Click here to read more about this).

 

8th December – Drama at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) meeting in Katowice, Poland. The US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait object to adopting the scientific report – which was commissioned at the 2015 meeting. The study suggests that the world is now “completely off track” on climate change, heading towards a 3 degree C. rise by the end of this century rather than a mere 1.5 degree C. rise (Click here to read more about this).

12th December – Negotiators at COP24 in Katowice finally secured an agreement on a range of measures that will make the Paris climate pact operational in 2020 (Click here to read more about this).

 

17th December – Astronomers announced that they have identified the most distant object ever observed within our solar system. Currently named “2018 VG18” (but nicknamed ‘Farout’), the 500km (310 miles) wide body is approximately is 120 times further away from the sun than Earth is (to put that in perspective, Pluto is only 34 times – Click here to read more about this).

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In December 2018, there were 597 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (7672 for all of 2018 – compared to 7675 for all of 2017….seriously?!? Just 3 papers difference?!?). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – December 2018” →

Monthly Research Review – September 2018

~ Simon ~ 4 Comments

At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during September 2018.

The post is divided into five parts based on the type of research (Basic biology, disease mechanism, clinical research, other news, and Review articles/videos). 

So, what happened during September 2018?

In world news:

September 2nd – A fire destroyed the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro –  a “catastrophic loss of artifacts”.

Source: HuffPost

September 14th – Hurricane Florence made landfall in Wrightsville Beach (North Carolina), caused extensive damage and flooding throughout in the Carolinas.

Source: WPLG

September 17th – In an effort to study the hidden physical properties of electrons, Japanese researchers built the ‘most powerful magnet on Earth’ – a 1200 Tesla, 3.2 megajoules beast. The experiment was supposed to go off with a bang, but the ‘bang’ was slightly more than expected: it blew the door off the protective chamber holding the experiment!

September 21st – after a three year journey, the first rover of the Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft touched down on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. A truly remarkable achievement.

Source: NYTimes (some amazing images on this link)

September 24th – Two reports were published – one in the journal Nature Medicine and another in the journal New England Journal of Medicine – describing the case of 29-year-old Jered Chinnock (who 5 years ago could not feel or move his body from the chest down) recovering the ability of assisted walking following spinal cord stimulation and intensive physical therapy.

September 28th – A magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit the island of Sulawesi (Indonesia), causing a tsunami and terrible destruction and loss of life.

Source: Australian

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In September 2018, there were 841 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (5978 for all of 2018 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – September 2018” →

Monthly Research Review – August 2018

~ Simon ~ 2 Comments

 

At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during August 2018.

The post is divided into five parts based on the type of research (Basic biology, disease mechanism, clinical research, other news, and Review articles/videos). 

 

So, what happened during August 2018?

In world news:

August 1 – American technology company became the world’s first public company to achieve a market capitalization of US$1 trillion.

August 12th – NASA launched the unmanned ‘Parker Solar Probe’ which will study the Sun (up close and personal)

August 16th – Singer, song writer and pianist Aretha Louise Franklin passed away (sad day)

August 31st – Joe Giaglia, director of California Skateparks, who had previously made a x12.5 scale replica of a skate board finally got it certified by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world.

Seriously, it measures 35 feet, 7 inches long (10.8 meters)!

 

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In August 2018, there were 679 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (5372 for all of 2018 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – August 2018” →

Monthly Research Review – February 2018

~ Simon ~ 13 Comments

At the end of each month, the Science of Parkinson’s writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available.

In this post we review some of the research from February 2018.

The post is divided into four parts based on the type of research (Basic biology, disease mechanism, clinical research, and other news). 

Seeing shadows: Punxsutawney Phil. Source: Wordonfire

In major world event news: On the 2nd February of 2018, Punxsutawney Phil – the groundhog who resides at Gobbler’s Knob of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania – scurried out of his little hole and saw his shadow. This omen indicates that we have a long winter. Given how hard and bitter this particular winter has been, Americans naturally rejoiced.

On the 6th February, SpaceX successfully launched a Tesla sports car into space – see the video below for the highlights (and if you don’t have time to watch it all, at the very least jump forward to 3:45 and watch the two boosters land simultaneously – surely they didn’t plan for it to be that perfect!)

In other news, on the 1st February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it was dramatically downsizing its epidemic prevention activities in 39 out of 49 countries, due to concerns about funding.

And of course we had the 2018 Winter Olympics – where New Zealand came in 27th on the medals board:

Source: Madison365

In the world of Parkinson’s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported.

In February 2018, there were 698 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson’s” attached (1577 for all of 2018 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson’s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of PD news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – February 2018” →