Stanford University School of Medicine researchers and their colleagues are calling for an urgent re-evaluation of global guidelines for the treatment of parasitic-worm diseases in light of a new study showing that large-scale treatment programs are highly cost-effective. Parasitic-worm diseases afflict some 1.5 billion people in the developing world, causing gastrointestinal problems, anemia, wasting, and cognitive and growth deficits in children, and in some cases, liver, bladder and intestinal problems that can be fatal. About 150,000 people die of complications from ...

CANCER RESEARCH UK scientists have found how cells adapt to overcome cancer drugs designed to interfere with their genetic controls, according to a study* published today (Wednesday) in Epigenetics and Chromatin. Normally molecular 'tags' are attached to DNA which send signals to the cell, telling it how to package its DNA and switch genes on or off. Drugs called HDAC inhibitors cause a build-up of certain types of tags, leading to potentially damaging changes in gene activity that can kill cancer cells. But while HDAC inhibitors can successfully treat certain types ...

An accidental find of a collection of young red dwarf stars close to our solar system could give us a rare glimpse of slow-motion planet formation. Astronomers from The Australian National University (ANU) and UNSW Canberra found large discs of dust around two of the stars, tell-tale signs of planets in the process of forming. "We think the Earth and all the other planets formed from discs like these so it is fascinating to see a potential new solar system evolving," said the lead researcher Dr Simon Murphy, from the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. "However, ...

New research at the University of Warwick with colleagues from the London School of Economics has identified changes in the shape of rainfall across Europe; changes in the amount of drizzle compared with downpours and everything in-between. Professor Sandra Chapman of the University of Warwick and co-authors Professor Nicholas Watkins and Dr David Stainforth from the London School of Economics have today published new research demonstrating how the variability in the way it rains makes it intrinsically difficult to identify the character of local climate change. Difficult ...

HANOVER, N.H. - Warming temperatures are causing Arctic mosquitoes to grow faster and emerge earlier, significantly boosting their population and threatening the caribou they feast on, a Dartmouth College study finds. The study predicts the mosquitoes' probability of surviving and emerging as adults will increase by more than 50 percent if Arctic temperatures rise 2 °C. The findings are important because changes in the timing and intensity of their emergence affect their role as swarming pests of people and wildlife, as pollinators of tundra plants and as food for ...

A total ban on trans fatty acids (trans fats) in processed foods in England could potentially prevent or postpone about 7,200 deaths from coronary heart disease over the next five years, suggest experts in The BMJ this week. They say a total ban in England is "technically feasible" and they call for "decisive action" to prioritise the most effective and cost effective policy options. Industrial trans fatty acids are produced from plant oils (a process known as hydrogenation) and are commonly added to processed foods to cheaply improve shelf life and palatability. Higher ...

Public Health England (PHE) recently endorsed the use of electronic cigarettes as an aid to quitting smoking. But in The BMJ this week, experts question the evidence on safety and effectiveness underpinning the recommendations. Professor Martin McKee at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Professor Simon Capewell at the University of Liverpool, argue that the available evidence about e-cigarettes "suggests that the debate is far from over and questions remain about their benefits and harms." The PHE report concludes that e-cigarettes are much safer ...

The reason why middle class people are more likely to play music, paint and act has been revealed in a major new study. Research involving 78,000 people found that it was not wealth or social status that were strongly linked to people taking part in arts activities as amateurs or professionals. Instead, it was the level of education that lay behind arts participation, the study by Dr Aaron Reeves, a sociologist at the University of Oxford, found. In an article in the journal Sociology, Dr Reeves said that of the 78,011 surveyed, 18% had taken part in painting or ...

A study of 6467 children from England--presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Stockholm--shows that no access to a garden at age 3-5 years is linked to an increased risk developing obesity by age 7 years. The research is by Annemarie Schalkwijk, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues. Overweight and obese children are at increased risk of becoming overweight and obese adults and therefore being overweight or obese in childhood is an important risk factor for developing ...

A meta-analysis of 21 studies presented at this year's annual meeting the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) shows that exposure to pesticides is associated with increased risk of developing diabetes by 61%, with different types of pesticides showing varying levels of risk. The study is by Giorgos Ntritsos, University of Ioannina, Greece, and Dr Ioanna Tzoulaki and Dr Evangelos Evangelou, Imperial College London, UK, and colleagues. How diabetes develops is considered to be an interplay between genetic and environmental factors. Emerging evidence suggests ...

New research presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm shows that a 10-times increased exposure to organic pollutants in early pregnancy is associated with a 4.4 times increased risk of a pregnant woman developing gestational diabetes. The research is by Assistant Professor Leda Chatzi, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are a group of diverse substances, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides that are resistant to biodegradation ...

On Sept. 13, 2015, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- a joint project of the European Space Agency and NASA -- discovered its 3,000th comet, cementing its standing as the greatest comet finder of all time. Prior to the 1995 launch of the observatory, commonly known as SOHO, only a dozen or so comets had ever even been discovered from space, while some 900 had been discovered from the ground. The 3,000th comet was originally spotted in the data by Worachate Boonplod, of Samut Songkhram, Thailand. "I am very happy to be part of a great milestone for SOHO's comet ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Asking just two questions may be able to help nurses and doctors quickly and easily identify delirium in hospitalized older adults, according to health researchers. Delirium is a reversible cognitive condition that can be resolved if caught and treated early. "Delirium can be very costly and deadly -- and with high-risk patients, time matters," said Donna M. Fick, Distinguished Professor of Nursing and co-director of the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence at Penn State. "Our ultra-brief two-item bedside test for delirium takes an ...

According to a NASA analysis of satellite data, the 2015 Arctic sea ice minimum extent is the fourth lowest on record since observations from space began. The analysis by NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder showed the annual minimum extent was 1.70 million square miles (4.41 million square kilometers) on Sept. 11. This year's minimum is 699,000 square miles (1.81 million square kilometers) lower than the 1981-2010 average. Arctic sea ice cover, made of frozen seawater that floats on top of the ...

Earth's gravity has influenced the orientation of thousands of faults that form in the lunar surface as the moon shrinks, according to new results from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft. In August, 2010, researchers using images from LRO's Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) reported the discovery of 14 cliffs known as "lobate scarps" on the moon's surface, in addition to about 70 previously known from the limited high-resolution Apollo Panoramic Camera photographs. Due largely to their random distribution across the surface, the science team concluded that the ...

People with a genetic predisposition for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) significantly increased their odds of developing the blinding eye disorder if they had a history of heavy smoking and consistently did not exercise or eat enough fruits and vegetables, according to an observational study of women funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. Eating a healthy diet and getting exercise have been shown in earlier studies to protect against AMD, a leading cause of vision loss among people age 50 and older. Findings from this ...

A new computational model developed by scientists from the University of Chicago could help improve the allocation of U.S. biomedical research resources. The tool, called the Research Opportunity Index (ROI), measures disparities between resources dedicated to a disease and its relative burden on society. ROI identifies diseases that receive a disproportionate share of biomedical resources, which represent opportunities for high-impact investment or for the realignment of existing resources. It is designed to provide an unbiased, data-driven framework to help scientific ...

In the midst of ferry boats, container ships and tourists crowding Seattle's Elliott Bay, young salmon are just trying to get a decent meal. The fish hatch in the rivers and streams that feed into Puget Sound and almost immediately rely on eating small organisms near the shore, including in the heart of Seattle's commerce-filled waterfront. Though salmon share the busy Elliott Bay waters with boats and barges, scientists suspect built-up, "armored" shorelines and large piers may be the main culprits disrupting fish habitat. These artificial structures block light and ...

Reminders to take medication, delivered to patients via an electronic pillbox, may be able to improve adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment. The findings, reported this week in PLOS Medicine, are the result of a cluster randomized controlled trial by Shiwen Jiang of the Chinese Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Katherine Fielding, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and colleagues. The study randomized 36 districts in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Chongqing, China to receive one of four approaches to tuberculosis case management: ...

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use is modestly associated with violent crime, according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine. The cohort study, by Seena Fazel from the University of Oxford, and colleagues, showed in subgroup analysis that this association was evident in participants aged 15-24, but not significant for individuals aged 25 and older. SSRIs are widely prescribed, but inconclusive evidence links SSRI use with violent behavior. In this study, Fazel and colleagues compared the rate of violent crime while individuals were prescribed ...

Giving electronic reminders to tuberculosis (TB) patients in China can reduce the amount of medication doses they miss by half, according to new research published in PLOS Medicine. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, and the National Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, China, conducted a trial with 4,173 patients from the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Chongqing. Patients either received text message reminders, an electronic medication monitor, both, or no reminders for their six month treatment period. Patients ...

Measuring how religion affects a person's political attitudes and behavior can provide powerful insight to everyone from pundits to presidents. Now there's a new strategy to gather better, more nuanced perspective on that religious influence than ever before, developed by University of Cincinnati researchers. UC's Andrew Lewis and Stephen Mockabee presented research titled "Measuring Biblical Interpretation and Its Influence on Political Attitudes" at the American Political Science Association's annual meeting earlier this month in San Francisco. The association serves ...

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (Sept. 15, 2015) -- Regenerative medicine using stem cells is an increasingly promising approach to treat many types of injury. Transplanted stem cells can differentiate into just about any other kind of cell, including neurons to potentially reconnect a severed spinal cord and repair paralysis. A variety of agents have been shown to induce transplanted stem cells to differentiate into neurons. Tufts University biomedical engineers recently published the first report of a promising new way to induce human mesenchymal stem cells (or hMSCs, which ...

A quarter of a century ago, the physicist, physician and cell biologist Professor Thomas Jentsch and his research team opened up an entirely new field of research in the field of ion transport. Now the British journal "The Journal of Physiology"* has devoted a special section in its latest issue to his discovery. In this issue (DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2014.270043), Professor Jentsch, who leads a research group at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) and at the neighboring Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie ...

New research from the USA suggests that college students are well aware that they should be personally responsible for their finances, including their card obligations, but this awareness rarely correlates with limiting the debts they accrue during their time in higher education. Details of the study are reported this month in the International Journal of Behavioural Accounting and Finance. Lucy Ackert of the Department of Economics and Finance, at Kennesaw State University, in Georgia, and Bryan Church of the Scheller College of Business, at Georgia Tech, Atlanta, ...