PITTSBURGH, Sept. 8 – An unusual kind of immune cell in the tongue appears to play a pivotal role in the prevention of thrush, according to the researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who discovered them. The findings, published online today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, might shed light on why people infected with HIV or who have other immune system impairments are more susceptible to the oral yeast infection. Oral thrush is caused by an overgrowth of a normally present fungus called Candida albicans, which leads to painful white lesions ...

Chemists at ETH-Zürich and ITbM, Nagoya University have developed a new method to build large libraries of bioactive molecules – which can be used directly for biological assays – by simply mixing a small number of building blocks in water. Zürich, Switzerland and Nagoya, Japan – Professor Jeffrey Bode of ETH-Zürich and the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM) of Nagoya University, and his co-worker have established a new strategy called "synthetic fermentation" to rapidly synthesize a large number of bioactive molecules, which can be directly screened in ...

Singapore, 04 September 2014 – The mature results from a trial conducted by the Asia-Pacific Hepatocellular Carcinoma Trials Group led by the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) have shown that patients who suffer from inoperable advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may have a chance to live significantly longer by using a combined therapy. The multi-centre phase II clinical trial was conducted at four Asia Pacific tertiary medical centres to evaluate the efficacy of combining two existing treatment modalities, Sorafenib and ...

Revolutionary nanotechnology method could help improve the development of new medicine and reduce costs. Researchers from the Nano-Science Center and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen have developed a new screening method that makes it possible to study cell membrane proteins that bind drugs, such as cannabis and adrenaline, while reducing the consumption of precious samples by a billion times. About 40% of all medicines used today work through the so-called "G protein-coupled receptors". These receptors react to changes in the cell environment, ...

TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2014—Vulnerable populations in ethnically diverse Toronto reported more discrimination by health care workers based on their housing status, mental health or substance abuse issues than race, a new study has found. Forty-two per cent of people surveyed reported at least one form of perceived discrimination by health care workers, lead author Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos wrote in a paper published today in the journal BMC Health Services Research. The most prevalent form of perceived discrimination was due to mental illness or substance abuse (33 per cent) ...

Dementia trials could be failing because they all-too-often overlook the physical health of patients – according to new research from the University of East Anglia and Aston University. More than 60 per cent of people with dementia are estimated to have three or more other conditions (co-morbidities). The research shows how the combined effects of co-morbidities including diabetes, lung disease, arthritis and chronic heart failure are not being adequately described in dementia trials. It investigates the extent of co-morbidities in people with dementia and the recording ...

Children show stronger food craving than adolescents and adults, but they are also able to use a cognitive strategy that reduces craving, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "These findings are important because they suggest that we may have another tool in our toolbox to combat childhood obesity," says psychological scientist and lead researcher Jennifer A. Silvers, a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University in the laboratory of Professor Kevin Ochsner. Most interventions aimed at ...

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2014 — It's the series that's one-part MacGyver, one-part Mendeleev. "Chemistry Life Hacks" is back with new tips that can change your life, or at least the temperature of your beer. Learn how to cool your brews quickly before the big game starts, get fruit flies out of your kitchen for good, and how to cook the perfect patty on the grill. Check out these tips and more at: http://youtu.be/QUE2O1276P8. Subscribe to the series at Reactions YouTube, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions to be the first to see our latest videos. INFORMATION: The ...

Writing in Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers have demonstrated how combining the two-dimensional materials in a stack could create perfect crystals capable of being used in next generation transistors. Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), otherwise known as white graphene, is one of a family of two-dimension materials discovered in the wake of the isolation of graphene at the University in 2004. Manchester researchers have previously demonstrated how combining 2D materials, in stacks called heterostructures, could lead to materials capable of being designed to meet industrial ...

Researchers have developed a light detector that could revolutionise chemical sensing and night vision technology. In the latest issue of Nature Nanotechnology, the team of researchers at Monash University, the University of Maryland in the US, and the US Naval Research Laboratory, have created the light detector based on graphene – a single sheet of interconnected carbon atoms. The detector is capable of detecting light over an unusually broad range of wavelengths, included in this are terahertz waves – between infrared and microwave radiation, where sensitive light ...

Graphene is a semiconductor when prepared as an ultra-narrow ribbon – although the material is actually a conductive material. Researchers from Empa and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have now developed a new method to selectively dope graphene molecules with nitrogen atoms. By seamlessly stringing together doped and undoped graphene pieces, they were able to form "heterojunctions" in the nanoribbons, thereby fulfilling a basic requirement for electronic current to flow in only one direction when voltage is applied – the first step towards a graphene transistor. ...

Raw honey has been used against infections for millennia, before honey - as we now know it - was manufactured and sold in stores. So what is the key to its' antimicrobial properties? Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified a unique group of 13 lactic acid bacteria found in fresh honey, from the honey stomach of bees. The bacteria produce a myriad of active antimicrobial compounds. These lactic acid bacteria have now been tested on severe human wound pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and vancomycin-resistant ...

Munich, Germany: A baby has a greater risk of asthma if his or her father smoked prior to conception. The research, presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress in Munich today (08 September 2014), is the first study in humans to analyse the link between a father's smoking habits before conception and a child's asthma. The findings add to growing evidence from animal studies which suggest that the father's exposures before parenthood can harm his child. The study analysed the smoking habits of over 13,000 men and women via a questionnaire. ...

Munich, Germany: Psychological input into the treatment and management of people with severe asthma can help improve their symptoms, according to a new study. People with severe asthma often experience symptoms that are difficult to treat. There is current debate in the healthcare community about the best way to treat these people. Around 27% of people with severe asthma are thought to experience psychological problems'; however, this isn't routinely addressed by asthma healthcare professionals. The new research, presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) ...

Munich, Germany: The temperature of exhaled breath could be used to diagnose lung cancer, according to a new study. The research, presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress in Munich today (8 September 2013), suggests that testing the temperature of breath could be a simple and noninvasive method to either confirm or reject the presence of lung cancer. Many research teams have been looking at the possibility of using breath tests for a number of cancers. This is the first study looking at breath temperature as a marker in lung cancer. ...

A new study that surveyed physicians and nurses in hospitals within cancer centers in Germany suggests that many patients there do not experience a dignified death. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates the need for cancer centers to invest more in palliative care services, adequate rooms for dying patients, staff training in end-of-life care, and advance-care-planning standards. Previous research has shown that hospitals are often ill-prepared to provide care for dying patients. To investigate whether ...

As the world population continues to grow, by about 1 billion people every 12 to 14 years since the 1960s, the global food supply may not meet escalating demand – particularly for agriculturally poor countries in arid to semi-arid regions, such as Africa's Sahel, that already depend on imports for much of their food supply. A new University of Virginia study, published online in the American Geophysical Union journal, Earth's Future, examines global food security and the patterns of food trade that – until this analysis – have been minimally studied. Using production ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University study has found that three easy -- one could even say slow -- 5-minute walks can reverse harm caused to leg arteries during three hours of prolonged sitting. Sitting for long periods of time, like many people do daily at their jobs, is associated with risk factors such as higher cholesterol levels and greater waist circumference that can lead to cardiovascular and metabolic disease. When people sit, slack muscles do not contract to effectively pump blood to the heart. Blood can pool in the legs and affect the endothelial ...

Munich, Germany: Sleeping on animal fur in the first three months of life might reduce the risk of asthma in later childhood a new study has found. The new research, presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress in Munich today (8 September 2014), suggests that exposure to the microbial environment in animal skin and fur could have a protective effect against asthma and allergies. Previous studies have suggested that exposure to a wider range of environments fromyoung age could be protective against asthma and allergies. These findings ...

New research published in The Lancet HIV shows that polydrug use is common among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) [1] and is strongly linked to sex without a condom (condomless sex). This is the largest questionnaire study of people living with HIV in the UK, accounting for about 5% of all HIV-diagnosed MSM in the UK. The findings show that half of MSM surveyed had used recreational drugs at least once in the previous 3 months [2]. About half of those who used drugs took three or more different types of drugs, while roughly a fifth said they had used five ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with eosinophilic airway inflammation in 10–20% of patients. Benralizumab, a monoclonal antibody, has been shown to decrease the number of blood and sputum eosinophils. In this trial of 101 patients with COPD whether benralizumab reduces the number of acute exacerbations was investigated. Benralizumab was found to be no more effective at preventing acute COPD exacerbations than placebo overall. However, the authors conclude that subgroup analyses suggest more research into the use of benralizumab in patients with ...

LA JOLLA—In most of the tissues of the body, specialized immune cells are entrusted with the task of engulfing the billions of dead cells that are generated every day. When these garbage disposals don't do their job, dead cells and their waste products rapidly pile up, destroying healthy tissue and leading to autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Now, Salk scientists have discovered how two critical receptors on these garbage-eating cells identify and engulf dead cells in very different environments, as detailed today in Nature Immunology. "To ...

A new class of synthetic platelet-like particles could augment natural blood clotting for the emergency treatment of traumatic injuries – and potentially offer doctors a new option for curbing surgical bleeding and addressing certain blood clotting disorders without the need for transfusions of natural platelets. The clotting particles, which are based on soft and deformable hydrogel materials, are triggered by the same factor that initiates the body's own clotting processes. Testing done in animal models and in a simulated circulatory system suggest that the particles ...

Ottawa, Canada (September 7, 2014) — As we age, stem cells throughout our bodies gradually lose their capacity to repair damage, even from normal wear and tear. Researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa have discovered the reason why this decline occurs in our skeletal muscle. Their findings were published online today in the influential journal Nature Medicine. A team led by Dr. Michael Rudnicki, senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa, found that as muscle ...

A new route to making graphene has been discovered that could make the 21st century's wonder material easier to ramp up to industrial scale. Graphene -- a tightly bound single layer of carbon atoms with super strength and the ability to conduct heat and electricity better than any other known material -- has potential industrial uses that include flexible electronic displays, high-speed computing, stronger wind-turbine blades, and more-efficient solar cells, to name just a few under development. In the decade since Nobel laureates Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim proved ...