LOS ANGELES – (August 1, 2013) – The rise of antibiotic resistance among hospital-acquired infections is greater than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in its 2008 analysis, according to an ahead-of-print article in the journal, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The article also finds that the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) promise to "reboot" antibiotic development rules a year ago to combat the rise in resistance has fallen short. The commentary, whose authors include Brad Spellberg, MD, a Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute ...

Osteomyelitis, a debilitating bone infection most frequently caused by Staphylococcus aureus ("staph") bacteria, is particularly challenging to treat. Now, Vanderbilt microbiologist Eric Skaar, Ph.D., MPH, and colleagues have identified a staph-killing compound that may be an effective treatment for osteomyelitis, and they have developed a new mouse model that will be useful for testing this compound and for generating additional therapeutic strategies. James Cassat, M.D., Ph.D., a fellow in Pediatric Infectious Diseases who is interested in improving treatments for ...

WASHINGTON D.C. August 1, 2013 -- Reaching a clinic in time to receive an early diagnosis for cancer -- when the disease is most treatable -- is a global problem. And now a team of Chinese researchers proposes a global solution: have a user-friendly diagnostic device travel to the patient, anywhere in the world. As described in the journal Biomicrofluidics, which is produced by AIP Publishing, a team led by Gang Li, Ph.D., from Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is developing a portable device for point-of-care ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There's a major roadblock to creating personalized cancer care. Doctors need a way to target treatments to patients most likely to benefit and avoid treating those who will not. Tumor biomarker tests can help do this. The problem, according to a new commentary paper, is that, unlike drugs or other therapies, cancer biomarker tests are undervalued by doctors and patients. The authors say that inconsistent regulatory rules, inadequate payment and underfunded tumor biomarker research has left us in a vicious cycle that prevents development and testing ...

(SALT LAKE CITY)—When U.S. physicians prescribe antibiotics, more than 60 percent of the time they choose some of the strongest types of antibiotics, referred to as "broad spectrum," which are capable of killing multiple kinds of bacteria, University of Utah researchers show in a new study. Unfortunately, in more than 25 percent of such prescriptions are useless because the infection stems from a virus, which cannot be treated with antibiotics. This overuse of antibiotics has a number of downsides, including that these types of drugs kill more of the "good" bacteria ...

The world's croplands could feed 4 billion more people than they do now just by shifting from producing animal feed and biofuels to producing exclusively food for human consumption, according to new research from the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. Even a smaller, partial shift from crop-intensive livestock such as feedlot beef to food animals such as chicken or pork could increase agricultural efficiency and provide food for millions, the study says. "We essentially have uncovered an astoundingly abundant supply of food for a hungry world, ...

PITTSBURGH—Some animals—like the octopus and cuttlefish—transform their shape based on environment, fending off attackers or threats in the wild. For decades, researchers have worked toward mimicking similar biological responses in non-living organisms, as it would have significant implications in the medical arena. Now, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have demonstrated such a biomimetic response using hydrogels—a material that constitutes most contact lenses and microfluidic or fluid-controlled technologies. Their study, published in Advanced Functional ...

WATERLOO, Ont. (Thursday, August 1, 2013) – Seeing pictures of skin cancer motivates people to regularly check their own moles, according to a new research paper from the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo. The paper, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, found that visual images of skin cancer are most effective in prompting skin self-examinations. "Visual images capture our attention and are persuasive. They also help us to learn and remember," said Professor Laurie Hoffman-Goetz, of the Faculty of Applied ...

Deletion of a protein in white blood cells improves their ability to fight the bacteria staphylococcus aureus and possibly other infections in mice with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), according to a National Institutes of Health study. CGD, a genetic disorder also found in people, is marked by recurrent, life-threatening infections. The study's findings appear online in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. A team of researchers from NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) compared three groups: CGD-afflicted mice with the ...

MINNEAPOLIS – Anemia, or low levels of red blood cells, may increase the risk of dementia, according to a study published in the July 31, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Anemia is common in the elderly and occurs in up to 23 percent of adults ages 65 and older," said study author Kristine Yaffe, MD, with the University of California – San Francisco and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "The condition has also been linked in studies to an increased risk of early death." For the study, 2,552 older ...

Over the past 5 years, IIASA researchers on the Geo-Wiki project have been leading a team of citizen scientists who examine satellite data to categorize land cover or identify places where people live and farm. These data have led to several publications published in peer-reviewed journals. "One question we always get is whether the analysis from laypeople is as good as that from experts. Can we rely on non-experts to provide accurate data analysis?" says IIASA researcher Linda See, who led the study published in the journal PLOS ONE. The researchers compared 53,000 ...

HONOLULU – About one in three American youths age 14-20 say they've been of victims of dating violence and almost one in three acknowledge they've committed violence toward a date, according to new research presented at the American Psychological Association's 121st Annual Convention. "These rates of adolescent dating violence are alarming and suggest that dating violence is simply too common among our youth," said Michele Ybarra, PhD, MPH, with the Center for Innovative Public Health Research, based in San Clemente, Calif. Researchers analyzed information collected ...

WA, Seattle -- In an article published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, Immune Tolerance Network (ITN) researchers demonstrated that a single course of rituximab therapy (anti-CD20; Rituxan, Genentech, Inc.) is as effective as the current standard of care regimen of drugs for remission induction and maintenance in patients with ANCA-associated Vasculitis (AAV). AAV is an autoimmune disease marked by the presence of antibodies that attack neutrophils and cause inflammation of the blood vessels, leading to organ damage and sometimes death. The standard of care ...

WA, Seattle (July 26, 2013) – In an article reporting the 18-month results of the ITN's RAVE clinical trial, published August 1st in the New England Journal of Medicine, the ITN is providing unfettered access to the underlying clinical data and analysis code via the new clinical trials research portal, ITN TrialShare. TrialShare is a significant advance in data sharing and transparency, allowing for collaborative hypothesis generation and specimen sharing between the ITN and the broader scientific community. TrialShare gives researchers the ability to access raw study data, ...

Lunch at a restaurant with friends reduces cognitive control more than lunch eaten alone at a desk does, according to research published July 31 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Werner Sommer from the Humboldt University at Berlin, Germany, and colleagues from other institutions. Participants in the study either ate a solitary meal alone at their desk in a restricted amount of time, or took a short walk to a restaurant for an hour-long lunch with a friend. All meals were identical in the kind and amounts of food consumed. After the meal, people who had a restaurant ...

Not all placebos are equal, and patients who respond to one placebo don't always respond to others, according to research published July 31 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Jian Kong from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and colleagues from other institutions. The researchers tested the analgesic effects of genuine acupuncture, sham acupuncture and a placebo pill on healthy participants' pain sensitivity. Participants were not told what treatment they were receiving, but were informed that the pill was Tylenol, a well-known painkiller and different ...

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease with accumulation of cholesterol in the vessel walls. The atherosclerotic plaque is built up throughout life and when it ruptures it leads to heart attack or stroke. T cells are important immune cells able to direct the immune response; they are present in the plaques at all stages and signal to other cells through contact or secretion of cytokines, a type of hormone-like signal molecules. In the present study the researchers have identified a cytokine produced by T cells that can stabilize atherosclerotic plaques and protect them ...

ANN ARBOR—Treating a cancerous tumor is like watering a houseplant with a fire hose—too much water kills the plant, just as too much chemotherapy and radiation kills the patient before it kills the tumor. However, if the gastrointestinal tract remains healthy and functioning, the chances of survival increase exponentially, said Jian-Guo Geng, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. Recently, Geng's lab discovered a biological mechanism that preserves the gastrointestinal tracts in mice who were delivered lethal doses of chemotherapy. ...

VIDEO: This video shows the three-dimensional scan of an albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) skull and brain endocast (shown in blue) taken with high-resolution X-ray computed tomography. The specimen is one of more... Click here for more information. New research provides evidence that dinosaurs evolved the brainpower necessary for flight well before they actually took to the air as birds. Based on high-resolution X-ray computed tomographic (CT) scans, the study, published ...

If some volcanoes operate on geologic timescales, Costa Rica's Irazú had something of a short fuse. In a new study in the journal Nature, scientists suggest that the 1960s eruption of Costa Rica's largest stratovolcano was triggered by magma rising from the mantle over a few short months, rather than thousands of years or more, as many scientists have thought. The study is the latest to suggest that deep, hot magma can set off an eruption fairly quickly, potentially providing an extra tool for detecting an oncoming volcanic disaster. "If we had had seismic instruments ...

In this month's edition of Physics World, a group of physicists describe how unique structures in the natural world are inspiring scientists to develop new types of materials with unprecedented properties. From adhesive tape inspired by the toes of geckoes to a potential flaw-resistant coating of aeroplanes inspired by mother of pearl, the attractiveness centres on one concept -- hierarchical design. When materials have a hierarchical design, the overall structure is made up of much smaller levels, or generations, of structures that when put together exhibit extraordinary ...

Antibiotic prescribing rates for acute respiratory tract infections could be significantly lowered using internet-based training for clinicians, new research has shown. In a study, led by the University of Southampton and published in The Lancet today (Wednesday 31 July), an internet-based training programme has shown to reduce antibiotics prescribing rates by as much as 62 per cent. Paul Little, Professor of Primary Care Research at the University of Southampton, comments: "The high volume of prescribing antibiotics in primary care is a major driver of antibiotic resistance, ...

Improving water quality and hygiene practices may improve the growth of children, according to a new report. The Cochrane review – authored by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and WaterAid – found evidence of small but significant improvements in growth of children under the age of five who have access to clean water and soap. Researchers identified 14 studies conducted in low and middle income countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Chile, Guatemala, Pakistan, Nepal, South Africa, Kenya and Cambodia) that provided data on the effect of water, sanitation ...

JULY 31, 2013, Cleveland: Of the three most common treatment approaches for patients with severe carotid and coronary artery disease, patients who underwent stenting of the carotid artery followed by open heart surgery had the best outcomes, according to a retrospective study from Cleveland Clinic published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study compared carotid stenting followed by open heart surgery to both staged and combined carotid endarterectomy and open heart surgery. For patients with a severe blockage in the carotid artery ...

VIDEO: Professor Adriano Aguzzi explains how the flexible tail of the prion protein poisons brain cells. Click here for more information. Prion proteins are the infectious pathogens that cause Mad Cow Disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. They occur when a normal prion protein becomes deformed and clumped. The naturally occurring prion protein is harmless and can be found in most organisms. In humans, it is found in our brain cell membrane. By contrast, the abnormally deformed ...