Social and structural factors – such as poverty, marginalisation and stigma – and not just individual behaviours are shaping the HIV epidemic in Europe and central Asia. This is the main conclusion of a new report released today (Friday 7 June) by the World Bank Group, WHO/Europe and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The study systematically reviews evidence on HIV vulnerability and response in all countries of the WHO European Region. The report, HIV in the European Region: vulnerability and response, focuses on key populations most at risk of HIV infection: ...

(June 6, 2013 – Chicago, IL) When health care reform in Thailand increased payments to public hospitals for indigent care, more poor people sought medical treatment and infant mortality was reduced, even though the cost of medical care remained free for the poor, a new study shows. The study, "The Great Equalizer: Health Care Access and Infant Mortality in Thailand," funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, found that reducing out-of-pocket costs of medical care had less of an impact than providing more money to hospitals. The study also suggests that health ...

Combat troops must minimize the humanness of their enemies in order to kill them. They can't be effective fighters if they're distracted by feelings of empathy for opponents. But indifference to the enemy, rather than loathing, may help prevent war crimes and provide troops with a better path back to healthy civilian lives, researchers at Case Western Reserve University propose. Their hypothesis is based on new work showing how the brain operates when people objectify—that is, think of others as mere objects — or dehumanize, which entails seeing others as disgusting animals. These ...

Difficult-to-study diseases such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and autism now can be probed more safely and effectively thanks to an innovative new method for obtaining mature brain cells called neurons from reprogrammed skin cells. According to Gong Chen, the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences and professor of biology at Penn State University and the leader of the research team, "the most exciting part of this research is that it offers the promise of direct disease modeling, allowing for the creation, in a Petri dish, of mature human neurons that behave a lot like ...

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues report that the herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1), which affects an estimated 50 to 80 percent of all American adults, exploits an immune system receptor to boost its infectivity and ability to cause disease. The findings are published in the June 6, 2013 issue of Nature Communications. HSV-1 is a persistent and problematic pathogen. Typically, it infects victims through oral secretions (kissing, sharing a contaminated toothbrush) or through openings in the skin. In healthy people, ...

Rosemont, Ill. –Most aging adults will experience back pain or a spinal disorder at some time in their life. In fact, about 25.8 million visits were made to physicians' offices due to primary back problems. Treatment focuses on pain relief and is available in both non-surgical (medication or physical therapy) and surgical forms. A retrospective study in the June 5th issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) looked at one type of back treatment– a lumbar epidural steroid injection (LESI) – and whether or not that treatment had an impact on bone fragility ...

The Cardiovascular Research Laboratory of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) led by the cardiologist of the Bellvitge University Hospital José Luis Ferreiro has conducted a study on the effect of antiplatelet drugs given to high risk patients suffering from acute myocardial infaction (heart attack) in the context of the Infarction Code. The study concludes that when patients arrive to the hospital, in most cases the administered antiplatelet drugs have not worked yet. Therefore, in high-risk patients, the researhers recommend the use of faster and more ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — UC Davis Health System Eye Center research has found that visually impaired individuals and those with uncorrected refractive error — those who could benefit from glasses to achieve normal vision but don't wear glasses — have a significantly greater risk of diminished balance with their eyes closed on a compliant, foam surface than individuals with normal vision. The research, published in the June 6 issue of JAMA Ophthalmology, suggests that vision may play an important role in calibrating the vestibular system, which includes the bones and soft ...

Spindle-shaped inclusions in 3 billion-year-old rocks are microfossils of plankton that probably inhabited the oceans around the globe during that time, according to an international team of researchers. "It is surprising to have large, potentially complex fossils that far back," said Christopher H. House, professor of geosciences, Penn State, and lead author. However, the researchers not only showed that these inclusions in the rocks were biological in origin, but also that they were likely planktonic autotrophs -- free-floating, tiny ocean organisms that produce energy ...

ANN ARBOR—Facebook connections can help first-generation college applicants believe in their abilities to both apply to school and excel once they've enrolled, according to a new study from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. "We are very excited by these findings, because they suggest that the kinds of interactions supported by Facebook and other social media can play a role in helping young people, especially those who are traditionally less likely to go to college, feel more confident about their ability to get into college and to succeed there," ...

NEW YORK (June 6, 2013) -- Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have uncovered a mechanism that guides the exquisite wiring of neural circuits in a developing brain -- gaining unprecedented insight into the faulty circuits that may lead to brain disorders ranging from autism to mental retardation. In the journal Cell, the researchers describe, for the first time, that faulty wiring occurs when RNA molecules embedded in a growing axon are not degraded after they give instructions that help steer the nerve cell. So, for example, the signal that tells the axon to ...

Decades of drought in central Africa reached their worst point in the 1980s, causing Lake Chad, a shallow lake used to water crops in neighboring countries, to almost dry out completely. The shrinking lake and prolonged drought was initially blamed on overgrazing and bad agricultural practices. More recently, Lake Chad became an example of global warming. New University of Washington research, to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, shows that the drought were caused at least in part by Northern Hemisphere air pollution. Aerosols emanating from coal-burning ...

(MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL) June 6, 2013 – A research team led by pediatric blood and marrow transplantation experts Mark Osborn, Ph.D. and Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D. from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, have discovered a remarkable new way to repair genetic defects in the skin cells of patients with the skin disease epidermolysis bullosa. The findings, published today in the journal Molecular Therapy and highlighted in the most recent issue of Nature, represent the first time researchers been able to correct a disease-causing gene in its natural location ...

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake occurred 43 miles off the shore of Japan. The earthquake generated an unexpectedly massive tsunami that washed over eastern Japan roughly 30 minutes later, killing more than 15,800 people and injuring more than 6,100. More than 2,600 people are still unaccounted for. Now, computer simulations by Stanford scientists reveal that sound waves in the ocean produced by the earthquake probably reached land tens of minutes before the tsunami. If correctly interpreted, they could have offered a warning that a large tsunami ...

If one looks only for the shiniest pennies in the fountain, chances are one misses most of the coins because they shimmer less brightly. This, in a nutshell, is the conundrum astronomers face when searching for Earth-like planets outside our solar system. Astronomers at the University of Arizona are part of an international team of exoplanets hunters developing new technology that would dramatically improve the odds of discovering planets with conditions suitable for life – such as having liquid water on the surface. The team presented its results at a scientific conference ...

VIDEO: This 3-D view from the west was derived from TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) data captured when Andrea was examined by the TRMM satellite with the June 5, 2234 UTC (6:34... Click here for more information. Towering thunderstorms are a sign of a strong tropical cyclone, and NASA's TRMM satellite spotted thunderstorms reaching heights of almost 9 miles high within Tropical Storm Andrea. NASA's Aqua satellite provided an infrared view that revealed very cold cloud top ...

Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- In our daily lives, clutter is something that gets in our way, something that makes it harder for us to accomplish things. For doctors and scientists trying to parse mountains of raw biological data, clutter is more than a nuisance; it can stand in the way of figuring out how best to treat someone who is very sick. Using increasingly cheap and rapid methods to read the billions of "letters" that comprise human genomes – including the genomes of individual cells sampled from cancerous tumors -- scientists are generating far more data than they ...

Remora fish, with a sucking disc on top of their heads, have been the stuff of legend. They often attach themselves to the hulls of boats and in ancient times were thought to purposely slow the boat down. While that is a misunderstanding, something else not well understood was the origins of the fish's odd sucking disc. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and London's Natural History Museum, however, have solved that mystery proving that the disc is actually a greatly modified dorsal fin. The research is published in the Journal of Morphology. The world's eight ...

(Lebanon, NH, 6/5/13) — Through genetic engineering of laboratory models, researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center have uncovered a vulnerability in the way cancer cells diverge from normal regenerating cells that may help treat children with leukemia as reported in the journal PNAS on June 3, 2013. Dartmouth researchers are trying to understand the key pathways that distinguish how a normal blood cell grows and divides compared to the altered growth that occurs in leukemia. In addition to the treatment of leukemia, the work has relevance for expanding ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers have found that a type of predatory sea slug that usually isn't picky when it comes to what it eats has more complex cognitive abilities than previously thought, allowing it to learn the warning cues of dangerous prey and thereby avoid them in the future. The research appears in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Pleurobranchaea californica is a deep-water species of sea slug found off the west coast of the United States. It has a relatively simple neural circuitry and set of behaviors. It is a generalist feeder, meaning, as University ...

CINCINNATI – As modern medical advances help more children with complex conditions live longer, a new study shows a significant number suffer from complications caused by medical devices that are also necessary for their survival. Researchers report their findings online June 7 in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. Study authors say their research underscores the continued need to improve care for this growing population of children by enhancing medical device safety practices and ensuring device design is suitable or adaptable for pediatric patients. "Medicine and pediatrics ...

New research has found that routine screening using a non-invasive test that analyzes fetal DNA in a pregnant woman's blood can accurately detect Down's syndrome and other genetic fetal abnormalities in the first trimester. Published early online in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the results suggest that the test is superior to currently available screening strategies and could reshape standards in prenatal testing. Current screening for Down's syndrome, or trisomy 21, and other trisomy conditions includes a combined test done between the 11th and 13th weeks ...

Philadelphia, PA, June 7, 2013 – The average 5-year survival for colorectal cancer (CRC) is less than 10% if metastasis occurs, but can reach 90% if detected early. A new non-invasive test has been developed that measures methylation of the SDC2 gene in tissues and blood sera. This test detected 87% of all stages of colorectal cancer cases (sensitivity) without significant difference between early and advanced stages, while correctly identifying 95% of disease-free patients (specificity). The results are published in the July issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. According ...

VIDEO: This is what happens when the essential gene Umbrea is removed from fruit fly cells: cell death. A group of molecular biologists, including assistant professor Barbara Mellone at UConn's College... Click here for more information. Researchers from UConn and other institutions in the U.S. and abroad have shown how a relatively young gene can acquire a new function and become essential to an organism's life. Using a combination of techniques, including phylogenetics, ...

Greenwood, SC (June 5, 2013) - Researchers at the JC Self Research Institute of the Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC), along with collaborators from Biolog, Inc. in California, have reported an important discovery in the understanding of autism which was published this week in Molecular Autism. The study, led by GGC's Director of Research, Charles Schwartz, PhD and Staff Scientist, Luigi Boccuto, MD, found that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) showed significantly decreased metabolism of the amino acid L-tryptophan when compared to both typical controls ...