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How the common 'cat parasite' gets into the brain

2012-12-07
"We believe that this knowledge may be important for the further understanding of complex interactions in some major public health issues, that modern science still hasn't been able to explain fully", says Antonio Barragan, researcher at the Center for Infectious Medicine at Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control. "At the same time, it's important to emphasize that humans have lived with this parasite for many millennia, so today's carriers of Toxoplasma need not be particularly worried". The current study, which is published ...

Putting electronic cigarettes to the test

Putting electronic cigarettes to the test
2012-12-07
Electronic cigarettes are experiencing somewhat of a boom at the moment. An estimated two million people in Germany have already turned to the vapor cigarette, which many view as a healthy alternative to conventional smoking. However, a number of voices, primarily from the political sphere, are warning of possible health risks, claiming that the long-term consequences cannot yet be foreseen. Studies to date have come to mixed conclusions. There is a general lack of substantiated facts, fuelling an ongoing battle between supporters and opponents. By carrying out a new, independent ...

Group interaction among elderly is the key to significant health outcomes

2012-12-07
The health benefits of 'water clubs' in care homes for the elderly, where residents gather together regularly to drink water , owe as least as much to the social nature of the activity as to the value of drinking water itself, an investigation by psychologists has shown. The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), supports other findings that interventions aimed at improving individuals' wellbeing and quality of life can be far more effective if they are carried out among groups of people in ways that generate a strong sense of group identity. A ...

X-ray vision can reveal the moment of birth of violent supernovae

2012-12-07
A team of astronomers led by the University of Leicester has uncovered new evidence that suggests that X-ray detectors in space could be the first to witness new supernovae that signal the death of massive stars. Astronomers have measured an excess of X-ray radiation in the first few minutes of collapsing massive stars, which may be the signature of the supernova shock wave first escaping from the star. The findings have come as a surprise to Dr Rhaana Starling, of the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy whose research is published in the ...

Winning the battle against leukaemia: Positive early results in clinical trial for DNA vaccine

2012-12-07
Early results of a trial to treat leukaemia with a WT1 DNA vaccine, has shown robust vaccine-specific antibody responses in all vaccinated patients evaluated to date. Furthermore, T cell immune responses, including those of the "killer T cells," were detected. Antibody and T cell responses are strong signals of the DNA vaccine's potential to treat the disease. Presented at the DNA Vaccines 2012 conference in California by Christian Ottensmeier, the trial's principal investigator and Professor of Experimental Cancer Research at the University of Southampton, these interim ...

Rilpivirine for HIV: Added benefit for single agent proven

2012-12-07
Since the start of 2012, a new drug called rilpivirine has been available for adult patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). It is marketed by two different pharmaceutical companies, by one as a single agent (trade name Edurant®) and by the other as a fixed combination with other HIV drugs (trade name Eviplera®). In two early benefit assessments pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has investigated whether the two new drugs have advantages ...

High hormone levels put young black males at risk for cardiovascular disease

High hormone levels put young black males at risk for cardiovascular disease
2012-12-07
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Increased levels of the hormone aldosterone in young black males correlate with an unhealthy chain of events that starts with retaining too much salt and results in an enlarged heart muscle, researchers say. The findings indicate physicians may want to reach for aldosterone inhibitors early in their effort to control blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular risk in young black males. Their studies of a cohort of 191 healthy black and white 15- to 19-year-olds showed that only in the black males was higher aldosterone associated with impaired sodium excretion, ...

A pattern given by nature

A pattern given by nature
2012-12-07
A new plant-parasitic nematode worm (Meloidoderita salina) was found in a tidal salt marsh at Mont Saint Michel Bay (MSMB) in France, where its abbey is a world-famous historical heritage. The species name 'salina' refers to salty soil and is derived from the Latin word 'sal' or 'salis' meaning 'salt'. The study was published in the peer-reviewed, open source scientific journal ZooKeys. The female nematode worm of Meloidoderita salina deposits its eggs in two different structures. One of them is called egg mass which is an external gelatinous matrix, the other one is ...

Monkey business: What howler monkeys can tell us about the role of interbreeding in human evolution

2012-12-07
ANN ARBOR—Did different species of early humans interbreed and produce offspring of mixed ancestry? Recent genetic studies suggest that Neanderthals may have bred with anatomically modern humans tens of thousands of years ago in the Middle East, contributing to the modern human gene pool. But the findings are not universally accepted, and the fossil record has not helped to clarify the role of interbreeding, which is also known as hybridization. Now a University of Michigan-led study of interbreeding between two species of modern-day howler monkeys in Mexico is shedding ...

Vanderbilt study finds diverse genetic alterations in triple-negative breast cancers

2012-12-07
Most triple-negative breast cancer patients who were treated with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor prior to surgery still had multiple genetic mutations in their tumor cells, according to a study by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators. Finding multiple mutations instead of just one primary mutation that can be targeted for therapy sheds more light on the challenges of treating triple-negative breast cancer. The study, led by Justin Balko, Pharm.D., Ph.D., and research faculty in the laboratory of Carlos Arteaga, M.D., director of the Breast Cancer Program ...

Abuse during childhood linked to adult-onset asthma in African-American women

2012-12-07
(Boston) – According to a new study from the Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC) at Boston University, African-American women who reported suffering abuse before age 11 had a greater likelihood of adult-onset asthma compared to women whose childhood and adolescence were free of abuse. The study, which is published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, was led by Patricia Coogan, DSc, senior epidemiologist at SEC and associate professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. This study followed 28,456 African-American women, ...

Can compressed fluids increase enzyme activity in industrial bioprocesses?

2012-12-07
New Rochelle, NY, December 6, 2012—Enzymes play a crucial role as biocatalysts, increasing the speed and efficiency and decreasing the energy consumption of biochemical reactions in many industrial processes. The advantages of using compressed propane to enhance the biocatalytic activity of an industrial enzyme are described in an article published in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com). The article is available free on the Industrial Biotechnology website (http://www.liebertpub.com/ind). ...

Penn-led research suggests a new strategy to prevent or halt periodontal disease

2012-12-07
PHILADELPHIA — Periodontitis, a form of chronic gum disease that affects nearly half of the U.S. adult population, results when the bacterial community in the mouth becomes unbalanced, leading to inflammation and eventually bone loss. In its most severe form, which affects 8.5 percent of U.S. adults, periodontitis can impact systemic health. By blocking a molecular receptor that bacteria normally target to cause the disease, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have now demonstrated an ability in a mouse model to both prevent periodontitis from developing and ...

Serious acute kidney injury: More common than ever

2012-12-07
Highlights The incidence of the most severe form of acute kidney injury has increased 10% per year on average over the past decade. Deaths associated with the condition have doubled during that time. Washington, DC (December 6, 2012) — Acute kidney injury (AKI), an abrupt or rapid decline in kidney function, is a serious and increasingly prevalent condition that can occur after major infections, major surgery, or exposure to certain medications. The incidence rates of the most serious form of AKI—which requires dialysis—increased rapidly in all patient subgroups ...

Drought in the Horn of Africa delays migrating birds

Drought in the Horn of Africa delays migrating birds
2012-12-07
The catastrophic drought last year in the Horn of Africa affected millions of people but also caused the extremely late arrival into northern Europe of several migratory songbird species, a study from University of Copenhagen published today in Science shows. Details of the migration route was revealed by data collected from small back-packs fitted on birds showing that the delay resulted from an extended stay in the Horn of Africa. The extensive 2011 drought in the Horn of Africa had significant consequences for European songbirds such as thrush nightingale and red-backed ...

Gene network illuminates stress, mutation and adaptation responses

2012-12-07
HOUSTON – (Dec. 7, 2012) – For much of her professional life, Dr. Susan Rosenberg (www.bcm.edu/genetics/?pmid=11034) has studied the puzzling response of bacteria to stress and the mutations that result. In the current issue of the journal Science (www.sciencemag.org), she puts together the pieces of that puzzle, describing most of the members of an elaborate gene network that functions in causing mutations during repair of double-stranded breaks in the DNA of stressed cells. "We now know the 93 genes more than half of which are funneling into three nodes that go down ...

World's smallest reaction chamber

Worlds smallest reaction chamber
2012-12-07
Scientists from New Zealand, Austria and the UK have created the world's smallest reaction chamber, with a mixing volume that can be measured in femtolitres (million billionths of a litre). Using this minuscule reaction chamber, lead researcher Peter Derrick, professor of chemical physics and physical chemistry and head of the Institute of Fundamental Sciences at Massey University in New Zealand, plans to study the kind of speedy, nanoscale biochemical reactions that take place inside individual cells. This work appears in the latest issue of the European Journal of Mass ...

Cognitive behavioural therapy can reduce depression in those haven't responded to antidepressants

2012-12-07
Antidepressants are the most widely used treatment for people with moderate to severe depression. However, up to two thirds of people with depression don't respond fully to this type of treatment. New findings, published in The Lancet, have shown cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)*, provided in addition to usual care, can reduce symptoms of depression and help improve patients' quality of life. This is the first large-scale trial to test the effectiveness of CBT — a type of talking psychotherapy — given in addition to usual care that includes antidepressants. The National ...

New genetic disorder of balance and cognition discovered

2012-12-07
The family of disorders known as ataxia can impair speech, balance and coordination, and have varying levels of severity. Scientists from the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh have identified a new member of this group of conditions which is connected to 'Lincoln ataxia', so called because it was first found in the relatives of US President Abraham Lincoln. The results are published in the journal PLOS Genetics. Lincoln ataxia affects the cerebellum, a crucial part of the brain controlling movement and balance. It is caused by an alteration in the gene for 'beta-III ...

Women with higher carotenoid levels have reduced risk of breast cancer

2012-12-07
Women with higher circulating carotenoid levels are at a reduced risk of breast cancer according to a study published December 6 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute Carotenoids, which are micronutrients found in fruits and vegetables, have been found to have anticarcinogenic properties. Previous experimental studies have shown that carotenoids inhibit the tumor progression and reduce proliferation of estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) and estrogen receptor–negative (ER-) breast cancers. Despite the inverse association between carotenoids and breast cancer ...

His and hers: Male hormones control differences in mammary gland nerve growth

His and hers: Male hormones control differences in mammary gland nerve growth
2012-12-07
Johns Hopkins scientists have found a surprising mechanism that gives male sex hormones like testosterone control over the gender-specific absence or presence of mammary gland nerves that sense the amount of milk available in breast milk ducts. In a Dec. 7 report on their discovery in Science, they say the hormones do the job by altering the availability of a nerve growth factor, called BDNF for short. The most obvious differences between males and females involve the presence or absence of physical structures. Below the surface, however, these structures are penetrated ...

USC scientists turn a harmful greenhouse gas into a tool for making pharmaceuticals

2012-12-07
A team of chemists at USC has developed a way to transform a hitherto useless ozone-destroying greenhouse gas that is the byproduct of Teflon manufacture and transform it into reagents for producing pharmaceuticals. The team will publish their discovery in a paper entitled "Taming of Fluoroform (CF3H): Direct Nucleophilic Trifluoromethylation of Si, B, S and C Centers," in the Dec. 7 issue of Science. The method is also being patented. Because of the popularity of Teflon, which is used on everything from cooking pans to armor-piercing bullets, there's no shortage ...

New research investigates how the common 'cat parasite' gets into the brain

2012-12-07
A new study demonstrates for the first time how the Toxoplasma gondii parasite enters the brain to influence its host's behavior. This research was led by researchers from the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University in Sweden publishes today in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens. The Toxoplasma gondii parasite causes toxoplasmosis. The parasite is common and infects between 30 and 50 per cent of the global population. It also infects animals, especially domestic cats. Human infection is contracted by eating poorly cooked (infected) meat and handling cat feces. ...

Vaginal microbicide gel may offer a promising strategy for prevention and protection against HIV transmission

2012-12-07
A new study shows that a microbicide gel is highly effective in block infection by the AIDS virus in a non-human primate model. In the paper published December 6 in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens, Dereuddre-Bosquet and colleagues from the European Combined Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Microbicides (CHAARM) Consortium describe the gel's key ingredient, which are small peptides engineered to present a decoy to bind up the virus and prevent it from entering and infecting the cells of the body. Because this is a gel it can be topically applied and could represent ...

What happens to plant growth when you remove gravity?

What happens to plant growth when you remove gravity?
2012-12-07
It is well known that plant growth patterns are influenced by a variety of stimuli, gravity being one amongst many. On Earth plant roots exhibit characteristic behaviours called 'waving' and 'skewing', which were thought to be gravity-dependent events. However, Arabidopsis plants grown on the International Space Station (ISS) have proved this theory wrong, according to a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Plant Biology: root 'waving' and 'skewing' occur in spaceflight plants independently of gravity. In plant roots, 'waving' consists of a series ...
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